Silence (9 page)

“Where is
he
?” I heard Cole ask his mum, referring to Chris, no doubt.

“Mia’s room.”

Cole glared in anger.

“Please don’t start, Cole. She’ll realise she deserves better in her own time. If you push her now, you’ll only push her further into his arms.”

When Mia and Chris walked in, the room fell silent. The atmosphere became tense, but I would still rather be with them than at my house. I smiled at the two of them. It couldn’t be easy for Mia knowing that her family hated her boyfriend. Their reason for hating him was valid, but Jenna was right, Mia had to get over him and move on in her own time.

Everyone sat down, and I saw the challenging look between Cole and his dad. I couldn’t
grinning as they both reached for a green chilli from the bowl.

Dinner was delicious; I ate until my stomach hurt. The over-full feeling was worth it though. Jenna was an incredible cook.

Cole groaned as we walked back up to his room after helping clear up. He’d eaten three
chillis and had been sick.

“Lie with me?” he reached out and grabbed my hand, gently pulling me onto the bed. “I’m never eating that stuff again.”

Yeah, until next time. I pursed my lips. He said that every time.

After chilling in his room for a while, waiting for him to recover a bit, he walked me home. I started to feel sick as I unlocked my front door and pushed it open.

“See you tomorrow, Oaks,” Cole said, kissing me on the top of my head.

“Goodnight Cole,” Mum called after him. I jumped at her voice, not having seen her approach.

“Are you okay, darling?”

I nodded, looking away from her.

“Are we okay?”

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her. It wasn’t her fault. None of it was. Mum hugged me back, almost squeezing me to death.

“I love you,” she whispered. I smiled and kissed her cheek, letting her know that I loved her too.

When I stepped back, I could tell from her puffy eyes that she had been crying for a long time. I felt a stab of guilt.
This is not hurting her nearly as much as the truth would
, I reminded myself.

Giving her a quick half-hearted smile, I went upstairs and flopped down on my bed. Everything that happened in the day had exhausted me, and I just wanted to curl up under my quilt and sleep. I couldn’t even stay awake long enough to receive Cole’s text.

Chapter Nine

Oakley

“Can you sit still for two minutes!
” Cole teased and grabbed my coke out of my hand before I spilt it. I was wriggling around in my seat in excitement. Our plane was gliding across the sky to Italy. I was so happy to be going away. I shook my head at him and stuck my tongue out. Cole rolled his eyes.

I had spent every day with him since school broke up and I still wasn’t getting bored of his company. In fact, I wanted more time with him. Although we weren’t officially together, we may as well have been. And besides, there was no rush to put a name on it.

I was sat between Cole and Jasper, who had been talking about cars constantly. I watched the in-flight movie, You’ve got Mail, to occupy myself.

“Bet I pull more girls than you!” Jasper said to Cole, gaining my attention. For a second I almost had a mini heart attack, until I realised that even if there wasn’t something going on between Cole and me, he still wouldn’t take up a bet like that. It wasn’t his style.

“I know you will, man. I’m not planning on screwing everything with a pulse.” Cole discreetly brushed his leg against mine; reassuring me that he didn’t want anyone else.

Jasper looked disappointed.

“You’re young, Cole! You should be getting as much as you can, from whoever you can!”

I scrunched my nose in disgust. Why on earth would women sleep with Jasper when it was obvious that he didn’t want anything else from them?
Unless he led them on.

“You’re a pig, you know that?” Cole retorted.

Jasper laughed and nodded. “Yeah, but a sexually frustrated pig I am not! Don’t worry, we’ll go out and find you a nice blonde.”

As Cole stared blankly at Jasper, I started to find it amusing too. Poor Cole, he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

As the plane started to descend, I felt lighter
; like my problems had been left behind in England. I smiled, looking out of the window at the Italian airport.

We retrieved our suitcases quickly and made our way to the hotel. The taxi drove up the mountain and stopped at our gorgeous little hotel. It was set into the mountain, only about one third of the way up. The swimming pool stretched to the very edge of the mountain. I couldn’t wait to get in the pool and look out across at the landscape.

A tall, skinny, and very glamorous woman greeted us as we strode into the entrance. She wore high-heeled black sandals and shocking red lipstick: the type of woman that made guys fall at her feet and women sick with envy. Confidence oozed from her perfect, white smile.

“Hello and welcome,” she said in a thick Italian accent. “My name is Carmella, and I’m going to be showing you to your rooms.” Her English was almost as flawless as her looks.

