“I hated being babied when I was a little girl,” she continued. “All I wanted was to just be able to do everything myself, to not have anybody worrying over me.” Her hands squeezed mine slightly. “I love my parents. I really do, and I know it’s a blessing that I had them to worry over me. But they changed their whole lives for me, and I never want anybody to do that again.”
“I doubt they regret it for even a second,” I said, my voice gruff.
“I know they don’t. I just…” She sighed, her gaze holding mine, shimmering with emotion. “You can’t…well, maybe you can.”
“What do you mean?” I pressed.
“I was about to say you can’t imagine what it’s like to have someone worry that much. But knowing what your family went through, I imagine you can.” She paused. “Maybe the worry was different. Maybe you were older and maybe it wasn’t specific to you, but I think you get my point.”
I nodded slowly. “I think I do.”
In that moment, I understood her deeply in a way I hadn’t before. Because while I—and we, my family—had been so grateful and appreciative of everyone who came forward to help after the fire and Bree’s death, it had also been painful to have to need that. It wasn’t easy to feel that way. I could imagine, in her case, there was a much more individual quality to that need, and she’d been so much younger.
“So that’s all,” she said, her breath rushing out in a sigh. “You already know my scars usually freak people out.”
“They’re just scars,” I said gruffly.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not just a little scar. I had two open-heart surgeries. They did their best, but it’s only so tidy.”
“I know. I have scars too,” I said quietly.
“You do?” she asked, surprised.
I chuckled. “Shall I show them to you?”
Adele pressed her lips together, and even though it was getting dark enough that I couldn’t really see, I knew she was blushing.
“You are a flirt, Cole,” she teased.
“I am,” I admitted. “I can’t lie about that, but I mean that in the best way.”
“About those scars? Only if you tell me how you got each one,” she challenged, her expression suddenly turning serious.
She started worrying her bottom lip again, and all I could think was that I wanted to kiss her. Something fierce.
“What do we do now?” I heard myself asking.
Adele lifted her chin. “Well, you’re walking me home.”
“I am,” I said.
She shrugged. I was positive she was hot all over, just like I was at this point. Need was revving so hard, hot, and fast in my body, it felt like an engine stuck on high idle, and the lightest touch on the gas pedal would launch me into the stratosphere.
“Stay with me tonight,” she whispered. “I don’t want to stop this time.”
“You can change your mind at any point.”
She squeezed my hands a little before adding, “I know.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
ADELE
Someone has to be in charge
My pulse was galloping, pounding so hard that the beat reverberated to my bones. Anticipation was burning like a flame racing up a fuse. Even though I had thought about this, contemplated it, and made a very conscious decision that I wanted this with Cole, the intensity of my need was almost frightening. Tangled within that was my emotional fear about letting myself be vulnerable with anyone.
I wasn’t prone to emotional drama, but I had never wanted someone the way I wanted Cole. The way he looked at me made me feel encompassed, wrapped in his protectiveness and strength. The steely vein of independence that ran through everything for me rebelled at how I savored the way I felt with him. As if I could let go. As if I could be vulnerable.
