Real Challenge (Atlanta #2) (34 page)

“Cassie, I missed you so much,” he said, his voice full of emotion. “I can’t believe I was such an ass.”

“That makes two of us,” she said, holding him even tighter.

“You have nothing to apologize for!” Scott said, almost angry. “You gave me everything and all I did was take. I’m so sorry.”

“Me too. I expected too much from you too fast. I tried to change you. It wasn’t fair.”

Scott was surprised at that, but he had to show her how much he understood now. He had to lay it all out and be completely honest with her.
 

“Cassie,” he started, “I want to tell you what happened at the pool.”

She looked at him, trying to figure out what this had to do with anything. He waited a moment before taking a deep breath and starting again.
 

“Do you remember Sarah, the weekend lifeguard at the pool I told you about?”

“If this is going where I think it’s going, I don’t need to hear about this, Scott.”

“Yes, you do. Please listen. She threw herself at me, Cassie. She practically said she wanted to jump me right there in the lobby. And I almost let her. I was waiting for her after her shift, and I was going to take her home.”

“I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.”

“Cassie, please let me explain, and please listen, I mean
really
listen. I didn’t go through with it because I realized something very important. She didn’t want
me
. She wanted to say she did an Olympic swimmer,” he said this almost bitterly. “And I didn’t want
her
, I just was looking for something to feel right, because nothing has since I left your house two weeks ago. There was not one damn bit of it that was
real
. I can’t live without that now. But when I thought about it, the only thing that was going to feel
real
was coming to see you.”

Cassie was looking at him, trying to find all the implications in his words.
 

“Then Marcus kicked me out, and I knew how bad it must have been. I thought I lost you completely, and I couldn’t. I needed you still. So I actually went to your flea market by myself and found this.”

He held out the marble for her to study. He watched her face look at the little orb intently.

“You went to the flea market?” she barely whispered, still in shock and still staring at the marble.
 

“I did. It took me a while to find you there. But when I did, I found me too. I get it now, I really do. There is no more Scott to be found than just this.” He pointed to the marble.
 

“It’s swimming-pool blue,” she said with a smile, understanding the significance of the little marble and her favorite color inside.
 

“I liked it especially because its original purpose was just for playing. It’s a nice reminder,” he said, now with a hint of a smile.
 

Cassie found her joy again. She realized in that moment that it wasn’t so bad to have some of her joy wrapped up in another person. Not everything had to come from within. She didn’t have to be a force of nature alone. She was stronger with Scott than she was without. “It’s beautiful.”

“But that’s not even the best of it. Go ahead and ask me,” he said, smiling knowingly at her. “I dare you. Ask me again.”

“Have you figured out who you are yet?”

“I’m a pool-junky coach. I’m a teacher. I’m going to see if the offer still stands to work full time at Georgia Tech,” he said. “I sure as hell am no damn accountant.”

Cassie’s eyes welled up when she smiled at him. She threw her arms around his neck and held him tightly. With a smile in her voice, she said, “Took you long enough.”

“No kidding,” he said. He reached his hand toward her hip and moved the edge of her cotton yoga pants just far enough to reveal the little tattoo. He kissed the picture because without her, he never would have known how much he was missing.

Scott just laughed as the weight of the last two weeks lifted from his shoulders. Actually, the weight had been building for several years. He was going to practically live at the pool again, no more ties or dress shoes. He’d be helping other people find the weightless bliss swimming offered, and help the people who already knew to achieve greater heights with the sport.

But even more importantly, Cassie was back in his arms. He reached his hands gently to her face and pulled her in for a very deep, very intense, but very gentle kiss. Every ounce of his need for her touch returned back to him from her lips. Her arms wrapped around him and he felt the heat from them on his back. One hand rested flat on his shoulder blade, the other was in a tight fist gripped around the marble.
 

He moved his hands away from her face so he could wrap his arms around her completely. After one of the best hugs of his life, he laid her down on the quilt and moved softly beside her, still reveling in the fact that her lips were touching his.

