Page 92 of The One Who Never Left: Colter

He didn’t even have to think. “I will.”

Cheryl glanced back at him, catching the immediacy of his answer. Something like understanding flickered across her face.

“She’s lucky,” Cheryl said. Then, after a beat, she corrected herself. “You’d be lucky.”

The words didn’t pass through him—they stayed.

“Yeah,” Colter said quietly. “I would.”

Cheryl reached for her napkin, folding it carefully, as if giving both of them a moment to settle.

“You should go,” she said gently.

“I don’t want to be rude.”

“You won’t be,” she assured him. “You’d only be dishonest if you stayed.”

That, somehow, hurt worse.

He pushed his chair back, standing. He threw a hundred on the table. “Thank you. For your grace and your honesty.”

She smiled up at him. “Just promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“If you do go after her,” Cheryl said, voice calm but firm. “Do it right. She looks like someone who deserves that.”

His chest tightened. “She does.”

He stepped away from the table, the weight of the evening shifting decisively now. As he headed toward the exit, the only thing he could think was that Sutton leaving had felt like losing ground—and this time, he wasn’t willing to pretend he didn’t care who won.

Colter didn’t think—he just bolted out the door, heart in his throat, knowing if he didn’t catch her now, he’d regret it for the rest of his damn life.

She was parked at the back of the lot a few spots away from his truck. He ran up to her just as she yanked open her car door.

“Sutton.”

She froze, one hand gripping the handle, shoulders tight like she was braced for impact. For a second he thought she might pretend she didn’t hear him. Then she turned slowly, eyes flashing.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” she said.

He stopped a few feet away, breath still uneven from the way he’d bolted through the restaurant. “You left.”

“You were busy,” she said and he knew he had her.

Something reckless sparked in his chest. “You looked jealous.”

Her laugh came out brittle. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Was it?” He took another step closer. “Because it looked a hell of a lot like it hurt.”

Her throat worked. She looked past him, then back again, like she was deciding whether to lie or go down swinging.

“I hated it,” she said, quietly. Something in her voice that was honest and goddamned thrilling. “Seeing you with someone else being happy and easy.”

The words landed between them like a match.

Colter’s jaw tightened as something hot and sharp punched straight through his chest. He hadn’t expected honesty—not like that. Not bare and unguarded and aimed directly at him.