Page 115 of Broken Saint

“Boy has good taste,” she muses. “I mean, I already knew that because he’s obsessed with you, but still…”

“He is not obsessed,” I hedge.

“El,” she sighs. “That boy has been gone for you for years. He’s just too pig-headed and scared to see it.”

My heart flutters with the hope that what she’s saying is true.

It sure feels like it might be right now.

“What if all of this is too good to be true?” I ask, quietly voicing my biggest fear.

Colt is making it so easy to remember all the reasons I fell so hard for him back in college.

“You’re allowed good things to happen in your life. You deserve it. More than deserve it.”

“Things like this just don’t happen to me, though.” I hesitate, swallowing my nerves. “For years, this is all I’ve dreamed of, but I knew it was unreachable.”

“Colton has changed, El. He’s grown, and life has moved on. All that shit he used to spew in college is long gone.”

“Is it, though? You’ve seen him in the media just as much as I have.”

“Yes, but I’ve also seen him in real life. He hasn’t been happy for a while. The others have seen it, too. I think Kane knows more, but he won’t betray Colt’s trust. But I think he needs you right now just as much as you need him.

“I know this is probably easier said than done after everything, but you need to trust him, El. Trust him, and talk to him. There is so much more to him than the young man we knew at MKU. Find out who he is now.”

“You’re right,” I agree. “I’ve already seen it.”

“See? There you go,” she says, a wide smile pulling at her lips. “You’re both grownups now. Things change. How we see the future changes, and something tells me that he’s seeing you in his.”

“God, I hope so.” Tucking my hair behind my ear, I quietly voice something I haven’t even been able to admit to myself this far. “I want it, Let. I want all of it. Him. Here. This.”

Her eyes go all soft and sappy and she reaches for my hand.

“Then I’m not the one you should be telling.”

“What if I scare him off?”

“What if you don’t?”

31

COLTON

“What the fuck is that on your face, Bro?” West barks as I finally accept his call.

He should be as busy training as I am, seeing as we’ve got a game on Sunday, but when I grabbed my cell from my locker, I already had a handful of missed calls from him.

I knew why.

I’d ignored his last few messages, and he wanted details.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already spoken to Ella and knows everything.

Lifting my hand, I attempt to scrub the smile from my lips.

But I can’t fucking do it.

Kane, Luca, and the guys have been ribbing me about it all day.