Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

AINSLEY

I don’t know what possesses me, but I don’t just throw my arms around Cole and press my body to his like a woman possessed, but I kiss him, too. Maybe it’s the adrenaline. Or the fact Drake got what he deserved, especially after basically calling me a skank. I don’t condone violence, but having Drake in my face, drunk, and yelling at me — well, I refuse to feel bad about it.

When Cole’s lips connect to mine, they’re surprisingly soft. And I almost die when his hand reaches up and cups my face, his large warm fingers holding it in place for a moment as he moves his lips.

My heart is beating so damned loud that I’m not sure it can keep up with what’s happening. I pull back after a moment, gasping, as our lips disconnect and he stares down at me. His honey-colored eyes burning like molten lava.

“I’m sorry,” I pant, touching my fingers to my lips where his mouth just was. Savoring the moment.

“For what?”

“Kissing you without asking.”

“You never have to ask to do tha t, trust me.”

“It was the adrenaline,” I try to explain. “What you did to Drake was so?—”

“Terrible of me?”

“No, I was going to say, so manly of you.”

His lips quirk, and my eyes flick down to look at them. The pink gloss looks good on him. “Manly? I’ve been called a few things in my time, but manly? I kinda like it.”

I pull at his arm so I can see if there’s damage to his hand, palming over his fist as I examine his knuckles. There’s no skin broken, but they look a little swollen. “We should put some ice on this.”

“You’re just trying to get me to the infirmary and play Nurse Nancy, aren’t you?”

I try not to laugh, despite the situation and his swollen hand. “No, but this is going to swell.”

“I don’t care, it was worth it.”

“He’s such a jerk. I don’t know what I ever saw in him.” I mean that with all my heart. To turn up here at a kids dance smelling like alcohol and yelling like that? This’ll be the talk of the town for quite some time.

“Don’t beat yourself up. He had his chance, he blew it.”

“Are you okay?” I don’t like the idea of Cole being hurt on my account, not that he couldn’t take Drake easily. He’s lucky the teachers got there when they did.

“I’m fine. Probably good that they stepped in, for his sake.”

I blink up at him and take in his gorgeous face. I know it’s probably wrong, but a bigger part of my heart swells with the fact he stuck up for me the way he did. It’s not something I’m used to. “Thanks, Cole. You didn’t have to, but the fact he turned up here like that, what was he expecting?”

“He’s not worth two more secon ds of your time, or a second thought.”

I look over Cole’s shoulder; Charli and Rory are both headed this way.

“Cole, are you okay? Ainsley?” Charli calls across the distance.

I nod as they get closer and stop in front of us. “I’m fine. Drake stepped outta line, Cole punched him.”

“We saw. Nice job, Cole!” Rory chimes, giving him a high five. There’s no love lost with any of my friends and Drake, that’s for sure.

“Would you guys mind taking over so I can ice Cole’s hand?” I wave my hand in Cole’s direction.

“Of course.” Rory smiles. “But way to go, Cole. That asshole had it coming.”

Lucky for us, nobody else seemed to notice because the drinks stand is located at the back of the room. The last thing we need is parents or kids complaining about Cole when they don’t know the full story. I know word will get around, but that’ll be for tomorrow to worry about.

He rubs his chin. “Tell me about it. He’s also drunk.”

“What a dick,” Charli agrees. “You guys go, we’ve got this.”

“Appreciate it,” he says as I reach out to grab his wrist and proceed to drag him by the arm across the gym toward the infirmary.

The halls are exactly how I remember them as we pass the lockers and classrooms. Not much changes around here, and a blast of nostalgia washes over me.

“Did you hang out here much as a kid?” Cole asks. When I open the door to the infirmary and we walk in, he immediately plants his ass on the cot with a thud.

“Hard ly ever. I wasn’t a crybaby like some of the kids in my class.”

“Know the feeling.”

I open the first aid cabinet and pull out the box. I don’t know what I’m doing, but being alone with him after what we just did, it’s making me dizzy. I head over to the fridge and pull out an ice pack from the freezer. I wrap the pack in a hand towel and walk back to him, then press it against his hand. “This’ll help with the swelling.”

“He isn’t made of steel.”

“No, but you hit him pretty damn hard.”

“Trust me, if there weren’t kids present, I would’ve given him two black eyes to go with his new nose.”

I shake my head. “You didn’t have to do that. But thanks, fake boyfriend. ”

He laughs. “You’re welcome, but for the record, I like the fact you kissed me. And there wasn’t anything fake about that, not from my side, anyway.”

“Not from mine, either.” My eyes flick up and he thumbs across my cheek. I still can’t believe I did what I did, and he liked it. “You’ve got glitter on your face.”

He nods as his lips quirk. “I can only imagine. Molly has a glitter wand.” Did he only just get this adorable or have I been too blind to see it?

“I shouldn’t have done that without your consent.” I stare at him.

“You have my consent anytime where those pretty little lips are concerned.”

