On the Edge (14 page)

Cole: Be there in 20 minutes.

Well, I guess that’s my answer. I fiddle with stuff in my room, afraid, but not sure exactly what I’m afraid of. I don’t know if it’s because I think I’ve lost him for good, or because I wasted two weeks of time we could have spent together. I flop back on my bed, waiting for Cole to get here. Every nerve in my body feels like it’s standing at attention.

At a little after two, I hear a soft knock. I have to steady myself mentally when I see Cole standing in front of me in a pair of low-slung jeans and a tight V-neck shirt. Those beautiful eyes have a lost look that shocks me. He’s still sexy but he has dark circles under his eyes, and I’m pretty sure he’s lost weight.

“Come in,” I say. He walks into my room, and stops to look around, while I close and lock the door.

We stand there just looking at each other. Neither of us says anything. I can’t take my eyes off him.

“I’m sorry, Kitten,” Cole croaks out. The raw pain in his voice lets me know he’s hurting. I’m surprised he spoke first or that he apologized to me.

“Why did you do it?” I ask. It’s the one thing I’m dying to know. The one thing that has bothered me this whole time.

“I don’t know. I’m a jealous asshole. You’re mine and I don’t like other guys looking at you and wanting you.”

“Yeah? Well, you were supposed to be mine, and you embarrassed me by letting some slut paw you in public,” I bite.

“I know I fucked up. Fuck do I know it!” He flops down on the edge of my bed and hangs his head in his hands. I stare at him, not sure what to think, feel, say, or do. He looks back up at me and my heart constricts in my chest. The pain on his face is heartbreaking.

“I don’t know what to do, Cole. I won’t put up with shit like that, and I feel like if I take you back at this point, then I’m saying it’s okay.” I look down and cover my face. “It’s not okay. I don’t trust you. I hate you, but I fucking love you,” I cry out. My breathing is ragged from raging out at Cole. I glance back up, only to find Cole standing right in front of me. His arms go around me, and holding me tight against him, his eyes plead for forgiveness.

“I know, Kitten, I know,” he says softly before his lips meld into mine in a heated but tender kiss.

I stand there, too shocked to move. I want to fight him but I can’t. My body hums, calling out for Cole’s touch. I snake my hands around his neck, and pulling him into me, I kiss him back with all that I have inside me. One hand grabs my hair and grips it hard, while the other secures itself around my waist, pulling my body further into his. I run my fingers through his hair as I kiss him back. Yet at the same time, I’m pulling him towards me. We can’t get close enough to each other. Finally, we pull apart to catch our breath. I’m not sure how we kissed like that without passing out from lack of oxygen.

“Give me another chance, please, Kitten,” Cole pleads with me.

I lean my head on his shoulder. My mind is spinning. I don’t know what to do. One thing that I know for sure is that I’m completely in love with Cole Knight and every bit of his asshole personality. In fact, the song “True Love” by P!nk would be a good song to describe how I feel about Cole. I have to give him an answer. There is only one thing I can think to myself in this moment. I don’t want to be without him. I want every moment of the next couple months, because when he finds out about UCLA, I will lose him for good. He will never understand my need to go off, and I don’t expect him to.

“You’re an asshole, but I love you,” I say.

“Kitten, I love you, too. I just don’t know how to do this. I haven’t had a girlfriend since middle school, and I’m going to fuck up,” he says quietly.

“We both will fuck up, but the thing is, are you willing to talk to me about things instead of getting pissed and acting like a complete ass?” I ask.

“I’ll make a better effort,” he says.

“Good. Next time, I won’t just run off. I’ll take you out. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I get it.” He chuckles.

Then his lips touch my neck and I melt into him as he sucks. I don’t stop him. I know he’s giving me a hickey, marking me the only way he can.
He still has to wait to get the booty.
I almost snicker when that thought crosses my mind. Then, feeling a long pull on the skin of my neck, I moan. It’s a combination of pleasure and pain. Soon he lets up on my neck, kisses up my jaw until our lips meet, and my mouth opens for him. I kiss him like he is the air I need to breathe. His kiss with me is different as well. Even though it’s possessive, it’s also loving. He really does love me. It’s going to destroy us when I go off to school. The only thing I can tell myself is that if it’s meant to be, then when I get back from school we will be together.

“Can I stay with you tonight, Kitten?” Cole asks when we stop kissing. I nod my head and tug him towards the bed. He kicks off his shoes and strips out of everything but his boxers and we climb in bed together. Our lips tangle again. His hands move up my sides bringing shivers to my body. I love the way his rough hands feel against my smooth skin. He trails up my side as I reach for him, pulling him into me. His hand slips into my panties and rubs my clit. I’m completely lost in his touch. Like a bitch in heat, I press and rub myself up against him.

“Let go. Let me give you this. You deserve it and so much more,” Cole whispers to me.

His words send me over the edge. I buck against his hand, crying out his name.

“That’s it, Kitten. Come for me.”

I swear it’s as if he prolongs the orgasm by continuing to rub me and talk to me. I finally ride out the last wave and collapse onto my back, panting like I’ve just run a marathon.

“I love watching you come for me.”

I can’t even speak yet. I give him a slight smile to show him that I like when he makes me come. He leans over and gives me a sweet kiss and pulls me over towards him, wrapping me in his arms, I tuck my leg in between his and curl up against him. Tracing the ink on his chest is the last thing I remember.

“What the fuck?”

The loud yell brings me out of deep sleep. Cole and I are tangled up together.

