Tom's POV
She shrugged awkwardly. "I know she's your best friend, Tom. And I don't want to seem like I want to drive a wedge between you two or anything, so... don't take what I'm saying too seriously."
"You think Cassie doesn't like you?" She bit her lip. "I don't know."
I waited and she sighed softly.
"It's just... sometimes I'll catch her looking at me across the hallway, and she'll have this... look."
"What kind of look?"
"I don't know how to explain it." She laughed nervously. "It's kind of a girl thing."
I raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
She smiled sheepishly. "Sometimes girls smile but you can see its fake... because they actually like the person."
I frowned.
"And you think that's what she's doing?"
"I don't know, maybe" she admitted quickly. "You know what nevermind I said anything."
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. "It's just... every now and then she'll look at me, and it feels like she's forcing a smile."
"You really think so?"
She shrugged again. "Or maybe I'm overthinking it."
A small smile returned to her face. She looked back toward the screen.
"Maybe I should probably just get to know her better before assuming anything."
I nodded slowly. "Yeah..."
"Yeah."
The conversation ended there, and we turned our attention back to the movie. A few minutes passed.
Then, without saying a word, I felt Imogen shift closer.
Not enough to be obvious. Just enough that our shoulders touched.
A second later...
She rested her head against my shoulder. I smiled to myself. Neither of us said anything.
There wasn't really anything to say.
My arm rested on the shared armrest between us, fingers relaxed.
Slowly...
Almost shyly...
I felt the back of her hand brush against mine.
Once. Then again. Neither of us pulled away. Instead, our hands remained there, barely touching.
I glanced down. Her fingers twitched ever so slightly. My heart pounded a little harder.
Fuck it.
I turned my hand over and gently threaded my fingers through hers.
She looked up immediately. Our eyes met in the glow of the movie screen. Neither of us spoke.
Neither of us needed to.
A soft smile spread across her face—small, genuine, impossibly sweet.
Then she squeezed my hand ever so gently before resting her head back against my shoulder.
And for the rest of the movie...I don't think I paid attention to a single scene. For the rest of the movie, I barely paid attention to what was happening on the screen.
My focus was on her.
On the warmth of her hand wrapped around mine. On the way her head rested against my shoulder. On the quiet little smile she gave me every now and then when our eyes met.
My heart was beating way too fucking fast for someone who supposedly didn't care about this kind of thing.
This was real. At least, it felt that way.
But somewhere in the back of my mind, that persistent voice refused to shut the hell up.
This is part of the plan. Tyler's plan. A plan to hurt me. To make me trust someone just enough before ripping everything away again.
I hated that thought.
I pushed it down, forcing myself to focus on the girl beside me. And somewhere between the second half of the movie and the credits, I finally admitted something I'd been trying like hell to avoid.
I liked Imogen.
More than I should.
More than was probably safe.
When the movie ended, we slowly made our way out of the theater. Neither of us seemed to remember to let go of each other's hands.
Or maybe we simply didn't want to. Either way, we walked through the lobby hand in hand, and for once, I didn't overthink it.
Then I saw someone approaching us.
Cassie?
What the hell was she doing here?
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed her because Imogen immediately released my hand. That small movement hit me harder than it should have.
"Hey, guys!" Cassie greeted cheerfully as she reached us.
Her eyes settled on Imogen for a second longer than necessary before darting back to me.
"Hey," I said. "What are you doing here?"
She smiled. "Well, you said you guys were at the movies, so I figured I'd join."
She looked between us. "You don't mind, do you?"
"No, no, of course not," Imogen answered quickly, forcing a polite smile.
"But we already finished the movie," I pointed out.
Cassie shrugged. "That's okay. We could grab something to eat."
I looked at Imogen. She gave a small nod.
"Sure."
So we ended up getting something to eat together. The whole time, though, I found myself watching Cassie. Not obviously.
At least, I hoped not.
I noticed the little things. The way she occasionally looked toward Imogen before quickly looking away. The way she smiled whenever I spoke, but sometimes seemed strangely quiet when Imogen joined the conversation.
Maybe Imogen had been right. Maybe Cassie really didn't like her.
Or maybe I was just looking for things that weren't there. Either way, I couldn't shake the feeling that something about tonight was off.