Outbound Lane An Unspoken Truth Novella (Unspoken Truth Series) (3 page)

We continue to sit and watch the fireworks burst into the sky
, producing a rainbow of colors and glittering into thin air. People ooh and ah over the fireworks as they burst into the sky. We watch until the show is over. “Are you ready to go?” Cole asks as we watch the last of the color burst and finish the cotton candy.

“I am. I had a great time
.”

“
Me too.” He smiles bright, causing my heart to pitter patter.

He helps me into the truck and the night air is cool as a breeze blows through. We roll the windows down as he drives me back to the apartment. Being with him is becoming easier, and
my wall is breaking down little by little. I make a mental note to get with my counselor, Leah, soon to see what we can do about my touchiness.

Cole insists on walking me to the door, ever so gentlemanly. He re
spects me and I appreciate it. He gives me the space I need, yet he gives me the friendship with no strings attached. I put the key into the door knob and bid Cole goodbye. He stands watching me turn the key to go into my apartment. But someone races out of my apartment and Cole takes off after him as he brushes past us.

“
Call 911 now!” Cole yells as he holds the guy down at the bottom of the stairs. I hear commotion as he tousles with the guy. I call 911 and tell them I had an intruder in my apartment and Cole has him pinned down. After I get off the phone, it shocks me to the core, who I find Cole holding down. My heart leaps to the floor.

Chapter Three

IT’S THE
ASSHOLE of a monster that sexually molested me all those years. I throw my leg back and give him a swift kick in the nuts, not once, but twice and hard. He winces in pain and Cole looks at me, shocked. I pull the guy’s head up so I can look into his eyes. “How did that feel? Good, huh? Stupid mother fucker! I’m going to get a restraining order against you and I hope they put you away for a very long time.” By the time I’m done with my spiel the cops arrive, and we tell them what happened. As soon as Cole lets up, the mother fucker pops Cole in the lip, making it bleed, and the cops hall him into their car.

The adrenaline running through me is insane, and it’s not something I’m used to, as my heart beats so fast, being reminded over and over again about my p
ast. It will never go away. Then my chest tightens as I bend over and try to breathe. I slowly make my way back to my apartment.

I cover my mouth as I look around and I’m just too shocked for words. The apartment is completely trashed
; the living room trashed, the kitchen trashed.

“Why
would someone do this?” Cole asks, just as shocked as I am.

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” I keep repeating it.
My apartment is no longer my sanctuary, no longer my safe place of solitude.

“Y
ou can’t stay here,” Cole states.

I run my hand over my hair, and just can’t believe
HE
was in
MY
apartment. The cops take a report and look around the apartment, as well as taking pictures of the scene. It seriously scares me.

They assure me that they will keep me posted. I see the police out
and thank them.

I watch as Cole goes into my room, which has been untouched and he starts throwing my clothes in a bag. “What are you d
oing?” I ask, confused.

“You can’t s
tay here, Alexis. It’s not safe. You can stay with me,” he says in a huff.

“Slow down, I’m sure
he won’t be making another appearance after this. I’ll be okay here. This is my apartment, and I’ll be damned if they think they can run me off.” The truth is I’m scared shitless, but the thought of staying with Cole frightens me even more. But I don’t want him to know that. “Let me get a look at that bloodied lip.” I motion for him to follow me to the kitchen. I pull out a small first aid kit and I sit on the counter while he sits on the stool in front of me.

I tilt his chin up with my finger,
and clean the cut. “He got you good.” I smile. I dab some ointment on a cotton ball and dab his lip.

“It was worth it,” he says with a serious tone. And for that split second
, our eyes lock and I feel the electricity buzzing between us. His eyes look down at my lips and I look at his. It would be the perfect time to let him kiss me, if this were a movie. I pull away and clear my throat. I open a butterfly bandage and place it on his lip.

“There, all better now.
” I hop down from the counter and my heart is beating so fast, and it’s all Cole’s doing. Him and his damn lips.

“Li
sten to me. You can’t stay here.” He spins around on the stool while I put the first aid kit away. “I’ll be damned if I walk out of here without you coming with me. I have the house to myself for the whole summer. So I don’t know why you are so stubborn about this.”

“Cole. Do you know what you are asking of me? I mean, do you really? We haven’t even had time to establish what this
is between us, and I’ll be damned if I become a burden to you.”

“You will be the farthest thing from a burden. I guarantee you that.
You can sleep in my room, and before you say anything, I will stay in Layne’s room. I’ll be on my best behavior.” He crosses his heart.

I sigh heavily and sit on the edge of my bed. Can I trust Cole?
If I can’t trust Cole, who can I really trust? “I don’t know, Cole.” I shake my head.

He stands.
“Well, I know. And there is one thing we should get out of the way,” he whispers, stepping close to me. Oh god, he is going to do it and I won’t stop him.

“What is that?
” I ask, testing him.

He steps closer, closing the distance between us, letting me know what is coming. His face is mere centimeters from mine. He cups my face, and looks deeply into my eyes as if he can see
into my soul. I think I stop breathing, fearing if I do, it’ll all end up being a dream. He takes his time, moving closer and closer. And then it happens; he kisses me. It’s a long lingering peck, but still a kiss. First kiss, check. His lips feel as good as I had imagined and hoped they would. Oh god. I’m a goner. Be steady, my heart.

Nonchalantly
, he sits and motions for me to sit next to him. I’m drunk from the kiss and he wants me to move from this exact spot. Finally, willing my feet to move, I sit on the stool next to him, still in a drunken haze. He turns to me. “I can keep you safe, and you can keep me company.” He flashes a weak smile, trying to convince me.

