Reflections on Ice Ch. 06

"Blackberry." Sally slid his mug across the counter. "I'll be right back with it."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Cassia smiled up at him as he sat down next to her. "How are you doing?"

Dylan didn't answer. He reached over and pulled her close, sealing their lips together and not letting her go until Sally set the plate of pie in front of him.

"Thanks, Sall." Dylan brushed Cassia's hair back over her shoulder and stole another quick kiss. "Mmm. You taste like blackberries."

She smiled, her cheeks turning pink. "I already ate my slice. So? How are you doing?"

Dylan sighed and reached for his fork. "Better now."

"That was a tough game. You guys fought hard."

"Not hard enough." Dylan didn't want to talk about the game anymore. He dug into the pie, his eyes almost rolling back in his head at the first taste. He didn't know how Sally did it, but every pie he'd had was a delight all its own.

After, he stirred sugar and cream into his coffee and turned to Cassia. "Did you enjoy yourself, at least?"

Her nod was enthusiastic. "Oh yeah. It was great. Those seats were fantastic and Jill was a riot. She was cheering for everyone and every goal, no matter who did it."

Dylan laughed. "Well, I don't know if I like that."

"She was just excited to go. She doesn't have much opportunity to attend games, since she and Howie moved to Louisiana last year."

"Ah, yeah. That would be tough." Dylan sipped his coffee and his brow wrinkled. "They've been here for a few weeks though, since the cookout at least. How are they managing that?"

"Jill said since Howie isn't working right now, he might as well stay in Dallas and help out with the wedding." Cassia lifted her cup to her lips. "Which is kind of funny, because I think the only way he's 'helping' is by keeping Troy out of Vivian's hair."

Dylan grinned. "Sounds about right."

"Jill has only been here for weekends and came back yesterday. She'll be staying now until after the wedding."

"Are they staying at a hotel?"

"No, with some of Howie's family, I think."

They fell silent, their eyes going to the television in the corner. Dylan let his eyes drop from the screen to Cassia's profile.

She was so pretty, with those round cheeks, and the freckles, and the way her grey-green eyes sparkled whenever she laughed. And he loved to make her laugh. He set his mug down and reached for her hand, drawing her gaze.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

She smiled and leaned close, making his heart race. It was a good thing he was in shape, otherwise she'd have put him in the hospital days ago.

"I was thinking we should go for another drive soon."

His grin grew wider. "Do you? Are you that desperate to get me alone?"

She nodded, her expression serious.

"I'm thinking we should go on a proper date, at least once."

She laughed. "A proper date? What for?"

He shrugged, some of his old reticence creeping back. "We never talked about it this week, but... you know, we're not just... pretending now, right?"

She watched him as he stammered through an explanation, the smile never leaving her face, those gorgeous eyes dancing the further on he went.

"I mean... so, you know, a date might be the thing to do if we're... you know, actually... dating." Damnit. He could feel his ears getting hot.

"Dylan Samuels, are you asking me to go steady?"

He gave her a mock scowl, and she laughed. That's it. He could do this. He didn't need to hesitate with Cassia, not now.

He leaned over and put his arm around her waist, bringing their faces close together, gratified when he saw her smile disappear and her eyes widen. "Actually, I was thinking a date would be the proper thing to do before I get you into bed."

Her mouth dropped open and he knew he'd caught her by surprise. His grin turned wicked and he tilted his head, putting his lips close to her ear. "But if you'd rather skip that part, why don't we get out of here right now."

Before he pulled away, he brushed his lips over the skin below her ear, tasting her once. She shivered and put her hands on his shoulders, her fingers clutching his jacket into fists.

Yes, she'd had to make the first move that night last week, but he was capable of doing the same. With Cassia, it was easy. Everything was easy, from talking to teasing and touching. All the touching and now that he knew how much she liked it, there was nothing holding him back.

"So." He sat back so he could look into her eyes, now dark with what he knew he was feeling too. "You ready to go?"

She nodded, her breath coming fast. "I'm pretty sure Kyle said something about going out with a friend tonight."

Dylan blinked before nodding once. He released her and stood up, digging in his pocket for enough cash to cover both their slices of pie. Then he grabbed her hand and all but hauled her out of the restaurant, barely waving goodnight to Sally.

