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I jump, startled by Cole’s voice coming from the dark living room. Reaching over, I flick on the lamp causing him to blink at the sudden brightness in the room. He's sitting in a chair in the corner wearing what I think might be last night’s clothes. I narrow my eyes at him.
"What are you doing up this early?"
Cole stands and holds up one finger. “First of all, this isn’t about me. This is about where you’ve been all night. I’ve been worried sick. I didn’t sleep a wink. I was up all night pacing the floors, worried about my big brother."
I roll my eyes as I brush past him, heading toward the kitchen for a glass of water. "You were not."
Of course, Cole follows me. "I absolutely was. No call? No text? Mom would not approve."
I turn and point a finger at him. "Don't say shit to Mom."
Cole just laughs. "I'm not stupid. So? You gonna tell me where you were all night?"
As I fill my glass with water from the refrigerator, I feel a smile tug at my lips. "A friend's place."
“Hmm,” Cole says. “Is this friend female? Blonde? About 5 feet, 5 inches tall? Owns a salon?"
I down half the water in my glass before turning to look at him. "Stop being an idiot. You know who I was with."
Cole grins as if he’s just won something. "Yeah, but I want to hear you say it."
I sigh. Time to get this over with. It’s not as if he doesn’t already know where I went when I left Peach Fuzz last night. I hadn’t tried to hide the fact that I was following Harlow home to make sure she made it safely. I’d ignored the weird looks from my friends, not wanting to explain why I couldn’t let her leave without making sure she was okay. No one had questioned me, but I’d caught the knowing looks on their faces. I’m sure our entire friend group was speculating on what happened between the two of us after I left.
"I was with Harlow," I say. "Happy now?
Cole lets out a loud cheer. "It's about time! Holy shit. What's it been, like 15 years?"
I grit my teeth against the urge to smack him, trying to remember that our parents would be upset if I strangled my little brother.
"Shut up," I mutter. But he doesn’t. Of course.
"Dude. I'm happy for you.” He grips both my shoulders and gives me a little shake. “You and Harlow! It's finally happening."
Cole is right, even if he's annoying about it. I'm a little in shock myself that last night went the way it did. I'm also irritated that I'm here with my brother this morning, talking about it instead of back in Harlow's bed, waking her up with my face between her legs.
But I know my parents will be coming to drop Ella off soon before they start their Saturday morning routine of checking out every garage sale in the county so my dad can acquire more junk to add to his growing collection. Not that he sees it that way. Everything he buys at a garage sale is 'a damned good deal, son.' I've learned not to argue with him about whether or not he needs the things he buys. Regardless, it means they’ll be here early to bring Ella home and I need to shower before that happens. Pushing pash Cole, I head for the stairs.
“Keep your big mouth shut for now,” I say. “I don’t want Mom or Dad—and especially not Ella—to find out about it and freak out.”
Cole makes a locking motion with his hand on his lips. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“It’s not a secret,” I say, suddenly defensive. The idea of keeping Harlow a secret never occurred to me. Hell, I want to shout it from the rooftops that I finally kissed her, and it was more amazing than I ever thought possible. But until I talk to her about it, I don’t think she’d appreciate me telling the world about us. If there is an ‘us’, I mean.
“I just need to find out what this means for me and Harlow before telling the world, okay?”
He looks at me with raised brows. “You guys didn’t talk about that before you left?”
“She was still sleeping.”
Coles eyes go wide. “You snuck out while she was still sleeping? Are you stupid?”
“I didn’t sneak. There was no sneaking. I just didn’t want to wake her up this early. She didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Cole grins. “I’ll bet she didn’t.”
I close my eyes and sigh, knowing I walked right into that one. “Don’t be gross,” I say.
“Are you really that out of practice?” Cole asks. “You hook up with the girl you’ve had a crush on since high school, and you leave before she wakes up the next morning? Are you trying to screw it up before it even starts?”
