He was supportive and good to me when I showed up at his ranch in the mornings, but he seemed even more distant than he’d been last Saturday.
Me:No break. I’m just getting started. I might be limping a little in the morning, but I’ll be there.
Cole:If you’re limping, you’ll be sitting on the sidelines, drinking a protein shake tomorrow.
I smiled. He might be a little wary of relationships, but the guy always seemed to be looking out for my best interests.
Me:It was a joke. I’m sore, but that’s to be expected since I’ve never really focused on strength training.
Cole:A little sore is okay. Hurting is bullshit. We’ll see how you feel when you get here in the morning.
I rolled my eyes because I could almost hear him grumbling that comment in his usual, bossy baritone.
“You seem pretty engrossed in that text conversation,” Reese teased from her position on Hannah’s sofa.
I put my phone on my lap and looked up guiltily. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
I looked from Reese to Hannah, and then at Anna.
We were all gathered at Hannah’s house for a girls’ night so we could catch up.
The four of us tried to get together as often as possible to just chat and have some girl talk.
Kaleb, Tanner, and Devon were all hanging out at Devon’s place.
Hannah’s daughter, Winter, was sleeping peacefully upstairs in the nursery.
“Don’t apologize,” Hannah said mischievously. “Just tell us who you’re talking to.”
I chuckled.
I’d grown so close to these three women that they’d become like the sisters I’d never had.
I’d never had friends like these three, and I was very aware of just how lucky I was to call them all my friends.
Granted, it had taken me a while to get used to being close friends with Anna because of her pop star status. I’d been a huge fan before I’d met her personally. But it hadn’t taken me long to realize that she was a woman with exactly the same emotions, needs, and wants as the rest of us.
“It’s Cole,” I confessed. “I told you all that he’s helping me get in shape. He’s almost like a personal trainer right now. He’s made me realize that my diet is just as important as exercise if I want to change my body composition. He was just checking up on my protein intake.”
Reese snorted loudly from her spot in a comfortable recliner next to mine. “He’s checking out more than your protein intake,” she said playfully. “I saw you two dancing together on Saturday, and I saw the way he watched you all night. That man wants to get you naked so badly he can’t stand it.”
Anna swallowed a sip of her wine and grinned from her seat near Hannah on the sofa. “Sorry, but I have to agree. He was almost desperate to make sure that you never left his sight. Cole might play it cool and act like a jerk sometimes, but he’s not indifferent when it comes to you.”
“That’s…crazy,” I sputtered. “I can’t even call Cole a friend yet.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Anna said with a sly smile. “I don’t think he’s really interested in being yourfriend.”
I shook my head. “Cole Remington is not lusting after me.”
“I think you’re wrong,” Hannah said earnestly. “I wasn’t there, but Tanner thinks Cole is interested. He’s just not sure that his cousin is going to do anything about it.”
I gaped at the three women, utterly speechless.
Tanner said that?
“The question is…are you lusting after Cole?” Reese asked.
I’d never lied to any of these women, and I didn’t plan on starting to do it now.
