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“Yes!” she squeals. “Of course! Will I get to meet Kayla? And Samantha? And your mom! I feel like I already know them, like we’re besties. Or gonna be, at least. Oh, maybe I’ll get to pet Nutbuster, too!”
I chuckle at her enthusiasm. When I got the text that I’m expected at dinner to discuss Chance’s upcoming wedding, enthusiasm wasn’t my reaction. Annoyance was more like it. But I find myself smiling now. They’re going to love Janey, and she’ll love them, of course, even the ones who don’t deserve it.
“Thank you,” I say as I back her into the door until her shoulders are touching it. I trace her jaw with a fingertip, inhaling sharply at the slightest contact. “Fuck, I’ve missed you.”
“Me?” she echoes with a sultry smile.
“You, Janey Williams. I need to taste you, see if you’re as sweet as I remember.” I take her jaw in both hands, holding her still with every intention of sipping at her gently, teasing us both.
“Oh,” she sighs, but my lips are already on hers, so I swallow the breath and lose all control.
I was right, but also wrong. She’s sweet, maybe even more so than I thought, but she’s also spicy from the jalapeños and her own comfort in her skin. She meets me hungrily, giving as good as she takes, wrapping her arms around my waist and leaning into me.
Fuck her right here against the door, my cock suggests, and on some level, I agree. I want to be buried inside her again, feel the pulsing of her orgasm as she’s impaled on my cock, and hear her crying out my name.
But not yet.
We’re starting over in a lot of ways. With some history, yes, but still . . . this is different, and better.
This is real in a way I’ve never been before with anyone.
So I kiss her with everything I have, trying to say all the things I didn’t tonight—that she’s amazing, that I’m obsessed with her, that nothing scares me but she’s fucking terrifying, that I want to listen to her ramble all day, every day because it’s so damn quiet and lonely without her.
I hope she hears it all, straight from my lips to hers.
CHAPTER 18
JANEY
I’ve never been to a meet-the-family dinner, especially not when the family is as large as Cole’s, so I’m not sure what to expect. But I’ve seen enough movies to know one thing . . .
“Will your mom show me your baby pictures? Like tiny, naked Cole in the bathtub?” I wonder hopefully. “I bet you were so cute and squishable. Probably with big, chubby cheeks and a twinkle in your little eye. Or were you already grumpy and glaring at everyone?”
I clap my hands happily, imagining a baby Cole with his arms crossed over his chest, an old-soul frown on his face, and a judge-y side eye for anyone who dared get close enough to do something annoying like shake a rattle at him.
His grip on the steering wheel tightens, the leather creaking ominously. “No, I burned them all,” he replies brusquely, but I’m at least eighty percent sure he’s kidding. Probably.
He has a sense of humor, it’s just drier than Death Valley in August. But I’m not going to give up. Not when he’s opening up for me and really trying to be more human.
“I bet she’ll tell me some stories, though. Maybe the time you scored the winning goal or were named Prom King? That seems like you.” I grin, now imagining Cole as a teenager. “You were probably the type that all the girls chased after you. Star athlete, Mr. Popularity, straight-As, and a partridge in a pear tree, right?” I guess.
He chuckles hollowly at my description of him. “You couldn’t be more wrong. You know how you wanted your parents to see you, maybe pay some fucking attention for once?” He cuts his eyes to me in the passenger seat of his truck as we speed down the highway.
“Yeah?” That’s sadly true. Seeking attention was a delicate balance because I didn’t want to be a target, but I did want to be considered, loved, and understood. I just wasn’t.
“Well, my goal was to be invisible. Nothing good came out of getting attention in my house. My older brothers—you’ll meet them tonight—clamored for Dad’s approval, even if they had to stand on each other’s necks to get it. Kayla escaped the worst of the mindfuckery and got noticed because she was unique in our dick fest. But me? If Dad forgot I existed, that was for the best. Then, he wouldn’t pressure me to be like him because that was the last thing I wanted. Same held true at school. Didn’t want teachers calling home, for anything good or bad. So, I shot for high Bs and usually got them. I mostly tried to coast, completely unnoticed, through the middle of everything, everywhere I was.”