Out on the sidewalk, he spun around, yanking Cassia into his arms. He covered her mouth with his, swallowing her surprised gasp. Then her arms were around his neck and she was pressed against him and he knew she had to be feeling what was going on below his belt. And he didn't care. All he cared about was getting her into the promised bed.

****

Somehow, Dylan had turned Cassia into a gasping, heaving pile of hormones. That crooked smile when he'd been trying to ask her on a 'proper date', and the way he'd changed gears, leaning close, setting her every nerve ending on fire... she was putty in his hands. And she loved it. She loved that he'd come out of his shell in the past week, letting her know how much he wanted her every time they'd seen each other. She could get used to it in a hurry.

She didn't even care that they were standing on the sidewalk, in full view of anyone who might care, kissing like they hadn't seen each other in months. She pushed up onto her toes, wanting to feel more of him. Then she did. She pulled back, their bodies still connected from hip to chest, their breath coming hard and fast.

"Where are you parked?"

He chuckled and kissed her again, a quick, hard kiss. "We're not doing this in the truck."

She swatted his arm. "That's not what I meant. We should drive. It'll be faster."

"Done." He turned and they hurried along the sidewalk to his truck, hand-in-hand.

She prayed the whole way on the short drive to her apartment that Kyle was still out with his friend. He hadn't said anything about when he'd be home, only mentioning a nightclub of some sort, so Cassia had assumed he'd be out late. When Dylan pinned her to the wall outside her apartment a few short minutes later, his lips and tongue sliding up and down her throat, she really, really hoped Kyle was gone.

"Dylan..." She held onto him with one hand, her other hand holding the keys in the vague direction of the door.

He lifted his head after he'd turned her knees to jelly, his hand sliding along her arm until he took the keys from her. Then he kissed her, making her forget about the keys and the door and everything in the world but the way he tasted.

Somehow, the door opened and Dylan wrapped his arms around her, half-lifting, half-guiding her inside the apartment. She laughed when the door slammed, kicked shut by a foot. That was when she realized there was a light on in the apartment, and a second later, she heard the couch springs creaking.

Spinning around, she saw Kyle sitting up.

"Kyle!" Cassia slipped from Dylan's grasp, her face flaming. Then she blinked as a second face appeared next to her brother's. "Tyler?"

Kyle was on his feet in another second, wiping his mouth and doing up his pants. Cassia's eyes widened when she took in Kyle's rumpled appearance and Tyler's missing shirt.

"Oh my God, were you going to have sex on my couch?" Cassia's voice was low, and she didn't know why she was whispering. There was no mistaking what she and Dylan had just burst in on.

Kyle scowled, straightening his shirt with one hand while he ran a hand through his hair. "It's not what it looks like."

Cassia glared at Kyle, crossing her arms over her chest. "Really? Because it looks like you were getting busy on my couch, in my apartment, when you knew I could be home any time."

"You said you were going to the game."

"Which ended over an hour ago." Cassia threw her hands up in the air. "I can't believe this."

Kyle's expression darkened as Tyler reached for his shirt, turning it right-side out before pulling it over his head.

"You're just freaking out because it's Tyler."

"I'm freaking out because you were about to have sex in the middle of the living room." Cassia covered her eyes with one hand. "Look, Kyle, I've dealt with your video games, and you not picking up after yourself, but this is a serious breach of privacy."

"Yeah, mine."

Cassia dropped her hand and pointed at her brother. "No. You could have been doing this in your own bedroom. Instead, you chose to start getting naked on my couch."

"You wouldn't care if I had a woman in here."

Cassia's mouth dropped open. "Is that what you think? Seriously?"

Kyle dropped, his expression full of that familiar Morgan belligerence. Behind Cassia, she heard Dylan shift on his feet and turned. She'd almost forgotten he was there. Reaching out, she took his hand and glanced over her shoulder at Kyle.

"Don't think we're done here."

Kyle said nothing as she led Dylan out of the apartment and closed the door.

"I am so sorry about this."

Dylan smiled and put his arms around her. "Don't worry about it."

Cassia warmed in his embrace, her cheek on his shoulder, for a moment before lifting her head. "I was having a really good time up until then."

He chuckled and nodded. "Me too." He bent his head to steal a quick kiss. "But there's always tomorrow. Or the next day."

Cassia dropped her head to his chest with a groan. "I wanted it to be tonight."

