It was the last regular-season game of their high school careers, and I missed it. How had I let so much time get away from me?
“I should have been there.”
“Yeah, well, you weren’t.” Finn glowers. Cheekbones sucking in, tightening to his face.
“I’ll be at the next one,” I promise.
Finn cocks his head. “And is that supposed to make up for you not being at this one? For the worry I—we…” He gestures at Eli and Cole. “Were put through. Did you even think about us at all, or were you just thinking about yourself again?”
It all makes sense then, and it makes me feel worse than I already do. Their mixed expressions from before. They’d thought I’d left again, skipped town.
That’s why they were all so upset but also at ease when they saw me.
Like a bouncy ball, they thought I’d dropped them. Only they’ve seemed to forget that once you drop it, it comes back. Nothing’s changed. I haven’t deserted them.
I’m still here.
Finn’s frown deepens as his eyes widen in his annoyance. He’s pushing, but it’s hovering over that line of too far.
I shake my head, sinking into myself. “Finn, that’s not fair.”
“Neither is you not answering your phone,” Eli says. Speaking up for the first time. I blink over at him, hearing an emptiness in his tone I’d never heard before.
Cole surprisingly the only one who hasn’t spoken up. Not coming to my defense but also not belittling me either. His eyes stay hooded, taking it all in.
He’s not speaking but I can tell he’s been hanging on to every word that’s been spoken. His dark brows are drawn tight, but they never touch.
Just as I think the atmosphere can’t get more charged, Cole does something then. Something completely unexpected. Surprising me as he steps forward, stepping into me.
My breath hitches when our fronts touch, but he doesn’t do anything but stare down at me. Chest to chest. He only watches me.
I feel as though my air supply is being cut off, but at the same time, I gain oxygen too. He breathes out, and I breathe him in.
I can’t decide if my lungs are grateful or are on the verge of collapse. Why is he so close and why is he looking at me like this?
He should be angry like his friends but he’s not. At least not anymore.
Cole’s hand shoots out, finding the base of my neck, and my pulse jumps as my throat locks. Tensing, automatically as my mind goes back to that time when that man had done the same thing. Only he’d held firm, his intent to cut off my air.
His thumb reaches, knowing somehow, as he starts to stroke at that pulse point on my collarbone softly. Soothing.
What’s his agenda? Does he have one? Or am I overthinking again?
The longer I feel him, the more unsure I become if he does. Or maybe I’d been imagining the whole thing to begin with.
What’s happening?
Cole hasn’t said a word, and yet I can feel him everywhere.
His hand moves higher, knotting his fingers through my waves. Holding and touching me like I’m made of precious glass.
“You didn’t leave,” he says, breathing the words into me like their salvation.
Then he’s kissing me, bruising but somehow still soft, like he’s still in disbelief. Telling me everything words cannot.
My ribs expand but collapse again when he pulls back. The kiss wasn’t long, but it tasted of solace.
“Unbelievable,” Finn fumes in disbelief after Cole steps back.