*Cade's POV*
As she walks over to me, I can see that she’s nervous, so I pull her into a hug and say, “Relax, Monroe.”
“Easy for you to say,” she grumbles into my chest.
I chuckle and say, “seriously, you have nothing to be worried about, my mom is super friendly.”
“How much does she know about me?”
“She knows that you’re my partner for philosophy and she knows that I like you a lot and I haven’t said it but she’s very intuitive so I think she suspects we’re more than just friends.”
“Oh, cool. No pressure then,” She says sarcastically as she leans back in my arms to look up at me. “Nope,” I reply and plant
*Monroe's POV*The second Cade’s step dad walks into the room I understand why he doesn’t like him. That look he’s giving me is the same look that used to make me want to crawl out of my skin when it started coming from my dad’s friends. I instantly put my walls up and school my features into the look of cool indifference that I’ve perfected over the years. I’m thankful that our conversation is cut short when Sue comes in and tells us that dinner will be in 20 minutes. I take the opportunity to remove myself from the situation before I can do something I’ll probably regret.I head into the kitchen and say, “Is there anything I can help you with?”“Oh, sure. That would be wonderful. How about if you set th
*Cade's POV*Monroe drives away, and I walk back inside to find Ben sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand.“You know you’re fooling yourself if you think that girl is interested in you.”“Excuse me?”“She’s so far out of your league, it’s not even funny. She’s drop-dead gorgeous, smart and clearly has money if that bike is any indication. And you think she wants you? She’s probably got a paid education to Harvard Business school and a job lined up at her daddies company. She doesn’t need some trailer trash wannabe fucking up her life. You should really just do her a favour and leave her alone.” I can feel my face burning as the anger burns t
*Monroe's POV*Hearing those words coming from his mouth makes my heart feel like it’s being shredded into pieces. Is that really what he thinks of me? That I’m just some spoiled little rich girl? God, I’m such an idiot! I knew who he was right from the start yet I still thought I would be different than all the others. He knew exactly what I needed to hear so that I would sleep with him. With the tears streaming down my face, it’s a miracle I make it home in one piece.I run straight to the basement and take several drinks straight from a bottle of whiskey. A pang of longing crushes my heart as I think about how much I wish my mom was here to hug me and tell me everything will be okay. I consider calling Maddy and Charlie, but I really can’t bear to explain my entire history right now
*Cade's POV*Several days pass and Monroe still has not made an appearance at school. I know I fucked up, but I don’t feel like it warrants this extreme of a reaction. I text her and call her multiple times. I try to get to her through her friends but even they won’t speak to me. Mackenzie becomes unbearable at school, acting like she has some kind of claim on me, hanging around me any chance she gets.When Friday comes around, I decide I’m going to speak with her whether she wants to or not. When she doesn’t show up to school, I decide to go to her house. When I get there, I find her garage open as she works on her jeep. I walk up and say, “Hey.”She instantly rolls out from underneath it and says, “What the fuck do you want?”
*Monroe's POV*On Saturday, I get a text from Maddy saying that Mackenzie is having another party that night and that I’m invited. I decide that I’ve spent more than enough time hiding. I need to be there for Maddy and Charlie and I need to stop letting Cade ruin my life. I promptly text Matt, asking if he wants to go with me. If I’m gonna show up to this, I’m gonna need him there with me. I tell him to meet me at my house at 8pm and we’ll have a couple drinks and go together.Alright so I need to look hot as fuck for this thing. I start tearing through my closet before I decide to take a page out of Maddy’s playbook and wear a black lace bralette that is definitely not supposed to be worn as a shirt and a tight black leather skirt that covers only a couple inches below my butt. I put on a choker necklace, straighten my hair,
*Cade's POV*I stare off into the distance as Mackenzie blabbers on about something beside me and try to control my anger that Monroe showed up with that guy. He was at her house yesterday too. She really didn’t waste any time moving on did she? I’m so lost in my own thoughts, I don’t even notice her walking up to me until she says, “Hey. Can we talk?”“Oh my gosh Monroe, just leave him alone already. In case you forgot, he’s done with you,” Mackenzie snaps at her and I lose it.“Shut the fuck up Mackenzie. Don’t you dare speak to her like that. I’ve already told you to leave me the hell alone multiple times this week. What part of I’m not interested don’t you understand?”“Wh
*Monroe's POV*As I stand there holding onto Cade, the hole in my heart feels full again. I tried so hard to hide my past, and yet, telling Cade felt like a giant weight was being lifted off my shoulders. He knows everything and he’s still here.“You know what you said earlier about me taking your heart with me?” I say into his chest.“What about it?”I pull back and look into his eyes and say, “Well, you have mine, too.”He leans down and kisses me with so much emotion that it overwhelms me. It’s like I can feel all the things neither of us is capable of putting into words. He pulls away and presses his forehead to mine.
*Monroe's POV*As the days turn into weeks and then weeks into months, things seem to develop into a steady rhythm. Maddy and Matt started officially dating and the whispers and gossip that seemed to plague me everywhere I went settles down. I’m still training with Matt several days a week, and we even talked Maddy and Charlie into joining the beginner’s class on Sundays. I’m still playing beach volleyball with Parker on Wednesday evenings, which Cade insists on coming to watch because he still does not like Parker. Charlie and I have a standing invitation to Friday dinner at Maddy’s where we catch Laura up on all the gossip. Sue insists that Cade and I have Sunday dinner at their house which is fine by me because I’ve actually grown quite attached to Sue, Lily and Hanna. She also ins