She flips me off in response.
I chase after her like the fool that I am.
“This place is nice.” Cole walks over to the back window that takes up the entire wall. The early October weather makes it the perfect time to be out here. The trees are painted in deep oranges, bright reds, and vivid yellows—with the sunlight it gives the illusion of the forest being on fire.
Cole’s matching orange ponytail swishes as she looks over her shoulder at me. “Beautiful,” I murmur, but I’m not looking at the foliage anymore.
“It really is.” Her lips tip in the barest of smiles. “Thanks for bringing me out here. I should be studying,” she adds. “I’ve only barely climbed out of the hole I dug myself by missing the first week.”
“Your health is more important. And I made you flash cards based on the chapters in your textbook that you’d tabbed.”
Her mouth drops open. “You… I can’t… you are so confusing to me.”
I walk toward her, my arms snaking around her waist from behind. She leans back against me, her entire body flush against mine. “What’s confusing, Red?”
She sighs. “My entire life I’ve had to work really hard to figure people out. No one ever really says what they mean… with autism it almost feels like the general population is speaking in code, sometimes. So with you, I keep trying to apply the same code. But… you just say what you are thinking. No fucking around, no double meanings. It’s refreshing honestly, but also confusing when I’ve been conditioned to interpret conversations with neurotypicals my entire life.”
Kissing her temple, I whisper, “I will never purposely confuse you. And you should always feel free to call me on it if I do.”
She smiles up at me, twisting in my arms so we are facing toward each other. “Thank you. It means a lot that you would accommodate me.”
Scoffing, I roll my eyes. “It is quite literally the least I could do—communicate clearly.”
Cole shrugs. “I know it’s not easy being?—”
I cover her mouth with my hand because I don’t want to hear that nonsense. “You, Colette Russell, are the easiest person in the world to be with. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, got it?”
“Got it,” she replies, voice muffled by my hand. She nips at it playfully before placing a kiss in the center of my palm. I move my hand so it’s cupping her cheek instead, leaning down to take her lips with mine.
It surprises me, every time we kiss, just how perfect it feels. I hope it never stops surprising me.
I’m ready to pick Cole up and take her straight to the bedroom when her stomach lets out a loud growl. Her cheeks flush a pretty red color, so I kiss there too for good measure. “I’m going to start dinner. You study, yeah? Get a blanket and go sit on the back porch.”
“Can I help with dinner?”
Shaking my head, I point authoritatively to the pair of rocking chairs on the other side of the windows. “Go,” I repeat, giving Cole a quick smack to her ass.
She takes her backpack and a blanket from the couch, finally listening to my instructions. Ernest lopes after her, tail still wagging. I prepare the burgers and then join her on the porch, firing up the grill.
The fading sunlight makes Cole look like she’s glowing, and I almost burn the burgers because I’m too busy staring at her. Half of her face is illuminated, her sprinkling of freckles in stark contrast to her pale complexion, even in the warm light. Her nose slopes to the cutest little point, and I want to run my finger up and down it. I’m sure she’d find that annoying, which would make her face scrunch up. Everything she does is adorable.
I’m so fucking gone.
She looks up at me then. “I can feel you staring, Benjamin.”
“So what if I am?”
“It’s distracting,” she chides. “And you’re supposed to be making dinner.”
I flip a burger, showing off for her. “See? I can stare at you and make dinner. I’m multitalented.”
Cole hums, her attention returning to her textbook. But I don’t miss the way her full lips curve up.
“Just cheese?” I ask, ready for her attention to be back on me.
“Yes, please.”
Ernest perks up from where he’s laying across Cole’s feet. His nose sniffs the air as he walks toward me, obviously searching for some dropped morsels.