“We just kissed,
” is all I can say, stunned.

“Yes we did.” H
e grins. “I’ve been dying to do that since we met. And, you didn’t freak out. Like I was saying, you are moving in with me.”

“Well
, when you say it like that…” I smile.

“See, I knew you would see reason. Plus
, I wasn’t leaving this apartment without you. If I had to carry you out myself, I would have.”

I guess Cole has a huge alpha streak in him. I can’t say that I don’t like it, it’s kind of hot.

“Well, I’ll go, but there will be boundaries and the minute you make me mistrust you, I’m out,” I say, half serious, half joking.

He throws his hands up. “I would never make you mistrust me. By the end of the summer
, you’ll see I’m a good guy. People don’t just fuck with my friends and get away with it.”

“Okay then. Think maybe you can help me clean some
of this up before we leave?”

“Yes.
I still can’t believe he broke in here and did this,” he says.

“Remember when I said something traumatic happened to me? He is the reason. But I can’t talk
about it right now,” I tell him, holding back the tears.

“You don’t owe me an explanation. I figured it had to be something really bad. You can tell me when you are ready. I’m not going anywhere,” he says.
“Remind me never to fuck you over. I bet that shit hurt when you kicked him.”

I shrug my shoulder.
“He deserved it.”

I go grab a trash bag from the kitchen and I just want to cry. But I refuse to go back into my dark place. Cole and I start picking up trash and I think about how Cole and I are about to get a lot closer than I anticipated. This shouldn’t be happening; everything was going good, and then
BAM!
shit hits the fan. “How come every time I take a step forward, I end up taking two steps back?”

Cole stops picking up the trash
and looks at me. “I don’t know. Sometimes we are dealt shit cards. I wish I could hold you and tell you everything will be okay, but I can’t, for more than one reason. But I won’t let anyone hurt you. We’ve known each other, what, almost a year now? I’ve come to like you a lot, and I just want to make sure you are safe.” He shoves his hands in his jean pockets.

“I’m going to throw caution to the wind, and let you. I’m going to trust you because right now, that’s all I’ve got. My best friend up and left me and you’re all I’ve got
.” I can’t believe those words leave my mouth. But the fact is Cole is the only person I have right now. And I know he would be there for me, whenever I need him. I just have to trust the fact that he is good. I just have to survive the next twenty four hours alone with Cole, and then I can see my counselor and talk to her about everything.

“Stop worrying about it.” H
e smirks, knowing my mind is going a mile a minute. “Everything will be okay. I promise. I think we cleaned it up pretty good and it’s almost good as new. We should go.”

“Give me that bag. I need to make sure you packed everything I need
.” I smile and take the bag back to my room. I open it and throw in extra pairs of underwear and decent pajamas. A girl can never be too prepared. I walk back out to the living room and meet Cole. “Okay, I’m ready now.” I paint a happy face, even though inside I’m still scared. What if someone is out to hurt me? Will Cole really be able to keep me safe? Will the darkness lift?

“I’ll take that.” H
e takes my bag from me and we walk down to his truck. He throws my bag in the back and I slide in the passenger seat. “Just try to relax,” he reassures me as he gets into the truck.

“I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll try,” I tell him, giving him a weak smile.

“Everything will work itself out,” he says.

I believe him. I have to
. I have to believe him. He’s all I have in this moment and just maybe something more will come out of this darkness that surrounds me, and the darkness that haunts my dreams and my past.

He pulls into the driveway of his house, and my stomach twists in knots. I don’t know why I’m so scared. I go from never kissing a boy to living with one. How is that for ironic? Pretty
freakin’ ironic if you ask me. He picks up my bag from the back of the truck and leads the way inside. “The guys are all gone for the summer. Guess they went home or some shit. So you don’t have to worry about anything. I won’t be having any parties like Layne did either. It’s not my scene, anyway.

When we walk in, it leads right into the living room and it’s very spacious with a flat screen TV mounted on the wall, and a sectional tan
suede couch across from it and end tables on each side. The living room leads right into the kitchen; it’s medium size, with your basic appliances and an island with stools to sit on. There is sliding glass doors in the kitchen that lead you outside. “Want something to drink? We have soda, water, beer.”

“A soda is fine.”

In between the kitchen and the living room is a hallway that leads to the bathroom and several rooms along the way.
He leads the way and we stop in one of the bedrooms. “This is my room. You can stay in here and I’ll sleep in Layne’s room,” he tells me.

“Are you sure this is okay?” I ask as he sets my bag down.

“I insist. You should get some rest; it’s been a long day,” he says just before turning away.

“Goodnight,” I tell him.

“Night.” He turns to walk down the hall.

I cl
ose the door and secure it shut. I look around and familiarize myself with my surroundings. Cole has a long dresser along the wall, and a small TV on top of it. He has a night stand on each side of the bed and I notice his spacious closet. So I hang some of my clothes in there, hoping he won’t mind. I sit on the edge of the bed and sigh. It’s been one of the best days of my life and then I came home to a nightmare. Trying to forget the bad part, I gather my pajamas and head toward the bathroom to shower. I lightly knock on the door and no one answers so I walk in.

“Oh my god!” I see Cole wrapping a towel around his waist. I cover my eyes and turn around. “I knocked and you didn’t answer,” I say
, facing the door as I hear him chuckle.
How embarrassing. Kill me now.

“I couldn’t hear
; you need to knock louder next time,” he torments me.

“There won’t be a next time,” I say as he walks around me with the towel secured around his dripping wet body.

“It’s all yours,” he says just as he leaves the room.