B017GCC62O (R) (26 page)

There is something about the way they carry themselves. Every girl is head over heels for a Holden brother or Cole Trenton, and then there is Travis to round of the equation. Cole, Travis, Aiden and Wyatt round of the elite four of Lyman.

I dart a nervous glance up and lock eyes with him. It feels like he is looking right through me.

“I’m surprised to see you came. I haven’t seen you at a party before.” The corner of his mouth curves slightly in a trademark family smile, guaranteed to make any girl’s knees go weak, including mine.

“I don’t,” I start to say but the group of guys in the pool breaks out into a loud chanting.

“Dunk her, dunk her, dunk her!”

I hear screeching laugher to my left and see Wyatt running up the stairs with Brooke in his arms. She’s clearly enjoying the attention. At the entrance of the tube he disappears with her. Brooke’s screeching echoes all the way down to where it thankfully gets drowned out by the water.

“Grab Laurie!” Travis screams.

Laurie starts to back up on the other side of the fire when her younger brother gets out of the pool.

“Wyatt, touch me and die!” she yells, but she still turns around and runs from him.

My heart launches into my throat as Wyatt comes closer. If he comes near me I’ll have a heart attack. Instinctively I step around Cole using him to block Wyatt’s view of me.

“Hey, it’s okay. If you don’t want to go in then you just have to say so,” Cole says. He steps into my personal space and takes hold of my arm, right above my elbow.

“I don’t want to go in,” I say, my eyes jumping between Cole and Wyatt who got hold of Peyton. Laurie up and vanished into thin air.

The group in the pool starts to yell for Wyatt to dunk her. I can feel Cole’s eyes on me and I don’t want him to think I’m weirder than he already thinks I am.

“I can’t swim,” I explain.

His smile grows wider, lighting his face up. It also makes his eyes look softer. “Stick with me for the night and Wyatt will leave you alone.”

Did he really just say that? Maybe I imagined it? Did Cole Trenton just tell me to stick with him for the night? I know he kissed me last week, but I didn’t get my hopes up. People like Cole just don’t mix with people like me.

“You,” I clear my throat when my voice sounds too throaty, “you have a party to get back to.”

His hand skims up my left arm, leaving a hot trial right through the material. Placing his arm around my shoulders, he draws me against his side for a quick hug. I’m so stunned that I can hardly take in how it feels.

He chuckles softly as if he’s finding something funny. I hope I don’t have anything on my face. His eyes dart to something over my head before they settle back on mine.

“It’s getting hot here. You want to go sit over by the picnic tables?”

His eyes dart over my head again and I look over my shoulder, following his line of sight. The picnic area is dark, bathed in shadows. I really want to spend time with Cole. I’d be stupid to say no. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.

But that corner is so dark!

But I won’t be alone. Cole will be there with me.

“Okay,” I murmur, not able to muster much more.

His arm falls from my shoulders. I’m caught off guard again when I feel his hand take hold of mine. His fingers interlace with mine as he leads me away from the fire. My heart thumps faster with every step I take closer to the dark area. I focus on keeping my breaths steady and as the last of the light dies away behind us I take hold of Cole’s arm with my right hand as well, and I hold on for dear life.

I hate letting go of him when we reach the table. I sit down, torn between my need to run back to the light and my want for Cole. He straddles the bench I’m sitting on so he can face me. At first he only sits close to me, one leg going behind me and his other leg touching my knee, with his arm resting on the table behind me. It’s a consolation price knowing he’s this close to me.

“What are your plans now that we’ve graduated?” he asks. It might be my imagination but his voice sounds lower, more intimate.

“I’m not sure yet. Yours?” I’d rather divert the conversation back to him.

His knee nudges mine, sending sparks racing up my hips and beyond.

“We signed up.” He clears his throat.

Even though I can’t see his eyes clearly I still try to search them. I’m not sure I understand what he’s saying.

“We? For what? For army?” I pray I’m assuming wrong. Lyman will be a ghost town without him.

“Yeah,” he says, “the Marines.”

I can’t tear my eyes away from his face.

“Isn’t that harder than just joining the army?” It is, isn’t it? They do the worst kind of things.

