Page 58 of Crazy for You
I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. I was blown away that Grady would even tell anyone about that. Grady was too proud to show his embarrassment.
“He’s a good guy,” Colton added. “I see how he can be an ass, but he has a big heart.”
I was slowly coming around to see a different, good side to Grady. But if he hurt Mia in any way, I would definitely break his QB arm.
Colton pushed to his feet and extended his hand. “Come on, baby doll. I need to change your oil.”
I accepted his hand, blushing at his pet name for me. “Among other things.” I wagged my eyebrows, hoping he caught the underlying message as I collected my bag.
He nodded my way, giving me the most brilliant smile I had yet to see on him. “For sure.”
Another blush washed over me, and I swore I didn’t need to have sex with him. The way he looked at me with so much want in his eyes, I could have an orgasm right there.
Out of nowhere, he plastered on a serious expression. “I want you to know something. I don’t sleep around, Skyler. And while I’m dying to feel what it’s like to be inside you, I’m not ready. My head isn’t ready.”
My jaw plummeted to my feet at the honesty in his voice and at the sheer strength he had to exert when his erection, which hadn’t gone down, was still so glaringly evident.
He stood toe-to-toe with me. “You deserve someone who is all in.”
I shuddered from equal parts disappointment and excitement. In one breath, I wanted to cry. I wanted to beg him for so much. But I understood he had to sort out the mess at home. In the next, he wasn’t telling me he didn’t want me, and that meant there was hope for us. I clung to that hope, and the idea that one day our paths would meet again.
Then something hit me. “Amanda Gelling,” I said. She’d bragged that she’d screwed Colton five times.
“I’m not interested in her, Skyler, and no, I didn’t sleep with her. I know she told you we did, but she was just getting under your skin. We did kiss, and she didn’t do it for me.” His tone was resolute.
I believed him. He wasn’t trying to get in my pants, and he didn’t seem like a person who lied, either. “When are you leaving, Colton?”
He looked out to sea, seemingly reflecting on the past or maybe the future. “Next weekend.”
Pouting, I followed his line of sight, zeroing in on the whitecaps that crested over the tops of waves. “A storm is coming in,” I said mostly to myself, hoping to quell the sadness that was seeping in.
He reached out and took my hand. “Thank you, Skyler, for listening. For being there for me.” He sounded like it was the last time I would see him.
I staved off tears and squeezed his hand. I wasn’t going to cry. I wasn’t going to break down. Not yet, anyway. I had a week to try to convince him to stay.
I prayed that I could.
22
The next morning, tears slid down Georgia’s face as she hugged Dad. “You’re a great man, Mr. Lawson, and so undeserving of this. Please know I love you with all my heart.”
I held back tears as I stood at the end of Dad’s bed. I loved my BFF more in that moment than ever before. She was more than a friend. She was the sister I’d never had.
Georgia sniffled as heels clicked on the hardwood, the sound echoing in the hall before Nan waltzed in.
Dad’s face lit up as if Nan had come to save him. But I knew Dad adored her. In another life, I had no doubt Dad would’ve asked her out. She wasn’t Mom, but she was just as pretty. Her dark hair was coiled in a sleek bun, her crisp white blouse hung over her blue pencil skirt, and her tan-and-blue heels made her legs look longer than her five-foot-three-inch height.
With a smile all for my dad, she said, “Morning. How is everyone?”
Georgia dabbed the underside of her eyes, careful not to ruin her mascara. “You look fantastic, Nan. I’m used to seeing you in your scrubs.”
Nan blushed. “Why thank you, Georgia.”
“How was Sunday mass?” I asked Nan. She didn’t take much time off, except for church and a few hours here and there to run errands. On those days, I stayed with Dad.
“The priest gave a great sermon this morning,” she said. “You two”—she wagged a finger at Georgia and me—“should accompany me one Sunday. Well, one of you, anyway. The other would have to stay with your father.”
Georgia raised her hand. “Take Skyler. I’ll stay with Dad.”