I thought I locked the door.

“Drew, did you pick the lock?” I ask as I yawn and unravel my limbs from around Cole.

“What the fuck is going on?” Drew asks again.

“Calm down, big brother. We talked last night and I decided to give a Cole another chance.”

“Seriously? Are you sure that’s what you really want?” Drew stares into my eyes as if he is searching deep for something. I meet his gaze head on, hoping he sees what he needs. After a few moments of us looking at each other, he finally nods.

“Fine, as long as this is what you want,” he says. “Meet me downstairs when you get dressed.”

“Sure, I’ll be down in about 15 minutes.” I hop out of bed, walk into the bathroom to take a quick shower, and then put on clean clothes. Cole’s slipped out and I assume he’s gone down the hall to his room to get dressed. When I walk out into the hall, I hear yelling coming from the gym. I quicken my pace only to find Drew taking on Cole and I mean they are seriously fighting. My brother nails Cole hard in the face. His head jerks back from the impact. It doesn’t seem as if Cole is doing much to fight my brother back. Mostly, it seems he’s just blocking what blows he can. Drew lands another hard blow in Cole’s stomach before I finally have to say something.

“What the fuck is going on?” I yell.

Three heads turn my way.

“Kat, let them work this out,” Justin says.

“Work out what?” I ask, not sure I understand what is going on here.

“Your brother is making sure my brother doesn’t disrespect you again,” Justin says with a smirk.

What the hell? Are they crazy?
Really, does Drew think beating up Cole will make a difference? I’m sure, as my big brother, it does make him feel better.

“Drew, stop, please,” I plead with my brother.

Cole and Drew are pretty evenly matched when it comes to fighting, and I don’t want to see either one hurt. Drew throws one last punch and nails Cole in the face. I cringe. That hard blow has to hurt.

“Are you two fucking crazy?” I ask.

“Kat, I want to make sure he knows that he may be my boss, but I will always put my little sister first.”

“I think he knew that without you fighting with him.”

“It doesn’t hurt to remind him.”

“It’s okay, Kitten. I understand. I would be the same way with Julie.” Cole says as he walks closer to me. He moves behind me, pulls my body flush against his, and kisses behind my ear. Shivers of delight zing through my body.

“Okay,” I say a little more breathy than I want to sound right now.

“I’m going to shower. Don’t be too hard on your brother.” He pulls my chin back so that I’m looking up at him, and then leans in so that our lips meet in a delicious kiss. He breaks away and walks out, leaving me standing there looking after him as if I’m stuck on stupid. I want more. I don’t want to stop kissing him.

“Oh, Lord, Kat, snap out of it.” My brother’s voice is behind me so I turn to face him. Justin and Drew both are staring at me as if I have lost my mind. They may not be wrong. I may very well have when I agreed to take Cole back. Then again, I’m beginning to wonder if we truly choose whom we love or if it just happens. This was not what I wanted, yet here I am in love with Cole.

“I’m going for breakfast. Once you’ve cleaned up, maybe you can join me.” I call out to Drew as I leave the gym. When I get to the kitchen, the cook is at the stove making what looks to be…

“Are those pancakes?” I ask.

“Yes, Master Seth wanted them for breakfast,” the cook answers with sarcasm lacing her words.

“Can you make me some too, please?” I ask nicely, which is totally out of character for me, but this bitch can cook.

“I can. You may go wait in the dining room with Seth.”

When I walk into the room, Seth shares a toothy grin. “Kat, is it true? Did Cole stay the night with you?”

Bruce is sitting at the head of the table with a smirk on his face. He glances up from his newspaper to look at me, waiting for my answer. I really want to yell asshole at Bruce but I don’t.

“Yes, Seth, he did. Cole apologized for being mean to me, so I told him he could be my boyfriend again.”

“Oh. Well, if he is mean to you again, I’m going to beat him up,” he says.

This little boy has stolen my heart right along with his older brother.

“Okay buddy, I’ll let you beat him up if it happens again,” I say as I take my seat next to him at the table.

“Did you sleep well?” Bruce asks, that stupid smirk still on his face.

“When did you know he was here?” I finally ask. A plate full of pancakes is set before both Seth and me. I help Seth cut his up and pour the in syrup, and then I prepare my plate.

“I knew it the minute he drove up the driveway. I was working late in the office and saw him drive up on the outside camera. Then I watched him come in the kitchen door and sneak through the house to your room.” Bruce sounds very proud of himself.

“Oh, well then, I guess you figured out he never left and we made up?”

“Yes, dear. It’s why Seth overheard me talking to Drew about it this morning.”

That explains why my brother picked the lock to break in, probably wanting to see if Bruce was telling the truth.

“Did you say anything about school?” Bruce asks as if what we’re talking about is nothing huge.

I chew the bite of food in my mouth, and swallow it and the little lump that’s formed.

“No, I didn’t. I’ll talk to him about it later.”

“You need to soon. The more time you give him, the more time he has to come to terms with it and be good with you going. I’ll help you get him to see it’s a good thing.”

As I listen to Bruce’s words, a deep sense of foreboding hits me. It will take nothing short of a miracle to get Cole to let me go with his blessing.

As I finish the last bite of pancakes, Justin, Drew, and Cole come into the dining room and take their seats around the table. Cole sits beside me, leans over, and kisses me on the cheek.

“Cole,” Seth pipes up. “Cole!” he yells a little louder when Cole doesn’t answer right away.