Chapter 3
Cole and Ihad met at camp the summer before our junior year in high school. It was a camp in Lake Tahoe, the kind where they fool the kids into thinking it will be kayaking, and hiking, and sleeping in. But it wasn’t. It was a science camp.
I wasn’t the most enthusiastic student, and my mom thought I might learn something. I definitely learned something; I learned to kiss. And by kiss, I mean, long, slow, sweet, summer night kisses that went on forever and marked my soul. Kisses that made me forget I wasn’t supposed to let a boy put his hands down my pants, plunge his fingers inside me, and touch me until my legs quivered and my toes curled. Kisses that promised forever. Kisses I shared with Cole Blackwood.
We were an unlikely couple. I was cute and bubbly. Cole was tall and gangly, with a mop of black hair that never seemed to stay in place. He was studious; I was obsessed with being outside. He was calm; I was chomping at the bit to get out of Laguna Beach. He wanted to be a doctor; I wanted to race around the world.
But I loved him. He centered me and made me believe in fairytales.
By the time we graduated, Cole had been accepted to the University of San Francisco, and I had earned enough points in the winter racing to compete internationally. We stayed together for two years, until I got picked up by Polaris as a sponsor and an ambassador. My schedule got so crazy, our visits became further and further apart. By Christmas of his junior year, we were finished.
As I sat staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, that Christmas came sharply into focus.
My parents always hosted a Christmas Eve party, with people coming and going throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
Our house sat up in the hills and looked out over the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.
The interior, tastefully decorated in red and gold, sparkled with Christmas cheer. I kept watch on the door, waiting for Cole to arrive.
Dressed in a red, short-sleeve, mock turtleneck dress with a black belt, I was the epitome of one of Santa’s helpers. My over-the-knee black boots reached just to the hem of my dress; enough to be sexy without being improper.
I hadn’t been with Cole since September because of my racing schedule, and I was anxious to see him.
A little before 8 p.m. the doorbell rang and I jumped up off the couch to answer it. “I’ll get it.”
When I opened the heavy wooden door, Cole was standing on the other side, holding a small poinsettia and looking exceptionally gorgeous. He had trimmed his unruly dark hair and he looked…like an adult.
I reached out my hand to him and pulled him into the house. Shutting the front door, we turned to each other and I leaned up to kiss him greedily.
He held me with one arm around my waist, the plant in the other, and I pressed my mouth to his, wanting to get as close to him as I could.
He muttered against my lips, “Mia. Mia. Not in the hallway.”
Nipping him a few more times, I said between kisses. “But…I…have…missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, but let me at least say hello to your parents.”
Running his hand down my arm, he linked our hands together, and we walked to the living room together.
When my mom saw us, she excused herself from the couple she was talking to and headed our way. “Cole! I’m so glad you made it.”
He leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Merry Christmas, Mrs.Brooks.”
“Merry Christmas. Is this for us?” She reached for the plant and he handed it to her.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh, I just love the poinsettia plant. It always adds just the right amount of warmth and class at the same time.”
He agreed, and my mom asked me to get him a glass of wine.
I leaned up to kiss him again before wandering to the kitchen. “I’ll be right back.”
Watching him from the open kitchen, I took a few minutes to memorize his face. My heart hurt, and I pressed my fist to my chest, trying to rub out the pain. His mannerisms were controlled, tense; his smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Now that I was an observer, I could see something wasn’t right with him, and I wanted to put the blinders back on. Pouring us two glasses of wine, I joined him and mingled with the rest of my parents’ guests.
Shortly after nine o’clock, I grabbed Cole away from a couple of my fathers’ friends and dragged him downstairs to my room.