Chapter 20

Cole

After dinner, everyone breaks off into groups. There’s a card table for playing spades and rummy. Dad brought out a bunch of board games, too. Reid, Haley, and I are doing the dishes while Mom takes pictures of everyone else having fun.

“What’s going on with you, man?” I take a clean plate from Reid and dry it off.

“Nothing.”

“You look like you’ve been hit by a truck.”

“Thanks.” He shoves another dripping plate at me.

Haley comes in with more dishes for us to wash, and quietly places them on the counter.

Reid eyes me up. “What’s the big news you don’t want to share?”

“Don’t have any,” I lie.

Reid looks over his shoulder at Haley. “Got something to do with her?”

“Nope.” I stack the dried plates on the kitchen table and grab another towel from the drawer. “Trey says you’ve been sleeping in the office.”

“Trey needs to mind his business. He doesn’t even work in my office anymore, so how would he know?”

Good point, but my guess is he has people checking up on our baby brother.

“How’s it coming along in here?” Mom chirps. “Ohhhh, you’re almost a third of the way done.”

Like that’s an accomplishment? “Mama, did you use every dish, pot, and piece of silverware you own?” Because it feels like it.

“Obviously,” she says, laughing. Putting her arm around us both, she gives us a squeeze. “It’s so wonderful having this house full. I can’t wait to have more grandbabies, too.”

“Don’t look at me.” Reid gives her the stink eye. “I’m just a baby.”

Mom swings her hopeful gaze to me and raises her eyebrows.

I shake my head. “Nope. Not happening.”

I notice Haley pausing at the doorway with a stack of empty platters. When I turn to give her a reassuring look, something passes over her face that I can’t read. She bristles and rushes forward with her arms full. “I can’t believe we ate everything. There aren’t any leftovers.” She places them on the counter and fans her reddening face. “Phew, it’s hot in here.”

The windows are cracked open to let the cold air in, but she’s right. It’s stifling. My body temp probably has more to do with how good she looks in that dress than the actual heat in the house. I want her again.

I want her always.

“Come for a walk with me,” I say, tossing my towel on the counter.

“Hey, no!” Reid panics. “Don’t leave me with all this.”

“Sorry, not sorry, bro.” I grab Haley’s hand and pull her out of the kitchen before anyone can stop us.

I’m not worried about leaving him with all the dishes. Even as we dash out the door, Erin and Trey get up from the couch and head into the kitchen to help. Our family is all about teamwork.

“Where are we going?” Haley asks, buttoning up her coat.

“Nowhere special. I just wanted a few minutes alone with you.” Steering her over to the trail on the other side of the driveway, I wrap my arms around her waist and frog-walk us a few steps. I think something’s up with her, and I want to know what it is. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look today, Angel?”

“Yes, like four times.”

“One more can’t hurt.” I let her go. White puffs leave my mouth each time I exhale. The temp really dropped over the past few hours. “You looked a little caught up in your head back there. What’s going through your mind, Hales?”

And there’s that body language I know so well. I’m right. Something’s up.

“Nothing at all,” she lies. “I’m just admiring what you have, Cole.” Her smile is tight. “Your family is amazing.”

I’m not sure how to respond. She’s not looking for validation of her opinion about my family. This is something deeper. Darker. I try to grab her hand, but she jerks back so I can’t touch her.

“Haley,” I warn. If she doesn’t want to be touched right now, fine. But I can’t stop the fear that punches me in the gut when she wraps her arms around herself. She’s pulling back from me. What if she runs again? “Talk to me.”

“Why didn’t you tell everyone about your big news, Cole?”

I slow my roll. That’s… not where I thought this conversation was going. “It’s not time for that yet.”

“What do you mean?” Her brow pinches. “What more are you waiting for?”

I don’t have an answer.

Haley sighs, her head falling. “I just wanted to see them be proud of you. I wanted to share that with you.” Her tears shake me to my core. This isn’t about me or my design news. This is something else.

“I want to wait until I’m sure, Hales.” My arms ache to hold her. Why is she closing up over something like this? I don’t understand what’s going on. “I’m not willing to put the cart before the horse. They could change their minds and nix the deal.”

“So what?” Her voice shakes. “You did something great. It should be celebrated.” Her chin trembles and the first tear falls.

“Hey, whoa.” I close the space between us, my heart pounding. “What’s going on, Haley?”

“Your family is…” A breath shudders out of her, white puffs fogging the air between us. “Do you have any idea how lucky you are, Cole?”

Ah. I get it now. The problem is, I have no clue what to say about it.

“Everyone’s just so supportive and sweet.” She looks back at the house. “I…God, what’s wrong with me?” She rubs her chest, wincing.

“Nothing’s wrong with you, Hales.”

She scoffs, letting me know she whole-heartedly disagrees. “I would have given anything to have what you have here.”

And just like that, I’m thrown back to the last time she came to dinner at my parent’s house…

Our bellies are so full, I swear I’m gonna pop. We’re spending the night because the trip home is a long one and nobody’s up for that kind of trip after eating their weight in turkey and pie.

“Get in here with me.” Haley lifts the covers to my old bed. “I can make you fit.”

