Me: Will try my best.
“Ask me something,” Cole said after I’d set the phone on the cart beside the bed.
“Like what?” I said, confused.
“Anything you want to know. You ask, and I’ll answer. I want you to get to know me better. Before, you said we didn’t know each other well enough, that the vision brought us together.”
Carte blanche? Yes, please. So sure this is meaningless? “Who was your first time?” I asked.
He snorted, saying, “Wow, okay. You aren’t messing around, are you? And just so you know, I don’t usually discuss these kinds of details with anyone. For you, though... I was fifteen, and she was twenty-one, the daughter of one of my mother’s friends. I lasted about five seconds.”
I tried to swallow my giggles, failed. “Ugh, I shouldn’t be laughing at your extremely poor seduction skills. Because, Cole, that pervy woman totally took advantage of your childhood innocence.”
He barked out a laugh, the sound rusty but so danged welcome. “You are too adorable for words.”
“Why? It’s true.”
“Maybe.”
Not maybe. “If a twenty-one-year-old man had sex with me when I was fifteen, would you be laughing?”
He instantly sobered. “Okay. Point taken.”
“Tell me her name. I’m going to track her down and knock her teeth down her throat.”
“As hot as that is, no. She’s part of a past I’d now like to forget. But...I’m glad you never slept with anyone. I don’t like the thought of you with anyone else, probably would have fed the fuc—uh, the guys more than teeth.”
Must resist this possessive, charming side of him. “Do I get another question?”
“You get as many as you want.”
He sounded determined.
I’d probably make him regret that.
“Did you sleep with Veronica?”
He stiffened, but he didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes. But it was over a year ago, when we were dating.”
“Mackenzie?”
“Yes. Months ago, for a little while after we’d stopped dating. Then I met you, and that was over.”
“Others?”
“Yes. You want the exact number?”
“No,” I grumbled. Yes. Maybe. “Am I the only girlfriend not to go all the way with you?”
“No,” he said. “But I wouldn’t change anything about what we’ve done—and haven’t done. I wanted—want—you ready for me, not sleeping with me because it’s supposedly expected. I would wait forever for you.”
Oh, glory, this totally meant something.
Are you sure you need to resist him? “Yes, well. You might have to.” I cleared my throat. “Next, I have an observation rather than a question.”
His arms tightened around me. “Go on.”
“Sometimes you call Mackenzie and Veronica by cutesy nicknames. Kenz and Ronny. It’s hurtful to the girl you’re with.”
“Do I?” He toyed with the ends of my hair. “I hadn’t realized. It’s a habit, I guess. We all parted as friends.”
“Well, we didn’t,” I pointed out, now a little hurt by that, too. “I mean, we tried, but it clearly wasn’t working.”
He pressed his lips together to cut off a...frown? Smile? “A. Dor. A. Bull. Baby, I still wanted you, still considered you mine and didn’t want to share you with Gavin. There was no way I could be friendly about it.”
Dying here...
He kissed my temple. “Enough chatting. We’ve got two and a half hours before I have to drive you home, and I want you rested. If you’re feeling better by Thursday night, I plan to take you to a party to celebrate the Tigers’ winning football season. Since we don’t have school on Friday, everyone always kicks off the four-day weekend early.”
A chance to act normal. “I’ll go to the party, one way or another. And I’m not tired.”
He chuckled. “Sure you’re not. Your eyelids are already half-closed.”
“No, they’re...”
I don’t remember finishing that sentence.
* * *
I woke up in Cole’s arms.
The alarm on my phone had gone off. He must have set it before he’d fallen asleep. He never even twitched, his expression relaxed, almost boyish, and I smiled as a deep well of affection spilled over. Looking at him now, no one would ever suspect his violent nightly activities.
Trina sat beside the bed, reading a book. When I stirred, she glanced up and said, “About time,” and closed the cover. Dare You To, by Katie McGarry. “I want you to know I was upset when I saw the video of you going after Cole so viciously. I still don’t understand it, but I’m sorry I never gave you a chance to explain.”
“Thank you,” I said, and I meant it.
Mackenzie strode into the room. “Heard voices,” she said. Then, “Hey.”
“Hey,” I replied.
“You look better.”
“Thanks.”
Cole stirred, stretched.
“Okay, time for us to go bye-bye.” Trina stood.
“But I just got here,” Mackenzie complained.
Trina gave her a push toward the exit. “Ali, do yourself a favor and take a shower before he wakes up. Like, seriously.”
Was I that bad?
The two strode from the room. I eased from the bed and nearly toppled to the floor as my knees shook under my weight. There was a bathroom around the corner, and though I was nervous about looking into the mirror, I did it.
Yeah, I was that bad.
There was no hint of Z.A., thank God, but my hair was styled in what could only be dubbed Last Year’s Ugliest Rat’s Nest. There was a big black bruise on my cheek, a slice in my lip, a knot on my jaw. So pretty.
Someone had cut away my blood-splattered clothing and put me in a paper-thin hospital gown. Three possible suspects. Cole, Mr. Ankh and Mr. Holland. There wasn’t a front-runner, each equally bad. When Cole first saw me naked, I didn’t want it to be like this.
Wait. When?
I’d just told him we weren’t getting back together.
I’d meant it. Hadn’t I?
Now, looking back on the conversation without the fog of anger and pain...and need...I wasn’t so sure. What I did know? Staying away from him didn’t actually have anything to do with a roller coaster. I’d never actually ridden on one, but I bet they were exciting. They had to be; people kept going back for more.
Was I punishing him for the hurt he’d caused me? Or was I simply afraid of losing him again and doing exactly as he had done?