Page 14 of This Time Around

“Hey Blake, come meet Cash,” Luke calls me over.

I stand frozen, not knowing what to do, as the two of them move towards me. The look on Cash’s face echoes mine as he shakes his head slightly to clear his confusion and precedes to pretend he doesn’t know me.

“Luke mentioned you’re friends with his little sister. Nice of him to let you tag along,” Cash voices, and I want to punch him in the dick.

“I actually invited her to come with me. She’s a great time,” Luke confesses, blind to the assumption in Cash’s expression.

“I can imagine,” the implication is clear in Cash’s voice accompanied by his devilish grin before he walks away. He looks over his shoulder one last time and lies, “Nice to meet you.”

I fucking hate that prick.

“How do you know him?” I ask. “He looks familiar.”

“Yeah, he plays baseball for the Padre’s. You’ve probably seen him on tv. He’s friends with Ty. I guess his team is partnering with a foundation here in town, and he’s going to be spending the next few months here off and on to volunteer. I’m guessing Ty wanted him to meet everyone before he starts this week. He seems like a pretty cool guy.”

“Yeah, he seems to be. Why didn’t he partner with a hospital in San Diego?” I ask in a hushed whisper, raising an eyebrow.

“Cash was looking for an excuse to come back home, and convinced them to expand their partnership. He must pack a big punch to convince them to send him this far.”

You have no idea, it’ll hit you in the gut out of nowhere.

Cash spends the rest of the night playing it cool, pretending he doesn’t know me, so it’s easy for me to do the same.

For the next few hours, we all sit around the fire listening to music. I get so lost in conversation with Luke, I almost forget that creep is here, until he stands with a yawn, “It was nice to meet you all, but I have an early morning, so I’m going to head to bed.”

“Where the fuck do you have to be so early?” Ty asks.

“My buddy who just got married invited me over for breakfast. I haven’t really had the chance to catch up with him since I’ve been back.”

Fuck. I never told Ana what happened, played it off as a casual hook up. I never thought I’d have to see him again.

Does this mean he’s going to be a permanent fixture in my fucked up life?

Suddenly, I feel a hand on my knee and exhale loudly. “You ok? You look like you saw a ghost,” Luke asks.

“Yeah, fine,” I lie. “I’m just thinking about another drink. Want one?” Before Cash has a chance to walk away, I stand and walk towards the cooler.

“Sure,” Luke speaks up, with his eyes never leaving me.

“Keep your cool Blake, he’s not worth it. Keep your cool and don’t cause a scene.” These are the words I repeat to myself all the way over to the cooler.

I know I can overreact to rejection, it’s a real problem I have. I think it stems from feeling abandoned by my mom, but the drama is in the details, right?

“Blake, can we talk for just a second?” Cash whispers his request in my ear, and I’m sure to everyone around us, it looks like we are just making small talk.

“I have nothing to say to you,” I sneer.

“Blake, I don’t know these people, I want to make a good impression, please,” he pleads.

“A good impression?” I scoff. “Trust me you make a good first impression, it’s the ones that follow that you need to work on.”

He looks at me like I’m crazy, and it infuriates me.

“What are you talking about? I know you’re mad. The way you stormed out of the hotel cafe told me that, but I don’t know why.”

I let out a sharp scoff, “Yeah, I bet.”

Not in the mood for this conversation, I make my way back to my seat, and Cash stands there for a moment before he slowly walks to his tent, calling it a night.