I look down at my feet. I don’t know why it’s hard to accept compliments from him. Ever since the breakup, my confidence has been shot. “It was nice.”

“ Nice ? I don’t think I was doin’ my best if it was just nice. ”

I can’t disguise my smile, even when I’m hiding from him… and why would I want to? It may have been brief and our lips only touched for a few seconds, but it was the sweetest kiss I’ve ever had in my life.

**

Cole

As I glance at her angelic face and her peachy skin, it looks like she’s struggling with something. Her forehead holds a frown, her eyebrows furrow, and her cheeks are slightly pink. When she finally meets my gaze, she sweeps me away when she says, “It was epic. And since we’re supposed to be faking it, I don’t think I’m much of an actress after all.”

I pull her by the hips as she shuffles forward, her body coming to a halt between my legs. I settle my hands on either side of her waist, my eyes never leaving her. “We could practice. I mean, there’s a lot that goes into faking anything. Practice makes perfect, or so I’m told.” I cup her face with one hand. Fuck . She’s so sweet. “Would you kiss me again?”

Her sweet pink lips part, and my eyes dip. I want to suck that pouty bottom lip into my mouth, tug on it and make her whimper. But this has to be her call.

Again, she stuns me when she says. “Yes. I like your lips on me, your hands, too.”

I swallow hard. My throat feels like sandpaper, I only just manage to croak out, “I do, too.” I brush my thumbs back and forth over her hip bones. My dick isn’t just standing to attention, he’s begging for me to make a move. But he will have to wait.

It’s early days and I want Ainsley to feel comfortable. I’m not a rebound guy…

She leans up on her tiptoes, and I close the gap. Our lips meet again and I do exactly what I promised myself; I tug on her bottom lip and a moan escapes her lips. I’m so hard, I feel things getting a little tight in my boxer briefs. I want her. I want this sweet little librarian to climb aboard and ride the shit out of me. But I also know as much as I wanna grab her throat and talk dirty to her, she may not quite be ready for that yet. If Drake was her last lover, it leaves little to be desired. Not that I wanna think about her with another man.

“I think I might love a man taking charge and looking out for me,” she breathes, shocking the crap out of me.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “You… you do ?”

“Uh, huh.” She pulls on the lapels of my shirt as my body hums in appreciation of her touch. “Does that shock you?”

“Uh, no, well, actually, a little. Then again, they always say it’s the quiet ones you gotta watch out for, right?”

“Maybe us quiet girls wanna be grabbed by the hair and backed up against a wall, ya know?”

I stare at her like she just fell from heaven. “Grabbed by the hair?”

“I mean, not hard, so it hurts. But firm, like that neck grab you did just now?—”

I drown her words with a kiss, and this time I give it my all; my lips press more firmly, my breath ragged. And when her mouth parts, my tongue finds hers and we swirl in tandem on a collision course that I’m no longer in control of. The second I taste her, I know I’m hooked. I don’t care that the ice pack falls to the floor. The moan that escapes her lips matches the desire that’s coursing through my veins. My blood pumping, my heart hammering, my body heat burning that l ittle bit hotter.

She may be vanilla on the outside, but I know there’s a little hot sauce buried under her sweet little librarian act.

The kiss goes on and on. Tasting. Teasing. I’ve kissed a lot of girls before, but this feels different. This feels like heaven on a stick. Her lips, soft and plush, explore just as greedily as mine. Except, it’s so much sweeter when the girl of your dreams just declared she’s a bit of a bad girl in disguise.

I pull back and press my forehead to hers. “You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

She’s just as breathless as me. “Really?”

“Since last year,” I admit. “I thought you were cute at speed dating. I only went there to get the numbers up and coerce Charli and Jake to finally give it up and admit their feelings for one another. Afterwards, I couldn’t stop thinking about you and how you took charge with that foghorn.”

She burst into laughter, and so do I. I wipe away a tear because the memory was hilarious. How she took her job so seriously, and everyone jumping ten feet in the air everytime that blasted horn sounded.

“One thing I’ve learned about having a lot of horny people in a room together, you need to keep them under control with a loud buzzer,” she says.

“Touché.”

“And I liked having you there that night. It was fun. Even if I took things a little too seriously keeping everyone in line.”

“Maybe a little.” I snicker.

“At the time, I was too caught up in my on again, off again thing with Drake.”

I shake my head. “It’s okay.” I pa use. “But what did you mean before when you said you might love a man taking charge and looking out for you? Has no one done that before?”

She bites her lip and I watch the sweet little indent it makes. “Nope. I haven’t had a guy do that.”

I’ve no doubt that’s true if Drake is anything to go by.

“I’ll always look out for you,” I say. “But if you ever wanna take the lead again and kiss me first, fine by me.”

She laughs, albeit a little shyly. “You know. I thought you’d be totally put off when you saw me outside the other morning,” she admits after a few beads of silence.

I frown. “What? Why?”

