Page 61 of Cole

“Isabelle, I thought it was you, though I don’t know what you’re wearing,” my father sneered, looking over the leather cut with barely concealed disgust.

“Isabelle,” Grant Elwick said from beside my dad. Why were they even here?

He stood at my father’s shoulder, and they both seemed to notice Cole at once.

“And who is this?” my father asked rudely, looking at Cole with distrust.

“Cole. Cole Bailey.” Cole’s tone was cool but respectful. He held his tattooed hand out toward my father. My heart beat hard in my ears as my father ignored it.

“Why are you here?” I cut in, tugging Cole’s arm down. I couldn’t stand to see it lingering there in the air, rejected by my asshole father.

“We were watching the game from Soren Anderson’s box. Some kind of charity fundraising thing.”

Right, Beckett’s dad had a box. I nodded, feeling awkward as hell.

“I wanted Grant to see a little slice of life in Hade Harbor, to see that we aren’t as backward here as he might think,” my father laughed. “Though, of course, it’s not New York.”

“Thank fuck for that,” Cole muttered beside me.

My father pretended not to hear.

“Are you here together?” Grant cut in, looking between me and Cole.

I opened my mouth to answer. I didn’t know what to say. Technically, we weren’t, but I knew that if I said that, it would sound like I was ashamed to be seen with Cole, which I wasn’t.

“No. I’m here to see my brother play. He’s the goalie,” Cole answered smoothly.

My father nodded, looking relieved. “Ah, yes, Bailey, the goalkeeper. He played well.”

Cole just nodded.

“Well, since we’ve run into each other, you can take us for a coffee on campus before we go. Get to know Grant a little better,” my father said.

“I’m busy, there’s a party,” I objected, already knowing it was pointless. My father would badger me into going through any means necessary.

“You don’t need to go to a party and be around the kind of dead-end kids who go to this school.”

“You’re talking about my friends, and they’re not dead-end kids,” I snapped and blew out a hard breath.

Grant was still glaring at Cole. “Sorry, but if you’re here to see your brother, can I ask why you’re still hanging around?”

I turned to look at Cole. Grant’s question was so fucking rude.

“It’s a free country, I guess,” Cole said. He was staring Grant right in the eye. That look was something else. Grant’s cheeks warmed. He squirmed in his overpriced loafers. Without a word being said, Cole’s dominance steamrolled over both Grant and my father.

I couldn’t stand the tension. I needed to get my father and Grant to leave. I wanted Cole to go before they could say something even more condescending to him.

I shrugged Cole’s cut off and turned to him, pressing it into his hand.

“Thanks for this,” I said. He slowly moved his intense gaze from Grant’s to mine. His expression softened.

“Anytime, Goldilocks.”

“I should go with my dad,” I added, and Cole slowly nodded. Thoughts of him in my dorm room and another illicit, hot-as-hell night slipped away.

His warm gaze cooled and he stepped back.

“In that case, I’ll be seeing you around, Isabelle.”