She said those exact words to me last night too when I fucked her in the ass.

We both cram into my full-sized bed, the old bedframe creaking loudly. I make a uh oh face at her and she laughs. It’s late. About two am. We’ve been out on four-wheelers, playing cards, and drinking until most of the family called it quits at midnight. Haley stayed up to watch Christmas Vacation with my dad, the two of them practically lip syncing the entire movie together.

She fits so perfectly in my family; it makes me want to confess a lot of things to her. None of which I will because she’s never once expressed getting serious with me. We’re exclusive, but not committed. If that even makes sense.

In the silent darkness, her cell goes off.

“Ugh, watch that be Jenna, drunk off her ass.” Haley climbs over me, straddling my hips to get her phone from the low hanging shelf with the docking station. She looks at the screen, and her smile falls so fast it makes me tense. “Hello?”

“About time you answered me,” a woman sneers on the other end of the line. “Your father and I were worried sick about you.”

Haley practically curls in on herself, sliding off my body and tucking her legs up. “What are you talking about?”

“You think you’re too good to come home for break, is that it?”

“What? No. Dad said to not bother, so I didn’t.”

“Sure. Blame your dad.”

I feel sick hearing the way her mother treats her. Haley won’t look at me, and I want to rip the phone out of her hands to spare her more abuse.

“Where are you?”

Haley’s gaze flicks to mine for a fraction of a second before she looks down again. “With a friend.”

“A boy?”

“Yes.”

“College turned you into a slut then. Nice.”

“Mom.” Haley’s voice sounds strong even though she’s shaking. “Stop.”

“I’m just trying to understand why you’d choose to go home with someone else and be with their family instead of coming home to yours.”

Oh, I can think of a million reasons why. Too bad she didn’t ask me.

“A flight home is too expensive,” Haley says cautiously. “I couldn’t afford it.”

There’s silence on the line.

“Well, can you afford to pay your portion of the electricity bill at least? Or do you want your parents to suffer and freeze?”

Haley licks her lips. “No. I’ll pay it. I’ll…” She climbs off the bed and starts pacing. “I’ll wire dad some more money.”

“Don’t bother. Send us cash.”

“I can just pay it online.”

“Why? Don’t you trust me to pay with cash?” her mother huffs. “You’re unbelievable, Haley. So hurtful. After all we’ve done for you, this is how you act? College has made you a snobby little bitch.”

“Mom.” Anger laces her voice, but so does hurt.

Enough of this bullshit. I snag the phone from her and say, “Hi Mrs. Davis. It’s Cole.”

“Oh!” Her tone changes completely. “Hi, Cole. Happy Thanksgiving.”

It takes everything in me to not tell her to shove a turkey leg up her ass. “Have a good night.” I hang up and turn the cell off.

Haley cups her mouth as she stares at me, wide-eyed. “I can’t believe you just hung up on her.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t.” Shit, I shouldn’t have said that. Everyone handles their parents differently and clearly Haley’s piece of shit family walks all over her. “Your mom is an asshole.”

A little laugh bubbles out of her. “That’s being too kind.” She nestles against my arms, tucking in tight to me. “I’m sure she’s having an aneurism right now.”

Does it make me a bad person to hope that’s true? “You don’t deserve to be treated like that, Hales.”

She’s quiet against me.

“As long as I’m here, I’m not going to let anyone disrespect you, Angel.”

Her arm curls tighter around my middle. “Thank you,” she whispers. “But I think I need to learn how to do this for myself. You aren’t always going to be able to stick up for me.”

My heart drops. “I could be,” I say cautiously. “If you wanted me to be.”

It’s the closest I’ve come to telling Haley I love her. I don’t know why I can’t seem to get the words out yet.

“No.” She then gives me the exact reason I keep holding back on telling her how I feel. “You have big things going for you, Cole. I’m not about to be the baggage that weighs you down.”

“You’re not baggage, Haley.”

She doesn’t say anything for a minute. We hold each other in the dark and I start questioning all my life choices because when I have her in my arms like this, nothing else matters.

“I’d give anything to have what you have, Cole.” She runs her fingertips along my pecs. “Your parents love you so much. Your whole ass family is perfection.”

“No family’s perfect,” I shoot back. “But yeah, mine’s pretty great.” I roll her over so she’s straddling me again. “You want in on it?”

“Into your family?”

“Yeah, we’re adopting you. You’re in.”

Haley giggles. “Wow. So soon?”

“Had to wait on the paperwork,” I joke. “Didn’t want to say anything before the final process was complete.”

“Ah.” She nods playfully. “And now it’s all good? I’m in for sure?”

“Yeah, Angel. You’re in.” I run my hands up and down her back. “But just so you know, once you’re in you can’t back out.”

Haley cracks a laugh. “Kinda like the mafia?”

“Pretty much.”

She leans down and kisses me…

When I climb out of the memory, we’re already back at the house. Shit, we’ve made the entire loop on one of my dad’s many trails, and I have no idea how it happened. But when I look at Haley again, I see her differently than before.

“We should probably get going. It’s a long drive back.”

“Okay,” Haley’s voice sounds hollow, defeated.

I can’t fix that here, which is why I’m taking her home.