I nodded.
“I like your weird,” I said.
He gasped and shoved my chest with a chuckle.
“You’re supposed to say I’m not weird.”
“You’re not weird,” I said robotically. That earned me another shove.
“Come on. We’re going to be late,” Cole said, grabbing my hand and pulling me forward.
I stared at the back of his hand and laughed to myself. Did he really think he was weird? Because in my eyes, he was anything but. Even if he was, he’d come so far since we first met, since everything he’d been through with Ella’s mom. Anyone would be weird going back into dating after such a traumatic event.
“Oh, look.” I spotted something in the distance. “An ice rink.”
Cole glared back at me.
“And?” He rolled his eyes.
I chuckled. He was cute when he was like that, playful, fake-upset, and flustered all at the same time. I’d caught glimpses of that back home, but it was more obvious out here, away from everything and everyone. As if he was more himself.
“I thought maybe we could visit after the signing?—”
“I’d rather not embarrass myself on this trip, thank you very much.”
I laughed.
“Okay then. No ring-ring for you.”
Cole looked at me as if he wanted to kill me. But he still melted into my arms when I pulled him into my embrace and planted a kiss on his lips.
I was happy.
So happy and in love.
Was it possible I’d found my guy on the first try?
“Come on, dude. Let’s go. Unless you want to miss the signing!” he said when he pulled away, and I followed him.
At this point, I didn’t know if there was anywhere I wouldn’t follow him to.
We got to the bookstore just as Hudson Bell started reading from his brand-new book, and we found a couple of seats in the back. Soon after the Q and A, we joined the line to get our copies signed.
“You mean to tell me he writes books for a living?” Cole whispered.
“Yeah. Why not?”
He shrugged.
“He’s too pretty. I don’t trust him.”
I chuckled.
“Do you trust me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Cole turned to me and bit his lip.
“Yeah, but you’re the cute and sexy pretty. He’s the hot pretty. He’s got something about him I don’t trust. He’s like the kind of guys that would bully us in high school.”
