I go to open my mouth, and he shakes his head. “That was rhetorical.”
“He told me he’s never been on a date, though.”
“Yeah.” Cole scratches his head. “I don’t think he’s lying about that. He doesn’t go out with people, he just comes home with them.”
“To his room,” I say, three seconds away from a mental down. “Which is down the hall and not this room.”
“Yeah.” With every question Cole’s smug expression and tone continue to soften.
“He’s been lying to me? For years?” I ask, tears rimming my eyes. Caden. My best friend. One of my only friends.
Cole sighs. “Yeah. Shit, Natalie—I should have broken this to you better. I got so caught up in proving you wrong I didn’t think about what it’d mean to you, and?—”
“Has he been lying to me about anything else?” I ask, cutting him off. I need to know how much of the past four years of my life has been a lie.
Cole opens his mouth as if he’s about to say something, but he shakes his head, raking his hand through his hair. “Ugh, no. Nothing comes to mind anyway. Why don’t you change and I’ll go make us some grilled cheeses?”
My favorite.
But I can’t. I never eat here. “Actually, I’m not that hungry.”
An ungodly, inhumane sound from the depths of my stomach chooses that exact moment to betray me.
Cole flashes me a well-earned “girl please” look. “You’re eating,” he says. “Unless you can give me a better excuse than that.”
“Caden’s protein powder,” I say without looking at Cole.
“I—uhm—I actually wipe the counters down when you two leave for that reason, and I never eat peanut anything just in case.”
“In case what?” I ask, lifting my chin.
He slides his hands into his pockets with a sheepish shrug. “Some pretty girl with a peanut allergy wants to kiss me.”
I toss my head back and laugh. “Wow, what a line.”
He rocks back and forth on his toes. “Paid off for me today, didn’t it?” His lips tip up into a small smile.
Suddenly, I’m hypnotized by the tiny indentation puckering his cheek. Did I know Cole has dimples? I trace the curve of his lips with my eyes, desperate to feel them against mine again. I swallow. A tug, tug, tug tortures the pit of my stomach. I’m about to press up on my toes when he reaches up and wipes a tear sliding down my cheek with the pad of his thumb. His hand cradles my face, and for a beat, I think he’s about to bend down and claim my lips again.
Perhaps more terrifyingly, I want him to.
Instead, he exhales and drops his hand. “I’ll go make our grilled cheeses. Do you want to watch a movie after you get comfy? I’ll let you pick.”
“You sure you want to give me that power? It’ll probably be a romcom you’ll hate. Or a cheesy Christmas romance.”
“I’m game, but only if there’s a happily ever after. I don’t want any of that Nicholas Sparks shit.” He looks at me with a grave expression.
“Go, weirdo.” I shake my head and shove him out the door before I do something foolish.
Alone in Cole’s room, I take a deep breath, trying to settle my thoughts. When I met Caden for the first time, he was sweet and kind. But the very next time, he threw his brother under the bus and said Cole was the slob. If he had feelings for me and wasembarrassed, I guess that makes sense, but he’s never acted on those feelings. So much so that he is possibly the biggest playboy in school, and he’s still made nothing close to a move on me.
And Cole. Cole, I’ve clearly misjudged. He’s not heartless. He’s done so many kind things for me behind the scenes, and who knows—he could have just been mad we were on his side of the dorm room when he came back from the cold.
Also, I’m kind of clueless with this stuff, but I’m pretty sure Cole Sinclair is actually flirting with me. Which is wild, but…I kind of like flirting back?
Afjklfjfklaksdjglgklskajwoiejfkfjdlkajlskdjfalksjfalskjflaksjdfl.
Fuck it, I don’t know. I need to get out of my head. Maybe it’s time for a drink.
