Cassandra’s POVStanley? A tumor? Doesn’t have long.I struggled to process what I was hearing.“I don’t understand,” I said, dazed.“I’m sorry to tell you like this. I really am. But…the tumor is inoperable. It’s aggressive. The doctor doesn’t know how much longer he has. I know you care for him. So this is a courtesy call. If you want to see him, Cassandra, you need to come now.”I was silent for a moment. My vision went blurry and I felt like I was going to pass out.“I…I will. Of course,” I heard myself say, but it didn’t feel like me saying it. “Thank you Jordyn,” I replied. It felt like an odd to thing to say, thanking him for a phone call to tell me that Stanley was dying. But honestly, I was in shock. I didn’t even know what I was saying.“Okay then.”Click. Jordyn hung up.I stayed, frozen on the spot, the phone still pressed up against my ear.What had just happened? Stanley was….dying?It didn’t make sense. I’d seen Stanley not too long ago. He seemed…healthy. As healthy as
Cassandra’s POV Stella came out of the shower, freshly scrubbed, a towel wrapped around her body at the chest. She was scrunching her hair with her hands. “You’ll be my Maid of Honor,” she said. “Of course!” I replied. I had already showered and was applying my make-up. It actually felt good to get all dressed up for the night, since we’d been spending the majority of our trip in bathing suits and beach cover ups. I was wearing a blue satin dress with a cute skirt that had a little flounce. Stella was going to wear her black cocktail dress with a wide open back. “Good,” she said, ducking into the bedroom to get changed. “I was thinking in the shower about the wedding. I’d like a Spring wedding, with lots of fresh flowers. Sort of a romantic feel. You know? I have a few venues in mind. We can check them out when we get back.” I couldn’t help but smile. Stella had been engaged for all of what – two hours? And she was already planning
Cassandra’s POV“I can’t stop staring at it,” Stella sighed, her hand held out in front of her, gazing at her beautiful ring. We were sipping champagne, and sailing slowly back to the resort. We’d decided not to have the picnic dinner. Instead, we were going to get all gussied up and go to the 5-star restaurant at the resort. We hadn’t gone there yet. Dillon had been saving it for our final dinner on our last night. But given the circumstances, we decided to go tonight instead as a celebratory dinner for Cameron and Stella.I was beyond happy for both her and my brother. Honestly, I hadn’t seen that coming, and I was a little jealous. It had been a beautiful place to propose. Perfect, really, even if the proposal itself had been a little botched.Dillon sidled up beside me.“That was…something,” he said.I nodded. It was hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that my best friend was getting married. And to my brother none-the-less. There was a time in my life when I thought Camer
Dillon’s POV I wanted to snap at Cameron to sit the hell down before he fell flat on his face. The wind was picking up and the waves were getting bigger. He clearly was having a hard time standing, so why was he? In any case, he seemed pretty serious about whatever it was he had to say. Knowing Cameron, I figured he was going to make some toast about ‘good times’, or ‘friends’ or something like that. Although I had no idea why he felt the need to do it then, right before dinner. I didn’t snap at him again. I realized that I was anxious myself. The ring was tucked away in my satchel, under my hat near the Captain. I was trying to time it just right. I wanted to propose when the sun was low in the sky, since those were the best colors for the back drop. But to do that, we had to get on with dinner and Cameron was holding it up. I glanced at Cassandra. Her brows were furrowed and she was looking at Cam with a concerned expression. Her hair was a
Cassandra’s POV We tore through the water, the wind blowing across my face. I loved sailing. The wind, the sun, the sea. I was hooked. “Maybe we should take up sailing,” I said to Dillon. “Maybe we should,” he smiled at me. “We could sail around the world. Just like you wanted to when you were a child?” I asked. At that moment, it felt like anything was possible. I imagined Dillon and myself sailing across the Mediterranean. We could visit the European coastline, mooring in little, out of the way, towns. Or we could sail to Asia. People did that, right? Sailed all the way to Asia. Or Australia? I’d always wanted to see Australia. I was a sucker for kangaroos. Dillon already knew how to sail. We could buy a boat. Reno it. Make it ours. We could see the world. Go on adventures in every port. Spend out evenings sitting on the boat under the stars. This was the thing about Dillon. He opened up the world to me in a
Cassandra’s POV “Holy shit, Dillon. This is…there are no words!” I exclaimed as the salty wind blew through my hair. We were on a luxury sail boat, and the captain had just put up the sails. There was nothing but blue ocean in front of us. Cameron, Stella, Dillon and I were all sitting on the front of the yacht, as the power of the wind propelled us through the water. Right beside us, dolphins jumped. Actual real life dolphins. Dillon was sitting behind me, his legs splayed out. I leaned back into his chest and lifted my head. It was exhilarating. “Pretty cool, right? Growing up, my father had a sailboat. We used to sail off the coast of Martha’s vineyard every summer. When I was young, I used to dream about just taking off and sailing around the world.’ “That sounds magical,” I sighed. “This is pretty cool, man,” Cameron said. “Like, next level cool.” “That’s the island we’re going to,” Dillon poin
Dillon’s POVI stared at the small velvet box in my hands. We were one week into our vacation at Bora Bora, which meant we were already half way through it. How was that possible? I wondered. It was as though time no longer made any sense.All I thought about was Cassandra, from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to sleep. I even dreamed about her, those beautiful eyes. That glossy hairs. That soft, supple skin.God, I was in love. Like, REALLY in love. Sometimes I had to pinch myself just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.I wanted to give her the world. I wanted to spoil her rotten and her every wish come true. I wanted to spend my days doting on, cooking for her, holding her, kissing her, wrapping her up into my arms.It had been hard for me to express how I truly felt. But I think I’d made my point. With a love this strong comes vulnerability. Because I loved her so much, she had the power to break my heart. And that would completely destroy me.It was worth the risk though
Cassandra’s POV Stella’s tone was teasing. She knew damned well where I’d gone last night. I stood at the door, a stupid smile on my face, looking like a love sick puppy.“For crying out loud,” Stella said, setting down her coffee. “Don’t just stand there. Come. Tell me everything. Every single detail.”I bit my lip and rushed into the room, eager to gush over the events of last night to my best friend.“I…I don’t even know where to start,” I sighed. “Can I have some coffee?”“Allow me,” Stella said, reaching for the carafe. “Start talking.”I told her about how Dillon had just shown up at my door. I told her what he’d said to me, and what I’d said to him.“Damn. He really is a romantic, huh? That’s like a scene right out of a move.”“I know right,” I giggled.“So then you kissed?” she asked, hanging off my every word.“We did more than kiss,” I said a little sheepishly.“You fucked?” she asked, her eyes growing wide.“No,” I replied, a bit put off by her choice of words. “We made lo
Cassandra’s POVI woke up the next morning in Dillon’s arms. At first, I was confused, but then the night came back to me.Passion. Skin. Lips.Oh my god, I thought to myself, blushing. Had that really happened? I touched Dillon’s arms wrapped around just to make sure.His words echoed through my mind.I love you. You have the power to destroy me. I want to taste you.Our lovemaking had been epic. I’d been with a few men, but NONE had compared to Dillon. I got all hot and bothered just thinking about it. Slow, passionate love making. We had explored every inch of each other’s body. His sexual appetite for me had been insatiable. And because we were such good friends, we had a comfort level in bed that I wasn’t used to.I could ask him for things, things I’d never asked for before. And he was more than willing to please. He was a generous partner, putting my needs before his own. I felt like an entirely new door had just opened up for me.THIS was what sex was supposed to be like.I shi