Page 45 of The Pieces We've Lost

“I would rather have a hot fudge sundae,” an older man crooned.

“So, how did that go for you?” Colter raised his eyebrows as I came back to him, feeling slightly defeated.

“Shut up, cowboy.” I rolled my eyes.

“It’s okay, honey, not everyone can have amazing taste in ice cream.”

I raised my eyebrow at his use of “honey.” I playfully pushed away from him, pretending I was upset.

“Hey, it was just a joke.” He put his arm around me to try to console me, unaware of my sneak attack plan.

“Oh, I know, I just wanted to do this,” I teased right before I stuck the remaining scoop of my ice cream smack in the middle of his nose.

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that,” he roared as he tried to grab my arm and press his ice cream into my face.

I was too quick for him, though, and I raced away, knowing he was about to chase me through this park.

I ran as fast as I could, my lungs burning as I zigged and zagged through people. I was laughing as I ran, my ice cream melting down the cone and onto my hand.

This was arguably one of the best days of my life. I felt free, weightless, like all of my concerns about what dating a cowboy would entail had faded. In the moment, I didn’t care what it would mean for me, for us. I forgot about my vow to separate myself from rodeo, forgot about my dad’s death. I didn’t know what long distance dating a cowboy would look like, didn’t know if that was something Colter even wanted, but what I did know was that I didn’t want to let him go.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

colter

Iran behind Ellison after tossing my ice cream cone in a trash can, slowly catching up to her with each stride. When I finally caught up to her, I wrapped my arms around her, lifting her in the air and spinning her around, causing her melted ice cream to drip all over us.

“Stop. Colter, stop! I’m getting ice cream everywhere!” she squealed and laughed.

What a beautiful sound. I put her down, and she turned around to face me. There was sticky ice cream all over her hair and face, but she still looked radiant with the mid-afternoon sun casting a glow behind her hair like a halo.

“What are you looking at?” She turned her head to see if there was anything behind her.

“Just you.”

“Is there something on my face? Come on, Colter, tell me.”

God, I loved seeing her get all flustered like this. I mean, there was ice cream on her face, I wouldn’t lie about that, but that’s not what I was looking at.

I also didn’t lie when I said I was only looking at her.Because I was. I was looking at how her eyelashes perfectly framed her baby-blue eyes—eyes more vibrant than the clearest sky, more sparkling than the waters in the Maldives. The way her nose perfectly sloped, and her lips. She was perfection. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she was sent down from God himself.

“Here.” I swiped my thumb across her cheek where ice cream was dripping down, not answering her question of what I was looking at.

“Oh. Thanks.” She blushed, seemingly hyper aware of how intimate the interaction was.

I smiled at her, but then my phone started buzzing in my back pocket.Right on time.Figures someone would call me whenever Ellison and I were getting closer.

“Colter Carson,” I answered the phone as if a stranger was calling, even though I knew exactly who it was.

“Where the fuck are you?” Mikey’s voice growled on the other end of the line.

“Out.” I wasn’t going to tell him exactly where I was, or else I’d be hearing about it for the rest of the day and probably tomorrow too.

“Well, get your ass back to the trailer. It’s already four-thirty.”

Fuck. It’s already been an hour?

“All right, don’t bite my head off. I’ll be there soon.” I hung up the phone before he could say anything else. Since when was Mikey such a stickler for being on time?

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