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“You’re seeing a therapist?”
“Don’t sound so shocked.”
“I’m not! I mean, I am. But I’m happy shocked. Therapy is good. I’m glad you’re going.” It’s been fourteen years, and I’m almost certain my mother handles the day of my father’s death just as poorly as I do. Maybe even worse.
I wonder if she spent yesterday going through his things. Maybe that was cathartic for her.
I probably would’ve been a sobbing mess.
Not that I wasn’t anyway.
“I’ll take a look.”
Today, I feel better. Today, I think I can handle a task that involves my father’s old things.
Today, I have the memory of Cole’s kisses to bring a smile to my face whenever sadness threatens to creep in.
Chapter Twenty-Two
COLE
My worn sneakers slap against the pavement as I jog down another street. Beside me, Paige has no trouble keeping up. Some days I wonder if I’m holding her back. She’s been running for longer than I have.
Paige Herbert is a gorgeous woman. Tall, soft curves, buttery blonde hair that makes mine look like an unwashed dirty mess. When we run, sometimes I keep track of the number of heads she turns, as a way to pass the time.
She’s oblivious, which I’m glad about, seeing as how she’s been dating my best friend for over a year. The two of them just moved in together, leaving me without a roommate.
Not that I’m mad about it. Dash deserves a partner like Paige.
“How would you feel about a brief affair of a sexual nature?”
Her words are worse than a crack in the sidewalk, tripping me, sending me sprawling. The concrete scrapes my hands as I try to catch myself, but I still hit the ground hard. Curses tumble out of my mouth as I roll over onto a patch of grass, taking the pressure off my abused palms.
“Damn, Cole. That was a hard fall. Are you okay?” She’s kneeling over me, her face all concerned, looking so innocent, like she wasn’t the one to send me crashing down.
“Okay? Are you fucking kidding me? I can’t believe you’d ask that. That you’d do that to Dash!”
I’ve known Paige almost as long as Dash has, and I never thought that she would sleep around on my friend.
“He’s the one who suggested you. I was thinking Charlie, but he’s not coming home until New Year’s.”
Dash suggested this? Yeah right.“And you can’t wait a few weeks to fuck another dude?”
Paige flinches back, eyes wide as if I hit her. I feel more like strangling her. Dash is a good guy, and he loves Paige more than anything. The idea that not only would she betray him, but that she wants to do it with me, has vomit rising in my throat.
And I realize how much I’ve come to love Paige myself. She’s among a small number of people I’ve let into my life. The only woman other than my grandmother.
This is a betrayal, and I want to punch something.
“What are you talking about, Cole? I don’t want to sleep with anyone other than Dash. Why would you say that?”
“Because you just propositioned me.”
Paige sits back on her haunches, brow furrowed, her lips moving in silent words. Suddenly, she claps a hand to her mouth with a slight gasp, shaking her head before she lets it drop.
“No, Cole. No that’s not what I meant. Oh hell. You know I say things wrong sometimes, but come on. You don’t actually think I want to cheat on Dash, do you?”
“If someone else had told me, no I wouldn’t have. But you said what you said.”
