Wrong.
The restroom door bursts open and slams against the wall behind it, causing the lady next to me to shriek and rush past Colton, leaving me alone with him as he locks the door behind him, his eyes never leaving mine.
“This is the women’s restroom,” I say, roughly wiping the tears from my face. “You shouldn’t be in here.”
He stalks toward me, forcing me to back up until my waist hits the sink countertop, leaving me with nowhere else to go as he corners me.
”I’m going to need you to explain yourself, baby,” he says, gripping the edge of the counter as he leans in. “Because what I saw and heard out there wasn’t someone that sees me as just a friend.”
My heart thumps so hard that I’m sure my chest will rip open and expose me raw, so I shove him backward to create some space between us. He stumbles back a couple steps, surprised, and he doesn’t try to come closer just yet.
“You thinkIshould explain myself?” I scoff. “I just found out from Zale, of all people, that you’re leaving.”
He sighs, placing his fists on his hips and staring down at his shoes. “He’s right, Iamleaving,” he says, before peeking up at me. “But it’s only for a short time.”
Unbelievable, I think to myself.Does he think I’m naive and stupid too, just like Zale?
“So short that you don’t even have a return date figured out yet?”
“I left it open because I’m planning a trip to see my family,” he mutters, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know if they’ll let me stay there at all though, so there’s a chance I come back the same night or there’s a chance I come back in a week's time. Gabriel let me leave the request open-ended until I knew for sure.”
“You’re…visiting your family?” Some of my anger fizzles out as I frown at him.
He nods. “After our drive-in date, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Watching that movie with you and talking about them brought up a lot of feelings for me, and I want to at least try to fix things before it’s too late.”
How can I be upset now that I know his reason for going? The topic of his family has been such a sore spot for him, and I’m positive it probably hurts even more than he’s letting on. But I can’t help but still feel like I play a part in this decision too.
“And leaving has nothing to do with what happened between us earlier today?”
“Sure it does,” he shrugs. “I lied to myself and to you today. I can’t ignore my feelings for you, Kairi—it’s impossible. But I’m not about to stand in the way of your pursuit of love. I figured some space could help me figure out how to control my feelings a bit better, so that I can make smarter decisions for the both of us.”
”But you were always planning on coming back?” I whisper, the anger I felt only moments ago completely fading, replaced with an ache I can’t quite name.
“Always,” he says, taking a hesitant step toward me, followed by another. “Now, can you please tell me what the hell I saw out there?”
He stops in front of me and reaches forward, gently pushing my hair behind my ear, and I close my eyes against his touch.
”I don’t think I have an answer to your question, Colton,” I whisper, my lip trembling. “I don’t fully understand what I’m feeling, and it’s all very confusing.”
His thumb strokes my cheek and I open my eyes to see him smiling down at me with a smile that I can only describe as being filled with love.
“You know what I think?” He asks. “I think you’re in love for the first time in your life.”
My lungs feel like they’re being squeezed as I stare up at him, my lip trembling even harder.
“I think,” he murmurs, eyes dropping to my mouth as his thumb brushes along my lip, “you know it too, and it’s scaring the hell out of you.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. “I don’t know any?—“
He cuts me off with his mouth, our lips colliding, and lifts me onto the edge of the sink countertop, not once breaking our kiss as he slides his hand under my skirt and grips my thigh, using his other hand to tilt my head back to deepen our kiss.
Our tongues dance together, and every few seconds he squeezes my thigh, building up my need for him until I can’t take it anymore. I reach down and take his hand, guiding him higher until he’s right where I want him
Colton pushes my underwear to the side and sinks two fingers in, making me gasp against his mouth. We’d fucked justthis morning, and yet the whole day I found myself desperate for more.
“So greedy for me,” he mumbles against my lips.
His fingers work me so well that any second now I’m going to explode around him. But just before I tip over the edge, he pulls his fingers out and the mounting orgasm quickly fades away.