Chapter Eighteen

They talked for hours at the barn, spending half the time apologizing to each other and the other half like philosophers trying to figure themselves out. Scott breathed for the first time in weeks and he couldn’t imagine feeling closer to another human being. Ever.
 

After a few quiet moments, Cassie gazed over at Scott from the other side of the pillow they shared. She laced her fingers with his and got a serious look on her face.
 

“What?” Scott asked, concerned at the tension he saw in her brow. He leaned in to kiss the little wrinkle between her eyebrows. “You ok?”

“I need to talk to you about something…”

“Ok…”

“About my dad.”

Scott sighed and squeezed her fingers a bit. “I’ve been wondering about that. Have you talked to him again?”

“No, but I’ve been thinking about it,” she admitted.
 

“So what have you decided? Cause I’ll tell you right now, Marcus is already worried. I was assigned watch,” he smiled.
 

Cassie chuckled. “Yeah, I figured. Still ever the human shield.”

Scott ran his fingers along her hair then held her hand again. “So what do you think? Do you want to talk to him?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know yet. But I’ll tell you: I’m with you the whole way. Even if Marcus doesn’t approve, I know he’ll want to be there. And I will too.”

Cassie kissed him. “Thank you. Because I need you.”

Scott’s surprise registered visibly on his face. She never let her strength waver at all. Admitting she needed him was huge for her, and hearing it blew him away.

“I’ll try not to let you down,” he smiled. “I love you. The last few weeks have been torture, Cass.”

“Tell me about it,” she laughed. “I haven’t felt right since I made you leave. I’m so sorry I did.”

He pulled her in for a hug. “But that’s done now. We’re back, right?”

“Absolutely.”

She kissed him again and snuggled into his arms for another long while. But as much as they loved their own little world, Cassie wanted to be home and have Scott there with her. Her bright and lively house somehow seemed completely bare and devoid of life without his presence.
 

“Scott, will you come home with me? And stay? I need you with me. I can’t let you go anymore. Plus, if you quit your job, you might end up homeless. We should avoid that before it happens.”

“Cass, you couldn’t make me leave you right now if you tried. Wait…are you serious?”

“You know I don’t say anything I don’t mean. I’m tired of only seeing you on the weekends. Come and stay with me and don’t leave. You can drop your apartment so its easier for you to coach without worrying about the money. But screw the practical side of it. I just love having you with me. I don’t ever want you to go.”
 

Scott kissed her like he would never stop.
 

After they broke the kiss, Cassie looked at Scott with an ornery grin. “I win. My idea.”

“Maybe so, but that’s only because I let you. I had plans to suggest it anyway.”

“I so don’t believe you,” she laughed. “But whatever you need to tell yourself.”

They drove back to Cassie’s house, hating that they had to take separate cars. They didn’t even want to be apart for the drive home. They walked in together and Scott pulled her in again for a tight embrace. He leaned down and kissed her with everything he had. She took a step backward toward her bedroom and he followed suit. He allowed her away from his lips just long enough to follow her to her bed, then he needed his lips on hers again.
 

They spent literally hours remembering how much they loved being in each other’s arms. Cassie relished every sensation, needing him completely. She loved him. They moved like that forever, sometimes slow and sweet, and other times intense and passionate. Finally, exhaustion claimed them both and they slept, fully satisfied and in all ways together. Even sleep couldn’t keep Cassie from Scott’s arms. They woke up the Sunday morning still thoroughly wrapped up in each other.
 

They showered together, still not ready to be even slightly apart. When they were ready for coffee and breakfast, Scott grabbed his black cotton pants from his drawer and handed Cassie her green robe. They sat at her table together, talking about Scott’s plans at Georgia Tech. If that didn’t work out, he knew that Emory had a good program he could try to get involved with.
 

Cassie laughed when Scott suddenly jumped up from his stool and ran back to the bedroom. “What are you doing?” she called down the hallway, laughing at his sudden move.

