“Don’t I know it,” Casey says with such fondness in her voice, it makes my heart clench. “It’s a great community, and all my friends and family are close by.”

I decide now is as good a time as any to break the news to her. And much to my dismay, my body immediately braces in anticipation that Casey may not be very excited about my tidings.

“Speaking of friends and family being close by, I need you to get your realtor ass working and find me a place to live,” I say nonchalantly before taking a large swig of my beer.

Casey’s head snaps toward me and her jaw drops slightly. But her eyes… fuck, can’t read a damn thing in them.

“So, does that mean—?” she starts to ask neutrally.

“That I’m going to be staying?” I ask for her. “Because yeah… Nix and I decided to buy that garage and set up here in Nags Head.”

Those beautiful blue eyes stare at me blankly for a moment, and I start to internally cringe. But then I’m shocked as shit as Casey comes flying out of her chair and launches herself at me. She crawls onto my lap, oblivious of Nix and Emily or the other thirty people on the deck. She wraps her arms around my neck and plasters her mouth to mine in a kiss so deep and hot I have no choice but to bring my arms around her waist and press her in tighter to me.

When she finally lifts her face away from me, I’m stunned to see absolute joy and happiness radiating from her eyes. “You’re really moving here?” she asks, her voice quavering with excitement.

I just nod dumbly at her, not trusting my own fucking voice.

And then she kisses me again… just as deep, just as hot, and much longer this time. But fuck it… this is awesome, so I kiss her back and it’s not until Nix starts coughing that we both break apart.

“You excited, Goldie?” I ask in wonder.

She nods at me enthusiastically. “And I’m happy. Really, really happy.”

God… I fucking love this woman.

Chapter 21

Casey

It’s that time again.

Monday.

Breakfast date with my girlies.

And this time, it feels completely different. This time… and for the first time… I now have something in common with every other woman sitting at this table with me. Gabby, Alyssa, Savannah, and Andrea. Like dominos, they all fell for a man… and in exactly that order.

I was the last woman standing. The one, who every Monday that we met for breakfast, would regale my girls with my sexual exploits and conquests, while they would regale me with tales of love and babies and commitment. Usually, when they did that, I would only hear blah, blah, blah, blah. Now, I wonder, is that what they heard from me when I would tell them about the newest, rich dude I was banging to get another notch in my bedpost of vindication?

It’s hilarious to me, that at right this very moment, four pairs of eyes look at me expectantly as I doctor up my coffee. Four women know me so well that they know I’m a different person as I sit here before them.

“So spill it,” Gabby says with impatience while her eyes dart back and forth from my face to the sugar I’m stirring into my cup.

“I should make you suffer and wait,” I say with a degree of superiority, “but I am internally and quite quietly squealing on the inside I’m so excited, so I won’t make you wait.”

All four women put their elbows on the table and lean in closer to me with watchful eyes and excited smiles. I look briefly to each of them, so freakin’ pumped that I can truly join their little circle.

With a huge gust of air through my lips because I’m getting ready to impart something absolutely monumental to my girls, I say, “Okay, here goes… I really like Tenn.”

Four sets of eyes blink at me. Four smiles slide away and four women look at me blankly.

My head roves back and forth, looking at each woman, waiting for them to start squealing for me.

More blank stares.

“For Pete’s sake, Casey,” Gabby says impatiently. “We know that much.”

“You do?” I ask, and now I’m the one blinking at her dumbly.

“Well duh,” Alyssa says with knowing eyes.

“How?” I ask, again… more dumb blinking.

“You invited him to my birthday party,” Andrea supplies.

“And you were really cozy with him,” Savannah, the romantic, says with a dreamy sigh.

“And I have it from Hunter, who heard from Kent, that you were all over him this past weekend at The Last Call. The intel I received said that you climbed on his lap and kissed and dry humped him in public, while looking deliriously happy doing so,” Gabby says with a confirming nod.

“I did not dry hump him,” I say with offense.

Not much, anyway.

“The point is,” Andrea says as she reaches over and pats my hand. “It’s pretty obvious you like him. So we need more details than that.”

My first reaction is to clam up… keep the warm and fuzzies close to my chest because I’m not sure I still trust them fully. While I have very tender feelings for Tenn, and while I know without a doubt there will never be a man like him again in my life, I’m still leery of admitting my feelings have turned deep. It might be the last barrier between me and my former self that’s left, and as weird as it is, it’s comforting to me.

But then I look at these women. All of them so strong and independent, and yet not one of them lost that when they fell in love. Not one of them gave up themselves. If anything, their lives were greatly enhanced.

Every single one of these women have stood by me, Gabby more so than the others since we practically learned how to walk together. Every one of them have watched me burn through men without a judgmental look or a reprimanding word. They let me be the Casey I needed to be, and not one of them even had a clue what was driving me. That was how supportive they were of me.

“I went on a dinner date with Jeff Parkhurst,” I blurt out.

“Huh?” Gabby mumbles. “I’m lost. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Jeff Parkhurst. The night after Andrea’s party,” I clarified.

“But you were seeing Tenn,” Savannah says worriedly.

“I was,” I tell her with an embarrassed smile. “And Tenn knew about it.”

“I’m more than just lost,” Gabby says, her brow wrinkled in confusion. “What are you trying to tell us, Casey?”

Taking a deep breath, I look at Gabby with determination. This is for all the girls, but mostly for Gabby. “I dated Jeff for four weeks in high school. He told me he loved me, and I gave him my virginity the night that Brody was taken to prison.”

“I know that,” Gabby says in agreement. “I thought you saw him for a shorter period of time though.”

“It was a long time ago,” I say sadly, perfectly aware of how much of my life was wasted on these memories. “I overheard him about a week later talking to his buddies about me. I won’t get into the gory details but he basically said I was a great fuck but that was all I was good for. That I wasn’t good enough for his circle. He pointed out my dad was a fisherman and my brother was a felon.”

“What the fuck?” Gabby explodes and comes halfway out of her chair, causing the cups to rattle hard. “I’ll kill that asshole.”

“Pipe down,” Alyssa says with a restraining hand on Gabby’s shoulder. “Let Casey finish.”

I give Gabby a thankful smile… for having my back. Then I tell her as honestly as I can, “He ruined me, Gabs. That was when I changed.”

A light sparks in Gabby’s eyes, and understanding filters in. She knows me well. Now that she knows my motivator, she can easily figure out why I took the course I took.

“You only went out with men like Jeff Parkhurst,” she says in amazement. “Not just rich men… but men just as conceited and self-important as Jeff. You were gorgeous and fabulous and you made those men beg you for a chance, and then you walked away. You let them know they weren’t good enough for you.”