Cassandra Rhodes had finally had enough. Her on-again, off-again boyfriend had just burned the last piece of bridge left between them. Six months. Six, long, sexless goddamn months she had waited for him to get out of jail. Cassie, as everyone called her, had listened to all of her friend's advice for those months. 'Just dump his worthless ass,' was the broken record constantly playing...
She couldn't explain why she was infatuated with Kaiden the way she was. He had cheated multiple times, lied to her repeatedly, and put her down constantly. Somehow, none of it mattered. She was shocked when several warrants for his arrest finally caught up to him and he was given a six month sentence with two years' probation upon release.
Still, she stayed loyal to him. She visited him three times a week, bought him nicer clothes that were approved if you didn't want to wear state issued prisoner jumpsuits, even turned down several offers from guys who were much better looking and would treat her with a lot more respect. Her job at a phone center was part time at best and she soon found herself in financial trouble.
Cassie ended up finding a safety net in an unexpected place. At the age of twenty-two, she spent most of her time hanging out at a place was owned by a married couple named Mike and Katie Kay. Mike, twenty-eight, and Katie, twenty-seven, were both much more mature and worldly than the few years separating them from Cassie would suggest. They had all been really kind when her world had fallen apart, even helping her to move out of the place she could no longer afford on her own and into a place that another married couple named Don and Ashley were renting.
Don and Ashley were between Cassie and the Kay's in age so it seemed like a better fit for everyone. Mike convinced Don that a twenty-six and twenty-five year old would have more in common with a woman Cassie's age. There wasn't a lot of space at their place, and Ashley was pregnant so there would be even less soon, but it was hopefully the reprieve Cassie would need until she could find a more affordable place of her own.
Mike and Don worked together at the local college as teachers. Mike was an architect and Don an engineer. They both had jobs as contract workers for two local businesses as well so they made above average wages. Katie was a costume mistress for the theater and Ashley was the assistant director of the local actor's troupe.
Cassandra's final saving grace was her best friend Pat. He was a little odd, but everyone liked him because of it. His loud mouth and wild antics could cheer up a death row inmate right up till they flipped the switch. His attraction to her was obvious and became even more apparent after Kaiden's incarceration. She flirted with him shamelessly, but kept reminding him that her heart still belonged to Kaiden despite feeling similarly attracted.
When six months finally passed, she was still living with Don and Ashley, whom everyone called Peach. Kaiden begged her to move back in with him, but she told him that until she was sure he had changed this time she was going to stay at her new home. She loved the attention Don and Peach both lavished on her. Plus her natural instincts made her feel very mature and matronly around the now very pregnant Ashley.
After several dates that went well, she finally gave in to her pent up desires and spent the night at Kaiden's new apartment fucking passionately into the wee hours of the morning. He begged her to stay, but she said maybe next time and went back to what she now considered her place.
A few days later, she was hanging out at Mike and Katie's. Katie was out with their roommate Chris buying groceries so Cassie was upstairs in the bedroom with Mike. Nothing ever happened, but every time she was upstairs with him, she could feel the tension like a tingling in her whole body. The reason she was up there was actually very innocent. Mike's bedroom was also his architecture studio. When he wasn't teaching, he could be found up in the bedroom, working on some new project he was hired to do. Occasionally, he would just be sitting idly with a drafting pencil in his mouth working out some design problem in his mind's eye.
Cassie loved looking at the amazing drawings hung on all the walls. She also liked the music he listened to and the feedback she got whenever she asked for some advice. Mike had an almost spooky ability to recognize a problem without even being told and then saying exactly the right thing to make you feel better or solve it yourself.
He didn't cut people down like Kaiden did. He didn't have to. You felt inferior just being around his intellect. It wasn't a bad feeling though. You felt inspired somehow, invigorated. Like you could take on the world by yourself and then fight the moon for seconds. As soon as she walked in that day, he looked up from his computer where dazzling arrays of lines were drawn that only a professional of his caliber would know the meaning of.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.
Cassie was almost taken aback. She was still amazed that he could do it every time. "Kaiden and I had a fight."
"Let me guess," the handsome architect interrupted before she could explain. "It was about Pat."
