Mixed Connection (Cypress Lake Reunion #1)

11. Chapter 11

11

Mama

Why do I have one of those smutty books on my audiobook account?

My bad Mama, I was logged into yours by accident.

Mama

That doesn’t answer the question.

Is it any good? *eyes emoji*

I’m reminded why Anders wears those flashlights strapped to his forehead. He looks absolutely ridiculous, but my phone flashlight isn’t cutting it as I squint, and angle my neck, in a way I’m sure can’t be good for my vision or my spine. I twist the tubing tightly with the wrench before my eyes cut over to the pinging noise from my phone.

It’s been a couple weeks since my visit to Shaken Tropes and I haven’t been able to get Cassidy, all curves and chaos, off my mind. It could also be that we’ve ramped up our texting game, bantering back and forth late into the night. I adjust the pipe again, catching the grooves as I twist and a yawn slips out. Maybe I’ve been staying up later than I should be, but I’m getting to know the world through Cassidy’s eyes.

Getting to my feet, I pick up my phone and check my notifications, running my tongue against my teeth.

Babygirl

Hey, handsome.

What are the chances that you’re all sweaty right now?

*Eyes Emoji*

I stifle a laugh before texting her back.

I’m definitely sweaty.

What are you reading right now?

Babygirl

Maybe a western romance with a little bit of spice.

How do you feel about cowboy hats?

I have a feeling I should buy one right now. lol

I open up my reminders app and make a note to look up western romances the next time I’m in Shaken Tropes. I’ll know which one it is the moment she locks eyes with the cover. The image of her shy smile and slightly tinted cheeks cross my mind before I pocket my phone. It’s an image that may have crossed my mind everyday since I asked her for a book recommendation. I rub my lips together before pushing myself off the counter I’m leaning against.

Anders made a lunch run, since we’ve both been here since early this morning; we needed to put a dent in the work for this house, and I for one, cannot wait for his ass to get back. I still haven’t come up with a name for the place. Each house we flip, we name, but this one evades me. I stand and look around at the progress we’ve made so far, I’m not going to push the name, it’ll come to me. Swiping the back of my hand against my forehead, I brush aside the sweat that’s gathered and has begun to drip, before getting back under the sink.

The primary bathroom in the house is in shambles after taking down the walls and pulling up the flooring, there is dust and insulation everywhere. Demo is easy but the mess is my least favorite part of the job; I would rather be conceptualizing a new add-on or the framework for a feature wall. The Crews team will be here tomorrow, but Anders and I wanted to get an early start on things, simultaneously giving us a chance to hang together in our old element, something we haven’t done in quite some time.

Speak of the devil, Ander’s voice echoes through the empty house but I can’t really tell what he’s saying, not over the afrobeats playing through the space. Water sprays in my face from under the sink in the kitchen and I hold up my hands to stop it from drowning me. I wrap my hand on the wrench from inside the work bag next to me and give the pipe a hard twist before a shadow covers me.

“What’s up, man?” Anders laughs under his breath at the rookie mistake I just made by not turning the water off first. With all the years working with his grandfather, I know better. My mind is focused elsewhere, on a particular someone. He throws a towel to me and I wipe my face, drying off my hands before I take his outreached one to stand. “I’m not even going to say it.” He holds his hands up in defense from the pointed look I’m giving him.

We started focusing on our own houses in college when we did odd jobs for his dad and grandfather, Anders being naturally handy with an eye for seeing the end goal before the walls are even up, he simply had a calling for it. Besides, he’s always had a way with hearing my ideas and turning them into the vision I pictured in my own mind, even if I was unable to fully explain everything. He may be a general contractor, but I think design is his true passion. I’m just waiting for him to admit it or open up a new division in our company. Working together is seamless and that’s the way I like it. Since joining forces and co-owning Crews, we haven’t often had the chance to work side by side with each other. He is the ying to my yang when it comes to business. Having the chance to work on this project together feels like old times. But fuck if I am not tired of working and it is barely past two in the afternoon.

“I’ll say it. It was a rookie mistake that I wouldn’t have made if I wasn’t living on the property. I’ll start looking into hotels. I even considered my parents’ place.” The tension in my voice is apparent but not aimed at Anderson.

