I’m here to keep Cole fed with healthy food, not to have him dry-humping me on his bed.
I make quick work of getting everything ready for him, and when he appears wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of gray sweats, I’m busy cleaning the already spotless counter just for something to do.
“You’re freaking out,” he observes as he moves closer, his long legs eating up the space between us in seconds.
“I’m not,” I argue, but we both know I’m lying.
He pulls his stool out and sits down before holding his hand out for me.
“Come here,” he demands, and my legs move of their own accord, powerless but to do as he says.
The second I’m in touching distance, he wraps his arm around my waist and effortlessly lifts me onto his lap.
“What are you doing?”
“Enjoying my snack,” he says as he reaches for a breadstick and swipes it through the homemade hummus dip.
“Shit, this is good,” he says after he’s swallowed his first bite.
He repeats the action, but this time, he holds the breadstick out for me to try.
I’m not hungry, but I can’t deny him.
I nod as I chew, happy with the layers of flavor I’ve managed to create.
We spend the next fifteen minutes sitting at the counter with me on his lap as he devours the after-game snacks I made him. He eats all of it one-handed, never once releasing his grip on me.
“You’re staying tonight, right?” he asks once he’s done.
I glance at the clock on the wall on the other side of the vast room. It’s past midnight; does he really think I’d be considering going back to my parents’ when I’ve practically made myself at home in the guest room?
“Yeah, I’m staying,” I confirm.
“I’m not going to be able to sleep yet, but…did you want to come to bed with me? We can watch TV for a bit.”
Do I want to get in bed with Cole Hansley?
Is that a trick question?
“We don’t have to do anything, and if you’d be happier in the guest room, I understand. I’m just not ready for our night to end yet.”
I study him, sensing his anxiety in asking this in the first place. I’m certainly not the only one who’s feeling out of sorts with this new situation between us. “We can go and watch TV in your bed.”
The smile he gives me tells me that I made the right decision, and not a second later, Cole has swung me up into his arms, gotten to his feet, and he’s carrying me toward his bedroom.
“Wait,” I cry before he slips inside. “I need my room first. I need to take my makeup off and get changed, and?—”
“Okay,” he says, swinging a right and walking into my room.
Unlike his, nothing has a place. There is stuff everywhere.
I wince—he must hate having such chaos in his nicely ordered home. But he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t even look at it all. His attention is fully focused on me.
“If I leave you here, you’re not going to freak out and change your mind, are you?” he asks, knowing me too well.
“I won’t change my mind,” I assure him. “But just in case you’re worried, if I’m not there in fifteen minutes, you can come and get me.”
“Deal,” he states before kissing my cheek and marching out of the room. “I know you’re looking,” he teases a beat before he disappears.