It wasn't a question. Another wave of amazement passed of Cassie as the nail was hit firmly on the head. "He doesn't want me hanging out with him anymore, my own friend. He said he doesn't trust me. Me of all people. He's the one who has cheated before. I waited for six months faithfully."
The stream of words came to a crashing halt as she was wracked by a huge sob that had been welling up the entire drive from her apartment. That, and the fact that Mike had somehow sprung fluidly out of his high-backed leather chair and appeared right in front of her. Cassie instinctively wrapped her arms around his powerful chest in a crushing bear hug. She buried her face in his soft shirt, giving in to her sobs as he returned the hug protectively.
"Shhhh, it's ok." Mike's strong arms flexed in a small, comforting squeeze.
"He didn't even have the balls to tell me in person. I had to read it in a text." Cassie's voice was high and pinched. She was struggling mightily to stay in control.
"I've tried to tell you that that's the kind of man he is. If you can call him a man. He really isn't. He's a child who's insecure and jealous of his things." Mike gently pushed her back so he could look her in the eye. Cassie shivered as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her at the same time she was fixed by his pale blue eyes. It was another thing she liked about him. He wasn't afraid to look you in the eye and tell you how it is. This was a real man. He wouldn't send texts unless he was forced to.
"If I was him," he went on with her rapt attention, "I would probably be jealous too."
Cassie felt her face flush hot enough to make her trail of tears feel cold on her cheeks. She could only manage a nod before burying her face in his broad chest again. She realized that this was the first time the two of them had ever been this close. She could feel the strong muscles in his back and arms as he returned her fierce hug with equal force.
She knew that his remaining precious time was spent practicing martial arts. It definitely made a difference. Kaiden was all soft and flimsy in comparison to the steel cables that Mike had under his skin.
"If you want my advice, even though you didn't take it for six months, you should confront him about it. Make sure he knows that you are the one who has the power in this relationship. He's the one who gets told what he can and can't do. Pat is your friend. He was there for you when you needed him and didn't pressure you for something we both know he wanted.
"Tell Kaiden that if he can't trust you, it's probably because he's the one that can't be trusted and he's only going to push you away if he isn't willing to work at the things he promised to change.
"If he isn't going to be any different from before, you already know that it isn't going to work out."
Cassie nodded against her friend's chest. She felt guilty for putting everyone in this position. They had tried to tell her and she just refused to let them convince her. After a minute, she managed to regain enough control to step back from the comforting embrace.
She stood wiping tears away from her eyes while staring at the floor with Mike's surprisingly delicate hands on her shoulders. Before she knew what happened, he had his hand cupped under her chin and was staring into his gorgeous eyes once more.
"You're too good for him. You know that, right?"
Cassie couldn't help letting out a chuckle. "Try telling him that."
"If he's too stupid to realize it by now I really don't know what else I can do. It's your decision to be with him. A position I know for a fact other men would love to be in." His smile lit up his face like the sun breaking through storm clouds. Cassie almost fell right there. She could sense the tingling more than ever before and was very close to giving in to the secret desires.
But she restrained herself again. She would take his advice this time and give the one she had spent so much time on one last chance to redeem himself.
Two days later, it was over. Cassie had confronted Kaiden and he had relented. Reveling in her victory, she took Pat to see a movie she knew Kaiden would have no interest in but she really wanted to see. She knew Pat didn't really want to see it either, but at least he could pretend like he was interested for her sake.
As the movie finished, they got up to leave and saw a couple passionately making out in the back row. Pat just gave a chuckle and rubbed the back of his head, trying desperately to stop picturing himself and Cassie in that very same scenario and failing miserably.
Then he stopped as Cassie let out a startled gasp. He looked back at the couple and realized what Cassie was seeing.
"Kaiden!?" she screeched, incredulous at the sight of her boyfriend caught red handed for the last time.
"Cass?" Kaiden answered, dumbfounded and chagrined. "It's not what it looks like."
"Like hell," she screamed back, "we're through. I've had it. You haven't changed and you never will. I hate you!"
"Cass!" he blurted, extracting himself from the floozy still wrapped three quarters of the way around him.
As soon as he stood up from his seat, Pat leveled him with a right hook that left him dizzy. "Let's go," he told a hysterical Cassie, grabbing her arm gently and guiding her out of the theater like a blind woman.