“I don’t know why you aren’t there anyway, the place is fully renovated and I didn’t think anyone was living in it,” he says.

“Before I came into town, there was a family using it as a short-term rental but they just requested an extension. I don’t have the heart to tell them no,” I respond to a flighty Anders, who’s already shouting his response back to me.

“Shit, forgot something in the truck. Be right back.” He rushes out to the car, leaving the front door open in his wake.

Glancing at the doorway, I pile some of the old flooring in my arms before making my way to the backyard where the dumpster was delivered at the crack of God’s ass this morning. Nothing in my body would make me a morning person. Did I still get up early as hell and get things done? Yeah, but I am still going to hate it when I do. Shrugging to no one but myself as I toss the old tile. Just as I’m about to turn back into the house, my phone chirps with a notification from my girl. I don’t quite know when I decided she was mine but she is, whether she knows it or not.

Anders walks in before I get a real chance to respond to Cassidy and he’s right back into work mode. He has no off switch unless there is food involved. Dude is a foodie!

“I’m glad you are finally seeing it my way, brother. There’s always space on my couch if you want it.” He claps me on the back and points his thumb over his shoulder at a bag on the counter.

Walking over to it, the plastic crinkles as he pulls out a couple of brown paper bags that have darkened in some areas. Grease. My stomach chooses that moment to express just how hungry I am.

Still holding my phone in one hand, another notification pops up on the screen. “You got that goofy-ass grin on your face again, fool. Let’s take a break.” Anders walks out of the room with his hands full, his arms holding multiple brown paper bags.

“You are the man!” I exclaim and I follow, grabbing one of the bags from his extended hand.

He laughs before biting into one of the Cuban sandwiches he picked up for us. Simple pleasures are my favorite. Nothing is better than good food, no matter if it’s a five-star meal or a toasted Cuban from a corner sandwich shop.

I quickly unwrap mine, diving in and taking a bite far too big for my mouth, but enjoying it regardless. That’s until I feel something cold drip down the side of my face and just know it’s mustard.

“You gonna tell me about that goofy grin or what man? It’s Cassidy who’s got you acting all gooey isn’t it?” He asks, exaggerating the oo sound in gooey. Anders and I have always been really close and I’m surprised that he held out this long. This fool can’t even keep gifts a secret, at most he rolls the bag up before handing it to you, way before the day it’s meant for.

I shake my head, holding back a laugh from the memory of him handing me my birthday gift early, a few years back. My birthday was months away but he couldn’t stop himself. I was picking him up for lunch before we had to go into work; he got in the truck and tossed the gift bag at me with a big-ass smile on his face. He had just bought it and still had the receipt in the bag and everything. He’s not just a friend but a brother to me.

Swiping the napkin across my mouth, I swallow and finally answer his question, “Yeah, it’s her. I can’t get her out of my head and I don’t want to. I don’t know man, we just click together like puzzle pieces.” The grin makes its way back to my face as I think of her. She makes me feel a lightness in my body, and a calm that can remove any worry plaguing me, things I’ve not experienced before.

“There is just something about her that makes it easy to be who I am, even in the small interactions we’ve had. It’s” —nodding my head side to side, I attempt to find a word about her that fits—“effortless man, she is just the right amount of everything, and somehow it’s effortless. Cassidy isn’t a woman I want to ever forget about. I’ve always wanted a woman who’s sure of herself, strong in her beliefs, and knows what she wants in her life. I want to build a life with someone who can ebb and flow with me, where we can laugh until we grow old and senile. She’s funny as hell bro, and beautiful. I’ve had a crush on her since seeing her in the halls in high school. It’s crazy how the universe brings people back together.”

“It sounds like you might have found your girl,” he replies, not quite a question as he shoves a piece of the honey-toasted Cuban sandwich into his mouth.

I nod my head, taking another bite of mine.

“When Crews worked on Shaken Tropes, Cass and I built an easy friendship. She has a way about her that makes you feel like family, like you belong in her circle. If she’s the one for you J, how are you going to make a relationship work being a nomad?”

“It’s a concern I’ve been trying to figure out.”

“You know the answer is as easy as moving, right?” Anders squints his eyes at me as he stuffs the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth.

