20. Ella

20

ELLA

I ’m surprised that Letty didn’t have her nose pressed against a window, waiting for us to pull up. Hell knows I’ve had enough messages from her in the past few hours to know she’s dying to hear what happened between us. But we manage to get to the front door and ring the bell without her flying out and demanding answers.

Twenty-four hours ago, if someone had told me that I’d have just gone for breakfast with Colton Rogers wearing only his jersey, no underwear, last night’s heels and the scars on my thigh on display, I’d have laughed in their face.

Was I nervous? Hell yes. Nervous doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt walking into the little diner.

I had all these irrational fears that everyone in the place would stare at me, judge me, and question why the hell a god like Colton had obviously spent the night with me and then wrapped me in his number.

But it wasn’t like that at all.

Sure, a good few sets of eyes looked up when we entered. But almost all of them were focused on Colt. Hardly surprising; he might have an ego on him, but there is a reason. The man is every woman’s wet dream. And he was holding my hand after spending the night with me, in his bed, in his apartment.

The whole thing makes my head spin in a way I haven’t experienced for a very long time.

Colt Rogers makes my head spin.

The sound of the doorbell echoes through the house. I open my mouth to say something, but I don’t get a chance because Colt pushes me backward, pressing me against the side of Kane and Letty’s house, and kisses me senseless.

By the time the door opens, he’s got my leg hitched around his waist, his hand on my bare ass as he grinds against me.

“Safe to say you two are enjoying yourselves.” Letty’s voice is so fucking smug, I don’t need to look over to see that she’s got a wide, beaming smile on her face.

“Fuck off, Legend. We’re busy,” Colt groans into my mouth.

“Pretty sure you were the one who rang the doorbell to get me here,” she deadpans. “Did you want to fuck her against the wall, or did you want to come in? I don’t think either of you needs that splashed across social media anytime soon.”

“Colt,” I gasp, trying to untangle myself from him, but he isn’t having any of it.

“I’ll be in the kitchen with coffee when you’re ready,” she teases. “Colt, Kane is waiting to train. If you’ve got the energy for it, that is.”

“I could go all fucking night,” he bellows as she ducks into the house. “Isn’t that right, Bombshell?” His eyes twinkle with mischief.

“You should go. I need to speak to my boss before she fires me, and call Mom back.”

His eyes bounce between mine, searching for answers to questions I can’t decipher. But while our lips might have parted, he never releases my body. His grip on my ass is just as tight as ever, ensuring I’ll have his fingerprints bruised on me later.

Heat washes through my body as I think about having his marks all over me.

Mine .

I hear the word as clearly as if he’d just growled it in my ear.

“What’s your job?” he asks.

A sad laugh bubbles up. I’ve been waiting for him to ask and already dreading confessing my reality.

It’s nothing embarrassing, just not what I wanted to do, and he’s going to know it just as well as I do.

“Audio transcription for medical documents and things,” I explain quietly.

His brows pinch in confusion.

“D-do you like it?” he asks, a hopeful lilt to his voice.

“No. I hate it.”

“So, why are you doing it?”

I’m about to respond when we’re joined by the other Legend of the house.

“Hey, man. You ready to—sorry, didn’t realize you were fucking Ella against our house,” Kane says, averting his gaze.

“He’s not. You’re safe.”

Pressing my palms against Colt’s chest, I finally force him to back up. Although, I regret it instantly. With the heat of his body and his burning touch gone, I feel naked.

“You sure were enjoying yourselves though, huh?” Kane deadpans, nodding toward the impressive tent in Colt’s sweats that’s embarrassingly covered by a damp patch from my lack of underwear.

“Fuck, yeah. We’ve had an epic time. Isn’t that right, Bombshell?”

Ignoring Kane, I look up at Colt through my lashes, giving him the best coy smile I can muster as I back away.

“You guys should go. Be gentle with him. He’s had a busy night,” I tease before disappearing into the house and closing the door behind me.

I rest back against the cold, unforgiving wood and close my eyes. For a few seconds, I just breathe, letting the events since I was last inside this house play out in my mind.

I don’t realize my face gives away how I feel about it all until Letty speaks.

“Well, that smile on your face and your obvious lack of underwear tell me everything I need to know.”

My breath catches and my eyes fly open as I reach for the hem of Colt’s jersey and frantically tug it down.

“Chill, you’re not flashing me.” She laughs. “Come on, coffee is made, and I am ready for all the juicy details.”

“ H e remembered? Oh my god, that is so…swoon,” Letty says, her eyes all soft and sappy when I explain about Colt refusing my breakfast request of fruit salad and instead ordering my favorite.

“I know,” I agree. It was pretty epic. And I could hardly argue when he happily announced in front of the server that I’d burned enough calories last night and this morning to more than cover it.

I tried to kick him under the table, but it backfired. He saw the move coming a mile away and grabbed my ankle before I made contact.

His touch burned, and it only got worse when his hand started creeping up my calf.

My cheeks blaze as I think about how high his fingers got. Safe to say, he knew exactly how hot his touch got me. I really, really should have been wearing panties.

“No wonder you’re not wearing any underwear. That must have melted them right off.” She laughs, taking a sip of her coffee. “Oh my god,” she gasps.

