Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Cas

I'd actually been surprised when Polly agreed to let me crash her road trip. As a grief-stricken teenager, she'd pretty much hated me and now, as an adult, she barely tolerated me. Her agreeing to spend weeks in a car with me had not been on my bingo card.

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, though. She'd been meticulously planning this trip for ages and it was her birthday plan, not something she could just easily move around.

And damn Jared anyway. I actually understood his plight, because there was a big merger at his job, and they had been good to him, but Jared was the type to put work over everything, and it wasn't one of his admirable qualities, though he did have many.

When he'd told me he was going to have to cancel the trip, even though he'd put in for the time off over a year ago, knowing how devastated Polly was going to be hadn't sat well with me.

Before I could stop myself, I'd volunteered to take his place, despite not having spent any extended amount of time alone with Polly ever and knowing she basically hated my guts. I didn't hate her though, and the more Jared told me about the trip, the more I found myself getting excited. I'd never done anything like that before and it sounded fun. I'd even added in a few route changes to surprise Polly with.

And even after all that, I really hadn't expected her to say yes. And she'd barely spoken to me since her huffy agreement. But today was the day.

I'd woken up at the crack of dawn, went for a run, came home, showered, gassed up my truck, put the canopy on and gotten an oil change, had the tires checked and rotated, stocked a cooler with cold drinks and a pile of road trip snacks, and headed home to wait for my passenger princess to show her face.

It was after noon when she finally showed up in the kitchen. To her credit, she appeared to be showered and ready for a long day on the road, even if we were getting a late start. It was a good thing I'd added a surprise detour she didn't know about that was actually a really short drive. Still, if she thought this lazy late start was going to be the norm for the trip, she'd have another think coming.

"Morning," I said when she appeared, lifting my coffee mug as if to toast, even though I'd long stopped drinking from it.

"Morning," she grunted, shuffling over to the coffee pot and glaring when she found it empty. I don't know what she expected when she slept half the day away. She popped a k-cup into the other side and stuck a mug underneath it, silently watching it brew. When it finished, she topped it off with an ungodly amount of creamer and leaned against the counter, sipping it while she glared daggers at me over the top of the mug.

"You know hotels make you check out by eleven and if we are making stops along the way and driving eight-hour days, we'll need to get an early start."

"I know, I know." She groaned and shuffled over to the table, pulling out a chair and sitting across from me. "I couldn't sleep. I kept wondering if this was really a good idea or not."

"It is." I rapped my knuckles on the worn wooden tabletop. "Not just a good idea, but a great one. You get to keep your plans and I get to see a bunch of states I'd never have gone to otherwise and see how real people vacation."

"How real people vacation?" She grimaced. "What the hell does that mean? As opposed to what?"

"As opposed to how my family vacationed, of course," I said with a grin.

She gulped down the rest of her coffee and slammed the mug down on the table. "I'm probably going to regret asking this, but how did your family vacation?"

"Oh ya know. Vail, Aspen, the Hamptons, the French Riviera, Spain, Turkey, Greece, the usual."

She shot me an incredulous look. "Geez, you poor kid. And you actually expect me to believe you're excited to go on my dumpy trip and see things like the World's Only Corn Palace?"

"Hell yeah, I am. In fact, I've got everything ready to go, and I've even added a few stops to the itinerary. So come on.'' I stood and walked behind her, giving her ponytail a soft tug. Bad idea because then I could picture my hands wrapped around it as she rode my face. "Get your stuff packed up and let's hit the road. Oh, and happy birthday."

She sat there blinking slowly, and for a moment I really thought she was going to call the whole thing off. Finally, though, she stood, walked down the hallway and returned with two hot pink suitcases and a backpack.

"Good girl,'' I praised before I could stop myself. Clearing my throat, I added, "I'll get these loaded up. You make sure you have everything else you need."

Polly

For better or worse, I'd done it. I'd gotten into Cas's souped-up pickup truck and committed myself to spending the next two weeks with him. As we pulled out of the driveway of the house I'd grown up in, I felt like I was going to throw up. Unshed tears were pricking the corners of my eyelids, and my chest was so tight it felt hard to breathe.

The panic didn't subside as we got out of the neighborhood, and Cas turned to go north instead of south.

"Hey! You're going the wrong way!" I yelled, twisting my body to look behind us as he took the Vegas exit instead of heading down toward Arizona as my itinerary dictated.

"I'm going the right way, babygirl. I told you I'd added a few surprises."

"Oh god." I leaned forward, putting my head between my legs to keep myself from hyperventilating. "I knew this was a bad idea. Why can't you just stick to the plan? This isn't your birthday trip! It's mine."

Cas just chuckled. "I know whose birthday it is, babygirl."

"Stop calling me that!" I screeched, mostly because my stomach did a flip-flop every time he said it. I wanted to hate it, because where the hell had that even come from, but apparently I liked it. Too much.

"Okay… Polly." Cas spoke slowly and deliberately. "I didn't mean to upset you by changing the schedule. I just thought you might like to spend your twenty-first birthday in Vegas. It seems like an American rite of passage or something. So I booked us a two-room suite at a fancy hotel center strip and a nice dinner by the Bellagio fountains."

Excitement bubbled in my belly, and I couldn't believe he'd done something so thoughtful, but I wasn't ready to let go of my anger just yet. "American rite of passage?" I scoffed. "Let me guess. That's how you spent your twenty-first?"

