I shook my head, surprised he was spilling all this to me, but kind of really touched by it too. “Okay, you can’t just vague bomb me like that and not expect me not to want to know what you’re talking about.”
“Fine, here’s one example. When I was nine, my family went to this park to have a picnic. My sister, Caroline, and her husband, Ten, took me down this condemned walking trail to see a waterfall. But the place was condemned because of really bad ground erosion around the river. Well...I got too close to the side and began to fall in, but Ten jumped forward and pulled me back, only to fall in himself.”
I sucked in a breath. “Did he…?”
“He lived,” Colton reassured me. “But he got a pretty good bash on his head that put him in a coma for a while. Then when he woke, he’d lost his memory. It took Caroline to help him get that back. Today, he’s fine except for a nasty scar on his face, which reminds me every time I see it that I’m responsible for it.”
I turned around to face him and cupped his beautiful flawless face in my hands. I knew as I stared into his eyes that he wished he could’ve taken on the coma, memory loss and scarring his brother-in-law had suffered himself.
“Maybe you should see it as a reminder of how much you’re loved,” I said.
He studied my face right back, and I could tell he wanted to disagree. But he murmured, “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Then he grinned. “All the same, it’s just as well you and I are only fucking here. I mean, if we’d actually attempted some kind of relationship or something, I’d probably just end up failing you too.”
He closed his eyes as if he were going to fall asleep on me but it was only late afternoon, so he had to be faking it to avoid more conversation.
But I leaned toward him anyway and murmured, “Somehow, I kind of doubt that.” Then I placed a light kiss to the middle of his forehead.
His lips quirked in a pleased grin, and his arms tightened securely around me as he made a comforted sound from his throat.
A long breath eased from his lungs and his body relaxed against mine. When I realized he really was falling asleep, I decided a little nap might not be so bad. This cuddling business really was awesome. Anything to prolong it sounded good. So I settled my cheek against his chest, wrapped my arm around his waist and closed my eyes.
When I woke again over an hour later, he was gone.
My heart short-circuited with disappointment until I noticed the note by my pillow.
I creased the letter how he’d had it folded in the first place and pressed it to my chest before grinning madly.
Monday couldn’t come soon enough.
COLTON’S CHAPTER | 19
I felt weird the next day. I wanted to text Julianna, call her, go see her, spend the entire day inside her. I knew she said she had to work today, but that wouldn’t be until this evening. She probably had all morning and early afternoon free. If I’d played my cards right, I could’ve spent that entire time in her bed.
But, no. It kind of freaked me out how badly I wanted to be with her. So I refrained from all contact.
Okay, mostly all contact. I’d had to send her one message first thing this morning.
You know, just so she wouldn’t forget she’d made an arrangement with me and wouldn’t try to schedule something else Monday night. It was just a reminder, not any kind of hi-how-are-you-I-miss-you-I-want-back-inside-you bullshit. No. Definitely not.
But my heart still skipped into overdrive when I saw that she’d read the message and was typing out a reply.
When only two numbers popped onto my screen, I laughed out loud.
Across the room, the sheets on Beau’s bed rustled as he came awake. Shit. I’d woken the kid.
Oh well. It was worth it. Julianna had responded and made me smile.
Grinning madly, I typed:
She sent back the middle finger emoji, so I sent back the face blowing a kiss.
And my day was made.
It being Saturday, I had no classes, nor did Noel have to teach or get the kiddos to their sitter. This either meant Aspen was going to be overwhelmed and grow irritated with us all for being home together all day, or she’d be happier because she wasn’t stuck alone yet again while we were gone.
Preparing for the worst but hoping for the best, I walked Beau from our room and down the hall toward the kitchen. We both fell to a surprised halt when we reached the doorway to find Aspen out of her room and pacing the floor with Lucy Olivia in her arms.
“Mama!” Beau cried ecstatically and surged forward. I reached forward to stop him, but he slipped right through my fingers. “Do you feel better? You’re not sick anymore?” He threw his arms around her legs and hugged her tight.