Chapter 7

Violetta’s POV

Without looking back, I walked away with Cassian while Logan kept calling my name from behind us.

“Are you really going to throw away everything we shared when I really need you?” I heard him shout after me.

I felt my grip tighten around Cassian’s hand and kept walking, almost dragging him along with me. Surprisingly and thankfully, he didn’t complain… he simply matched my pace, letting me pull him.

I couldn’t believe I’d almost fallen for Logan’s little display of jealousy.

Could I even call it that? It seemed more like he was angry because, for the first time, I wasn’t waiting around for him to choose me.

God.

He was such a selfish prick.

What on earth had I ever seen in that man that had made me abandon every ounce of common sense?

The thought alone made me cringe.

Only when we were far enough away did Cassian gently guide me toward one of the empty benches lining the hallway.

I didn’t even realize I was still holding his hand until he carefully slipped his fingers free from mine.

“Oh my gosh…” I groaned, dropping my face into my hands. “I’m such a fool.”

Had I really been that easy?

Just because Logan had acted jealous for five minutes, I’d actually caught myself comparing this version of him to the man I’d spent the last two years begging to love me properly.

God… I really had been pathetic.

Cassian didn’t interrupt.

He simply stood beside me, shielding me from the curious eyes of passing students while I spiraled.

“You hungry?” he finally asked after I had calmed down.

“What?”

He glanced at me, “You look like you’re about to pass out, have you had something to eat today?” He pressed.

“I’m no…” My stomach growled loudly enough to interrupt me causing the corner of his mouth to twitch.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

He held out his hand and I slid mine inside and once again we began walking and the whispers soon followed after.

“Isn’t that Cassian and his rumored girlfriend?”

“Wait…”

“They actually look kind of cute together.”

Cute?

I almost laughed.

I was a complete mess… redheaded nerd with smudged mascara hidden behind her oversized glasses.

Cassian, on the other hand…

Well… He looked like he’d walked straight out of a magazine.

“I don’t know,” another student whispered as we passed. “They still look kind of fake.”

Oh please shut up! How exactly were we supposed to look real?

Were we meant to be all over each other?

Should my hand be stuffed into his back pocket while we walked? Or maybe we were expected to spend every second sucking each other’s face in the middle of campus?

The memory of our kiss flashed through my mind, and I felt my face turn bright red at the thought.

Thankfully, Cassian didn’t seem to notice as he continued walking ahead of me, my hand still tucked securely in his.

My eyes strayed to his broad back instead.

Gosh… this man was tall. So tall that, with him walking slightly ahead of me, his body practically shielded mine from the harsh rays of the sun.

And five minutes later, we were sitting across from each other in a booth near the window.

While we waited, I found myself stealing glances at him whenever he wasn’t looking, or at least… whenever I thought he wasn’t looking.

It was difficult not to.

The Cassian sitting across from me was nothing like the one everyone knew on ice for months.

He wasn’t yelling at anyone, threatening to break someone’s jaw, or wearing that permanent murderous expression that made people move out of his way.

He was just… quiet.

“Are you going to keep staring?”

I nearly dropped my menu.

“I wasn’t…” I quickly looked down. “I wasn’t staring.”

He had caught me so he clearly didn’t believe me, with a smirk he nodded, “Hm. Right.”

“I really wasn’t staring at you, Cassian,” I replied snarkily, tightening my grip around the menu.

He was annoying as fuck, and somehow his silence made it worse because I never knew what was going through his head.

“I believe you… you already said that twice.” He teased while leaning back comfortably.

Before I could argue, the waitress appeared beside our table with a suspiciously bright smile.

“Sooo… would you two like the couple’s special?”

Almost as though in reflex, we both answered together.

“We’re…”

Our voices collided and we both stopped.

I slowly turned to look at him.

Hell no?

The waitress laughed. “First date? Don’t worry, I have just the right suggestion for you two.”

Neither of us corrected her as she walked away with a wide grin on her face.

I buried my face in my hands, “We have barely started and this is already a disaster.”

Cassian looked suspiciously entertained and just stared at me for a while before saying, “Do you always blush this easily?”

I cocked an eyebrow at him to which he shrugged before saying, “You’re pink and it complements your already red hair.”

If anything I could feel my face turning hotter and my hands immediately flew to my cheeks, which only made his smirk widen.

“I am not pink.”

He chuckled as he threw back, “You are.”

“And you… you are so insufferable.”

He found it funny… I DIDN’T!

Around us, I noticed we were attracting more stares. A girl sitting a few tables away had already looked in our direction at least four times, and her phone was conveniently angled toward us.

Fantastic.

I looked back at Cassian.

“Why did you call me your girlfriend?” I finally addressed the elephant in the room before leaning closer. “After clearly rejecting my very beneficial offer, might I add, and then kissing me in front of everyone like you hadn’t just turned me down.”

He shrugged as though he hadn’t casually dropped another bomb into my already disastrous life.

“Let’s just say I changed my mind.”

I glared at him, “That easily?”

His eyes flickered over my face before he took a sip from the drink the waitress had dropped off earlier.

“No.”

“Then why?” I pushed because, although he clearly didn’t want to discuss it, I was certain it wasn’t because he’d suddenly realized how juicy my offer was.

The corner of his mouth lifted.

“Maybe I realized I’d enjoy watching Whitaker lose his shit more than I thought.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “So you kissed me just to piss Logan off?”

“Among other reasons.”

That. Wasn’t. Helping.

My heart did something incredibly stupid and skipped a beat.

This was Cassian… Cassian Alexandris, I had absolutely no reason whatsoever to feel anything because of three stupid words.

“What other reasons?”

Cassian shook his head, the amusement never leaving his face, “You ask too many questions, Red.”