I shake my head and push away from the doorframe, irritation creeping up my spine.
“Wayne’s not going to take kindly to you disappearing with his truck all night,” I say. “You should probably bring it back before he sends out a search party.”
Cole walks past me like he didn’t even hear that.
Then he drops onto my couch.
Just drops.
Boots planted on the floor. Arms resting on his knees. Completely comfortable in the middle of my house like he’s settling in for a movie.
“I don’t give a fuck,” he says.
I stare at him.
For a second my brain just… stalls.
Then I throw my hands up in the air.
“What are you going to do?” I snap. “Sit there and watch me lick my wounds? Gloat about the fact that you were right and I was a dumbass?”
Cole doesn’t answer.
He just watches me.
Which somehow makes everything bubbling in my chest crack open.
“You were right, okay?” The words tumble out before I can stop them. “You warned me. You stood there and told me exactly what was going to happen and what did I do?”
I gesture wildly toward the door.
“I marched straight in there anyway like I had it handled.”
My laugh comes out sharp and humorless.
“Like an idiot.”
Cole’s expression doesn’t change, but he leans forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees.
“You told me they weren’t the kind of guys who just walk away,” I continue, my voice rising. “You told me they’d come back. You told me I shouldn’t poke that particular hornet’s nest.”
I drag a hand down my face.
“And what did I do? I poked it anyway.”
The words keep spilling out faster now.
“I went in there guns blazing like I was some kind of badass bartender who could scare them off with attitude and a smart mouth. Like a couple sarcastic comments were going to send them running with their tails between their legs.”
I shake my head hard.
“Turns out that was a stupid plan.”
My hands start shaking and I curl them into fists, pacing a few steps across the living room before turning back toward him.
“You want to know the worst part?” I ask.
Cole watches me carefully, his eyes steady on my face.