“Thank you,” Dad responded politely, giving her that warm smile that won over absolutely everyone he met. Carmella helped us to check in and handed out our wristbands that showed we were all-inclusive. Mine and Cole’s were the only ones with holes punched into them – for people under eighteen. Which clearly irritated Cole. I knew he was hoping to get an adult one.

“Let’s unpack and meet by the bar in half an hour?” Mum suggested, once Carmella left us.

Jenna nodded. “Sounds great!” She waved over her shoulder as she ushered David out of Mum and Dad’s room – the last room we were shown around.

My room was connected to my parents, but it also had its own entrance, so I could come and go whenever I wanted. I dumped my suitcase on my bed and opened the balcony door. Stepping out into the warm air, I sighed. The view was beautiful. To my right were the mountains. Right at
the top they were covered with a dusting of thin, white cloud. To my left was the sea. The sea abroad was so different to the sea in England – always more exotic somehow – but still had the same calming effect on me.

Someone knocked on the door. Reluctantly, I forced myself away from the amazing view and answered the door.

“You’re not ready,” Cole stated, pointing to the warm England clothes that I was still wearing.

I smiled and ripped the zip of my suitcase open and grabbed a pair of denim shorts and blue tank top. Holding one finger up, I told him to wait and went into the bathroom to get changed.

Checking my reflection in the mirror, I despaired. My hair was a mess from the sudden change in temperature.
Please don’t let my hair be like this for the whole two weeks
, I prayed. Pulling the hairband off my wrist, I tied my hair in a loose bun and got changed.

I yanked the bathroom door open, eager to grab a quick drink with our parents and then get down to the beach. My jaw dropped when my eyes landed on Cole; he was lying on my bed swinging my bikini top around his finger.
Oh, no!
Jumping forward, I swiped it out of his hand and shoved it back inside my suitcase. My face felt like it was on fire. I wanted to kill him!

Cole burst out laughing. “You should have seen your face,” he choked out, blocking my arm as I tried to hit him.

“Sorry. Couldn’t resist. You ready now?” He pressed his lips together, trying, and failing miserably, to stop himself grinning.

With a deep sigh, I stalked out of my room, trying not to smile myself. Seconds later, he grabbed my hand. “Sorry, but that is one sexy little bikini!” I slapped his chest and closed my eyes, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole. I liked when he said things like that because he made me feel normal, but it also made me nervous.

He laughed again, and then I felt his lips press against the side of my head. Looking up, I smiled happily and nudged his shoulder.

“Drink, then sea,” he said and pressed the button for the lift.

The beach was beautiful, the water was a clear aquiline blue, and soft golden sands stretched out as far as I could see. There were people dotted around the beach, lying on colourful towels, and children running around, building sand castles. A few people were swimming in the sea and playing with large beach balls. I wished I’d put my bikini on under my clothes so I could go in the water too.

I looked up at Cole and smiled happily.

“I’d ask if you want ice cream, but that’s a pretty stupid question, right?” he said teasingly and pulled me towards the ice cream stand. We got the same flavour – Belgian chocolate – and went to sit down on our towels. The sun shone brightly, so I flicked my sunglasses from the top of my head until they were resting on my nose. My vision darkened, and I buried my feet in the sand, feeling it wedge between my toes.

Cole peeled his t-shirt off and spooned ice cream into his mouth. I bit my lip, frowning at the squirming feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was crazy about him, and scared at how he made me feel.

The best way I could think to describe it was like being set on fire. When he kissed me, looked at me in a certain way, or took his shirt off, it felt like my blood was boiling inside my veins. I assumed that felt good and uncomplicated for normal people, but I wasn’t quite that.

Cole sighed, breaking me out of my thoughts and making me jump.

“You okay?” he said quietly, smiling so peacefully it made my heart skip a beat. His eyes seemed a much lighter blue in the sunlight, even through my sunglasses.

I nodded my head and scooted closer to him, so our arms pressed against each other’s. The feel of his skin against mine gave me goose bumps.
Calm down!

After an hour of looking out to sea at nothing in particular, we decided to check out the hotel properly. As we started walking back along the beach, his hand brushed against mine. I stole a
sideways glance at him. He was biting the inside of his mouth, deep in thought. Again, his hand brushed mine. Did that mean he wanted to hold it?
Take his hand, Oakley. Stop being such a baby!

A small smile pulled at the side of Cole’s mouth and he wound his hand around mine, intertwining our fingers. It was as if he had heard my thoughts.

“Oh, we’re going there,” he suddenly said and nodded his head towards a little wooden shack on the beach.

