AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Like?”
“Weird noises. And I get the feeling that someone’s watching me. A lot.”
“Hmmm.”
“It’s her fault,” I say. “This is all her fault.” I recant the conversation between me and Ashley the other day in the parlor. Cole is riveted through it all. I know because I make sure to watch his face as I tell the story. “See?” I say when I’m done. “She’s crazy.”
“She’s young.”
“Young and crazy. Not a good combo.”
I watch as he lifts the covers and climbs out of bed. “It’ll all shake out, one way or another.”
“That’s not very comforting.”
“What would make you feel better?”
“Get back in bed. I’ll show you.”
Cole gives me a wide-eyed look. “I’m going to need a minute.”
“Fine.” I shrug. “Then tell me the truth. What do you really think?”
“All right.” He looks around the room and then runs his fingers through his hair. “The truth.”
I wait for what feels like a very long time until finally he looks back at me. “You know, Ruth, people that fuck with other people’s hearts tend to get what’s coming to them.”
I don’t know if he’s referring to Ashley Parker or to me or perhaps even to himself. I don’t even know if I agree. I only know I don’t want to argue. Sex this good isn’t easy to come by. “Wait. Where are you going?”
“To the kitchen,” he says, pulling on his boxers. “Want anything?”
“No, I can’t stay.”
He turns and looks over his shoulder, brows raised toward the ceiling. “When have you ever?”
“I have,” I say, and I try to recall a time, but I can’t. Running a bed and breakfast doesn’t really afford me the kind of lifestyle of not being around to see that said breakfast is prepared.
“You’re welcome to stay. You know that. But I’m not going to beg.”
He makes me smile. He had no problem with it just a few minutes ago. “Please?”
Cole picks up my T-shirt and throws it at me. “Never.”
“A lot can happen between now and never.”
We don’t talk about what happened before. I can’t call it a fight, because it wasn’t that. It never is. We just walk out of each other’s lives until one of us gets needy or desperate or both and somehow finds our way back in. And then it’s like nothing happened, though of course it did. You can bury quite a lot with good sex and decent conversation.
“You coming? I bought ice cream yesterday. Rocky Road.”
I roll my eyes behind his back. Rocky Road is my favorite, and he knows this, which means his purchase was either wishful thinking or deep knowing and both scare me a little.
I don’t bother putting my T-shirt or anything else on when I follow him to the kitchen. I need him to want me to come back. And part of me somewhere deep down wants him to ask me again to stay. That part of me, the weak part, it wants him to keep asking until I do.
As he pulls two bowls from the open cupboard, I glance around the kitchen. Two wine glasses sit next to the sink. I do not miss the lipstick stain on one of them. It’s been a long time since I’ve worn makeup. He sets the bowls down and walks over to the freezer.
I hop up on his counter. “I feel like I need to make my move.”
He fills a glass with water and hands it to me. “Your move? What’s your move?”
