I rolled my eyes. But I was reaching the point of needing someone to talk to about what was happening to me because something was, I just couldn’t figure out what. But it wasn’t just about sex anymore. I genuinely enjoyed being around Delilah, which is something Ineverexpected.
“I got a nude,” I admitted quietly.
There was silence for a moment. “I’m sorry, did you just say you got a nude?”
Heat crept up my neck. I cleared my throat. “Yes.” This vaguely felt the same as getting the sex talk from Dad when I was eleven.
“An image of a naked woman is on your phone.” He pointed to it as if it were radioactive. “Right now. Freshly delivered.”
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Yes, Colton, that’s what a nude is.”
“What happened to ‘I don’t date’?” he asked, mocking me with a whiny voice.
“I don’t sound like that.” I shifted in my seat. “And we’re not dating, just hooking up.”
He whistled low. “Hot. Anyone I know?”
I finally looked at him. “You’re the sheriff, Colt, you know everyone.”
He grinned like the cat that ate the canary, a playful glint in his eyes. “So who is she then?”
“I don’t kiss and tell.” Not until Delilah said it was okay anyway. After that, I’d happily tell anyone who would listen how amazing she was. How she just might’ve saved me from myself in a matter of weeks.
Hell, she did it in one day.
He pressed a hand to his heart, pretending to swoon. “Such a gentleman.”
“Dick,” I grumbled between his laughter. “Just forget I said anything.” I glanced at Ethan’s driveway, and there still hadn’t been any movement. “If he doesn’t come out in thirty minutes, let’s go.”
Colt waggled his dark brows, smirking. “So you can go see your nudie girl?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Fuck you.”
“How long has this been going on?” he asked in his fading laughter.
“Just a few weeks.” I reached for my last Oreo only to find that I had eaten them all already. “Fuck, I’m still hungry.”
He snorted. “Are you ever not hungry?”
“No, and it’s terrible,” I groaned. I scrubbed a hand over my face, leaning back in my seat. “I don’t know what to do,” I admitted.
“Don’t be a baby. We can just grab a burger or something. Not the end of the world.”
“No, about…her.”
Her. It sounded so mysterious. Like Delilah was some code that had yet to be cracked. But that’s how it felt with her sometimes. Sometimes I thought maybe there was somethingmore for her. But then other times, she made it perfectly clear this was just sex for her. Like in her office two days ago, when I told her that her hair was beautiful, and she shot off the couch like a rocket. It was confusing as fuck, and I wasn’t about to tell her I had feelings for her unless I knew where she stood.
“I hadn’t been with anyone in years until her,” I continued. “And it was supposed to just be a one-night thing, but that obviously didn’t last, and now…”
“Now you want more,” he finished for me.
“I think so.” I swallowed roughly, fighting the urge to shut down and stop talking. I hated talks like this, the baring your soul ones. “But a part of me wonders if it’s just because there hasn’t been anyone else in so long or if it’s just her.”
“It’s her,” Colt said. “Trust me.” My brows furrowed at him, confused. “Britt and I started out like that—fuck buddies. I’d just gotten elected sheriff, and she’d just opened her salon. Neither one of us had time for more. That lasted for about three months until I’d had enough and told her I was in love with her.”
I had no idea that’s how they started out. “When did you know that’s what you felt?”
“Oh, after the first time,” he said point-blank with a dopey smile. “I wasn’t in love with her, but I knew I would be and that it wouldn’t take long for me to get there.”
