“Tomorrow?” Mum said and hugged her.
Oakley smiled. Everyone else had said goodbye. I wasn’t quite sure what to do. Well, I knew what I wanted to do, but it was completely inappropriate in front of an audience. Screw it. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her.
She gripped hold of me and buried her head in the crook of my neck. I felt like I could breathe again. I had missed this so much. She clung onto me as if she was afraid I was going to disappear if she didn’t. I gently pressed my lips to the top of her head and held her tighter.
I didn’t want to let go, even when her arms loosened around my waist. She had to leave though. Gritting my teeth, I let go. When she took a step back, I felt like I was being kicked in the gut.
She stared up at me with those sky-blue eyes and said, “See you soon?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow.” Twenty-four hours away. Man up, Cole!
“That sounds good,” she replied and bit her lip nervously, releasing it as she smiled. I groaned internally: she was sexy as hell.
“Oakley, get your tiny backside in the effing car,” Jasper shouted, breaking our probably not-even-a-moment moment.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s my cue. Bye, Cole.”
I nodded once. “Bye.”
Mum closed the door, and Mia turned to me. “Well, well, well.”
Holding my hand up, I said, “Don’t say a word.”
Chapter Five
Oakley
I felt as if I had been in the boxing ring with Mike Tyson. I had been travelling for almost a day, but that wasn’t the exhausting part. At least our first meeting was over, and hopefully the next time we saw each other things would be okay.
“How did it go?” Mum asked as soon as I was in the car and closed the door.
“Better than I expected, actually. I thought he would shout and chuck me out.”
Jasper turned in the seat. “He was never going to chuck you out.” Yeah, I knew that really. He had every right to though. “So he still loves you then.”
My jaw dropped open. Did Jasper have absolutely no respect for anyone’s privacy. “You listened!”
“Yeah of course I listened! Well, I tried to. I only heard that bit before I was hit repeatedly by Kerry. You wanna do that girly thing where you over-analyse every little detail? What did it mean that he sat so close to you? Did it mean anything? Was it accidental or—”
“Shut up, Jasper,” I snapped. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Isn’t this the kind of shit girls do?”
“You’re not a girl.”
“Yeah but you have no friends, so I thought I’d try cheering you up.”
I stared at him blankly, hiding how much I wanted to shove him out of the car. “Thank you, that really helped,” I replied dryly.
He wasn’t wrong. I didn’t really have friends. There were a few girls at work I spoke to and occasionally went out with, but I wasn’t particularly close to them. I didn’t want to get close to anyone.
“Enough now, Jasper,” Mum said, shaking her head at him. Jasper was stuck inside a teenage boy’s mind, and I wasn’t ever sure he would grow up.
“Was it nice to catch up with Jenna?” I asked to change the subject.
I saw her smile in the mirror. “It was. I worried that it would be awkward at first, but it’s like we’ve never been apart.” See, that was true friendship. I envied Mum a little for having that. But then it was my own fault I didn’t.
We pulled into Ali’s drive, and nothing about their house had changed from the outside. She was still planting the same flowers and had the little water fountain in the front garden. It was nice to see.
The front door burst open and Ali came flying out. Mum jumped from the car and ran into her sister’s arms.
“Great, I forgot how crazy those two are together,” Jasper said, opening the car door. Like he could complain about anyone else being crazy…
“Oakley, sweetheart,” Ali whispered and pulled me into a hug. “Are you okay?” She pulled back to watch my response.
I smiled. “I’m fine, just a little tired from all the travelling.”
“Oh, come in, come in.”
Inside we were hugged by Lizzie, and just as I was hoping to go to bed, Lizzie grabbed my hand. “We have so much to catch up on.” I shot Jasper a desperate look. It had been a long flight. I was tired and ever-so-slightly emotional from seeing Cole. I did not need to be dealing with Lizzie as well.
“Go on,” he said and smiled smugly.
I mouthed, ‘I hate you’ and turned, letting Lizzie drag me upstairs. I suppose getting it over with now would mean I wouldn’t have to dread her gossip filled conversation tomorrow. I didn’t like gossip.
The second her bedroom door was closed, she pulled me to her bed, and we sat down. “How was it seeing Cole? Did you have one of those romantic reunions or was he pissed at you?” she questioned.