The Bad Boy's Girl (Now Available as a Paperback and ebook)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Cole Is Stone Cold Sober. Get It? Stone Cold?

"Drink." He hands over the water bottle and it's not until I've unscrewed the cap and am gulping down large amounts of water that I realize that I'm feeling parched.

"Now eat."

And as I begin to munch on the salty, greasy goodness I feel the headiness go away. Immediately I feel tons better, more like myself. Of course that's never a good thing. My nerves are shot. I'm at a party, alone in a locked room with Cole. Haven't I seen this movie enough times?

But then the funny thing is I'm not panicking because I don't want something to happen. I'm panicking because I know I might suck at anything second base and below. Maybe I suck at first base too, who knows.

Well Cole knows but it's not like he's going to tell me.

"Would you relax? You look like you're ready to run the minute I let you." He crouches down on the floor in front of me and takes my chin in his hand and rubs my cheek with his calloused thumbs. I wonder if he can see how fast my heart is beating. I wonder if he can tell that I just want to grab him by the neck and mash our mouths together, for eternity. I wonder when he'll realize that I'm not brave enough, confident enough to actually do what I want to, especially with him.

"I only brought you up here because I don't want you drinking more than you already have. The people here...it's just not a good idea. I don't know if I'll be able to take good care of you."

"I trust you." I whisper

"So you weren't thinking that I locked you into this room to take advantage of you?" He gives me an amused grin but I can see that my answer matters. It's the seriousness in his eyes that he can't pretend to hide.

So here it goes.

"You can't take advantage of the willing Cole."

My eyes concentrate on my shoes. I cannot believe I just said that. Place me in a ring with that Kimmy and I will take her down but put me in confined spaces with my boyfriend and d I'm a mess. Wait, did that come off as slutty of desperate? Does he think I'm like all those girls downstairs who have literally been throwing themselves at him since the moment he walked through the doors.

Cole notices the second my cheeks turn pink and cups my face between his palms. I'm forced to look him in the eye and what I see puts me at ease. He looks...he looks at me like I'm the most important thing in the world, like I'm the most important thing in his world. The look is staggering.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. Don't ever be embarrassed to say what you want to me. I like it when you're honest, in fact I love it. It makes me feel like I'm the one person you trust the most."

"You are," I say hoarsely and his eyes fill with so much happiness that my heart squeezes with joy.

"I am?"

I nod, smiling at his disbelief. Time and time again, he does things or says things that show me that he cares about me. I don't do that quite as often. Maybe it's because of my shyness or maybe it's because I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. But then again, how much more does he need to do to make me believe that he's not going to leave or break my heart? What more does he have to do in order to assure me that he's not like everyone else.

Maybe he's done enough.

"Hey Cole?"

"Yeah?"

"Please kiss me."

He didn't have to be asked twice. Staying in the same crouching position, he leans in and presses his lips to mine. It's a gentle caress at first, our lips hardly brushing against each others. I make a noise of impatience at the back of my throat causing him to smile against my cheek. That's when things really start moving along. He gets up, moving me right along with him until I'm on my back on the bed. Slowly he moves over me, his body hovering over mine. The proximity causes me to lose my breath. I stare at his enigmatic blue green eyes and he looks at me with such adoration and tenderness that I almost lose my mind.