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“I feel perfect. Stop worrying.”
“About you? Never.” Cole kisses my hair. “What time is it?”
“A little after eight.” I push up on my elbows to look at him. “Are you excited about today?”
“I’m not sure excited is the word I’d use.”
“It’ll be okay, you know. You deserve this.”
“I know, but I think about all the kids who have worked their asses off for a shot at something like this. I haven’t exactly taken things seriously.”
“Most kids our age haven’t lived the lives we have. It doesn’t matter what you have or haven’t done. What matters is what you do from this point forward. If you want a better future, you have to work for it.”
“Yeah, but James—“
“It isn’t your fault your dad is filthy rich, and nobody will think any less of you for letting him help you. After everything you’ve been through...” I hesitate, because I don’t want anything to ruin this weekend.
“People take one look at me and see trailer trash. It’s just how it is.”
My heart aches for him. I reach out, stroking his face. “You are so much more than that, Cole. You’re strong and loyal, and you protect those you care about.”
He wants to argue, I can see it in his eyes. But Cole presses his lips together, swallowing whatever he wants to say.
“Coach believes in you, the scouts at Colton U believe in you. I believe in you. You’ve just got to believe in yourself.”
“You’re fucking amazing, you know that, right?” He curves a hand around my neck and leans down to kiss me.
“I try.” I grin against his mouth.
My cell phone vibrates and I shuffle to the edge of the bed, sitting up. “It’s probably Remi wanting an update,” I say as I open the message.
But it isn’t Remi.
Unknown: I just want to talk, Hadley...
“Hadley, what is it?” Cole asks.
“N-nothing,” I force a smile. “Remi just wants to know if we got any sleep.” The lie coils around my heart.
I don’t want to lie, but if I tell Cole the truth about Tim, it’ll be a dark cloud over the weekend. And I can’t do that to him.
Not when he’s already questioning being here.
I pretend to type a quick reply and hit delete. “I told her a girl never kisses and tells.” I lie back down beside him, trying to ignore the message.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He studies me.
“I’m starving.” The nausea seems to have passed, and now I want to eat everything in sight.
Cole lays a hand on my stomach. “We should feed him.”
“Yeah,” I say.
“Just five minutes. I like being here with you like this.” He lets out a small sigh. “It’s like I can finally breathe.”
I decide then that I can never tell him about Tim. I’ll have to change my number, work out a plausible excuse with my parents. Maybe I should tell them Tim is harassing me? No, that might cause more harm than good.
If I ignore him, he’ll go away.
