Cole: You catch tonight’s game?
Jaime: Yeah. Tough loss.
Cole: Yep.
And then, he decided to get real with his friend.
Cole: Not sure which is harder. Watching my team lose or these girls slowly understand their parents aren’t coming back.
Jaime: Good thing they’ve got you.
Cole: And Hailey. She’s great with them.
Jaime: I meant specifically you. You understand what they’re going through.
Cole: I didn’t lose my parents.
Jaime: You might not remember, but you did lose your mom, your home, the only life you knew. You moved halfway across the world to live with a stranger. On some level, you get it. Probably on a lot of levels.
The revelation knocked him on his ass. No, he didn’t have any memories from back then. He’d only been two and a half. But that was close enough to three to make him understand why he was so damn tied to these girls.
Cole: You may be right about that.
Cole: Sometimes, my friend, you’re more than a pretty face.
Jaime: Don’t let it get out.
ChapterFourteen
Hailey stoodin front of a bar called Wild Billy’s. Every time the door opened, she got hit with music from a live country band, the roar of conversation, and bursts of laughter.
This is definitely more party than meeting.
She should leave. No one wanted to talk business tonight. What was she going to do, ask for advice from some woman riding a mechanical bull?
She’d rather be with Cole anyway. The best part of her day was their time alone together after the girls were in bed. They talked about everything under the sun, all while holding hands and cuddling. It was an intimacy she’d never had before, and she loved it.
She wanted his deep, drugging kisses that rendered her mindless.
She’d spent her entire life on alert—she’d had to as a stranger in someone’s apartment. Even with boyfriends, she’d been self-conscious during sex. She was thinking about dinner or a project for work or, most likely, wondering how soon he’d finish. But with Cole, she lost herself completely in his touch, his scent, his passion.
They’d both come here out of a sense of obligation, a duty to their friendships with Darren and Lindsay. But the more time they spent with the girls, the more involved with them they got, the wider their hearts cracked open.
In a weird way, it felt like the family neither of them had had. It felt good to give the girls that.
Even if it wouldn’t last.
The door opened yet again, and a group walked out, everyone laughing, happy. She stepped aside, torn between the pull to go back to Cole and the strange compulsion to meet these women.
Because the way Phinny had described this group made it sound like the kind of true friendships she’d always craved. Maybe it was waiting for her on the other side of this door.
“Are you going in?” a man asked, his date’s arm hooked through his.
“Good question.” As she laughed at her indecision, she stepped aside to let them pass.I’m here. I might as well give it a try. Worst-case scenario, she didn’t get anything out of the night other than a good time and a few drinks.
She opened the door and let herself in. The enormous space was divided into sections. The first and closest held a packed restaurant. A little farther in was a gleaming wooden dance floor with a stage for live music, and the third area was the bar. On the far end of it, a bunch of people gathered around a mechanical bull. Phinny’s text said the Petticoat Rulers had rented a private room, so she gave the hostess the group’s name.
As she made her way, she watched the line dancing. She wasn’t a huge fan of country music, but this band was fun, and everyone seemed to know the steps. The closer she got to the room, the more her nerves fluttered.