Page 35 of Yours for the Weekend
“I told myself it wasn’t a big deal. I tried to convince myself I wouldn’t like you, anyway. I mean, you were all smitten over Nina, so I side-eyed your taste in women.”
“Casey!” I slap her arm then laugh.
She chuckles. “I did a great job avoiding you, but I couldn’t help notice how you were everyone’s loudest cheerleader. You were the first to celebrate someone getting on base or whenever we got the other team out. You had this energetic personality that radiated warmth and kindness, and I admired you so much. It was hard to keep my distance. And then you approached me right here in this very dugout. We were on a break the night of a doubleheader.”
“I remember.”
How could I forget? It was the night we bonded over our homophobic family members. It felt so good to have someone understand and to call out the hypocrisy with. It was validating. And it was the start of our friendship.
“I couldn’t avoid you after that. And even though you were with Nina—and I’d never admit it to myself—I think a part of me started falling in love with you that night.”
A wave of shock ripples through me.
She pauses, licks her lips. “You asked me if I thought we would have given it a shot if I met you first. And I do think everything happens for a reason, but I’ve spent years wishing Ididmeet you first. But I made myself shove that all down, ignore it until I could almost believe the lie that I felt nothing more than friendship for you.
“I never thought you’d want anything more than that from me. Not even at the lake house. I was so happy to be that person to help you move on, but still, even then, I never thought you’d choose me. That you’d wantme?—”
“Case.” I clutch her hands in mine.
“—because no one ever chooses me. Not Fiona, who picked starting fresh over trying to make things work with me. Not Aaron, who I caught messaging his ex how much he missed her and wanted another chance. Hell, this is why I’ve been with Marcus so long. I knew I’d never truly love him, so I was never at risk of getting my heart broken again.”
Casey’s hurt and vulnerability has tears welling in my eyes. All I want to do is hug her, but I can tell she needs to finish this.
“So I pushed you away,” Casey says, voice raw. “Yes, I thought dating other people would help you realize Nina wouldn’t be the only person you could love, but my feelingsfor you were becoming impossible to ignore, and I had to put some space between us before they suffocated me.
“Yet I hated seeing you go on date after date. It was a selfish relief, they never went well. Until Remi.” Casey sighs. “I know I was an asshole last night to her. I tried so hard to be your supportive best friend, but it killed me thinking you two were hitting it off. I kept imagining you falling in love with someone else—again—and I could hardly stomach it. So, yeah, I acted petty and immature and tried to make you jealous with Josh.”
“Yeah, who the hell was that guy?”
Casey cringes. “He’s no one, honestly. This random guy who messaged me on Instagram. But he’s beside the point. Look, your happiness is the most important thing to me—even if it’s not with me—so I shouldn’t have been so immature.”
I squeeze her hands. “But I’m my happiest when I am with you.”
Tears are falling from both our eyes. I wipe them from her cheeks then cradle her face in my hand. “And I do,” I say softly. “I chooseyou.Today. Tomorrow. And every day you’ll let me. I wantyou, Casey Elizabeth Greene.”
“You have me, Dakota Lynn Spring,” she whispers.
I pull her into my arms. We hold each other for a long time.
“Sorry,” Casey says, a little breathlessly. “I didn’t mean to make us cry. Not exactly the best first date behavior.”
“Stop,” I say. “This is the perfect first date.”
Casey smiles shyly, and I kiss her.
“I love you,” I whisper against her lips.
“I love you too.”
She chuckles, and I wipe away a stray tear from her face.
“Now,” I say, “let’s eat.”
Casey explains the various cheeses she picked out, and we sample some new things and devour our charcuterie staples. We playfully argue over who gets to plan the next date. We eat and talk until our stomachs are full and our cheeks hurt from smiling. We pack up the picnic and go for a drive that ends with ice cream.
We laugh and talk about my mix of excitement for a new class with being bummed summer is over. She shares how stressed her team was with the campaign, yet still found ways to joke to defuse the ever-growing tension. Her coworkers are some of her closest friends, and it turns out one of them, Jessie, is the person to help her set up the date and make sure it was ready to go before we arrived. I gasp when I hear Jessie made some obscene gestures while sneaking out as Casey led me to the dugout then smile at hearing how Jessie sweetly wished Casey luck and has texted approximately twenty-two times asking how the date went.
Casey and I spend hours together, and it only feels like minutes. And when we finally make it back to Casey’s house, we find another use for the blindfold.
