Page 24 of Blush Crush

Almost.

Once we’re back in the shop, Layla immediately rounds on me. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That.” She flourishes dramatically toward the door. “He was practically eating you with his eyes. I think he likes you.”

I snort. “He absolutely does not.”

She doesn’t realize that Cole might’ve heard us, and on the off chance that he didn’t, I don’t need her confronting him about it and dragging something out that might just be in my head.

“I don’t know,” she sing-songs, her tone dripping with doubt.

I move back to my workstation, pretending to be very invested in rolling cookie dough. My hands feel strangely unsteady.

“Mmm.” She hops back onto the chair. “You should hook up with him.”

The ball of dough squishes between my palms. “Very funny, ha-ha.”

“I’m serious.”

“With Cole?” I breathe a laugh. “That’s ridiculous.”

Layla even suggesting something like that tells me she’s not thinking clearly. I know she’s trying to push me to stop holding myself back, but the person to do that with is definitely not the face of our family’s biggest competition. Just imagining what would happen if it ever got out makes my stomach twist. The fallout would be a disaster.

“Why? It’s not as if you like him. This is what I’ve been telling you.”

“I’m not going to hook up with someone I don’t like. And Cole does not see me like that. Like, at all.”

“He’s perfect,” she says brightly. “Low emotional risk.”

I stare at her. “You are unhinged. And terrible at giving advice.”

She ignores me. “Who better to practice with?”

“Practice,” I repeat, horrified.

I’m not going to practice sex with someone like it’s some kind of sporting event. The thought alone is mortifying.

“Yes. Practice.” She points at me like this is obvious. “You don’t have feelings for him. He’s experienced. And rumor is”—she lowers her voice dramatically—”he’s very skilled in the bedroom.”

I nearly choke on my own spit. “You’re losing it. I’m not going to practice with anyone, let alone someone like him.”

CHAPTER 7

Cole

CONSTIPATION ISSUES

“Practice makes perfect, bud,” I tell my nephew as I throw the baseball back to him. Gentler this time, before Wyatt loses his shit on me for playing too rough with Danny.

“I’ve been practicing a lot, Uncle Cole.”

His cheeks are flushed bright red, his smile goofy from the missing teeth.

He’s easily one of my favorite people. And sometimes he does things that remind me so much of someone he’ll never know that it almost knocks the air out of me. Makes me start to believe in shit like reincarnation or something.

“I can tell. You been practicing with your dad?”