Page 33 of My Return to the Walter Boys
From beside me, Alex cleared his throat. “Turn up the radio, will you?” he asked his older brother.
As soon as Cole complied, Alex nudged me in the side. His gaze moved from me to the driver’s seat, his eyebrows raised in question.
“Everything okay?” His unspoken words were clear—Everything okay with you two?
I gave him a reassuring nod. While everything was definitely not okay, I couldn’t talk about it now, not when Cole was trapped in the car with us. Alex looked like he wanted to push the topic further, so I pointedly avoided his gaze. Thankfully, he took the hint.
The car fell silent again save for the radio, and I spent the rest of the drive resisting the urge to look at Cole. He was watching me, I could tell. Would he be wearing that smug look, or had his expression turned sour again? I only allowed myself to glance up once the house came into view; if there was a scowl aimed in my direction, I could run away the moment we arrived. But Cole wasn’t glaring. His expression wasn’t smug either. I couldn’t quite decipher the look behind his eyes, but it was enough to make my stomach flip.
“Jesus, let me outta here,” Lee demanded before the Buick was even in park. “All this sexual tension is suffocating. Can’t you two bang it out already? It’s getting old.”
My entire body froze as mortification washed over me. Everyone quickly vacated the car—Nathan even climbed over me in an effort to escape when I didn’t move—until only Cole and I remained. After a long moment, Cole got out and pushed down his seat. Then, in a gesture I wasn’t expecting, he held out his hand. Despite my embarrassment, I placed my hand in his and let him pull me from the car.When I finally looked up to meet his gaze, he smiled at me. It was small and tight, but there was no arrogance behind it.
“Come on. I’ll walk you to the door,” he said, nodding toward the house as if I didn’t know the way.
The gesture felt like a peace offering, so I fell into step beside him. Neither of us spoke, the silence highlighted by the crunch of gravel under our feet as we made our way up the front walk. I debated potential conversation topics in my head, but was too afraid of saying the wrong thing. In the end, I waited for Cole to speak first.
“How’s being back at school?”
“Good,” I said, letting out a relieved breath. This was safe subject matter, easy even. I might bore Cole to death, but I could talk about classes, homework, and studying until I was blue in the face. “I joined student council.”
He snorted. “No surprise there, Little Miss Overachiever.”
“Erin’s running for president, and I’m her campaign manager,” I shot back.How’s that for surprising?
Cole fumbled with his car keys, which he’d been twirling around his finger. “You andErin?”
I nodded. “The election is this Friday.”
“Well,” he said after a moment, “all I can say about that is I’m glad I graduated. You two are going to terrorize the school.”
“Excuse me?” I stopped on the bottom porch step and turned to face him. Even with the added elevation, Cole was still taller than me.
“I bet there’ll be a no-talking-in-the-hallway rule by the end of themonth to prevent bullying and create an environment conducive to learning,” Cole replied, his eyes sparkling as he held in his laughter. “Endless fundraisers, a new dress code, and heath initiatives or some other bullshit.”
“Health initiatives?”
“Yeah, like mandatory Pilates or replacing soda in vending machines with vitamin water.”
I wrinkled my nose. “You’re ridiculous.”
He pushed his bangs out of his face and grinned at me. “I have to get back to work. See you later, New York.”
Momentarily dazzled by the sight of a real Cole Walter smile—eyes crinkled at the corners, singular dimple on display—I watched him walk away without offering a parting response. My brain didn’t reboot until he was halfway down the walk, so I kept my mouth shut instead of calling out a dumb goodbye ten seconds too late.
The past five minutes felt like a vivid dream or a brief window into an alternate reality where Cole and I were still on speaking terms, because there was no way the two of us had a real conversation. It was hard enough to believe Cole had been a gentleman by helping me out of the car and walking me to the door, but him speaking actual English words to me? Impossible.
Hell, the two of usbantered.
It was wildly jarring after all his angry silence, but when I considered the past few days, I realized Cole’s attitude toward me had shifted slightly. While not friendly by any means, he’d been significantly lesscold when we ran into each other around the house, and he even passed me the ketchup bottle at dinner last night. The timing of Cole’s change didn’t go unnoticed; it lined up with the conversation I had with his twin too well to be a coincidence, but in the grand scheme of things, did it really matter if Danny was responsible? If it meant I could finally stop walking on eggshells around Cole, I was grateful.
Seven
Colorado at night, especially on the ranch, was nothing like New York City. Once daylight faded away, the near-total darkness that replaced it was all-encompassing. The lack of streetlamps, neon signs, and passing headlights used to unnerve me, but now I found it calming.
I was sitting on one of the porch chairs, knees tucked up against my chest and a blanket wrapped around my shoulders, when the front door inched open. A figure slipped out through the gap, then eased the door back into place as quietly as possible.
My eyes were adjusted to the dark, and even though I couldn’t be sure, I had a pretty good idea of who was sneaking out based on their silhouette. “Lee?” I called quietly.
