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“It was until you showed up,” she dryly replied, giving him a scolding glare. “Bye, Yara. Talk later.”
She waved goodbye to me before hurrying off.
Cole sighed and grumbled beneath his breath as he sat on the bench beside me. A little too close. I inched away from him so his arm wasn’t brushing against mine.
“That woman hates me,” he mentioned about Tatiana.
“Can you blame her? She’s like a mother to me, and you didn’t treat me the best,” I offered, gathering Cocoa’s things so I could hand her off to Cole for the next few days. The days when I had to leave my sweet Cocoa with my ex were the ones I dreaded the most. It always felt like I was leaving my heart with a stranger even though Cole had always been in her life.
“So let me guess, everything was my fault, and you and your people never did any wrong, huh?”
I didn’t reply.
I wouldn’t take the bait and comment on him saying those words. No matter what, I felt Cole was always setting up a trap for me to walk into, and I wasn’t interested in those traps anymore. I didn’t have to walk on eggshells with him anymore, wondering what would trigger him. That was the whole point of our divorce—me getting freedom away from him.
Even though some of me wanted to rage at him for what Lori had told me. I wanted to tell him to clear my name and speak on my behalf. But that would only make him believe I was still invested in us. Or that he still had power over me.
Cole Parker was used to getting his way. He’d never had to work too hard to accomplish anything in town—a perk of being from the founding family of Honey Creek. When his father retired from law enforcement, there was no real debate about who the next chief of police would be. The job position was handed over to Cole on a silver platter. Throughout Cole’s life, his mother Lindsay ensured that he never had to work too hard, either. Cole was a mama’s boy through and through. That woman spoonfed him all his wishes and dreams.
So, it must’ve been killing him to know he could no longer have me. I was the one thing off-limits to him. I was convinced he didn’t want me as much as he wanted to control me.
He stood with me, taking the leash from my grip. “You’re leaving already?”
“Why wouldn’t I be leaving? She’s yours for the next few days.”
He frowned. He looked pathetically sad, too. I almost asked if he was okay, but then I remembered that wasn’t my responsibility.
“I thought we could catch up a little,” he offered. “We haven’t talked in a while.”
“That’s because there’s nothing to talk about.”
“Isn’t there? I heard you moved into those new apartments. Did Avery finally kick you out? I doubted she’d let you stay much longer.”
There it was. The subtle commentary that felt like little digs.
I took a breath before responding. “I moved out of my own accord. Avery wanted me to stay longer.”
“That doesn’t seem like her. She’s always had a stick up her—”
“Don’t you dare speak about my sister, Cole,” I barked, as my blood boiled.
He smirked after seeing he got a rise out of me.
There it was—the trap. Cole wanted to ruffle my feathers, and the tiny smirk he delivered afterward showed that he felt victorious.
“I always thought your relationship with your sisters was why ours failed. They were too involved in your life. Inserting themselves into our business.”
“Oh? Is that why we failed? It had nothing to do with you inserting yourself in other women?”
Cole’s posture tensed for a moment before he shook it off. “You’re right. I was the reason it failed. Not them. Which brings me to my next point…”
“What do you want, Cole?” I asked, sensing his odd behavior.
He brushed his hand against the back of his neck. “I’m in therapy, Yara.”
“Good for you.” I meant that, too. I’d tried to get him to talk to someone for years, but he refused.
“So I can win you back,” he finished.
Not so good.
“Cole,” I started.
“I’m serious, Yara. I’ve learned much over the past year, and I miss you. I miss the comfort of you. I miss us doing things together.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you drunk?”
“I’m serious.”
“Well, don’t be. You’re talking ridiculous, Cole. We ended our relationship for a reason, and I do not see reconciliation being an option.”
“Why not?”
“Why are you doing this? Why do we have to discuss this?”
His bottom lip twitched, but he shook it off and took three deep breaths as if trying to tame his anger. “Okay. You’re right. I came on too strong. We can revisit this at a later time.”
“Or never. I’m okay with never.”
