Survivor

52| Statements and Affirmations

My eyes wanted to fill with tears at her reassurance, "Thank you Caralyn. I've always been jealous of you too."

She let out a noise somewhere between a scoff and a snort before continuing her work on my hair. "Please, there's nothing to be jealous of. You're the one with the poppin' love life right now. Hell, I'm older than you and I couldn't be more single right now."

"What about that guy you told me about before I left?"

She set the curling wand down again, running her fingers through my hair to loosen the curls. "Oh, he's an asshole. Apparently, he was sleeping with lots of girls. It's part of his game to stand up for girls and then just take advantage when they're feeling vulnerable. God, I swear men are such pigs."

Normally, I would have completely agreed with her. However, there were 7 guys in my life now who I KNEW didn't fit that reputation. "Ya know, there are still 5 guys in this hotel who are single. Honestly Care, you wouldn't make a bad choice no matter which one of them you want to pursue."

Caralyn smiled at me through the mirror. "They all adore you Cass. Not sure I would live up to your legacy."

It was crazy to hear Caralyn, the sister I've been jealous of since I was a child, express how much she looked up to me. "I'm with Jake," I responded simply, "The rest of the guys are just really good friends, family even, to me. But they're also amazing guys who don't judge, and I'm sure once they got to know you they would love you too."

"Well we will just have to see then won't we," she smiled. "Okay. You're ready."

******

I sat on the couch bouncing my leg up and down in anticipation. It was now 5:05 and I was growing nervous about talking to the cops for some reason. To occupy my mind, I thought about the encounter Jake and I just had.

He had stopped by the room to pick me up so we could head down to the lobby together, as promised, a little before 5:00.

Immediately after I opened the door, he took one look at me and his face split into a huge grin. "You look so beautiful Cassie," he smiled.

I couldn't help the blush that covered my cheeks again. It wasn't so much his words, but it was the way he was looking at me that made my face tinge pink. "Thank you Jake," I replied as I stepped into the hallway. "Shall we?"

Jake nodded. "Yes. I'm going to kiss you first though."

My heart fluttered, he usually didn't announce it and I liked the anticipation. He snaked a hand into my freshly curled hair and brought my lips to his, lingering there a while before bringing his tongue out slightly to tease my lips.

I was eager to match him, allowing him entrance into my mouth. I bit down slightly on his lip, teasing him back and heard him let out a soft moan against my lips. We continued this way for a little while and it was getting pretty heated. If it weren't for the fact that we were in a public hallway, I don't think either of us would have found the restraint to stop.

The only reason we did eventually pull away was because we heard a familiar voice ring out into the hallway. "Hey! Get a room you two. Oh wait, you do have rooms, you just aren't using them," Adam said with a smirk as he made his way down the hallway towards us.

I giggled as I pulled away from Jake, "Sorry Adam."

Adam grinned, "I'm teasing Cass. You look gorgeous by the way."