Page 25 of Come Back to Me
Cole smiles, puts his hands on my shoulders, and turns me around to admire the view.
“Be quiet and look.” He wraps his arms around me and kisses the side of my head. We stand for a few minutes looking out, and then out of nowhere, he confides, “I gave my heart away a long time ago, and I refuse to take it back.”Refuse, present tense.
I hate her, whoever she is. I also hate that my heart just broke into a million pieces, because he just confirmed that he will never be fully free to love me. Being disappointed that I can’t have him is proof that I really want him, more than just for tonight.I want Cole Parker to be mine.I have no idea how this got so intense so fast, but even more pathetic is that I might be happy to take whatever he is able and willing to give. I’m falling for him.
Before I fall into sadness, he turns me around and kisses me long and deep. When he pulls away, I’m breathless. He brushes my hair from my face. “You can grab a shirt from the top drawer, I’m sure it will fit as a nightgown of sorts.” Then he walks out the door.
When it closes, I exhale a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I grab a shirt from the top drawer and inhale his scent. I love the way he smells, crisp and soapy with something that just screamsman. I hurry into the bathroom, to change and freshen up.
I look flushed in the mirror, my cheeks are rosy from smiling and my eyes are sparkling from laughing. Happiness is pretty! I barely know him, and this is what he does to me. I’m already an addict.
When I come out, Cole is sitting up in bed, reading emails on his laptop.
Without looking up, he pats the bed next to him and like Pavlov’s dog, I crawl in and lay my head on his chest. He kisses the top of my head and says “I’ll be five more minutes and then you will have my undivided attention.”
Five minutes is fine. Five minutes is good. I can barely focus, he’s shirtless in just pajama bottoms. His abs are insane and the feel of his chest against my cheek is heating up my insides. I am secretly regretting that whole cuddle idea.
I run my hand across his stomach and curl closer to him, and with that he closes his laptop and places it on the bedside table.
“Now,” he says in a teasing, ominous tone, “let’s get down to business.”
He scoots down until we are lying face to face, my heart racing because I know he is going to kiss me, and then he says, “favorite take-out?”
My eyes get wide, “seriously?”
“Yes, is that too personal? Okay, we can start light. Favorite sexual position?”
“Ha! Okay, so we are getting to know each other?”
“Well, yes. I told you, I want all of you.” He squints at me, “And you need to break up with Jerry.”
“It’s… Jack.”Oh my God! I almost said Jake.
Cole smiles, smugly satisfied. Ugh, jerk!
I try a different approach… “Bringing back the memory of that dinner isn’t helping your ‘get to know each other’ plan.”
He smiles again. “Just answer one question. Which question, well that’s your choice?”
“Chinese. I’m partial to shrimp fried rice and eggrolls.”
“Favorite color? No wait, favorite childhood memory. Start with that one.” He looks like a child at Christmas, waiting to open his presents.Does he think of me as a gift he’s opening?
“Ha ha ha, will I get to ask any questions?”
“No, I ask the questions. You are more interesting. Now answer.”
“You are insane!”
“Just crazy about you.” Suddenly his smile fades to a smoldering gaze that makes me heart leap in my chest.I’m in trouble!I lean in and kiss him; I can’t stop myself.
He keeps his eyes closed for a second longer than necessary, as if he is committing it to memory. When he opens his eyes he says, “Answer!”
We go on like that for most of the night, him hounding me with questions and receiving the answers with appreciation and applause. Every once in a while, he answers a question from me. I find out that he has a sizable tattoo (it looks like a bunch of longitudes and latitudes) that runs down one side of his body, although he won’t tell me the meaning. He asks everything about me from my favorite color to my favorite band. Occasionally we stop to debate, like when he swears chocolate and fudge are basically the same.Not even a little!!I’m not sure exactly when we stop, but sleep overtakes us and halts our perfect night together.
It’s the middle of the night when I wake up. I cannot figure out where Cole’s body ends and mine begins. We are a tangled mess and I could easily lie here and enjoy this, but I have to pee. I pry him off me and step quietly to the bathroom, where I take a second to stand in front of the mirror and think about the night. Everything has been perfection, even the rough parts. I walk back to bed and when I start to climb in, I notice it’s empty. I look around and don’t see Cole, so I go out to the living room, and as I pad through the wide open room I hear ice clink in a glass. I look to my left to see Cole sitting in a club chair, swirling the dark liquid in his glass.
I’m frozen; I can feel it.I can feel his lust.