That was, like, the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me. “Thank you.”
“And then I find you here with Justin Silverstone.” Anger pulsed from him, each wave slamming into me. He placed two fingers under my chin and lifted my head. “So yeah, we’ll get this over with and go our separate ways.”
I had to purse my lips to hold in my protest. Had he meant go our separate ways permanently or just for tonight?
The moment I met those gorgeous purple eyes, the world vanished and my mind blanked. No longer were we standing—
—we were lying down, and he was on top of me. We were dressed, though my shirt had ridden up to just under my bra. Grass cushioned me. We were in a backyard, but it wasn’t mine. Sunlight spotlighted us, but we didn’t care. He had one hand on my stomach, and one on my face.
“Are you sorry?” he asked.
“No. Are you?”
“Never. I just wish we could—”
Someone laughed from inside the house, and the too-short vision vanished in a puff of smoke.
I gently beat at Cole’s chest. I think we were destined to be interrupted every time.
He accepted the abuse without comment. When I settled, I murmured an apology, unsure how many others I’d have to make tonight, and leaned my forehead against him, despite the fact that I wasn’t certain of my reception. His heart thumped wildly, a mimic of mine, and I took comfort in that.
“What do you think I was sorry about?” I asked.
“Your date with Justin?”
I hit him again.
“What? It was just a guess.” At least the anger had drained from him.
That was, hands down, my favorite vision, even though we hadn’t really done anything. Would have been nice to know what we’d done before the conversation—and what we’d been leading up to.
Whatever the answers, happiness began to flood me. Everything we’d seen had happened in some form or another. Therefore, Cole wasn’t done with me permanently. We would sprawl in someone’s backyard and touch and talk and…whatever else.
“Let’s go inside before I do something I’ll regret,” he muttered, ushering me to the door.
“Like what?”
“Like, I can’t say. Knowing you, you’ll run.”
Before he could open the glass, two boys I’d never met peeked out. They leered when they spotted me, even issued my mouth an invitation to the party in their pants—or tried to. Their words tapered off when they noticed Cole. They frowned and backed away, the color draining from their cheeks.
“You weren’t lying when you said everyone’s afraid of you,” I remarked.
“I know, and that’s the way I like it. No one asks me any questions about what I’m up to, they just expect the worst and keep their distance. You should take a lesson.”
“Ha! I’m not afraid of you, and I never will be.” I wouldn’t mention the times I had, in fact, been afraid of him.
“So you keep saying. But I’ll keep trying to change your mind.”
Cole held the door open for me, and I swept inside the house, purring, “With your lethal manners? Good luck.”
“Funny.”
Music thumped from speakers in the ceiling, voices and laughter mingling and creating a ragged soundtrack of chaos.
Kids meandered throughout, some drinking from plastic red cups, some chanting, “Go Tigers!” Some were more interested in talking, but a few were more interested in making out against the wall. I couldn’t locate Justin in the crowd, but can I just say that there was more T and A in here than in a bucket of the Kentucky Colonel’s best? Shirts were more bralike than anything and skirts and shorts were totally butt-tastic. I was way overdressed in my pink tank and jeans, but that hardly seemed like a good enough reason for all the girls to be looking at me with disgust.
Surely I was mistaken. Except, equally weird, the boys couldn’t keep their eyes off me, either, most of them leering at me just like the ones at the door. Twice I checked my zipper to make sure I wasn’t flashing pantie. (I wasn’t.)
“Be careful of snakes,” Cole said, and turned away from me. He tried to walk away.
I grabbed his wrist, stopping him. “At least tell me what Justin did to—”
“Nope, I’m not talking about that here.” He gazed pointedly at my hand.
O-kay. I released him. “Who’s running now?”
The taunt worked; he stayed put. For a long while, we simply stood there, silent. Finally, he massaged the back of his neck and growled, “Do you want to dance?”
“With your attitude?” And after what had happened the last time we’d danced in public? No. But that was not the word that left my mouth. “Yes.”
I should have continued my search for Justin. I shouldn’t have allowed Cole to pull me into the center of the action, but I did. Everyone else rocked out at a swift pace, but he hugged me close and swayed slowly.
This was my night to pretend I had no troubles, and I planned to pretend my heart out.
“What time do you have to be home?” he asked.
“Twelve-thirty. Why?”