1. Cassie

CHAPTER 1

CASSIE

“You’re joking, right?”

Chloe shrugs and then brushes her long blond hair off her face. She’s giving me that knowing look of hers, and I can’t help but laugh. “Forget it. No way.”

She smacks her hand on top of the wood tabletop in front of me as if she’s trying to get my attention. Which is crazy, because since she’s dropped her little bombshell, all I’ve done is stare at her and wonder what the heck she’s thinking.

She giggles. “Quit looking at me like that. It’s not a completely foreign idea. I mean, it’s not like I made up the whole concept. It’s a well-known fact, if you want to get over one man, you need to get under another.”

I gasp and look around the bar, hoping that no one is listening to Chloe and her asinine idea. She leans back on her stool and crosses her arms over her chest as she gives me a knowing gaze. “No one can hear me. We’re in a bar, Cassie. Chill out.”

I lean in and loudly whisper to her, “First of all, I’m a brand-new teacher in town. That’s all I need is for the Whiskey Run gossip grapevine to tell my principal—who hates me anyway—that I’m hooking up at the Whiskey Whistler.” I hold my hand up when Chloe starts to talk. “And don’t even try to convince me no one will know. I’m all too familiar with the way things spread here. And second of all, I’m over Richard. I was over him before he cheated on me.”

She doesn’t believe me. That much is obvious by the way she’s looking at me with pity on her face. I lean in. “I’m serious. I should have broken up with him a while back. Catching him with another woman just pushed me along.”

She tilts her head and searches my eyes before grabbing my hand and squeezing it. “Cassie, you don’t have to be strong with me. You can talk to me. I’m not judging you.”

I look around the bar. There aren’t many people that know the real me. Brook, my sister, probably knows me better than anyone. And then there’s Haven. She has been my best friend for so long she knows any time I’m trying to hide something, and she’s always quick to call me on my shit. And then there’s Chloe. We were close in high school but sort of lost touch since I went away to college. I’ve changed a lot in the last four years. I’m not the same woman I was when I left here.

I was insecure and never fit in anywhere. It could have been because my dad was the town drunk and left our family when I was twelve. He stayed in town causing a ruckus for the next three years before he finally left the area and hasn’t shown his face since. But the people of Whiskey Run haven’t forgotten it. It didn’t help that my mom was known as “the woman that changes husbands like she changes purses.”

So yeah, when I started college, I left Whiskey Run and swore to myself I would never come back. But here I am, four years later, living with my mom and her new husband, teaching at the local elementary school. I didn’t realize when I left that I would miss this small town and would find my way back here.

I blow out a breath. “Okay, Chloe, listen to me.”

She’s shaking her head. “It’s fine, Cass. Really. We don’t have to talk about it, I just want you to know I’m here when you’re ready to get it off your chest.”

I grab her hand to stop her from going on. “Listen, I promise, I’ve been over Richard for a while now.” I roll my eyes. “He’d been pressuring me to have sex with him since our second date, and I knew… I knew I didn’t want to lose my virginity to him—”

She cuts me off and exclaims loudly. “Your virginity!”

I lean over and smack my hand over her mouth. “Really? Really! Do you think you can say it a little louder because I don’t think the people heard you over at the pool tables.”

She’s shaking her head side to side. “But… but you’re what, twenty-two? How are you still… I mean, there’s nothing wrong with waiting… I guess I just assumed.”

I shrug. “Look, I’m not trying to be weird about it. I have trouble connecting with people—you know that about me—and well, I’m not doing THAT with someone unless I’m completely comfortable with them so yeah, I was not going to have sex with him.” I lift my shoulders up. “And that’s why he cheated on me. Or so he says. I know the truth, though: He’s an ass.”

Chloe is staring at me with her mouth hanging open. “Wow.”

I bark out a laugh. “Geez, it’s not like I’m some old maid or something. I’m twenty-two and I just haven’t found someone I want to do that with yet. It’s not a big deal.”

She nods in agreement. “You’re right. It’s not. I’m sorry I assumed.”

I shake her off. “Don’t. You don’t owe me an apology for anything. Now can we please change the subject?”

She waves down a waitress and asks me, “What do you want?”

After the last few days I’ve had, I’d love to have a drink to take the edge off, but again, I don’t want my principal to hear I’ve been drinking in town. “I’ll just have a soda.”

Chloe scrunches her nose up, and when the waitress comes over, she points at me. “Cassie will have a soda, and I’ll take a Long Island iced tea.”

The waitress just nods her head. “I’ll be right back.”

When she disappears, I nod my head toward a man at a corner of the bar. “Let’s talk about how you keep staring at that man over there, surrounded by all his buddies, and he hasn’t taken his eyes off you since we sat down.”