“Isn’t it too soon for that? She would think I was crazy if I just up and moved here,” I reply. But even saying that out loud doesn’t seem quite right.

“Look bro, I’m gonna be real with you, okay?” He pauses briefly to make sure I’m listening. “Cassidy isn’t someone who is going to give a rat’s ass about ‘too soon’ if it’s right and if what you say is true, then it is. Figure out your shit and make a choice.” He’s right and I know it. There is only one choice I have to make but I want to be sure, I won’t flip flop around with her heart.

“Guess I have some figuring out to do. I can’t imagine not having her in my life. I’ve got it bad.” I huff a laugh through my nose thinking about her book suggestion and make a mental note to start reading one of them tonight if I’m not too tired from the day’s work.

I’ve never bothered with dating around. Have I dated? Of course, I’ve dated women but I never let it get too deep. I know what I want and maybe I was just waiting for the curls and hips to show me the way.

Grabbing my phone from the counter, I open the text thread, unable to hold back any longer. After our date, I switched her name in my contacts to the nickname I call her by, even more than her own name.

Babygirl

Do you want to come over to the bar tonight?

Is 9pm too late?

Babygirl

Not at all.

When I look up from my phone, Anders is shaking his head and barks a laugh at the lovesick grin I’m sure I’m sporting.

“I’d put money on it—she’s it for you, Big Dog!” His laugh echoes down the hall, aiming for the bathroom. He has no idea just how right he is.

Dropping my head back into the hot spray of the shower, I feel the weight of my exhaustion hit me. We finished demoing as much of the house as we could before the construction team starts on it tomorrow morning. Normally, I wouldn’t be washing my hair this late into the night, it takes forever to dry, but no matter how tired I am, I won’t be skipping Shaken Tropes tonight, I gotta look my best for my woman.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit down and read the book tonight, so I decided to buy the audiobook. I programmed my Alexa device to play it while I was getting ready to hop in the shower. It’s been playing for a while and I can’t lie, I’m into it. I grab the shampoo bottle, squeeze just enough into my hands, and begin to work it into my scalp, allowing the rich lather to run down my hair as I rinse it out. The story started right off with some action between wolves. They were surrounded by others like them. The narrators are on point with the scene, adding in growls and rips for when the lead character bites into the other’s neck.

With a speed I was unprepared for, he presses himself against me. Pushing me until the back of my knees hit the bed, forcing me to fall back. My submission is what he is after… but I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to give it to him so easily.

The water rains down on my head, washing away the shampoo that seems to be never-ending. What is going on in this book? I make an attempt to open my eyes, squinting in the direction of my Alexa device, wiping away the lingering suds from the shampoo before it burns my eyes.

His wolf all but growls at me while grinding his length against me. “If you think for one second that I’m sleeping on that floor and not in this bed with my cock sunk deep into your dripping c—”

“Alexa, pause the damn book,” I yell from the shower. Alexa continues playing as if she didn’t hear my command. “Fucking AI!”

He drops between my thighs like a beast ready to devour his prey; the gleam in his eyes tells me that he isn’t ever letting me go after this. Not when he calls me his mate. My eyes drop for just a moment. The width of him makes my mouth water and my sex clench in anticipation.

“ALEXA!” I wait, listening for the quiet that follows when it awaits my next command, but it doesn’t come. The only one coming is the she-wolf playing on the speakers from my audiobook.

I finish my shower as it continues to play. I went in blind to the book and I’m kinda glad I did, I wasn’t expecting the spice and I was a bit nervous for Anders to walk in given it’s also our current flip. I can already imagine the shit talking. It may not have been a book I picked up on my own, but I’m really enjoying it. The sex scenes are out of this world and the action doesn’t let up. I see exactly why she loves this story so much and I hope to hear which parts are her favorite so I can commit them to memory. Wrapping the towel around my center, I walk into the room to get ready.

Pulling on my light-tan, cloth joggers, I snatch a fresh long-sleeved, white shirt and pull it over my head before slipping the matching tan hoodie on. The audiobook plays in the background, an epic fight scene is being read that I don’t want to pause in the middle of, but I have to if I’m going to make it on time.

I lace up my sneakers on my sock-clad feet, grabbing my essentials before making my way to the door to see my Babygirl.