“The trainin’ will be intense,” he says. His arm moves from the table to my back and I feel his other hand settle just above my right knee. His touch eases the blow of the news somewhat. “Let’s talk about somethin’ else.”

Good idea. My heart is breaking just thinking about not seeing him around here. I swallow hard on the lump in my throat.

“What would you like to talk about?” I can’t come up with anything right now. He’ll have to think of something.

“Let’s talk about why you’ve been running from me all these years.”

My mouth drops open and I make a sound much like that of a tire deflating. “We talked about that last week.” Oh shit! How do I get myself out of this question? He just won’t let go.

“Yeah, we did, but I’m not buying your answer. Every time I tried to talk to you at the lockers you’d make a run for it. You’re like a lightning bolt, all over the place.”

“I am?” I parrot him like an idiot. “It’s …” I let my eyes drift over the wide expanse of his chest, down to his jean clad legs, so close to mine. “It’s not that I was avoiding you. Not at all.” I don’t know what else to say without giving something of my past away. I really thought the explanation I gave last week was a good one.

His hand slips down my back and goes around my waist. Cole gives one tug and the side of my body is pressed against his chest. Glancing up at him I lose my breath as he starts to lean into me. I don’t move a single muscle, not even blinking as his lips press against mine.

Oh. My. Freaking. Word!

Cole Trenton is kissing me. Again! I thought he made a mistake the first time, but he’s kissing me again!

His fingers trace the gentlest path across my jawline and I gasp at the delicious sensations jumping from his fingertips to my skin. The moment his tongue slips into my mouth my mind clouds over just like the first time when he kissed me. Every time his tongue brushes against mine my body sizzles to life and I lose more and more control, pressing closer to him.

When he pulls back I’m plastered against him, and pretty much putty in his hands.

“I should’ve kissed you years ago,” he whispers against my mouth. I nod and the movement causes our lips to brush against each other. Cole takes a deep breath before slipping his other hand into my hair. Grabbing some strands, he crushes his mouth to mine. I lose myself in his hot kiss, until I feel his other hand skimming down my left arm. He keeps going down and drops his hand to my waist. Taking hold of the hem of my sweater his fingers slip under the material, and they brush against the bare skin above my jeans.

I grab hold of his hand, stopping him from going any further. Sharing a kiss is one thing, but the second he sees my scars he’ll be out of here as fast as his legs can carry him.

“Sorry,” he whispers against my mouth, “I keep getting’ carried away when it comes to you.” He pulls back and I’m glad to see he’s not angry with me for stopping him. “You want to wait here while I get us somethin’ to drink?”

“No,” the word pops from my lips. “Ah … I’ll walk with you.” There is no way I’m sitting alone here in the dark.

“Sure, come on.” He smiles as he pulls me up next to him, interlacing our fingers again. He draws me closer to him and I soak in the warmth of his body even though it’s warm out.

I still can’t believe Cole is spending the night with me, never mind that we just kissed two times. There’s a very good chance that I’m at home fast asleep dreaming all of this. Wouldn’t it be a bummer if I woke up in bed realizing this is all a dream?

He leads us back to the entrance where all the deck chairs are out around the kid’s pools. Some couples are floating in the shallow water, making out. It looks pretty wet and wild. I glance up at Cole and see him looking from them back to me. Nearing the ticket booth I stop. I don’t want to go to close to the pools.

“I can wait here,” I say, and I hate that my voice sounds a little breathlessly.

“What can I get you?” he asks. He takes a step closer to me. His nearness makes me forget that I’m surrounded by water and when he starts to lean down I forget that he asked me a question. The brush of his lips is soft down the side of my face. I fall back into my Cole induced coma and tilt my head to give him easy access to my mouth. A smile curve around his lips before they take mine and he kisses me in such a way that I’m not even aware of the fact that were standing in the light where everyone can see us. I’m so not being invisible.

“Finally, Cole! Now we really have somethin’ to celebrate,” I hear Travis’ voice boom from behind us. Cole lifts his head and as he looks over his shoulder at Travis, he pulls me against his chest.

I feel his chest shake as he chuckles. “We don’t need an audience man. I’m going to have to look into your face for the next few years. I don’t want to see you tonight.”

