*
The smell of chlorine hit me as I followed Cole into the sports center and a wave of nostalgia crashed over me. I had loved swimming when I was a kid. Every summer, during the school holidays, Logan would take Amanda and me to our local swimming pool once a week. Sometimes I managed to squeeze two trips a week out of him. My brother never abandoned us if his friends showed up, no matter how much he got teased for hanging out with his little sisters. He was always watching out for us, entertaining us.
“You okay?” Cole glanced back at me as we walked down a cream-colored tiled corridor.
“Yeah. I was just thinking if I wasn’t so curious to see you in class I could have gone swimming instead. I haven’t swum in ages.”
He grinned. “Next time.” We stopped outside gray double doors with large half-circle windowpanes. Through them we could see into a good-sized court that was being used as a training room for Cole’s judo class. There were a number of people milling around inside—a few guys around Cole’s age and older, a number of kids aged eight to about fifteen, and two women who looked just a little older than me. There were two faces I recognized: Cam and Nate. According to Cole this was Nate’s class that he taught and it included all different skill levels. Cole’s other judo class during the week was one he attended with Nate and Cole held by a sensei higher in rank than them—it was black belts only.
Cole had changed into his suit after work. It was a blue Adidas suit like Nate, Cam, and their companion wore, and Cole’s belt was also black. I didn’t know what any of the belt colors in the room meant, but I knew black belt was higher than the others in rank. Cole had given me a quick run-through in the car. Although my brain had been a little too preoccupied—with thoughts of Renee and women like her, the fact that my birthday was fast approaching and I still hadn’t heard from my family, the fact that I desperately wanted to visit Logan but knew he didn’t want to see me, and the fact that I felt guilty because Cole was making me happy while my brother rotted away in jail—to pay enough attention to remember.
It struck me that Logan would like Cole. I knew that without a doubt.
But then I threw Logan out of my thoughts because they were likely to pull me into a dark depression, and instead I looked up at my boyfriend.
Since martial arts were such a big part of Cole’s life, I’d gotten a little nosy. I wanted to see what it was all about. Cole became overenthusiastic about my nosiness, assuming that my interest was due to a desire to possibly start taking instruction. He’d suggested I observe a class to see if it was something I might like to try. I was happier with Cole thinking I was curious about martial arts rather than him realizing I was just a little Cole-obsessed right now.
“Ready?”
I nodded and he pushed the door open, holding it for me as I walked into a roomful of strangers who all turned to look curiously at me. Cole dumped his gym bag in the corner and then took my hand, leading me over to Nate and Cam.
They greeted me with smiles of welcome and I relaxed a little.
“So you’re here to observe.” Nate grinned, giving me his dimples.
“If that’s okay?”
“No problem. I’m just surprised Cole’s willing to let you watch him get his arse kicked.”
Cole laughed. I loved watching him laugh. Loved the way his eyes actually glittered brightly with humor, loved the crinkles around the corners of them, loved the boyish grin that always accompanied his laughter. “You’re about to eat your words, old man.”
Nate harrumphed. “I’ll old-man you. Get in line.”
*
An hour and a half later
“He kicked your butt.”
Cole shrugged at me as he approached. Nate had just finished the class and everyone was dispersing to the changing rooms. “I let him. I was feeling charitable.”
“Charitable, my arse,” Nate said behind him as he grabbed his gym bag off the floor.
Cole smirked at him and turned back to me. He leaned in, smelling of fresh sweat and radiating massive amounts of heat. My lips tingled after he brushed a soft kiss over them. “I’m just going to jump in the shower. I’ll meet you in reception.”
I nodded and watched him walk out with Nate.
“So, does he know?”
I jerked my gaze from the door where Cole and the rest of his classmates had exited, surprised to find Cameron had stayed behind. He stood in front of me in the now-empty studio, his gym bag tossed over his shoulder. After everything Cole had told me about his past, I couldn’t help feeling this strange gratitude and warmth for Cam, even though I barely knew him. “Sorry?”
“Does he know?”
“Know what?”
Cole’s brother-in-law took a few steps toward me, his dark blue eyes pinning me to the spot with their intensity. “That you’re in love with him.”