“What?”

“You’ve got that look in your eyes,” she says as if she’s making any sense.

“That look?”

“Yes. You used to get it at college when you did something naughty. Your lack of underwear and dry humping against my house is the least of it, isn’t it, Miss Myers?”

I can’t help but smile as I hug my mug. Honestly, I want to stand up, stomp my feet, and squeal in excitement like a child who’s just been told she’s going to Disneyland. That is how light and free Colton makes me feel.

“Letty,” I sigh, trying to keep a lid on my exhilaration. “He makes me feel like me again.”

The confession is so painfully true that it rocks me right down to my core.

“He makes me feel wild, and free, and excited, and—” I swallow, the next one almost too big to say out loud.

“And?” she prompts.

“Beautiful,” I sob.

“Oh, El,” she sighs, abandoning her coffee on the table and scooting over so she can wrap me in her arms. “You are so fucking beautiful. Any man has to be an idiot not to see that.”

She holds me while I cry. But for the first time in a very, very long time, they’re not sad tears. They’re happy ones. Tears of relief, because the girl I’ve been mourning all this time hasn’t died. She is still there. She is still me. She just needed rediscovering.

“So, what’s next? You’re staying, right? Tell me you’re staying and he’s going to finally claim you like he should have years ago.”

“I don’t know. We haven’t made a plan.” My phone starts buzzing in my purse, reminding me that I have a life outside of this little Ella and Colton bubble I’ve found myself back in the middle of that really needs dealing with. “That’s either my boss or my mother. I need to speak to both of them,” I say, pushing from the sofa and grabbing my purse.

“Go, take your time. I’ll be here when you’re done.” I’m almost at the door when a cry comes through the baby monitor. “Looks like our time was up anyway,” Letty teases before following me out of the room and up the stairs. “I know you’ve got a lot to consider, but I want you to know that there is always a room for you here. Should you wish to stay,” Letty says as I reach for the door handle.

I can’t lie, the thought of making this place my home, being surrounded by my friends—my self-made family—kickstarts a whole army of butterflies in my belly.

But then I think of Mom on her own in Texas. It was okay when I first went to MKU. She had Dad and Benny. But that isn’t the case anymore. She’s alone. She needs me.

“Thank you,” I whisper, my voice choked with emotion.

“We’ve got you, El. Whatever you need.”

I slip into the room, my excitement vanishing with every second that passes. Sadly, reality waits for no one, and mine is knocking. Or calling, I guess.

When my cell starts buzzing again, I pull it out, expecting my boss. But it’s Mom.

With a sigh, I lower my ass to the edge of the bed and swipe the screen.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Oh good, you’re alive,” she mocks.

“Just catching up with everyone,” I say with a wince as I lie back on the bed.

“I know. I’m sorry. I just worry when you’re so far away. How are you feeling?”

“Good,” I say, a smile creeping onto my lips. “Really good.”

“You sound good,” she says happily. “How is everyone? Baby Kyan?”

We chat away for a few minutes about Kane, Letty and Kyan before I mention hanging out with Peyton and Luca last night before she knocks me on my ass—or at least she would if I were standing.

“And Colton?”

I’m so shocked that no words leave my lips.

“Ella,” she half warns, half chuckles. “You didn’t think I wasn’t aware that he played with Kane and Luca?”

“I-I…I don’t know. I never really…we never talked about it. How did you?—”

“Ella, you’re my baby. I saw the way your face and voice used to change when you spoke about him. I’ve seen you on his social media, watching his interviews. If you thought you were being discreet, I’ve got to tell you that you were doing a really bad job of it.”

“Oh,” I breathe.

“So…have you seen him?”

I swallow nervously, my fingers holding my cell so tightly they begin to cramp.

Pulling it from my ear, I put it on speaker and roll onto my stomach with a coy smile playing on my lips.

“Yes, I’ve seen him,” I confess.

“Just seen him?” she counters.

“Mom,” I gasp.

“What? It might have escaped your notice, but I am also a woman who can see something pretty when it’s in front of her.”

“Oh my god, tell me you haven’t been checking him out.”

“Ella,” she chastises. “The only man I ever…checked out…was your father. And certainly not one young enough to be my son. Or anyone you’re interested in.”

“Jeez, Mom.”

“What?” she asks with a chuckle.

“Nothing. Nothing.”

“So…enough avoiding it. How is Colton?”

“He’s fine, thank you for asking.”

“And the reason why you haven’t answered your cell all morning?”

“Maybe.” Silence. “Yes. Okay, yes.” Silence. “I may or may not have spent the night with him.”

“Did you have fun?”

“MOM,” I gasp. I have never, ever had a sex chat with my mother, and I don’t know how I feel about it. “Have you had a drink or something?”

“Ella Myers,” she chastises. “It is barely one in the afternoon; of course I have not had a drink.”

“Okay, well?—”

“You should be happy. I can hear the smile in your voice that’s been missing for so long.”

Because I feel like I’ve come home. Even though it’s to a place I barely know.

I can’t say those words out loud, though. Not to Mom, who’s alone in Texas right now.

“You should stay,” she says quietly, almost as if she’s forcing the words from her lips.