A vein in his neck throbbed and his jaw ticked as he seemed to grind his teeth together before answering. A long pause passed, and I wondered if he was going to admit it.

Finally, he spoke and the words he said were like a sucker punch to the gut. "No, actually, I've never been to Vegas, despite living only a couple hours away for the last eight years. And I spent my twenty-first birthday helping my best friend plan his parents' funeral and figure out how he was going to upend his life so his little sister didn't have to upend hers."

Ouch. I hadn't realized, but I should have. All these years we'd gone to the cemetery on the anniversary of their deaths, then celebrated Cas' birthday two days later.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be." Cas reached over and patted my knee. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat. People are more important than dates on a calendar." He waited a beat then added, "But I am excited to do the birthday in Vegas thing, even if it's not my birthday. And I did want to make sure you had a twenty-first birthday to remember. In a good way."

"Thanks." My smile was forced, but I hoped it looked genuine. It mostly was. "If I'd known we were going to Vegas, though, I'd have packed accordingly and like… done my nails or something."

The smile Cas shot me was blinding. "Had a feeling you might say something like that. That's why I booked you a full spa treatment and got a prepaid Visa for you to go shopping for something special to wear. We have hours before dinner and then more time before the nightclubs open."

My jaw dropped. He really had thought of everything, going above and beyond to make sure everything was special. I'd never have expected any of it and Jared would have never arranged all that. Maybe Savannah was right. Maybe Cas really did have Daddy qualities.

Oh grow up. Do not go melting and thinking this is something it's not. He's Jared's best friend, and he just feels sorry for the poor little orphan girl.

I burst my own bubble and quickly changed the subject to the first thing my brain settled on. "So… I don't think you've ever told me... what is Cas short for anyway?"

He continued staring straight ahead, his eyes glued to the road. "You're right. I've never told you and I never will."

"Fine, then. I'll just guess."

He gave an eyeroll, ever so slight, then grunted, "Go ahead and try."

"If I get it, you have to tell me."

"Okay, and you won't. I'm only agreeing because I'm not the least bit worried you'll actually guess it."

"Cassidy?"

"Nope."

"Casablanca?"

"No."

"Castern?" I was already running out of things Cas could be short for, but I kept guessing, every ridiculous thing that popped into my head.

By the time we'd gotten to Vegas and checked into a gorgeous two-room suite with an incredible view of the strip, I'd given twenty more guesses and was no closer to knowing Cas' real name than when I'd started.

I was sending an update to Savannah via text when Cas appeared in my doorway, holding out a prepaid Visa. "This has a thousand dollars on it. It should more than cover what you want to wear, anything you want to have done at the spa and whatever you want to eat. I figured you could go do all that and then we could reconvene at 8 pm downstairs for dinner. Our reservation is at Spago so just meet me there."

"Cool. Thanks." I plucked the Visa from between his fingers and stared down at it. I knew Vegas was expensive but that seemed like more than enough. Besides, I had my own money too. I'd been saving for this trip for years.

I grabbed my purse from my bed, withdrew my wallet and tucked the card into it before replacing the wallet and slinging my purse over my shoulder. "See you at eight," I said as I bounced past him, mentally planning my afternoon.

"Hold on a minute. Not so fast there, babygirl." Cas wrapped one thick hand around my forearm as I attempted to breeze past.

I looked over my shoulder at him, not hiding my annoyance.

"We need to set up some ground rules. Vegas is a cool, but dangerous place, and I don't even want to send you off by yourself here, but I also have no desire to clothes shop and sit in a stuffy salon for hours while you get all done up. So, ground rules."

"I'm an adult. A legal one. I'm sure I can manage myself for a few hours," I huffed.

"I hope, but even so. Humor me for my own peace of mind."

"Fine. What are these rules of yours?"

"Number one. No drinking until dinner. We can go hard tonight, and you do not need to pregame."

I raised my brows as he spouted a rule I had no intention of following. "Okay. What else?"

"Check in with me every two hours. I want to know you're okay and what you're doing."

"Cas, I'm not a child. I don't need to check in with a grown-up."

"Always a good idea to take extra precautions in a place like this. No matter how grown up you are," he countered in a tone that brooked no argument.

I reluctantly agreed with a terse nod of my head. "What else?"

"Water. Take your water bottle and make sure you drink from it. It's hot as balls here. And for tonight, don't leave your drink unattended. Don't run off without telling me where you're going. Don't talk to strangers. Make sure you eat really good at dinner. Don't mix tequila and whiskey. Know when to quit."

"Yes, Sir." I gave him a mock salute. "Is that all?"

"For now." He shuffled his feet looking as if he didn't want to let me go even though it had been his idea.

"Cool. Thanks! See you at eight!" I skipped past him and out of the suite, keeping the fake smile until I was safely on the elevator.

Rules? Seriously? Who did he think he was? Reaching into my purse, I turned off my phone. Cas would hear from me at eight and not a minute before.

My stubborn phase lasted only until I stopped downstairs at a bar selling slushy drinks in souvenir plastic cups. By the tIme I'd downed half of it, I'd turned my phone back on. I wanted to know if Savannah texted me back, and I needed my phone to take selfies. I wasn't about to punish myself for the sake of punishing Cas. So the phone stayed on. And I might even text him a time or two. I wasn't going to follow his other asinine rules though.

I was a big girl and I could take care of myself.