“Hold on…” he called back. She heard him rustling around in her room – their room – and then come back down the hallway, looking like nothing had changed. She looked at him quizzically, then smiled broadly when she realized what he was doing. He walked over to the jar by her door and kissed his blue and turquoise marble as he dropped it in with a loud clink.

“I win for best marble,” he grinned at her.

“I get credit for the jar,” she smiled back.

“Then I guess it’s a tie. I know it’s been a few weeks…but are you up for Sunday Topless Matinee? I’ve missed that,” he smiled.

“You’re on,” she said, heading for the kitchen to pop some popcorn.

Just like always, they didn’t quite make it to the end of the movie before they got distracted being ‘all handsy’ again.
 

When the afternoon turned to evening, Cassie made Scott a quick dinner of pasta and garlic toast. He loved being part of a home with her. He wondered how quickly he could pull off moving in. He laughed out loud when he realized he’d be living in a house that had belly dancer curtains.
 

“What’s so funny?”

“Your curtains,” he said with a smile. “Now they’re going to be my curtains, too. How do I explain that one?”

“Ha! Guess I haven’t thought about that. Maybe I’ll tone down the Cassie-ness of the place so it can really be ours. Just promise you won’t ask for beige.”

Scott promised with a wide smile. “And if you take down the curtains, promise me you’ll wear one of the scarves for me sometime.”

“It’s a deal,” she grinned. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Tuesday after work that week, Scott moved some clothes and a few of his things to Cassie’s house. The first job was hanging his shadowbox display of his Olympic medals. Cassie offered to put them wherever he liked.
 

“Tough call,” Scott said, looking around. “But if it’s ok with you, can I put them in your yoga room? I don’t need them out where everyone can see. I would, however, love for you to think about me when you’re all peaceful in there.”

“That’s a beautiful idea,” Cassie smiled with that soft look in her eye. She put her arms up around Scott’s neck. “I love you.”

Scott smiled at that serene look…his look. “I love you, too.”
 

Every night was the same for about three more weeks. Slowly they combined their things to fit in Cassie’s house, donating their redundancies to her favorite thrift shops. She refused to replace her steam trunk with his coffee table, but she agreed to give up her orange wingback chair for his leather recliner. She was happy to welcome his 45-inch flatscreen tv to her living room.
 

One day while Scott was at work and she didn’t have a shift at the clinic, Cassie played hooky from her studies for the day. She surprised him by turning the spare bedroom from a storage room into a work room/study room. She moved her orange chair in there along with a lamp and end-table they decided to fling from the living room. Scott had a desk to bring and this new room would be a perfect spot for it.
 

She also toned down the girly-factor of the living room by replacing throw pillows and her table cloth with some more subtle choices she found while out thrifting.

Both Cassie and Scott were surprisingly good about balancing their possessions. Cassie even donated her belly-dancer scarf curtains, but she stowed the light-blue one in the back of her lingerie drawer for some future play time. Scott didn’t worry about bringing his dishes, but he was adamant about his top-of-the-line, single-serve coffee maker.
 

By the middle of September, Scott’s apartment was completely cleared out and the two were officially living together. He turned in his keys before work that day and happily said goodbye to the manicured perfection of the complex, ready for the happy, peaceful life at Cassie’s house — their house. Truly, her cottage now reflected both of their styles. They combined their lives into a strange but comfortable home, much like they had with their relationship.
 

On his first official day without the apartment, he texted Cassie from the office late in the afternoon.

I’ll be HOME at 6:30.
 

I’ll be waiting… and wearing very little

Make that 6:00.

Candles are lit, music is on…

I’m leaving now.
 

Cassie giggled as she read his texts. She got their room ready with the promised candles and music, and got herself in a tiny nightie she found thrifting. Skimpy satin and lace in Scott’s favorite color draped over her skin. Since Scott lived there now, she didn’t need to let him in like a guest. He could come straight in and to
their
bedroom. Her biggest smile didn’t seem big enough in that moment. She could barely believe her life.