I have to give Chloe credit. She doesn’t even look his way, but her cheeks do turn a pretty red. “I don’t know what you mean.”

I barely resist rolling my eyes. “Oh really? You don’t know what I mean? That’s funny, because you’ve been looking at him all night too.”

She shakes her head, and it’s obvious she’s doing her best to not look that way. “I have not.”

“Whatever, Chloe. Look, it’s okay. You can talk to me. I’m here if you need someone to—”

She cuts me off. “Forget it. I think he works for Walker or something. He’s definitely military, and knowing how those guys are, he won’t be in town long…”

When her voice trails off, I scoot to the end of my seat. “But you like him. Admit it.”

She doesn’t deny it. “It doesn’t matter. All he does is stare at me. He never comes over and talks to me.”

I look over at the man, and he is in fact staring at Chloe again. “Uhhhh, you’re wrong. That dude is so hot for you, he can’t stand it.”

The waitress brings our drinks back and sets them down in front of us. After we tell her thanks and she walks away, I take a big sip of my soda as Chloe twirls the straw in her drink. “Trust me, he’s not. We’re just friends.”

“Bull—”

I’m cut off when two men stop next to our table. “Hey, ladies.”

They say it plural, but both men have their eyes on Chloe. I don’t begrudge it, though. Chloe is beautiful inside and out. She’s like a Barbie doll with her petite figure, long blond hair and big blue eyes. I take a drink of my soda and watch everything unfold in front of me.

Both of the men are vying for Chloe’s attention, and it’s obvious she’s not comfortable, so I cut in. “Hey boys, uh—”

I start to interrupt them, but in a split second, they’ve turned on each other. The first one slurs, “I told you, I got the blonde.”

I bite onto my lip and tug my fingers through my red hair as the other man replies in a matching slurred voice, “And I told you redheads don’t do it for me.”

Chloe is staring at me wide-eyed. She hates confrontation, and so do I, but I’ve had to deal with it my whole life, so there’s no way I’m going to just sit here and take it. I stand up from my chair. “Hey, you two, can you take yourselves somewhere else?”

But neither one of them is listening. They’ve moved to where they’re standing almost against each other, talking in low tones, but I know it’s going to escalate quickly. When one pokes the other in the chest, I move to stand between them. It’s definitely not my smartest move, but here I am, all five foot four of me, pushing my way between the two of them.

I try to nudge the two apart, and I’m not sure exactly what happens first, but I hear Chloe scream my name, I feel myself being pushed, and I put my arms up, but I’m not quick enough.

The pain in my head is intense, but I don’t lose consciousness. At least I don’t think I do. I hear yelling, what sounds like a table being knocked over, and then I’m sitting in a chair with Chloe hovering over me, and the man that is always watching Chloe is now hovering over her.

I put my hand to my head and wince, but at least there’s no blood. “I’m okay.”

Chloe gasps. “You’re okay? You just tried to break up a bar fight. I think you’re far from okay.”

There’s a grunt from the man, and he’s staring at Chloe like he’s about to throw her over his shoulder and carry her out of here. Yeah, he’s definitely into her. I push Chloe’s hands off me. “I’m fine. I could go for some ice or something maybe. I really don’t want to have to explain a bruise on my forehead at school tomorrow.”

Chloe gives me a look. “Uh yeah, sure. I can get some ice.”

“Stay. I’ll get it,” the man says. He takes two steps and turns back toward Chloe. “Don’t move.” He gestures to his buddies, and if I read the look right, he’s telling them to watch her.

There’s still a little chaos around us. The two guys that started the fight have been dragged out the door, so now I’m just dealing with everyone looking at me. Yep, my boss is definitely going to hear about this.

When the man comes back, he hands the bag of ice to Chloe. She tries to hold it to my head, but I take it from her and push it gently on my bruise. “What happened anyway?”

The man gruffly explains, “The one asshole pushed the other asshole, and he grabbed on to you and took you down with him.”

“Uh, the police are here,” Chloe says.

Darn it. Of course the cops would come. I mean, why not? Can this night get any worse?

I follow her gaze, and sure enough, there’s a man in blue coming my way. I do a double-take as I look at the man walking straight toward me. His eyes are glued to me, and I’m sure he’s just here to check on things, but I’m feeling all kinds of personal about it. He’s tall and handsome. I know I shouldn’t, but I let my gaze travel down his body. He’s muscular, and he looks good in his uniform. When my eyes go back to his face, he’s openly smirking at me. It’s almost as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

My whole body gets at least ten degrees hotter when he stops in front of me, and all I can do is stare up at him, hoping I don’t make an even bigger fool of myself.