24. Ella

24

ELLA

M y entire body was trembling and I was pretty sure I was going to vomit all over my feet, knowing that he was on his way. Letty knew it too. I’d be tempted to say that she was about thirty seconds from running to grab a bucket.

“Chill, girl,” Kane said from where he was lounging on the couch with Kyan. “He is going to lose his shit when he sees you. Trust me.”

His words should have helped. I guess, in a way, they did. But nothing would quell the riot of fear and lack of confidence until I saw his reaction.

I look better than I have in a very long time, but my opinion wasn’t enough. I needed to see his eyes as he took me in. I needed to see that desire that he used to be consumed by when I’d made an effort for a party.

And fuck, did I get it.

The instant Colt’s hands cup my face and his lips brush mine, everything falls away.

“Jesus, Bombshell,” he groans, cooling our kiss but not removing his lips from mine.

When I open my eyes, I find him staring down at me with that desire simmering in his dark depths. In fact, his pupils are so blown they’re almost entirely black.

“Hey,” I say like a nervous teenage girl heading out on her very first date. I kick myself immediately for being so stupid.

“Hey yourself.” His thumb brushes over my cheek before his hand shifts, allowing him to run the pad over my swollen bottom lip. Thank fuck for the long-lasting lipstick Letty insisted I bought earlier. “Been thinking about you all day,” he muses.

“He’s not lying,” Kane pipes up, letting us know that he’s eavesdropping. “You should have seen him dragging his ass in the gym.”

“Bro, not cool,” Colt grunts, finally releasing me. He might take a step back, but he doesn’t break our connection. Instead, he wraps his arm around my waist and tugs me into his side.

“Truth hurts, man. I remember it well. Spending my every waking moment thinking about when I could get back inside my girl.”

“Romantic,” Letty calls, her footsteps getting louder behind us until she emerges with a fruity-looking drink in each hand and a sippy cup tucked under her arm.

“You know you loved it,” Kane teases.

“Sure had its benefits,” she mutters, abandoning both of their drinks and sweeping Kyan into her arms.

The second his eyes land on what I assume is warm milk ready for bed, he makes adorable little grabby hands for it.

“Are you two going out or spending the night here?” Letty asks, glancing between the two of us as she settles back with Kane, Kyan snuggled in her arms.

“We’re going,” Colt says. “Don’t expect her back until morning.”

“Don’t worry, she’s packed a bag this time. Plenty of panties in case you ruin more.”

“Let,” I hiss, my cheeks blazing while Colt chuckles, his intense stare burning the top of my head.

I’m pretty sure I’ve blushed more with him in the last twenty-four hours than I did during our entire time together at MKU.

“Glad you’re prepared, Bombshell. I didn’t have any intentions of doing the right thing and bringing you home tonight.” His voice is deep and spoken so close to my ear, I feel the vibration of it all the way to my toes.

My skin tingles with the promise of what’s to come.

I’m going on a real-life date with Colton Rogers…

There’s something I never thought I would get a chance to say.

Colton ushers me out of the house as if it’s on fire behind us, leaving Letty and Kane laughing at his eagerness to get me alone.

“Anyone would think you missed me,” I muse as he helps me up into the truck with his burning hands around my waist.

He’s a gentleman with his touch, but his need to be the very opposite burns bright in his eyes.

“I did,” he says firmly, his brows pinching as if any other answer would be ludicrous.

“Colt,” I breathe.

“Ella,” he sighs, leaning forward to rest his brow against mine. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you. And not just today. Every single day since the last time I saw you.”

The weight and honesty in his words utterly floor me.

I can’t lie; there was a part of me that was terrified he’d leave me earlier today and forget about everything that had happened between us. I knew it was unrealistic. But I can’t banish the anxiety that’s grown within me over the past few years. That little voice of insecurity over every aspect of my life has become too loud to ignore.

But the second he walked in and saw me, I knew my fears were unfounded.

“Who are you, Colton Rogers?” I whisper, not really meaning to allow the words to come out loud.

His lips curl before a deep rumble of a laugh falls from his lips.

“Right now, Bombshell, I have no idea.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not,” I confess.

“Seriously, Rogers. Take the woman out on the date she deserves,” a deep, booming voice comes from the house.

“Jesus. Our friends are a pain in the ass.”

I can’t help but laugh. “I think they’re pretty great. In fact, I forgot how awesome they actually are.”

“Yeah,” he muses before ducking closer to steal a chaste kiss. It’s nowhere near what I need, but it’s a start.

Stepping away, he closes the door and races around the hood of the car, flipping Kane the bird as he goes.

I’m still laughing, feeling almost high just from that one brush of our lips when he slides into the driver’s seat.

“You okay?” Colt asks, glancing over suspiciously as he starts the car while I continue laughing like a maniac.

“Honestly, I have no idea. It feels like I fell asleep and woke up in The Twilight Zone.”

“Nah, babe. You woke up in paradise.”

“Oh, there he is.” I laugh.

