Holly
Rowan is going to be really satisfied to hear he was right.
I guess it’snotpossible to fuck someone out of your head…because I’ll be honest, I’m going to be thinking about Cole a whole lot more now than I was before. Still, I can’t say I mind. This is the best day I’ve had in…I don’t even know, but after I put on one of Cole’s T-shirts and an enormous pair of his sweatpants in the bathroom—my dress looks like it belongs to someone who went to a coke party with a leaf blower—I know it’s time to leave. There’s no excuse for staying longer, even if I’d like to. I leave the bathroom and find Cole waiting for me at the table, peering at the computer with an inscrutable look on his face.
He has on another pair of gray sweatpants, although his fit, obviously. They’re basically a gift to womankind, because they very generously outline his sizable dick, and he’s paired them with a black T-shirt that hugs his arms. It’s hard to look at him and think of leaving, but he probably wants me to go, right? I mean, we may not have had a conversation about what this does and doesn’t mean, but he’s made it clear to everyone and their mother—and brother—that he’s not interested in having another relationship. And then there’s me…I’ve always cared most about being free and strong and capable of caring for myself. I’ve never wanted to be dependent on a man. I’ve never even wanted to let a man in all the way.
Not since I kept picking Cole for MASH when I was in high school.
I clear my throat, and his gaze swivels to me, warming. “Well, it’s been real,” I say, “but—”
“You’re really gonna leave me with this mess?” he asks, amused. He gestures to the kitchen whichispretty badly flour-bombed.
“If you think I’m bad at baking, just wait until you see what kind of housekeeper I am. I’d do something wrong, and then you’ll have, like, flour stuck in the cracks of your floor until the end of time.”
“We’ll do it together,” he says.
“Like we made the cookies together?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. “Does this mean we’re going to end up fucking on the kitchen floor and needing to take another shower?”
A corner of his mouth hitches up. “Doesn’t sound so bad to me.”
No, it doesn’t sound so bad to me either.
I give a beleaguered sigh. “I’ve got to check the time.”
“You got a hot date?” he asks. There’s a hint of teasing in his voice, as if he was going for a jokey tone, but there’s a sharp edge to it. Almost like he’s…
I’m tempted to tease him, or at least call him on it, but maybe there’s been enough of that behavior between us. I was honest with him earlier, and to my surprise, it felt good.
“Jesus, no,” I say. “But if I did, he’d have a hard act to follow. I feel bad for this mythical dude.”
His smile is self-satisfied. Then he rubs the back of his neck. “Holly…”
Shit. He’s probably about to tell me that we shouldn’t do this again.
I take out my phone, needing to do something with my hands, needing to not look at him, and gasp. There are five missed calls, from Nana, of all people. I haven’t willingly interacted with my grandmother in months.
What the fuck? Is the world coming to an end?
Did she straight up murder someone?
“Is everything okay?” Cole asks, stepping toward me. “Here, sit down.” He pulls out a chair. I almost laugh when I see that it too is covered in a thin layer of sugar and flour.
“No, thanks,” I say. “I look ridiculous in your clothes. I don’t want to add baking ingredients to the mix.”
“I like seeing you in my clothes,” he says, his throat working, his eyes intense as they stare me down. “But what happened? Your face changed the second you looked at your phone.”
“I don’t know. I have to make a call,” I say. “But I can assure you I’m not happy about it.”
I dial the number, and Nana picks up on the first ring.
“It’s about time,” she snaps, reassuring me that she hasn’t magically become a nice person in the months we’ve spent without any communication.
“We’ve been doing this whole not talking thing,” I say. “I feel like it’s worked out pretty well, so…what gives?”
“I couldn’t reach Rowan.”
“Yeah, go figure, he’s probably putting out a fire somewhere.”
