Page 30 of Chasin' Cole

“I don’t think you are,” I reach a hand up and caress his cheek.

"I'm tired," Cole yawns.

"Me too." But I don't think I'll be doin' much sleepin'.

My hand slides through Cole's dark hair as he dips his head, and his lips find mine.

Kissin'.

Kissin' Cole is all I want to do in this bed right now.

And so we do. We kiss and kiss and kiss. Until we’re both out of breath and all I want to do is pass out in his arms.

“How did my mom react?” I ask him as his eyes droop and his breathing deepens.

“Howard was fine with it,” Cole mumbles. “Your mom didn’t say anything.”

“They let you stay in my room,” I sigh. That means they’re not completely against us.

“They would have had to drag me out,” Cole chuckles. “I wasn’t going anywhere, and I made that clear.”

“Thank you for staying with me.” I pull his hand tangled with mine up to my mouth. I leave a chaste kiss before saying, “You are the only person I wanted to see when I opened my eyes.”

“How am I going to leave?” he shifts, holding me tighter against him. “All I’m going to do is worry about you.”

“We’ll figure it out,” I smile against his chest.

He drifts off to sleep as I listen to his steady heartbeat.

How am I going to survive when you leave, Cole? All I’m going to do is worry about you.

Chapter 10 – I Still Want Him

The smell of freshly ground coffee fills my senses as I wait by the window for my order. I stare out the pane glass, watching the passin' cars, and wonderin’ why autumn always seems to fly by. I'm not ready for winter. I’m not ready for the cold to set in or the barren, endless miles of highway.

I'm just not ready.

"Rose!" The sound of her voice causes a spear of sorrow to blaze across my chest.

"Emmeline," I turn and force a smile as the little girl races through the coffee shop.

Please don't break, Rose. Not here.

Emmeline wraps her arms around my neck the moment her mom appears in front of me. Our complicated history makes everythin' incredibly awkward.

Kenzie.

She was Brock's first girlfriend. Their rocky relationship was the talk of the town for years. She ended up cheatin' on him. Claimed it was Cole she was sleepin' around with when Brock finally figured out Emmeline wasn't his. Turns out it wasn't Cole she was sharin' a bed with. It was Rowdy Young, Brock's dad. I used to think he was my dad, too. Turns out he wasn't. He never was. He hasn't even called me since he left. Since we moved in with Howard. Rowdy disappeared from my life like a thief in the night.

18 years.

I spent 18 years thinkin' he was my dad. 18 years callin' him when I needed help. 18 years eatin' dinner with him, tellin' him about my day. 18 years of him being there for me, pretendin' to be my dad. But he wasn't. And even though he knew, he never told me. He just let me believe I was never good enough. What a waste.

Then one day, he left. Rowdy left and he never came back. He moved Kenzie and Emmeline, his real daughter, in with him and forgot about me. Forgot that he was a huge part of my life. He left. Like we were in the middle of eatin' a meal together and he disappeared into thin air. A vapor, a mist.Gone. Like he was never there in the first place. Who does that? What kind of person disappears and never comes back?

"I read Georgia Mackey's blog this morning." The words drip from her mouth like acid. "You and Cole are hooking up now? What are you doing, Rose? You know he’s nothing but trouble."

I run a hand over Emmeline's hair, my heart beatin' for the little girl who has to grow up with someone like Kenzie for a mom. Mama wasn’t much better, but Kenzie has no filter. She doesn't even care that Emmeline's too young to hear this conversation.

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