“Don’t,” I plead. Cole freezes, her hazel eyes meeting mine again. I can’t decipher the look she gives me—I’m really hoping that’s not regret that flashes there.
She sighs, pushing off the wall and following me into the kitchen. “What are you doing here, Ben?”
I consider her. She’s as beautiful as ever, creamy skin dotted with freckles and auburn hair that has lightened in the summer sun. It frames her face, and I smile when she tucks a piece behind her ear. “You haven’t given me an answer about our deal.”
“Pardon me for being a little weary of entering into another deal with you,” she snarks. “Last time you ghosted me for twelve years before calling it in.”
“I didn’t ghost you.”
She levels me with a stare. “A drunken pact that was never supposed to be serious and then nothing.”
“It was always serious. To me, at least.”
A little crease forms between Cole’s brows. She looks at me like I’m a problem to be solved. “I don’t understand you.”
“Yet,” I amend.
She sips her coffee and, fuck, I can’t help that my eyes keep going back to her ring. It’s ignited something unexpectedly primal in me, and there’s no fucking way I’m letting her give it back to me.
“I’ve planned our first date for next week,” I continue, prying my eyes away from her delicate hands. “I’m assuming you’d like to know what we are doing so you can prepare? I can keep it a surprise, if you want. It’s completely up to you.”
She bites her bottom lip, contemplating my question. “Part of me wants to keep it a surprise. I’m already in way over my head here, maybe I should just fully embrace it?”
“I’m loving this can-do spirit, Red.” I wink. “How about a compromise? I can give you a few of the important bits, yeah?”
“Okay… what are the important bits?” She scrunches her nose, and I can tell she’s holding back from asking me to tell her all about it. “It’s nothing fussy, right? I-I don’t like to be around a lot of people or?—”
“I know, Colette.” I interrupt. “There won’t be anyone else there.”
She cocks her hip, one hand holding coffee and the other coming to settle on her waist. “No one else there? That sounds a little creepy.”
“Alright, there will be a few people there,” I correct. “But it won’t be open to the general public.”
“What should I wear?” she asks.
“Doesn’t matter.” I shrug. “We won’t be wearing clothes for very long.”
Cole sets her coffee down on the counter so she can begin massaging her temples. “You are not inspiring much confidence, Benjamin. Where the fuck would we go where we won’t be wearing clothes?”
I walk toward her, gently prying her hands off of her face. Wrapping both of her hands in one of mine, I tip her chin up to look at me. “Do you trust me?” I ask.
“No,” she quips, not missing a beat.
“Liar,” I laugh, the pad of my thumb running across her bottom lip. Her eyes flutter closed and that simply won’t do. “Eyes on me, Colette.”
Popping open, they bore into me. It’s fine with me because I want her attention for the next thing I say. “I will work my ass off making sure I prove myself to you. Making sure I do everything in my power for you to trust me. I might have waited twelve years until it was time to call in our pact, but I was just waiting twelve years foryou. To be a man who deserved your attention. Your devotion. And I would wait another twelve years, if I had to. But I really, really don’t want to. Please don’t make me wait anymore. Go on a date with me?”
Her eyes dart back and forth, assessing. Eventually, she pushes away from me, putting space between us again. “Fine. I’ll see you next week.”
I’ve been nervous all week about my date with Ben. He was one hundred percent correct in assuming that I would want to know where we were going. I like to know what the expectation is so I can prepare, walk through all possible scenarios in my head in the hopes that nothing catches me by surprise.
Reluctantly, I will admit that it was very kind of Ben to offer to prepare me. It was not kind, however, to tell me that wherever we’re going doesn’t require clothing.
Every night this week I’ve had a nightmare about being on very public dates with some faceless man. We are at a bar ora hockey game or a movie, having a great time until I look down and realize that I’m completely naked. As soon as I notice, everyone else in the dream world begins to notice too, pointing and laughing at me until I wake myself up, completely soaked in sweat.
It’s really fun to be me.
I don’t really have time to go on dates—or to be losing sleep—either because classes start back up in a few weeks and I should be preparing. I need to purchase my textbooks, print out the syllabi, check in with my advisor about?—
