Real Challenge (Atlanta #2) (17 page)

“Cassie, come here,” he said and wrapped his arms around her. His heart ripped to see her cry, and he was so angry at himself for being the one who upset her. He gently reached for her and held her head to his chest, trying to comfort her. Scott didn’t have any experience at this, but the need to take care of her came to him naturally.

“It’s not your fault, Scott,” Cassie said very quietly. “I just get like this sometimes. I can usually hold it back. I work hard keeping life positive and joyful. I use the yoga meditations to keep myself peaceful, but it still hits me. I suppose I have to let it out sometimes. It’s reality.”

She rested with him for a moment, still allowing a few tears to leak out. Scott remained quiet while she gathered her thoughts.
 

“I guess I’ve been hiding that from you,” she said. “I’m sorry. I don’t like to dwell on it. It’s just that you brought up how rough we had it. I can’t hold it in when I think about it so specifically.”

“You don’t have to hold it in around me,” he said sincerely. “I want all of you, you have to know that.”

She moved to look up at him. “You really don’t want to hear what my childhood was like.”

“Probably not. But I feel like I should know…to understand you better. Only if you’re ready, though.”

“Then here goes,” she said taking a steadying breath. “My mom died when we were eight, and my dad did not take it well. He had never been a real loving parent, and he got angry kind of easily, but mom was always a good buffer and life was good. Then when she died, that buffer was gone. He was even more angry all the time and he started drinking.”

Scott waited patiently as Cassie took a deep breath, readying herself for the worst part of her story. His heart already broke for her, and he dreaded her next words. With one more deep breath, Cassie continued.

“He was a sick bastard that
enjoyed
beating on Marcus. He was twisted in his methods, too. The older we got, the worse it was. The only reason I didn’t get any of the physical abuse was because Marc jumped between us. He got it even worse every time he did.”

Scott listened in quiet horror, forcing himself to keep a calm face for her. He kept her close while she spoke, and gently ran his fingers through her hair in a comforting way. He’d help any way he could while she continued the story of her wretched childhood.
 

“Since my dad could never lay a hand on me, he just called me a whore and
more
than suggested that I did certain things to Marcus to get him to take the beatings for me that way. Once in a total drunken rant, he asked if he could have it too. He was the worst kind of evil. Marcus slept on the floor in my room that night and every drunken night after that, just to make sure he wouldn’t try anything. For me, the abuse was all verbal. I was hated, humiliated, and degraded.
 

“So I spent my time in high school looking for some form of love from anywhere I could find it. I turned into the slut my dad always called me. It only served to piss off Marcus even more and cause him to want to protect me from everyone. He kicked more than one ass in the name of my long-gone honor. Marcus has been the only person who really loved me in my whole life.”

They sat in silence for a long time after that, and Scott could feel the quiet tears from Cassie’s eyes soak the skin of his chest. He couldn’t even fathom what kind of home that had been for her. No wonder she surrounded herself with brightness and fun, and no wonder she and her brother were so close. They shared survival, and Marcus was still ready to protect her at any turn. Scott suddenly liked Marcus a whole lot more. He no longer thought of him as a raging bomb waiting to go off. He was just one to protect those that he loved.
 

“I hated your story, Cassie, but I’m glad you told me,” he said lovingly.

Cassie snuggled up against him even closer and let herself feel the warmth of Scott’s arms around her. “I don’t like to think about that ugliness. But I can’t pretend it didn’t happen either. I didn’t mean to cry when you brought it up. I’m sorry that I worried you. I wasn’t mad at you…I was mad at my story for being so awful that I didn’t want to tell you. I haven’t told anyone for a long time.”

“Don’t worry about me, Cass. I like your complicated geometry.
Every
side, tears or not.”

Cassie let out a quiet sob and let herself be held by Scott while she cried. When she was done letting a few more tears flow, she collected herself again and looked up into Scott’s eyes. She found joy again there and smiled at him. “You called me Cass,” she said sweetly and then kissed him softly.
 

He loved the smile on her face when she said that. “Come on, I’ll make you some coffee.”