“I was in my bathrobe!” Her hands hold her face for a moment as she shakes her head. When she pulls them away, her cheeks are deliciously flushed. “I had pumpkins on my robe.”

I chuckle. “You know, I have a pair of pumpkin slippers similar to yours. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“And my matching onesie pj’s? Not a good look when you’re trying to impress your cute neighbor.”

I wet my bottom lip. Trying to impress your cute neighbor? My hands snake down her arms and rest on her hips again. I love how it feels with my hands on her. “You think I’m cute?” I tilt my head, aware of my boyish grin, the one I can’t wipe off my face.

“The whole of Silver Pines knows you’re cute.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Now I know that’s not true, but I like that you think so. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. For the record, I thought it was adorable, just like the rest of you.”

“Well, you’re very sweet. I should tell you that I usually wear silky negligees.” She flutters her eyelashes. “But I think we b oth know I’m never gonna pull that off.”

I kiss her forehead. “What really turns me on in a woman, is her being comfortable in her own skin, pumpkin onesies or silk negligees. It’s all the same.”

“Now you’re just being kind. I know I had a sleep mask stuck to my head.”

I chuckle. “I wear one myself, and a snuggler in the winter months.”

She slaps my arm as she giggles.

“What’s going on here?” A voice booms from the doorway. We both jump in unison and Ainsley springs apart from between my legs.

Principal Stuber hovers with her hands on her hips, like she caught us doing something bad.

“Um, nothing… I mean, I was just helping Cole with his hand…” Ainsley reaches down and picks the ice pack from off the floor and places it back on my hand. “He hurt it and we didn’t want it to swell, so I put some ice on it.”

She’s so cute when she’s fumbling with her words.

It doesn’t appear that the old bird believes us. I mean, her bullshit radar is legendary.

I wave my good hand at her, but she doesn’t even look at me. It seems my charms don’t stretch as far as grouchy old women who seriously need a makeover, or a vacation. She’s had the same scraped-back-hair-in-a-tight-bun for as long as I’ve been alive, and she barely ever smiles. You’d think an 80’s themed dance with streamers, glitter and happy kids would be enough for her to crack a smile, but it ain’t our lucky night.

“Mmhm, well, best get back to your stations.” Her tone is dismissive as she turns and stalks off.

I wait a few moments, then we both burst out laughing. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in my entire life. “I guess we better get back before the bitch comes back.”

“I guess we better.”

“We could grab some burgers or something after?” I suggest, hopeful.

“I’d love to, but I promised the girls I’d hang out with them. I’m sure they won’t mind me canceling?”

I squeeze her chin. “Rain check? Don’t wanna piss off the girls with your fake boyfriend takin’ up girl time.”

She presses her lips together, and I resist the urge to kiss her again. “Well, I’m holding you to that fake date. It’ll get the town’s tongues wagging after what you did to Drake.”

I can’t help but feel a little smug about that now. Knowing his nose is rearranged gives me temporary satisfaction. “Well, he should choose his words more wisely. I regret nothing.”

I slide off the bench, taking the ice pack with me. It’s not that it really hurts, but if it makes Ainsley feel better that I keep it on, then that’s what I’ll do. We walk in silence back toward the gym.

“I’m just glad he’s gone.” She wraps her arms around herself, and I can’t help but notice she does that a lot. “We don’t need him ruining the night for everyone else.”

“I’m sorry he hurt you the way he did.”

She pops a shoulder, and her eyes drop. “It’s okay.”

“If I forget to say it later, I had a nice time tonight,” I say.

She looks back up at me. “I did too, thanks Cole. I don’t think I’ve laughed as hard as when I do when I’m with you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should. Making people laugh is a gift, and it’s underrated.”

“Couldn’t agree more. There should b e way more laughing in the world. Everything is so serious.”

“Well, just so you know, I appreciate your humor.”

My fingers tingle to touch her, to shove her up against the lockers and show her what she’s been missing all his time. But my inner schoolboy better just behave himself. That last thing we need is Coach or Principal Stuber barking at either one of us.

“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me.”

Our eyes meet, and she’s smiling. “I certainly hope not. I meant it when I said you were manly earlier, I think that definitely tops humor.”

I brush her fingers with mine, unable to refrain from touching her for another second. “I think it does, Shorty. Just let me know if he bugs you again.”

“I don’t think he will, but I’ve got this. I appreciate what you did, but one thing I’ve learned over the past few months, is I’m a tough little cookie when I need to be.”

Little does she know, I already love that about her. “I could always set my killer cat on him if all else fails.”

She bursts into laughter again. “Fudge? Oh, brother. What will he do, flop on his back and purr him to death?”

I laugh too. “Hey, I’ll have you know Fudge had you headin’ for the hills with just one roar.”

“In my defense, he startled me.”

“I rest my case.”

Really, truly. Tonight has already been the best, and we’ve still got a few more hours of pouring punch and pink lemonade. Life couldn’t be better.