I stiffen at his words. Does that mean they signed up for years? I hear Travis howling as he heads back to the deeper pools and then it’s just Cole and me again. His fingers take hold of my chin, lifting my face to his.

“Will you come home?” I whisper, looking everywhere but at his eyes.

“Not the first year, the trainin’ is intense. After that I should be able to come home every year.” His thumb skims my bottom lip.

“Are you looking forward to it?” I ask. Pastor Beasley once told me you have to always do what makes you happy, and if this is what he wants then I have to be happy for him.

“Yes,” he says. He lifts my face a little higher and then he catches my eyes, “and no. I didn’t think I stood a chance with you, Bridget. I signed up thinkin’ there wasn’t a snowballs chance in hell for me to be with you.” His eyes drift over my face. “I suppose there’s a reason for everythin’.”

“Coke,” I blurt out when I feel tears burning in my eyes.

“Be right back,” he says, smiling again.

I watch him walking away, all the awe of the evening evaporating, and sadness settling in its place. For once I’m not thinking of the darkness surrounding me, or the water, but the long years of praying for the man I love stretching out ahead of me, and he doesn’t even know it.

~*~

Chapter Two

Cole~

I hear Travis having a blast and there is a jab of sadness in my gut. I talked him into signing up, all because I couldn’t face seeing Bridget every day and not have her. Now she’s here and I get to touch her, and I have to leave. Fate sucks big time.

I grab our cokes when I hear the girls shrieking. Wyatt must be at it again.

“Get Bridget,” Travis yells and my body reacts at the same instant I hear her name. Turning around my eyes zero in on my cousin as he goes for her. She freezes up against the wall where I left her.

“Wyatt, don’t touch her!” I shout, but he’s in the zone, and what sucks even more is that he’s much closer to her than I am. He grabs hold of her and unlike the other girls she doesn’t laugh or giggle. “Wyatt, she can’t swim!”

Worry drives me forward as he lifts her up as if she weighs nothing. My cousin isn’t much shorter than me and Bridget is small, there is no way she’ll be able to get free.

He darts away as I start to catch up and I make the decision to wait in the pool. I’ll catch her as she comes down.

My eyes follow them up the stairs. Bridget’s tiny hands dig into Wyatt’s shoulders and my eyes shift to her face. I stop at the edge of the pool and the air rushes from my lungs when I see the look on her face. I’m going to kill my cousin! Her eyes are wide with fear, those soft green eyes I’ve loved since the first day I saw them. When Wyatt takes the last step it looks like she whispers the word, “please”.

“He’s just having some fun. Chill,” Travis says from the pool.

“She can’t fuckin’ swim!” I bite out and dive in as Wyatt disappears into the tube. My head breaks through the surface seconds before they come racing through the tube. Wyatt slams into the water screaming Bridget’s name and then her body hits mine.

I focus on keeping her head above water and it takes me a second to realize she’s unconscious.

“What the fuck did you do?” I shout as I start back towards the edging. He’s a dead man walking!

“I’m sorry. She passed out the second we went into the tube. I tried to come out first so I could catch her,” he rambles behind me.

“Wyatt, you’re such a dumbass!” I yell, anger pulsing through me. “You could’ve drowned her!” I look down at her. “Bridget?” She’s out cold but I say it anyway, “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Travis jumps out ahead of me and takes hold of Bridget, dragging her out for me, so I can get out. That’s one blessing! I can always count on my best friend to have my back.

“Thanks,” I whisper as I kneel beside her. I check for her pulse when someone else grabs her other hand. Link Roberts, her foster brother.

“What happened?” he asks, looking pissed.

“Wyatt took her down the tube.”

“Is he insane?” Link explodes. “We need to get her dry before she wakes up or she’ll freak out. She can’t be wet.” He looks around until he spots Reece. “Baby, do you have somethin’ dry for her to wear?”

“I have,” I say. “In my truck.”

“Let’s go.”

I pick her up before Link can, and I rush in the direction of my truck. They can follow if they want. I was right, she weighs nothing. She’s as light as a feather. All the working out for the Marines has put Travis and me in the best shape of our lives. I could easily carry twenty of her.  My truck is parked in the section marked ‘Staff Only’. It’s times like this I’m happy about the perks that comes with being a Trenton.