Cassie and Scott were even closer after Cassie finally let him in. Without even realizing, she had been shutting him out from a big part of her, even though it was a side she didn’t want to think about. Either way, after she told him about the nightmare of her childhood, sharing more of herself only served to strengthen the bond between them. Even Cassie was becoming a little more real.
 

It was mid-morning on Monday when they made their way to the living room with their coffee and Cassie sat down in her wing-back fleece chair. Scott relaxed into the couch and looked over at her. “I don’t want to be presumptuous about your time, but I’m not all that keen on leaving you yet.”

Cassie beamed at his statement. He was getting more comfortable just saying what he wanted to say, no embarrassment or shame. There was no more strut or charm around her. He was pure Scott and he was so sexy when he was simply himself. “I have nothing scheduled today,” she said, still smiling. “What did you have in mind?”

“I want my own coffee mug here. Now that I’ve stayed here twice, I’m addicted. I’m planning on staying here often, just so you know, and none of your mugs really fit me. I’ve never said this to a woman before, but I want you to take me shopping.”

Cassie squealed in a fit of laughter. Gone was the tired, over-worked Scott. Her playful man was back in full force. She bubbled right up and readied herself for the task.

“That’s
awesome
. I get to be your first!” she said, grinning ear to ear and curling her toes under. “We will go to my favorite indoor flea market to start. It’s in an old warehouse that someone converted. It has two entire floors of junk to look through. We’ll find you something that fits…and if we don’t we can head out to the thrift shops. I know a
lot
of thrift shops.”

“Do you mind if I shower?” he asked.
 

“Towels are in the top cupboard in the bathroom. Help yourself,” she said, still smiling. “I’ll clear out a drawer for you while you’re in there.”

“I get my own drawer?” He shared her grin and headed off to the shower.

After about an hour they were each showered and dressed and ready to go. Scott smiled and shook his head when he saw Cassie’s outfit. She had a soft, sky-blue stretchy, tank top with a scooped neck. She wore jeggings and soft yellow Toms. A silver charm chain dangled delicately around her ankle and a pastel pink scarf draped softly around her hips.
 

“Wow,” he said with his eyebrows up but smiling. “That’s one hell of an outfit. I think you look like an Easter egg.”

“Oh good! That’s what I was going for.” She smiled in such an ornery way that all he could do was smile and pull her in for a kiss.

They left in Scott’s SUV and Cassie directed him to the warehouse. “Oh, hey — I’ve been meaning to tell you. My brother has a fight in two weeks. Erin, Jenna and I are going. Do you want to come with us? It’s always an intense night. You wouldn’t even believe my brother in the ring.”

“Which night is it?” Scott asked.

“It’s Saturday after next.”

“Yeah, that should work. Sounds like fun. But be ready for me to point out why your brother is
not
a teddy bear.”

Cassie laughed at his assessment of Marcus, but loved the sentiment anyway. They talked for a while longer about her brother’s career as an MMA badass until Cassie pointed out a huge brick building next to a wide, nearly-full parking lot. She jumped out of the car before he even switched the ignition to the off position.
 

With a wide, bright-eyed smile, Cassie pulled him through the entrance to
Warehouse 7 Flea Market
. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw booth after booth and table after table of the most random assortment of used junk he had ever seen.
 

He looked down at Cassie who was positively energized by this place. She grabbed his hand and dragged him quickly to the first row of tables. The noisy din of the open-style floor added to the chaotic feel of the place. Cassie fit right in, and he enjoyed watching her in her element.

“Come on,” she said, pulling him to the first little booth.
 

Scott saw an assortment of antique knick-knacks, cake decorating supplies, brand-new Tupperware, and a large selection of empty glass jars. A yellow footstool that matched Cassie’s shoes perfectly sat beside old, hard-sided luggage and a vintage Big-Wheel bike for little kids. He also saw antique serving trays and an empty picture frame with no glass in it. There was no organization in this place. With the exception of maybe Erin, Scott was probably the only accountant who had ever been here…type-a people don’t usually do so well with chaos.

