“I’m going to ask that the judge considers the maximum sentence.”
“Good. Just a shame we don’t still have the death sentence.” I squeezed Cole’s hand. He was getting angry.
Once Linda had explained everything, we stood up. I was relieved to be leaving. “I’ll be in touch soon if anything has changed. You can call me if you think of anything else.”
“Thank you.”
“Thanks,” Cole replied.
We stepped out of the building, and I felt more scared than before. It was getting way too real now. I could no longer say it was months off or ages away: it was soon. I turned to Cole, and he wrapped his arms around me.
I gripped hold of him and buried my head in his chest.
“It’s going to be okay. I’ll be with you; I promise.” His lips pressed against the top of my head. “I never stopped loving you, Oakley,” he whispered into my hair.
I smiled and gripped him harder, needing to be closer. “I never stopped loving you.”
Chapter Eight
Cole
‘I never stopped loving you’. Those five words made me feel a thousand feet tall. I knew she hadn’t moved on or met someone else, but hearing the words meant everything.
She pulled back and gave me a weak smile.
“You gonna be okay?” I asked, trying to hold off kissing her.
“I’ll be fine,” she whispered, still gripping onto my T-shirt.
Her actions contradicted her words.
“I need ice cream. Do you have to get back to work or do you have some time?”
“I’m yours all day.”
Oakley smiled, and that playful glint returned to her eyes.
“They did fire you, didn’t they?”
“Why would they fire me? I’m a fucking legend!”
She laughed, quickly covering it up with a cough. That was what I wanted though, to make her laugh.
“I took a day’s holiday, actually.”
“You took a day off work so you could come with me?”
I’m not sure if I should be a little insulted that she was surprised. Of course I took the day off to go with her.
“Yeah,” I replied
“Thank you.”
“Any time. Now let’s go get some ice cream.” I grabbed her hand instinctively and led her towards my car. Her hand in mine felt so natural. When we were together like this, it felt like we’d never been apart.
Oakley scrunched her nose up. “I don’t like the new place. They should change it back.”
“Yeah I know. They won’t though. I already requested.”
“Really? They wouldn’t rip out all the new stuff and replace it with the old?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“You’re so sarcastic now. Australia was a bad influence on you.”
She shook her head.
“It’s not Australia. You just make it easy.”
Before I could react she pulled her hand out of mine and shot around to the passenger side of my car, laughing her beautiful head off. Seeing her smile and hearing her laugh was completely worth her teasing the crap out of me.
“Shut up and get in the car,” I said, repeating my words from earlier.
“Shut up and unlock the car,” she countered.
I tried not to grin as I unlocked the door. As soon as her hand reached out to grab the handle I locked it again.
“How old are you, Cole?”
Chuckling to myself, I unlocked it again and got in.
“You missed the turning,” Oakley pointed out as I purposefully drove past ice cream parlour.
“I know. We’re going somewhere else.”
“I knew it! Gay club, right?”
“You’re insulting yourself there, Oaks.”
She mumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t understand. Messing around with her was fun before, but now she had the confidence to properly give it back I loved it.
I parked in my drive and suddenly felt nervous. What if she thought I was some sort of weird creep? “We’re having ice cream at your house?”
“Yeah. Come on.”
Oakley followed me to the kitchen, where I made two milkshakes and two bowls of ice cream.
“Okay, follow me,” I mumbled.
She looked at me like I was crazy as I got her to hold the tray while I opened the garage door.
“We’re having ice cream in your garage?”
“Trust me.”
I took the tray off her and led her around the old wardrobes, car parts, and cardboard boxes. Taking a shaky breath, I walked around the clothes rail and stopped as I saw it. She gasped, and I knew she’d seen it too.
“What…” Oakley trailed off.
I didn’t turn around. I was scared to see whatever look she had on her face right now.
“Why is this here?”
Finding some courage, I turned to face her.
“I bought it.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You bought our booth?”
At the back of the garage, tucked away in the corner, was our booth. They were selling the old booths, tables, and chairs when they did the remodelling, and I bought the one we spent so much time in. It was kind of stupid, but it felt like the last little bit of her left to me, and I couldn’t let it go.
“Yeah, I bought it.”