His hold tightened around her and he kissed the top of her head. "Me too."

They didn't say anything for a minute. Then the silence was broken by a shout from inside the apartment and the door yanked open beside them. Cassia pulled away from Dylan as Tyler stormed out.

He barely looked at them. "Good to see you again, Cass."

"You too, Tyler." She reached out one hand to stop him. "I hope you're not leaving because of me."

He shook his head and Cassia was surprised to see his eyes glassy with tears. She'd known Tyler for ages. He'd been one of Kyle's closest friends in high school. Obviously closer than even she'd thought, though that still wasn't as much of a shock as how she'd found them inside, on her couch.

"I've gotta go." He pulled his arm from her grasp, shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked down the hall.

Cassia watched him go before turning back to Dylan. "I should go talk to Kyle."

Dylan nodded. "Of course. I'll call you tomorrow."

"OK. Good night." She lifted up on her toes to kiss him once more and then let him go.

Back inside her apartment, she walked down the hall and pounded on her brother's closed bedroom door.

"Go away."

"No. We need to talk, Kyle."

There was some incoherent grumbling from inside before the door opened. Cassia reeled back on her heels when she saw the tears on Kyle's face.

"Kyle, what on earth..."

"I'm sorry about your couch."

Cassia didn't know what to say. Kyle scrubbed at his face and Cassia reached for him then. He was her little brother after all, and by far the most sensitive of all the Morgan kids. She'd always been there for him when he was hurting and she wasn't about to stop now.

"What happened?"

Kyle shook his head, unable to reply for a moment. At length, he pushed her away and walked over to his bed. Cassia followed, perching on the end of the bed, and waited for Kyle to explain.

"Tyler was embarrassed and wanted to apologize to you."

"Well, he was always the most polite of your friends."

He shot her a look that she returned in full measure. She may be sympathetic but she wasn't going to let him off the hook yet.

"I said how I knew you'd freak out and that's why I didn't bring him in here when he first mentioned it earlier." Kyle looked away. "I knew you'd probably be home any minute."

Cassia's eyebrows rose. "Excuse me? Are you saying you wanted me to catch you and Tyler on the couch?"

He shrugged. "Sort of. I thought it would be the easiest way of coming out."

Cassia covered her face with one hand. "Kyle, that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say."

"What? It's stupid that I'm gay?"

"No." She dropped her hand and glared at him. "It's stupid that you thought you couldn't just tell me."

He met her glare for a second before his face fell and he looked away. "I'm sorry."

Cassia sighed. She wanted to reach out and hug him, because she couldn't even imagine how difficult this must be for him. He was lashing out, and acting defensive because of the situation. And possibly because of whatever else he and Tyler had just fought about.

"Well, Tyler was mad because he thought I'd already told you."

"Why would he think that?"

"Because it's what I told him."

"Oh, Kyle." No wonder Tyler had been so upset. "He must be so embarrassed. You have to apologize to him."

"I know."

"Like, now, Kyle. He can't have gone far."

"He's probably halfway home by now."

Cassia stood up and grabbed her brother's phone off his nightstand. She tossed it on his lap. "Then call him. He didn't deserve that."

"I didn't do anything that bad."

Still a stubborn Morgan male. Cassia rolled her eyes and walked past him to the door. "You lied to him and then used him in your weird attempt to come out to me."

When Kyle didn't respond, she turned at the doorway. "And for the record, I don't care if you're gay, straight, or into animals. You're my brother and it's never OK for you to have sex on my couch."

He looked over then, a tiny smile quirking his lips. "Animals?"

She shrugged. "To each their own. Call Tyler. We can talk in the morning."

With that, she closed the door and left him alone.

She washed up, brushed her teeth, and went into her own bedroom, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she went. As she flopped onto her bed, she texted Dylan to apologize again for their aborted evening.

The phone rang a second later.

She put the phone to her ear. "You didn't have to call."

"I'm still driving so it's easier to call than text."

"Good point." She sighed, rolling to her back. "I'm sorry about all that."

"Don't worry about it. How's your brother?"

"He's upset, and probably feeling like an ass." Cassia gave him a quick rundown of what Kyle had told her. "I hope they can work it out. I've always liked Tyler."

"High school relationships don't always last forever."

Cassia could hear his turn signal in the background. "That's true. Mine didn't."

