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He sighs but says nothing. Instead, he steers us awkwardly over to where Cole and Harlow are dancing.
“Oh, look who it is!” Harlow says in a bubbly voice.
She’s not an actor, that’s for sure.
“Oh, wow,” Linc says in a flat tone. “What a coincidence.”
I want to kick his shin, but that would be even more obvious than their terrible acting.
“May I cut in?” Harlow asks, looking at me.
“Oh, of course,” I say, gesturing toward Linc who just rolls his eyes and mumbles something under his breath as he takes her hand.
Cole stands there, not looking at me. His jaw is clenched and I can tell he’s still angry.
“What do you say?” I ask, my voice small.
He looks around the dance floor at the other couples who are moving around us as we stand there frozen.
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” he mutters.
Before I can respond, he reaches for me. His hand on my waist is barely there. It’s as if he can’t stand touching me. His hand holds mine, but I’d be a fool to believe he’s not pissed to be tricked into this dance.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“Let’s not do this right now,” he says, his voice hard.
I sigh, wondering if maybe Linc was wrong and Cole will never listen to me. I don’t know if I can take living in Peach Tree with him hating me. Seeing him all the time but knowing he’ll never be mine isn’t something I’m prepared to do. After a few seconds of silence, I decide to try a different tactic.
"Do you remember that case? The one I’ve been fighting for weeks?”
Cole’s quiet for so long that I wonder if he’s going to spend the rest of this dance acting like I don’t exist. But he eventually speaks, though he won’t look at me.
“The one with the kid?”
The relief I feel when he speaks is enough to steal my breath, but I try to keep my excitement hidden.
“Yeah,” I say, nodding.
“What about it?” he asks, even though I can tell he doesn’t really want to talk to me right now.
Not that I can blame him after what I’ve put him through. I may have forced him to dance with me, but he’s only here to avoid causing a scene. He keeps his head deliberately turned away from me so he won’t have to meet my gaze while we sway to the music. He’s also keeping me at arm’s length. Literally. If he were holding me any further away from his body, I don’t think I’d even be able to put my hands on his shoulders. I can’t imagine how we look to anyone who happens to glance our way.
The distance between us is my fault, I know. I did this to us by letting my fear dictate my actions. I was convinced that he and I could never work, so I never gave it a chance. Now, I’ve lost him, and I don’t know if there’s anything I can say to win him back. But I know I need to try.
“Well, I did it,” I say. “I got the charges dismissed. I knew he wasn’t guilty. I knew it, but the red tape took forever to wade through. I found out today that it’s official. He’s free to live his life now.”
“That’s great, Layna,” he says, his voice carefully neutral. “I’m happy for you.”
Cole’s voice lacks his usual upbeat tone and charm. I know it’s my fault. A choked sound escapes me, and I try to make it sound more like a laugh than a sob. I pull in a deep breath and let it out, fighting the urge to cry. I asked him to dance for a reason. I need to focus. The song is already half over.
“All I could think was, ‘I can’t wait to tell Cole.’”
I try to meet his gaze, wondering if he can see my feelings on my face. But it’s no use. He still won’t look at me. A muscle in his jaw ticks and I can tell he’s not as unaffected by me as he’d like me to think. I keep talking, determined to break through his barriers.
“Today, something good happened,” I say, trying to close the distance between us. “The first person I wanted to tell was you. Not Piper. Not Harlow. Not my stupid friends back in Atlanta. You.”
I take a deep breath before continuing.