“What are you talking about?” he asks, backing out of the driveway, glancing over every few seconds.

“The Colt I remember. Nice line.”

If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it possible, but he blushes. Actually freaking blushes.

“It’s not a lie. It’s true. Or did I get it wrong when you were screaming my name last night?”

“Colt,” I chastise.

“Oh shit, yeah. Or this morning.”

“Christ,” I mutter, squirming in my seat.

“Keep that up, Bombshell, and we’re not going to make it to the restaurant, let alone what I have planned for after.”

“After?” I ask, more than a little interested in how the mighty Colton Rogers plans to wine and dine a woman.

“I can’t give away all my secrets,” he says coyly.

Teasingly, I reach for my purse on my lap and pull my cell out. “It’s okay, I’ll just Google it.”

“You won’t find anything on there,” he mutters.

“I think you’ll find that’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Rogers. Almost every part of your life has been well documented on the internet up until this point,” I state confidently.

“Oh yeah, and how would you know, Miss Myers?” he teases. “Been keeping tabs?”

He already knows the answer to that question. If I hadn’t confessed to it last night, then I’m pretty sure the evidence speaks for itself.

“Sometimes you pop up on my feed,” I confess.

“Sometimes, sure. Ever seen anything you like?” When he glances over, I can almost see some of the endorsement campaigns he’s done over the years flicking through his head.

“I mean, the underwear ad you did was okay,” I say quietly, turning to look out the window as we fly through downtown Seattle.

He barks out a laugh. “It was okay?” He balks. “Do you know how much fucking work that took?”

“Aw, poor, baby. Flexing those muscles after being rubbed down with oil by some hot girl must really suck,” I tease, desperately trying to ignore the jealousy that swirls deep in my gut.

“That wasn’t the half of it. The photographers were ballbusters. Nothing I did was good enough. My angles were wrong, my muscle definition wasn’t strong enough. And the girl?—”

“Was quite possibly the prettiest, skinniest, and hottest girl on the planet.”

His stare burns the side of my face, but I refuse to look over and acknowledge that I just spoke those words aloud.

“She was awful. Demanding, arrogant, too skinny, too…everything. I couldn’t stand her.”

“You’re lying,” I say quietly, unable to accept his words when I’ve spent hours staring at the chemistry the two of them oozed in the images they made together.

His warm hand reaches over and plucks mine straight out of my lap, his fingers making quick work of uncurling my tight fist.

“Ella, I’d never lie to you. I promise you, you are worth a million of her. I don’t even remember her name.”

“So you didn’t sleep with her after the shoot?” I say, recollecting a story I read the day after the photos were released.

“Uh…” he stutters, and my heart plummets into my feet. “Fuck, El. I’m sorry,” he says, tugging his hand from mine in favor of dragging it down his face.

“No, you don’t need to be.” I want to sound strong, assured. But each word that passes my lips sounds even more bitter than the last. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“If it makes you look and feel like you do now, then yeah, Bombshell, I have.”

“You had no reason to consider my feelings. We were done. You were free to do as you wished.”

“I know this probably won’t make an ounce of difference, but no matter how many women I’ve fucked, I’ve wanted every single one to be you.”

“Colt,” I sob as a huge lump crawls up my throat, stopping me from saying anything more.

“It’s true. You’re the only one who’s meant anything. The only one I’ve remembered and thought about time and time again. The others…they were a means to an end. Therapy, in a way.”

“Therapy?” I ask, my brow wrinkling.

“Yeah. Come on, we’re here,” he says abruptly, putting an end to our conversation.

I blink and look out the windshield.

“Oh wow, that’s?—”

“The best Italian in Seattle,” Colt finishes for me when my words trail off.

“So you’ve been here before, then,” I surmise.

“Yeah, with Luca, Peyton, Kane, and Letty. Ella…” He sighs, killing the engine before twisting to me and reclaiming my hand. “You are the only woman I’ve ever dated. I might have done plenty of other things, but this…what we’re doing here…it’s only you, Bombshell. It’s always only been you.”

He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles.

The move is so innocent, so un-Colt-like that an ugly sob erupts and my eyes flood with tears.

“Don’t you dare make me ruin my makeup before I even get in there, Rogers,” I warn.

“Nah, you’re all good, baby. Later though, I promise to completely fuck it up.”

A laugh erupts as my issues battle with the joy of sitting beside him once again, feeding off his energy.

“Some things never change,” I mutter as he pushes his door open and hops out.

I’m about to do the same when he rounds the front of the truck and pulls my door open for me.

“Wow, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Neither did I. Now hurry before some pap captures it for the world to see.”

Something painful twists up my stomach.

“Ashamed of me, Colt?” I ask, my mouth running away with me.

“Never,” he says, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into his body. “I just want to keep you to myself as long as possible.”

The thought of what the media will do when they get their hands on this makes a wave of unease rush through me.

But then again, is there really an us to get their hands on, or is Colt just having a nice little trip down memory lane?