“We’re leaving. Told him I needed my phone charger,” he whispers.
“Perfect. Jess is going to give me a lift.”
He grasps my throat in a loose hold, dragging me in to steal a kiss. I clutch him, reluctant to leave the happy bubble we’ve formed in his apartment to spend the night alone in my own bed.
His forehead rests against mine. “What about tomorrow night?”
“Family dinner,” I remind him.
“Damn it. Right. At least I’ll get to see you.”
“I’ll sneak over after.”
“Okay.” He kisses me again. “Good luck with your orders. You’ll get them all done.”
“Cole! You ready or what, man?” Benson shouts from the hall.
We both stiffen when his voice grows closer. Cole throws a frown at his door.
“Relax, I’m coming!”
“Bye,” I breathe.
He gives me one last smoldering look before leaving with my brother. I wait until the apartment goes quiet, then text Jess that I’ll meet her outside.
Before I go, I steal one of Cole’s shirts. If I can’t sleep in his arms, at least it will feel like he’s close if I wear his clothes to bed.
TWENTY-FIVE
EVE
June
After three weeks,the giddy excitement of being with Cole hasn’t worn off. Technically, I suppose we’ve been together much longer than that. It all still feels new—nerve-wracking and amazing all at once. When we’re alone together, he lights me up with every word, look, touch.
Being with him is better than I ever dreamed. He makes me so happy. I don’t care if we have to sneak around. It’s worth it.He’sworth it.
Then my mom gets one of her ideas in her head. She’s impossible to persuade otherwise once she’s thought one up. Maybe I get it from her because I can be the same.
Except this isn’t about when seasonal decorations should go up or why she’s stubbornly a Rangers fan in a family of Bruins diehards.
She believes she’s doing me a favor by springing a surprise blind date on me today. All the hints she’s been dropping this week make sense. I thought it was weird she was asking me if I met anyone lately.
I couldn’t exactly tell her, oh yeah, I’m totally getting my insides rearranged on the regular by Cole.
She also wasn’t listening when I tried to say thanks but no thanks, insisting how much it would mean to her friend if I met her nephew. Eventually, I gave up, deciding it would be easier to go and tell her it didn’t work out.
Cole finds it funny. His exact words when I called him about it were, “You don’t need my permission to go out. I know you’re my girl, and you know it. You’ll be in my bed tonight, not any other man’s.”
Then he made me stay on the phone with him while I showered and used the vibrator he bought me to make me come three times as I promised I was only his.
While I got ready, I had him on FaceTime listening while I worked out how I’m going to let down my blind date. He offered to be my escape plan.
When I walk into The Landmark, I steel myself. Stalling for time, I wander over to the side of the bar where Mr. Boucher has let me display some of my stickers for sale along with a collectible bar coaster I designed just for him. I also have my own small shelf at the bookstore for my earrings and handmade bookmarks, plus a spot at Clocktower Brew House, too. It’s surreal and heartwarming to see my things supported by so many in Heston Lake.
Maybe Cole and I should work on the camper again. It’s been on hold for a while when my orders boomed from social media and him getting busy in the spring with the championship tournament.
“Are you Eve?”
