Over the next few days, Alex’s words followed me cropping up at the most inconvenient of times, like at the dinner table or while I was working. It seemed that no matter whichtactics I used to console myself, I still felt terrible for Cole.
There was no way we would work out anyway, I tried to give myself some form of comfort.
You’re still hoping that it will, that you can make it work. My heart responded.
I wasn’t really sure when I started to develop feelings for Cole Hays, but I had and that was something I’d deny until the day I died. My life wasn’t going to consist of the up-and-down roller coaster of Cole. I was going to Harvard in the Fall, I was different. We were different.
Sitting on the porch, I popped a few Skittles in my mouth as I watched the lake ripple in the light breeze. My shift didn’t start until 2 because Jeff had decided he needed the morning to himself. A giggle escaped my lips at just what that would involve.
“Ready to go?” I gasped, nearly choking on the piece of candy in my mouth as Alex popped up out of nowhere.
“Al, you scared the crap out of me!” I coughed a little, making sure nothing was lodged in my throat.
“My apologies.” Her tone, along with the smirk on her face implied she really wasn’t sorry at all. I rolled my eyes a little at my best friend’s antics and stood, grabbing my purse off the chair next to me and following her to the car that had finally been fixed.
During the ride to work, Alex chattered non-stop about a guy that had come into the shop while she was working. They’d flirted and apparently Alex had a coffee date after work that night.
“That’s great honey.” I smiled a we pulled up to the diner. All the lights were off and nobody was moving around inside. Jeff had obviously had too much fun with whatever he was doing and hadn’t arrived yet. Checking my watch, I realized I was at least half an hour late.
“That’s weird.” Alex pushed her sunglasses up onto her head as she squinted up at the diner, leaning over me for a better look.
I pushed open my door, climbing out from under my best friend and walking up to the door. A note taped to the times of operation read: Closed for today, sorry for any inconvenience.
With an eyeroll, I turned back to the car. “It’s closed.”
Alex muttered something under her breath, no doubt about Jeff and his general trustworthiness. “You can take the car back home if you want.” She offered, glancing at the clock on the dash. “I’ve got to get going though, and Talen can drive me home after our date so I don’t need the car.”
“Sure,” I smiled. “Thanks Al. Have fun on your date, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” I winked at her as she climbed out, grabbing her purse from the backseat.
“Well that sounds like a dull evening.” She teased, smacking me in the back of the head as she moved around to the sidewalk.
“Talk to my brother today, please.” She said, suddenly serious. “You’ve been avoiding him.”
“Have not.” I mumbled, wrapping my arms around myself as she gave me a look and turned in the direction of the bookstore.
When I got back to the house, Mrs. Hays cornered me immediately, hands on her hips eyebrow raised. “Why are you home, hm?” Her tone was serious, but the smirk on her lips gave away her teasing.
“The diner was closed for the day.” I replied, pulling my hair from the ponytail it was in. “I’m going to go change out of my uniform though.”
“When you get finished, could you go help Cole. I asked him to tidy up the attic. I have to go into town for a bit.”
I inwardly sighed, I didn’t want to be in Cole’s general vicinity for the entirety of my life, but I couldn’t say no, since it was her house I was living in.
“Of course.” I smiled sweetly, moving past her to the stairs.
“Thank you, baby.” She looked relieved for a moment, but it was gone before I could fully register the expression, then she was gone out the door. I could see Mr.Hays in the driver’s seat of the car, and when Mrs.Hays got in they put their heads together conspiratorially.
“What are they up to?” I mumbled, continuing up the stairs to my room.
After taking as long as possible to slip on denim shorts and an off the shoulder top, I brushed my hair quickly and piled it in a bun on top of my head. Leaning my hands on he vanity, I looked at myself in the mirror, forcing my game face on. “You can do this. Just pretend he’s a customer, be polite.” With a nod, I left the room and headed up the staircase that would take me to the attic.
The attic was split into two halves; on one side was Cole’s room/music room, while the other half stored a lot of random junk covered in layers of dust. Cole was laying on his bed, eyes closed and headphones in, bopping along to the music I couldn’t hear.
Perfect. He wasn’t paying attention, so I could just tell his mother that he didn’t want any help and leave him to it. I had just turned my back to sneak back downstairs when Cole’s voice had me frozen.
“Taylor?” I peeked over my shoulder to see him sitting up on his bed, headphones out and looking adorably ruffled. No, I scolded myself, nothing about him was adorable.
“Yeah?” I sighed, turning back to him.
“What are you doing up here? Did mom send you to check up on my progress?” He chuckled lightly, but there was a hint of worry underneath, probably due to the panic I knew was in my eyes at having to talk to him.
“She sent me up to help actually. They just went into town.” I responded almost robotically.
“Oh, thank the Rock Gods above. I thought I was going to have to finish myself.” He stood up, setting down his iPod and heading over to the junk side of the attic. When he brushed past me, every muscle in my body tensed as his scent assaulted my nostrils. I mentally smacked myself, pulling myself together before I tuned in to what he was telling me while gesturing around.
“..dust mostly, we really should get rid of some of this stuff. Some of it can go outside now that we have to boat house.” I nodded along, not really sure what we were supposed to do.
He must have noticed my confusion because he pointed to a pile of boxes labelled “boat stuff.”
“Just check out what’s in those and we’ll see where to go after that.”
“Sure.” I mumbled absentmindedly, pulling the box open and peering inside before letting out a scream. “Holy shit it’s a mouse!”
The thing went scurrying across the room to hide behind a pile of deserted beach toys.
Cole smothered a laugh. “It’s just a mouse, this is a pretty old house you know.” I rolled my eyes and went back to the box. He leaned over my shoulder to see what was inside, his smell once again rendering me almost catatonic.
I looked over at him, but he was already staring at me. I gasped a little when his hand touched my thigh, but I still felt a little lightheaded.
“Cole,” I swallowed loudly, not knowing what to say.
“Mm?” He mumbled, leaning closer unconciously.
“I ..” I trailed off as his lips crashed down on mine. I returned the kiss heatedly, throwing away any doubts I had about my feelings for him.
Cole’s fingers tangled in my hair as my hands went around his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. I was having trouble breathing properly as his lips left mine and travelled down my neck, sucking and biting lightly. I let out an involuntary moan as fire ignited between the two of us, travelling over every inch of my skin as he trailed back up to my lips, his tongue pushing between my lips to open them. Allowing him entrance, our tongues battled for dominance as Cole leaned back on the floor ending up with me straddling him.
I ignored the fact that this was a bad idea, and that I was breaking the promises I’d made to myself because it felt too good to stop.
My arms kept getting caught in my loose shirt as we moved around, forcing me to let out a grunt of frustration before sitting up and pulling it over my head. Cole let out an involutnary gasp, his hands at my hips.
“You’re so beautiful.” He grinned goofily.
I rolled my eyes, shifting a little with a smirk. Cole raised an eyebrow and sat up, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and pulling my head forward to capture my lips. My fingers were at the buttons on his shirt, nearly ripping it in my haste to get it off.
“What is going on here!” We both froze, looking toward the top of the stairs in shock.