“I have to talk to you,” I choke out.
Marcus appears at her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Pressing my lips tightly together, I shake my head. “No.” A silent sob rips through me and my shoulders tremble.
Marcus shouts instructions to one of the people working the Zelma’s booth, and together Marcus and Brie guide me out of the festival and down a side street while I unsuccessfully attempt to hold back my tears.
We pause in front of a beat-up red truck that must belong to Marcus, and he helps me climb into the back seat. Brie follows me in. “Thanks, Marcus. I got this,” she says before shutting the door behind us. The engine revs and cool air flows through the vents; Marcus must have remote-started his truck.
Brie takes off her sunglasses and looks me in the eye. “Now, what happened? Tell me everything.”
And I do. I tell her about Perry, our kiss, my revelation about Devin, and how I said his name after I kissed Perry and it ruined my chances with him—everything. I even tell her about the job offer from Smith & Boone, my decision to turn it down, my memories returning, and the Sadie surprise. By the time I’m finished, her mouth is hanging open and her expression is dazed.
“Jesus, Cass. I leave you alone for two hours and you experience an entire soap opera season’s worth of drama.”
“Tell me about it.” Plucking a napkin from the center console, I blow my nose. “I just can’t believe I screwed things up so badly with Perry.”
She shrugs. “Well, if you ask me, he’s acting like a little bitch.”
“Hey!” I slap her on the leg.
“Sorry, but it’s true. It’s like you told me: heartbreak is only a speed bump on the way to finding love. I get he has emotional baggage—who doesn’t?—but he’s giving up the chance to be happy because he’s afraid he’ll get hurt. He needs to grow a set and realize what a goddamn gift you are and how lucky he is to have you.”
“I don’t think that’s the issue. I know how he feels about me.” Our kiss earlier left no doubt about that. “I think I need to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I’m choosing him, and not Devin. Screw dreams, fate, the universe, all of it. He thinks I’m cosmically fated for his brother, even though my Devin memories have a perfectly logical, scientifically sound explanation. So I need to show him that it’s our choices that make our fate, not the other way around.”
Flopping against the seat back, Brie clicks her molars. “That’s not going to be easy. A simple conversation won’t do it—clearly. What you need is something big. Like a banner across the sky written in fifty-foot letters: Cass loves Perry.”
I open my mouth to protest, but her words sink into my skin, burrowing until they’re branded on my heart, as permanent as a tattoo. Cass loves Perry.
And holy shit, I think I do love him.
When I wake up in the morning, he’s the first person I think about. When we’re not together, I count down the hours until I get to see him again. He always manages to make me smile, even when I’m feeling down or stressed. He understands where I’m coming from because he actually listens, and he doesn’t pass judgment or try to fix my problems, but rather gives me the space and freedom to be fully myself.
He’s carefree, conscientious, and kind, and oh my God, I’m in love with Perry.
The feelings I’ve been trying for so long to ignore have somehow grown into something larger than life and utterly precious.
And now he’s slammed the door on any kind of future together before I even had the chance to tell him how I really feel.
Brie jerks forward suddenly, her eyes going wide. “I have an idea. A very, very big idea.” She winces. “But I don’t know if you’re going to like it. When I say big, I mean BIG. And you’re going to need Devin’s help to pull it off.”
“I don’t care. What is it?”
I have to steady myself against the window once she’s done explaining. Holy mother of pearl, this might just be the nuttiest thing Brie’s ever proposed.
“What do you think?” she asks. “Too crazy?”
“It’s perfect.” Terrifying, but perfect.
She whoops. “I have some calls to make then, and so do you. Reconvene back at the house later?”
“It’s a plan.”
I throw my arms around her and squeeze until she squeaks, and climb out of the truck.
No more drifting along in my own life, floating wherever the current takes me. I’m behind the wheel and I make my own choices. And right now? I’m choosing to show Perry with actions, instead of words, how much I love him.