"My mother just called."
And just like that, everything else fades into the background as Jules bursts into tears.
TWENTY
COLE
After I put Jules’s bag in the trunk of the cab, I close the lid and turn to her. She’s completely shaken and seems lost, which doesn’t make it easier for me to let her leave.
"Are you sure you don’t want me to come?"
She nods while looking at her phone to check the details of her flight. "Yes. I’ll be fine. And you need to stay with Sophie."
"I don’t like that… How do you know it’s really her?"
Finally, she lifts her gaze and pockets her phone. "Itisher, Cole. I can just feel it."
I snort dismissively, averting my eyes and shoving my hands into my pockets.
Her arms wrap around my waist before she presses her face against my chest. She always does this when I’m angry with her or when she wants something from me. And just like every other time, it has the desired effect and makes me soften.
Returning the embrace, I kiss the crown of her head. "Text me as soon as you land. And call if anything happens. No matter what, understood?"
"I will," she murmurs into the fabric of my shirt. "You take care of Sophie, okay? She needs you."
I just nod, at a loss for words. Then I release her and watch her get into the cab, waving to me one last time as the car drives off. Only when it disappears behind a bend do I turn away.
When I arrive back at my place and climb the last few steps, Sophie rises from the couch and gives me a questioning look. I realize that she has no idea what is going on because we immediately went to Jules’s place so she could pack while I booked a flight and called the cab. Still, I head for the kitchen to get the Jack I desperately need right now. "Give me a second."
After sitting down on the couch and taking a big gulp, I take a deep breath before looking at Sophie. "Did she tell you how we met?"
Shaking her head, she sits back down. "No."
"Fuck… Where do I even begin?" I say the words to myself rather than to her before taking another sip. Then I sink against the back of the couch and just start.
"I was sixteen when I ran away. My foster parents were assholes and made it abundantly clear that I was unwanted." I look into her light brown eyes. "So I felt the same way you did. I just had to get out of there."
Sophie returns my gaze with a hint of gratitude before asking her first question. "Where did you go?"
I look ahead again. In doing so, however, I don’t see what’s in front of me, but everything I’ve left behind. "Detroit. The first year was… shitty. But I had a roof over my head and could do whatever the fuck I wanted."
"What about your real parents? Why didn’t you go to them?"
Shrugging, I look back at her. "They gave me away when I was a baby. It was clear they didn’t want me, so why bother with them?"
Sophie’s expression turns sad. "That’s terrible."
Again, I avert my gaze. "I told you, life’s not always fair. But I didn’t care. All that mattered to me was that I didn’t have to live in that damn house anymore. Until I found Jules."
Memories of that day flicker in my mind and make me shake my head with a slight grin.
"I was on my way to my place when I saw her sitting at a bus stop. It was cold as fuck outside, and she didn’t even have a jacket with her. Her lips were already blue. She was just fifteen, but her foster family—the third in six months—didn’t get along with her very well, so she ran away."
Sophie gasps. "But why?"
Lifting my gaze, I shrug again, smiling at her. "You know Jules by now. She’s got a damn loose mouth. And it was much worse back then. She was sassy as hell and just screwed everything up. None of the families put up with her for more than a few months, and once she got kicked out again, she got tired of being passed around, too."
I take another sip from my whiskey before continuing.
