Page 4 of Chasin' Cole

Then, I do somethin' incredibly stupid.

So, so stupid.

I slide closer. Too close. The front of his chest rubs against the front of mine, and I snake my arm around his neck. I'm clearly losing my mind from how handsome he is.

Or maybe it's heat stroke. Yeah, let's go with heat stroke. The heat has rendered me incapable of making sound decisions.

"Are you having a heart attack?" Cole furrows his brow. His arm instinctively wraps around my waist like he's afraid I might pass out at any moment. "Rose, what's wrong?"

I stare up at him. At all the years I spent chasin' after him. Chasin' him. I've been Chasin' Cole for a long time. Now that he's standin' in front of me, I caught him. Maybe just for a minute. But I caught him.

"Are you dying?" Cole frowns.

With his body this close, I just might.

I don't want to lose consciousness, though. I want to do something much morecarnal.

I push myself up off the sandy riverbed, my arm still holdin' onto Cole, and press my lips to his.

Like I said, stupid.So, so stupid.

Chapter 2 – He Who Nearly Shattered My Heart

I really have no idea what I'm doin' right now. I'm kissin' Cole, but I don't really knowhowto kiss. I've never kissed anyone before. This is my first kiss. I never imagined it'd be with Cole, but here we are.

I'm sure Cole has kissed many girls in his day, but he isn't moving. He's a statue as I shamelessly inhale his musky cologne.Birch. He smells like Mama's birch candle in the great room. The one she lights when Pastor Frank and his wife Darlene, come over for dinner.

My lips tremble against Cole's as I silently will him to respond to me.

Respond.

Respond.

Respond.

Kiss me back, Cole.

Come on!

He's either stopped breathing or I'm diggin' myself an early grave. Although, kissin' Cole might be the way I want to die. He's warm and familiar.

I move slowly against him, beggin' him to kiss me back. Beggin' him to acknowledge that there's a spark between us. One that's been callin' to me since the moment he stepped into the water.

Suddenly, he comes to life. His lips move against mine and itssublime. His hands roam my body like he's done it a thousand times before. Like I'm every back road he's ever been down. He knows every dip, every curve, every mile marker by heart.

His strong, calloused fingers slide through the damp strands of my hair, sendin' goosebumps up and down my arms. I smile against his lips as he tilts his head to the side, molding his mouth to mine. He's gentle and generous as he pulls me closer, every caress against my lips more insatiable than the last. It's divine. It's soft and sweet like fireflies dancing across the plains at sunset. Or early morning dew on tall blades of grass. Honeysuckle hangin' on a barbed-wire fence.

I squeeze my eyes shut tight and melt against him. Melt like wax to a flame. Where I used to be solid and firm, I'm quickly liquefyin' beneath his tender, torturous touch.

I'm kissin' Cole Strickland right now. And it's far better than any movie or book ever made it out to be.

I still don't know what I'm doin' as his hands find the backs of my thighs and he lifts me up. Cole helps me wrap my legs around his waist as my stomach sticks to his. The hard slabs of muscle that rock back and forth against my smooth skin.

My chest aches with a fluttery, frightening feelin' while I play with the inky curls at the base of his neck.

My other hand skims over the planes of his chest, his shoulders, his biceps, every muscle tensing beneath my touch. Butterflies zip in my stomach each time he reacts to me.

I've never touched a boy—a man—before. But there's something familiar about the way his body feels pressed against mine. Like a worn quilt I've slept under for years. The smell of rain before it falls from the light grey sky. The crisp autumn breeze ruffling my hair as I wander through amber fields in search of a lost calf.

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