Page 65 of Not Before Game Night
Really?
Too late. I’d fallen.
The emotions that swept through me came with a force I couldn’t grasp.
It was truth, it was real, and it was me. It splintered my mind with the passion that coursed between us, and as we came together, I knew there was nothing I could do about it but accept it.
He pulled me into his arms and held me. How could I resist this when it fell so right?
How could I deny this?
I loved him. I loved Cole, but I …
I didn’t think he could love me too. I didn’t know if he could or if that was what he wanted.
I didn’t think he loved me.
The dark thought hit me, and a reminder of Gage’s words. Guys like Cole just want fun.
Well, for me it stopped being about fun.
Morning came, and we lay in each other’s arms in silence. We’d ended up downstairs on the floor of the living room. Earlier, we’d come down to eat, and he’d ended up eating me instead.
I was listening to his heart beating steadily within his chest, and he was thinking. I couldn’t begin to guess what he was thinking about because my poor mind was a sea of thoughts. A myriad of a million thoughts and possible scenarios of how I was going to love a man I wasn’t sure loved me.
I thought of my parents, who’d always been such great examples to me. They were my first people I took note of to shape my life around. I’d always wanted the love they had. I was the weird kid who’d always be staring at them to see how they behaved with each other. How Dad always found some excuse to come see Mom in the middle of the day at work, and that was outside the usual breakfast and lunch meeting. And Mom was always on the phone to Dad. They took Fridays off for themselves, not allowing their busy lives to get in the way of spending time together.
The biggest thing of significance with them was that they made things simple. They were always on the same page, and nothing was complicated.
What I had now was complicated because I didn’t know what Cole and I were. I couldn’t and hadn’t told people he was my boyfriend, even though people at large knew we were seeing each other. That was a given after the gossip that flooded social media and the papers.
I just didn’t think it was wise to assume more.
“I want another painting of you,” he said, breaking the silence.
I lifted my head and looked at him.
“Another one?”
“Yes.”
I smiled when he ran his finger over my cheek. It was funny how I’d been so wrapped up in my thoughts, but the slightest touch from him could bring me right out.
I was about to say yes when we heard the main door to the house open.
Cole frowned and sat up. “Who the hell is that?” he muttered.
Thank God I had the good sense to grab the blanket next to us and cover myself because two seconds later, his mom pushed the door open to the sitting room and walked in on us.
Us together on the floor, naked.
I gasped in horror and hoped like hell she didn’t think I was some kind of slut. I supposed, though, that this meeting didn’t exactly lend to any other conclusions. Me on the floor of the sitting room wrapped in a blanket, clearly naked, with her son didn’t say anything other than sex.
I’d seen her many times, but we hadn’t officially met, and this wasn’t the way I’d imagined meeting her.
“Jesus, Mom!” Cole shouted.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Patricia Buchanan winced, face completely scarlet.
