I didn't know what to say. How to respond.
Sunny turned away before I could come up with any answer."I need a shower. ThenI'll call Agnes about moving out."
"Sunny, wait..."
But it was too late. She ran upstairs, leaving me there. With no ice. And no volcanic fire.
Just the certain feeling that I had severely,severelyfucked up.
CHAPTER29
Sunny
There weremany ways Cole could have played his next move.
For a while, I sat on the edge of the guestroom bed in the robe I'd changed into, staring into space for God knew how long. I reminded myself that the last time I'd tried to quietly separate from him, he'd blackballed me all over town and basically rendered me homeless.
But not this time.I suddenly reanimated, and as I yanked a pair of yoga pants and one of my endless Benton Girls tees out of the dresser drawer, I resolved to counter any wicked move he tried to pull to stop me from leaving.
I'd show up at Tony's and Cherenity's place—just show up, I decided as I crossed the hallway to the bathroom. And if they gave me any pushback about sleeping on their couch, I'd push past them with my trash-bag suitcase and tell them,"You owe me one. Actually,several."
Then I'd ask to borrow Pru's car while she was rehearsing and during shows so that I could sign back up with a rideshare service. I'd?—
"Sunny."
I shrieked and dropped my post-shower outfit to the black-and-white checkered floor when I found Cole sitting on a delicate towel stool. Next to the clawfoot bathtub I'd admired but never used. Holding a still-boxed red CalPresso Supreme Plus Coffee Machine.
"I didn't mean to scare you."He threw me a miserable glance and held up the box."This is for you. It's easy to use—single serve pods. No early morning thinking required."
Okay, waiting with a gift in my bathroom had definitely not been on my"What Chess Move Will Cole Benton Pull Next?"bingo card.
Also..."How did you get a coffee machine up here in the five minutes it took me to gather my clothes?"
"It's been over twenty minutes," he answered. "This is actually my second time running the bath."
Oh, yeah.I'd spent the first fifteen minutes sitting on the bed, dazed by the fact that I’d said out loud to someone—for the first time in my entire life—that Rich Harrison was my father.
"I fucked up,"Cole said, standing up with the box."Please take this coffee machine and this bath."
I glanced at the tub full of bubbles next to him."Cole ‘Triple Ice’ Benton ran me a bath?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I..." Cole visibly struggled with his answer. "I regret my actions downstairs—what I said, whatI assumed. I would like for you to take this coffee machine as a peace offering."
"A peace offering,"I repeated."And what do you expect in return?"
"Nothing."
I folded my arms across my chest. "There's always something with you."
"Yes, I've been told I tend to have transactional thinking." Cole glanced to the side. "But what happened today was a lot. I put you through a lot. And I don't want to compare you to a virus, but I think I might have caught a huge case of empathy from you."
Cole set the coffee machine on the bathroom counter and rubbed the back of his neck. For once, he looked more like a sheepish human male than an imperious Ice King."Anyway,it’s a peace offering. I don’t want to fight with you anymore, Sunny, and…”
Again, he visibly struggled to find his next words.“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the way I acted. At the restaurant, in the elevator, and downstairs.”
