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So Cassie figured she had two options here. Either she could continue to be annoyed that Austin had for whatever reason blown her off and couldn't be assed to text her back after initial plans had been made to meet up. Therefore cutting ties with someone that had all the makings of being a lasting and satisfying hook up.

Or

She could set any and all assumptions aside, give him the benefit of the doubt, and maybe see if he was free today, because she was still feeling restless as ******** and would love nothing more than to get out of the house for a bit, and get to a point where she didn't have to think at all.

So she trying to banish the bad mood she was in, Cassie groped for the phone on the nightstand before pulling up Austin's name.

[ To Austin: I guess something must have come up yesterday, but if you still want to hang HMU, I'm not doing anything all day. ]

She hit send and then tossed the phone aside before hitting play on her show again, dragging her pillow down to rest her head on.

This time she got a response pretty promptly, but it was not what she'd been expecting. What? What did he mean she didn't bother responding, he was the one that hadn't answered her question.

Brows furrowed she scrolled back up in her messages to see if maybe she'd missed anything but there were no surprises there. After her asking for a time and place the next thing she saw was the message she'd just sent to him. Maybe one of us was out of service? Which was odd, cause she usually didn't have any problems here, but maybe?

With a hum she took a screen shot of her text screen so she could show him.

[ To Austin: I didn't get anything after this, something must have happened.
[img.jpg] ]

Whatever the problem had been he seemed willing to meet up, so that was something at least.

[ To Austin: When are you free? ]

Someone sounds a little pissy.

After failing to lock down a time and place to meet Cassie would have assumed Austin might have turned to some other outlet to unwind, but maybe he hadn't? It'd certainly explain the cranky(seeming) attitude she was getting from him now.

Of course texts didn't carry tone, so it was hard to say what sort of mood he was in or what inflection that 'whenever' carried.

Besides, if he was in a bad mood now, he wouldn't be after they met up.

[ To Austin: I can leave now, I just gotta know where to go. ]

Lips pursed, Cassie set the phone aside and rolled up off her bed to wonder over to her closet to root through it for something less lounge-y to wear.

A white tunic, jean jacket, scarf, and black leggings disappearing into suede boots. Cassie definitely preferred summer attire, the less the better, but she knew how to make layers work for her, even if they felt more restrictive than she would have liked.

When she was finished changing she'd found a single letter response from Austin as well as an address, and she rolled her eyes as she headed out of the house, lips tugging up into a bemused smile as she headed for the bus stop at the end of the street. Uber might have been quicker, but the buses were on a quarter hour rotation and Austin's house was only a block and change from another stop, and she only had to wait a few minutes before climbing on.

About fifteen minute's later she was stepping back down onto the sidewalk, turning in the direction of of the address Austin had given her.

It struck her then that she wasn't sure what Austin's living arrangements might be. If he lived in a house or an apartment. Based on the houses lining the street she was walking down she suspected the former, but she had an entire block to go and a corner to round before she was there.

[ To Austin: I'm close, what am I looking for? ]

The neighborhood looked nice enough though, much better than the frat street the frat house had been on. But that was quite the low bar.

That made it easier. Cassie reread the address a couple of times as she turned the corner and then just tucked the phone away again because she no longer needed it now that she knew exactly where she was going. This block was dominated by houses, but she ignored the majority of them, focusing only on the ones that fit in Austin's limited descriptors.

In the end it was really easy to find. There just weren't that many black cars, and only one parked in the driveway of a blue house. She admired the sleek automotive as she walked past it, half turning to peer through the driver's side window before passed it, whistling under her breath. It was a hot car. Was it his?

She suspected it was.

When she reached the door she knocked, but her gaze was roaming along the back yard, the rest of the neighborhood that she could see from where she was standing. It was a nice place.

As Austin opened the door Cassie was struck again by just how tall he was. Head tipped back, she shifted to rest her shoulder against the doorframe beneath his hand to make it just a little bit easier on her neck as she smiled up at him, impish and anticipitory.

"Yeah, blue house and black car is a pretty unique combination over here, at least today." Now that she was here she was sure she could have found it easily enough by just the address alone, but it never hurt to be thorough.

"Hmm?" His question made her blink, head dipping to the side as she glanced back towards the driveway, then back up again. If that was his car then he probably didn't rely on public transit much. "Oh, no. I took the bus. There's a stop right around the corner."

Owning a car seemed pretty out if reach at the moment what with the hospital bills and the lack of job...

Oh, and no license. Can't forget that.

As Austin stepped back to let her in Cassie slipped inside aswell, door closing behind her with a soft click of the latch. The living space she stepped into looked about how she'd expected. Messy, disorganized, like many other rooms belonging to adolescent and young adult males (and women, they could be just as messy).

She was taking it in, fingertips trailing over the doorknob before her hand fell back to her side as she finally stepped further into the room, drawing her scarf off as she moved. Pausing to watch him take a seat in the edge of his bed, beckoning her over.

Lips drawing up in a pleased smile she crossed the room to slip between his knees, dropping the scarf beside him before her hands went to his shoulders, sliding back to curl loosely at the back of his neck. "That's the whole point of me being here, isn't it? To be real good?"

Like this it was easier to look him in the face, no craning of the neck required. It made it easier to lean in lips ghosting along the edge of his jaw before pressing against his in a kiss.

Cassie liked how forward he was, how confident. True, they both knew why she was standing there, but even at the frat party when they'd first met he'd seemed utterly sure in himself, and in her. It could have been potentially problematic, but everything had worked out in what had ended up being a favorable outcome. And not just for that one night.

She stepped in closer at his coaxing, arms sliding easily along his shoulders as she ran her nails up through his hair. Humming pleasantly into the kiss before he was murmuring against her lips.

It made her smile, lips parting to toss back some sarcastic or witty retort, but the sharp edge of teeth along her throat made her pause. For just an instant the memory of that ******** knight sinking his teeth into her shoulder pushed to the forefront, made her stiffen where she stood in the circle of his arms.

Drawing in a breath, Cassie pushed it away again. She refused to let something she enjoyed be taken away from her by that psychotic a*****e. Teeth excited her, she liked the hard press of a bite in the midst more, or even as a precursor. Eye's opening to take in the room around her, she tipped her head back for him, stretched her neck in a long, pale line to give him more room to play with.

"Unintentionally," she assured him, voice gone a little breath. "Trust me, I was just as disappointed as you were."