“Careful now, I might start to think you like me,” Noelle teases.
I do, can’t you see?
She looks at me, and the bright smile on her face reminds me of spring, of new beginnings and better tidings. My new beginning could be right here in front of me, if I can get past my fear of losing her.
Butterflies steal the breath from my lungs, my mouth speaking before my brain can think it through. “Would that be so bad?”
So much for that plan.
“Maybe not.” Noelle smiles, softer now, like she’s afraid to say it. “Might even be nice.”
Chapter eight
Noelle
Idon’tknowwhento shut up, do I?
A small smile plays on Cole's lips, but I have no idea what it means.Might even be nice. I’m such an idiot. He started it, though, by asking if it would be so bad. Hopefully he’ll think I was just matching his joke in my own silly Noelle kind of way.
“So we’re just going to stand here in silence for the next thirty minutes?”
I look up to find Cole’s icy blue eyes on me, waiting for an answer.
“We could play20 questions? Maybe I’ll finally get to know you better,” I say. Maybe this will help convince him I was joking. “You go first.”
Cole thinks for a moment. “Alright, what is your proudest accomplishment?”
“Signing the lease agreement for the café and making it profitable, knowing I did it all by myself.” It’s an easy answer, but it’s true. I don’t have to guess to know his answer. Signing with the Vultures at eighteen is a pretty big accomplishment.
Cole seems to know this, as he says, “You come up with the next question.”
“What do you do when you really need to relax?” I lean backwards against the counter, our bodies close enough to feel his heat.
A boyish grin spreads on his face. “Talk to you.”
“Be so for real,” I laugh. I know for a fact that when he’s stressed, Cole goes to work out or watches one of those terrible reality TV shows he secretly loves. Talking to me is way down the list.
“I am! Who would have known that the little girl with two braids I met fifteen years ago would be my sole reason for peace all those years later?” He’s smiling, but there is something in his eyes that’s hard to pin down, a certain softness I’ve never seen directed towards me before.
I shake my head. “I can’t believe you. Next question.”
“What was your first impression of me?” Cole inches closer while he stirs the pot, his eyes not leaving mine for even a second.
Oh, god. “I thought you were a dork. Cute, much too ambitious for a seven year old. But part of me knew right then that we would never be apart for long, for I’d miss you too much.”
“You missed me?” Cole asks, and he’s not even joking, like he honestly didn’t know or expect it. What kind of world does this man live in?
“Of course I did. Every time you left,” I say. “Have you told your fancy new hockey friends about me?”
I met his old teammates, of course. But in the past two years the Vancouver Vultures made some big changes regarding the team, so I haven’t met all of them. Just Jace and Aiden, who made sure their friends sat with me so I wouldn’t be alone when Cole worked. Jamie and Alina were nice, but I’d much rather have spent more time with Cole and see what his life there waslike. I would have visited more had I still been in college, but with the café and everything I never found the right time. It’s one of my biggest regrets.
Cole laughs. A loud, unburdening kind of laugh that echoes deep inside my chest. “Oh, trust me. They know all about you. They wish I talked about you less, actually.”
“What are you telling these people?” I cock my head, trying to find the answers written on his face. But he’s unreadable.
“No, no. It’s my turn to ask a question.” He looks way too smug for my liking, but I guess he’s right. “Would you change anything about the way we met?”
The question catches me off guard, leaving me to stutter on my words. “No. Well, yes, actually. I wish we met earlier, so I’d have you to myself longer.”