Cassie perused the booth with a discerning eye, and decided not to get the large, tarnished brass gear she picked up. “I thought it might be a nice coaster, but I usually don’t buy the first thing I like. I might pick it up on our way out, though.”
 

Scott never would have looked at that gear and thought, “coaster.” He was baffled by this place, but watching Cassie here was a riot. He could easily see how the decor of her house happened over time. He loved to spend real time with her again. Her entire being pulsed energy and he appreciated her even more now than he had before.

She purchased an aqua blue serving dish in the shape of a hexagon and a lime green silk scarf. She also found a pretty, feminine long skirt with that same green in the pattern. She certainly had her own flair, Scott noticed yet again.
 

They continued like that up and down every aisle for nearly an hour before Scott finally found his mug. He described the color to Cassie as “swimming pool blue”. The shape could only be described as a vertical wave. The mug was obnoxious and he knew his big flea-market find would fit perfectly in Cassie’s collection.
 

“I love it,” Cassie said appreciatively. “You have learned well, grasshopper.”

Scott just put his arm around her and pulled her against him. He kissed her on the head and said, “I have a good teacher.”

They returned to Cassie’s house after their trek out junking. They picked up sandwiches on the way home and sat on the floor to eat them at the steam trunk.
 

“I can’t believe I had fun shopping today,” Scott said deliberately through a mouthful of tuna salad on rye.

Cassie laughed at how the words came out all muffled. She took a large bite of her own sandwich and replied in an uncouth manner, “I’m so glad you liked it.”

They both laughed again and Cassie had to cover her mouth to keep her food from falling out. She failed, and one little blob of mayonnaise dribbled down onto her lap. She laughed even harder as Scott reached over and swiped the dot off of her leg. He held his finger for her and she licked the mayo off, still giggling. Scott was all smiles and dimples.
 

After lunch Scott settled himself on the couch again. Cassie looked at him and smiled like she had a secret.

“Do you need to get going, or do I get to keep you a bit longer?”

“I don’t have anywhere to be,” Scott replied, looking at her and wondering what she was up to.

“Good. Go get your sweats. This is a ‘you show me yours/I show you mine’ kind of moment. I couldn’t keep up with you in the pool. Now I will dominate the yoga scene. That is, unless you’re scared to be shown up by a girl…”

“Oh, it’s on. How hard could it be? You barely even move. This finely tuned body of precision and timing will triumph, I’m certain,” he said with over-stated arrogance. His forced bravado cracked her up. He obviously knew he didn’t stand a chance against her, but he was playing the game nonetheless. She loved the smile under his liquid-blue eyes.

He came back to the living room after a short moment with sweats and a t-shirt. Cassie went to put on her stretch cotton. She got the mood started with some sitar music and looked at Scott with a challenging smile. “You ready?”

“Bring it,” he said with the same challenging smile.
 

“Ok, I’m going to walk you through the Sun Salutation. It’s the warm up that helps your body get stretched out and your breathing working in time with the motions. First, stand with your hands in prayer position. This is the mountain pose.
Namaste
.”

“Easy enough. Is that it? Because this doesn’t count as exercise.”

“Oh, shut up. Now keep your breathing steady and even. Equal breaths in and out, all through the mouth to keep balanced. Good, now stretch your hands up from the mountain pose and arch your back as much as possible, trying to get your face parallel with the ceiling. Your hands should still be steady together, and keep your body strong. Get every muscle involved in keeping your balance.”

Scott started to lose his balance and Cassie laughed. He recovered quickly; he wasn’t one to give up. She had a feeling this was going to be very entertaining. She walked him through the lunge, plank, upward and downward dog, and back to repeating the first three moves. He was ungraceful at best, but he never gave up. He may be strong and in good cardio shape, but flexibility was certainly not his strong suit.

“Holy shit. That was the warm-up?”

“Why, are you quitting?”

“Hell no. What else you got?”

Cassie just laughed and walked him through every advanced move she could think of. Most of them he watched without even trying. He explained his standing aside wasn’t a form of “giving up” but rather was “observing in an educational fashion.”