The crafted wooden sign just above where a gorgeous, honey-tanned man stood read ‘Water Sports’. Something was also written above it, which I assumed was the same in Italian.

I protested silently, but reluctantly followed him.

“Hi, can we book diving lessons please?” he asked, without looking at the prices.

Tall, dark and gorgeous nodded his head and flashed us a perfect, pearly white smile.

“Sure. I just need to see some ID,” he said in an Australian accent and pointed to me.

Cole shook his head. “ID?”

“Yeah, you need to be over sixteen, or accompanied by an adult.” I looked at Cole and smiled victoriously.

“Here’s my ID. I’m eighteen, so that counts as adult, right?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. He had a fake ID! Cole was still only seventeen. Gorgeous nodded again and checked the ID. Surely, he would know it was a fake?

“Thanks. You wanna go tomorrow at ten?”

My mouth dropped open. He had accepted the ID.

“Sounds good, thanks.” Cole gave our details and then paid. Diving did actually sound fun, especially in the Italian sea, but I was still worried about the equipment breaking and me drowning.

“You’ll enjoy it,” he promised as he read my worried expression. I gripped his t-shirt. I would enjoy it if my oxygen tank didn’t break.

“You’ll be fine, Oakley. I’m not gonna let the sharks get you!” he joked. I pulled away. That really wasn’t helping. “I’m kidding! Shall we head back to the hotel? I need food.”

I pulled my hand out of his as we reached the hotel, giving him a small apologetic smile. He knew why anyway. As he held the door open for me, I spotted a leaflet for the hotel’s spa.
Hmm, if he’s making me dive, I’m making him get a face pack…

“Where are you going?” Cole asked as I turned the wrong way for our rooms. He followed behind me as I walked down the stone staircase to the lower floor. Pointing to the spa sign, I grinned.

“No. Way!”

I nodded and walked up to the treatment board beside the reception desk. Two ridiculously beautiful women were sitting behind the desk, looking at the computer screen. Was being stunning a requirement of working here?

“You can’t be serious?” he asked, begging me with his eyes to leave. “Do you want my balls to drop off?”

I grinned wide and cocked my head to the side.

“Let’s just go, yeah?”

Couples massage
, I read in my head. Couples. I really wanted to relax together, but was a couples massage jumping the gun a little? Would he see it as a hint? Gathering the courage, I pointed to the massage and waited for his reaction.

“Just that?” he asked with a small smile playing on his lips. Shaking my head, I also pointed to the face pack thing. “You can but there is no way I’m putting any of that shit on my face!”

I scowled at him.

“No. Just, no.” he said defiantly.

“Can I help you?” One of the women asked, grinning in amusement at our little exchange.

“Can we book the couples massage and the rejuvenating face thing for her?” he asked, nodding in my direction. I slapped his arm and decided to go with a different approach. I pouted and fluttered my eyelashes. Cole wasn’t budging.

“Not happening.”

The woman, who looked like she should be a model and not a receptionist, laughed.

“You want him to do both?” she asked me. Her English was slightly better than Carmella’s, but her Italian accent was thicker. I nodded and hoped she wouldn’t ask me anything else. I didn’t want to seem rude. That was always a problem with strangers, not being able to answer them made me look stuck up.

He groaned and turned to the supermodel. “OK. Both please.”

“Of course.” She booked us in for tomorrow afternoon and handed us our appointment card.

Cole tucked the appointment card in the pocket of his shorts and glared at me playfully.

“You owe me!” I raised my eyebrow.
I owe him nothing; I’m diving tomorrow morning!
He chuckled and casually threw his arm over my shoulder as we wandered back through the hotel.

After eating dinner with our families, we walked back along the beach for a while. It was so nice to just go out and do whatever we wanted to do. I loved it just being us. We were given a lot more freedom on holiday, as long as we were sensible and met them at least once a day for a meal. Our parents would be off doing their own thing anyway.

When I started yawning, Cole demanded we go back to the hotel. I wanted to stay longer and watch the nightlife, but there was plenty of time for that.

“Can I stay for a bit?” he asked nervously as we stopped at my room. I nodded, not wanting him to leave. “Sure? I don’t mind if you just want to go to sleep.”

Unlocking the door, I pointed inside the room and raised my eyebrows at him.

“Bossy,” he commented.

We both lay on my bed and stared at the smooth white ceiling.

“You asleep?” he whispered, his soft voice sent a shiver down my spine. I shook my head and rolled onto my side. He really was impossibly good-looking, and impossibly wonderful.
I love you
, I declared privately.