Page 31 of Wasted

"Yeah." She chuckled. "I thought he was going to be mad, but he was so happy I wasn't stuck down here alone." She paused. "He loved you."

"What did he say when you told him you were marrying Caleb?" I worked my pants down. "Did he walk you down the aisle?"

"No," she whispered.

"Why?" I pulled on a dry pair of boxer briefs.

"Because there was no wedding." She sighed. "And because I never told him."

My brows pulled together. "Why not?" I turned, completely forgetting that we were changing, and my breath caught in my throat when my eyes dropped to her beautiful, tanned skin. I couldn't remember what we were talking about; it didn't matter. My hands twitched with the need to touch her.

Her chin dropped, and she glanced over her shoulder and out the corner of her eyes as her arm covered her chest.

I stepped forward, pressing my bare chest to her naked back. "Did my brother ever..." It wasn't any of my business. They were married, but I needed to know.

"No," she cut me off. "We never... We never even kissed. He shook my hand on our wedding day. We never would have done that to you."

A wave of relief washed over me. My large hands curled around her hips, pulling her harder against me, dropping my mouth to her shoulder as my eyes closed and I breathed in her sweet scent.

"Cole," she whispered, her body melting into mine. The heat of her body surrounded me, seeping into my bones as memories of when she was mine surged forward.

My eyes flashed open, and I snapped back to reality. "The storm should be over by now." I stepped back and leaned forward, grabbing her shirt and handing it to her. I needed to get out of here. I needed to breathe some fresh air. I grabbed the only pair of jeans in the box and realized just how skinny I was two years ago. I'd spent a lot of time in the gym taking out my frustration on the weights for the last two years. I spun around and sucked in a sharp breath. My eye raked over her bare legs and up to my t-shirt. The way her gaze trailed over me, her eyes filled with desire, made my dick twitch.

Fuck.

I stumbled back a step, my hand rubbing the back of my neck as I averted my gaze. "I'm going to, uh..." My throat bobbed as I swallowed hard. "I'm going to go make sure it's safe and..."

"I'll just come with you..."

"No, please." I paused, holding my hand out. I leaned forward, swiping my phone off the ground and shoving it into my unzipped jeans. "Please just give me a minute."

She nodded as her eyes softened with sadness, tugging on her shirt as she dropped to the couch. Fuck me.

I climbed up the stairs and shoved open the cellar door before crawling out and sucking in a deep breath of fresh air. It was still pouring down rain, but I welcomed the cool water thathit my heated skin. "What the fuck are you doing, man?" I ran a hand down my face, and my phone vibrated in my back pocket.

Pulling it out, I swiped right and pulled the phone to my ear. "Hey, everyone okay?"

"Yes, but we lost power. How about you two?"

"We're good." I shifted to glance back at the house that had no lights on. "Powers down here, too."

"Kylie and River are staying in the city for a couple of days because all the roads are blocked, and I'm going to crash with Colt and Daisy. You should stay with Taylor until the power comes back."

"No, Bailey," I said. "I can't stay here... with her." There was no way I could stay here with her. There was no way I could sleep this close to her and not have her.

"Sorry, brother, but we are out of options. Should only be a night or two." And the line went dead.

Fuck…

Chapter Seventeen

Taylor

What the fuck is happening?

Groaning, I dropped my head into my hands, which were propped up on my elbows, resting on my knees.

Cole came all the way over here to make sure I was safe, admitted that he didn't hate me, and confessed that he still loved me. A brief intimate moment passed between us, but before I had time to relish in it, it was over, and he was back to being cold and short with his words.

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