"You had a high school sweetheart?"

"Sort of. We dated and went to prom together."

"I see. And was your prom everything a traditional prom is meant to be?"

Cassia laughed. "Are you asking if we did it at prom?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me."

"As a matter of fact, we didn't." Cassia smiled. Why she didn't mind talking about this sort of thing with Dylan, she didn't know. She didn't care, either. She just enjoyed talking to him, about everything. "It was later, right before he left for college."

"How long were you together after that?"

"Oh, maybe a couple months. We broke up when he came home for Thanksgiving that year, but I wasn't all that upset. You kind of expect it not to last, especially considering the distance and our ages." She left out the part when that old boyfriend had come home from college, saying he couldn't see himself with someone like her anymore, not when he'd been surrounded by so many hot co-eds and that she didn't know what she was missing by not having gone to college herself.

"I suppose you're right." There was a pause and then Cassia heard the engine cut out.

"Are you home already?"

"Yeah. There was no traffic." There was the sound of his door opening and closing.

"It's your turn. Tell me about your prom."

"Well, we don't really have prom. Not like you do here, but I only went with a few friends, no dates."

"You didn't have a high school sweetheart?"

"Not really. I dated a little bit, but nothing lasted for long."

"Why doesn't that surprise me."

Dylan chuckled. "Yeah, it really shouldn't."

"You probably spent all your time playing hockey, thinking about hockey, and studying to make sure you got into college."

"Pretty much. Plus, girls are complicated."

"You don't have to tell me that." Cassia laughed. "I am a girl and didn't even know what was going on half the time in high school."

Dylan laughed with her. "Hey, do you have plans for tomorrow night?"

"No. Why?"

"I think it's time we do have that date I mentioned."

Cassia grinned, even as she warmed through at the thought of going on a real date with Dylan Samuels. Not a pretend one where they'd be worried about everyone watching them. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm not sure yet, but how about I come pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds great."

They chatted for a few more minutes before Cassia started yawning repeatedly. After all the excitement of the night, she was exhausted. She fell asleep, her dreams a weird mixture of hockey and shooting stars that looked like the Dallas logo.

****

Dylan arrived at her apartment at six fifty-three and ran into Kyle on his way up the stairs.

"Hey, Kyle. How are you?"

Kyle stopped. "All right. Look, I'm sorry about last night."

Dylan waved a hand. "Don't even worry about it, man. I'm just sorry we interrupted you."

Kyle blinked, clearly taken aback by his response.

Dylan grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "No one wants that."

After another moment, Kyle burst out laughing. "You and Cassia are so perfect for each other." He continued on his way with a wave as he disappeared out the door at the bottom of the stairs.

Dylan watched him go, feeling hot under the collar. Then he cleared his throat as he walked up the rest of the way and knocked on Cassia's door.

"Hi." She opened it with a harried smile, wrapped in nothing but a towel, her damp hair all over her shoulders.

Everything Dylan had been thinking a second ago vanished when he saw her. Pretty much every thought he'd ever had went up in smoke.

"I'm sorry. Work ran late and I just got home twenty minutes ago." She turned to walk away. "Come on in. I'll be just a few minutes, I promise."

She disappeared down the hall before he had even walked inside. His heart started to pound as he turned and closed the door. What he wanted to do was lock the door, follow Cassia to her room, and yank that towel off her body. He didn't think he had the courage for that. Instead, he listened to the sounds of her moving around her room, her closet opening, something else banging, and her muffled oath that followed. All the while, he paced through her living room, alternately staring out the window and checking her collection of books and movies on the shelf.

He ended up on the couch, his head thrown back against the cushions and his eyes closed. He could still hear Cassia moving around and hoped she'd appear, fully clothed, soon, so he could stop picturing her in that damn towel.

"Dylan?"

"Yeah?"

Footsteps sounded and the couch dipped beside him. He kept his eyes closed, even as Cassia touched his arm.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I'm just trying to focus."

She laughed. "On what?"

He hesitated, his heart skipping a beat or two when she ran her hand down his arm until their hands were linked. Oh, to hell with it. "I'm trying to keep myself from jumping on you like a horny sixteen-year old."

When she didn't respond, he opened his eyes. She was looking at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth, and those amazing grey-green eyes dancing with amusement. "Was it the towel?"