Chapter 115

Terra and I sat like that quietly for a few minutes, her soothing me with her fingers in my hair and on my scalp and neck. Then the door to the room opened again and Cassidy poked her head in, clearly looking for me and surprised at seeing us the way we were.

It’s funny, I never would have been caught in a situation like this prior to the trip. Even though Terra and I were being completely platonic - the ‘worst’ thing was that she was in a bikini top, but between her tiny bust and the full coverage of the cups it wasn’t scandalous whatsoever - there was no way I would have been in this position with anyone other than Cass. I wouldn’t have thought it was right or OK, and I would have been bottling up any emotions I had.

But things were different now, and even though Cass immediately got a concerned look on her face as she stepped into the room fully, I could tell it was for me and not for what she’d found.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, closing the door behind her and stepping to the foot of the bed but not climbing on. “Should I give you two some privacy?”

“Robbie let Heather have it,” Terra said. “She gave a really shitty ‘sorry you’re offended’ kind of apology and he told her exactly what the rest of us have been seeing and feeling. But he’s still hurt, Cassidy.”

“Oh, Tiger,” Cass said, climbing up on the bed and sitting mirrored to Terra so she could look down at me while she took one of my hands in both of hers. “Good job, and I’m so sorry, and thank you, and I love you.”

I smirked just a little. “That’s a lot of stuff in one little sentence, hon.”

“It was, but I needed to say it all at once,” she smiled down at me. “Especially the sorry and the I love you.” She glanced up at Terra. “Was it brutal?”

“He could have been nastier for sure,” she said. “Honestly, he’s the most polite pissed person I think I’ve ever met except for one of my friend’s Moms growing up. She was this southern belle church lady type with a syrupy sweet voice that never swore and never raised her voice, but she could be brutally honest without ever sounding nasty about it. Robbie was like a manly version of that. Firm and blunt, but fair.”

“Baby,” Cass whispered, squeezing my fingers in hers as she smiled.

“I just said what we’ve talked about, I think,” I said. “And I know I kept warning you not to, Cass. It just- it happened.”

“We were trying not to pry into their relationship,” Cass filled in for Terra. “Cattie needed support, obviously, so we agreed going on the offensive wouldn’t be fair.”

“I get it,” Terra nodded. “I wasn’t sure what to say to her either. I mean, how do you approach someone and say ‘Hey, I think your girlfriend is trying to fuck anything with tits and it’s making everyone uncomfortable’ without making things awkward?”

“Not like I just did,” I said.

“True,” Terra smiled lopsidedly.

“What about us?” Cassidy asked Terra. “I know our situation has been ... different with everyone. Are we making people uncomfortable? Or just you and JC?”