She looks at me with raised brows. "Well, sure! Why wouldn’t I?" A broad smile appears on her face. "You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Kind, honest, nonjudgmental, and just… I don’t know… sweet. One can’t help but like you."
My heart warms because no one has ever said anything so nice to me.
"Cole doesn’t like me," I then mutter, though, averting my eyes.
"Bullshit. He’s just too guarded to show it," she says as she puts an arm around my shoulders to pull me into her. "He may not even know it himself yet, but hedoeslike you. Trust me."
I want to believe her. A tiny part of me even does. But the cold look he gave me not just once won’t leave my head.
"Let’s keep watching the movie," Jules decides and presses the button on the remote control. "Otherwise, we’ll still be sitting here tomorrow morning," she adds, laughing, and I can’t help but join in because, despite everything, I’ve never had as much fun as I have tonight.
When I’m awakened by the sound of water rushing through the pipes, I have no idea what time it is. Jules and I have been awake forever, but it seems like it’s still night, which is why I need a moment to get my bearings. The TV is still on, but there is only a gray flicker that dimly illuminates the room. A sideways glance shows that Jules is fast asleep, so it must be Cole who’s responsible for the rushing water.
Without thinking, I get up and slip through the slightly open door. The glow of a streetlamp shines through the large windows and makes it easy for me to move across the room and toward the bathroom door, which is also just ajar, letting out a sliver of light. Not wanting to eavesdrop again or see anything I shouldn’t, I gently knock on the door. "Cole?"
A soft curse reaches my ears before he answers. "Go back to bed, Sophie."
As he sounds rather exhausted than angry, I push open the door. Immediately, my eyes fall on his broad back because Cole is standing at the sink. "Is something wrong?"
He jerks his head toward me, which also causes his upper body to turn slightly in my direction. I catch a glimpse of his hands and gasp when I see red.
"Dammit, darling," he hisses, turning back round again. "I told you to go back to bed."
Ignoring his words, I cling to the door. "Are you hurt?"
Cole drops his hands into the sink and lets his head fall back, exhaling audibly. "Go to sleep," he then says more calmly, but no less insistently. "Everything’s fine. Really."
I swallow hard because I get the feeling that he’s not telling the truth. But after what happened yesterday, I decide not to push him any further. Instead, I pull myself back even though everything in me wants to go to him and see if he’s unharmed. I don’t know why, but my gut tells me that wasn’t paint he washed off his hands. It was blood. And even though I’m pretty sure that’s not normal, I’m scared at that moment. NotofCole, butforhim.
FIFTEEN
COLE
"Come on, sleepyhead. Get up," I say quietly and gently shake Jules’s shoulder.
She grumbles something incomprehensible, but then gets up. Sophie doesn’t move, so I follow Jules out of the room and shut the door behind me, knowing that the daylight shining through the crack under the door will help Sophie find her way when she wakes.
Jules yawns, rubs her eyes and then looks me up and down. "Well… at least you’re still in one piece."
"How nice of you. Thanks." I go to the kitchen and start making her a coffee. After I placed the cup on the drip rack and pressed the button, Jules grabs my arm and forces me to face her so she can examine me properly.
"How are you going to explain this to her?" she asks sternly, pointing at the laceration throbbing on my left eyebrow.
I pull free from her grip and turn away.
"And your hands look like you’ve put them in a meat grinder. Seems like you were a little out of your mind, huh?" Her tone is as accusatory as her gaze when she takes the coffee I hand her.
"You don’t look like the picture of health either," I counter. "Were you two up late?"
Nodding, she sips her coffee and closes her eyes with relish.
"What did you do?"
"We watchedAmerican Pie."
I almost drop the cup that I’d just reached for. "Youwhat?"
"Yeah. I thought I’d kill several birds with one stone." She shrugs as if it’s perfectly normal to show a completely unworldly girl this movie of all things. "Now she knows the problems teenagers have to deal with, what a party is, that sex?—"
