The Falling Kind (11 page)

              “Come on, there are a few other people I want you to meet,” Cole said sweetly, putting an arm around my shoulders. We started walking towards another group of six or seven guys. “Try it,” he suggested as we walked, gesturing towards the cup in my hand. “I figured it out.”

              “Figured what out?” I questioned, oblivious to what he was talking about.

              “Your drink. I solved it,” he said, sounding proud of himself.

              I took a small sip, smiling as soon as it hit my lips. “Yes you did,” I grinned. “Where did you get this?”

              “Someone up in the parking lot had a bar out of their tailgate,” he snickered. “Sprite and grenadine, right? No alcohol?”

              “Yeah,” I responded, still smiling. I thought back to two minutes ago when those mean girls suggested Cole would fight someone just for talking to me, while in reality, he seemed so far away from that type of guy. He was gone making me a Shirley Temple for Pete’s sake.

              We made it to the next group of people and Cole introduced me collectively to them all at once. They were all guys he played beach volleyball with once a week. They all politely said hello and said kind things to me, encouraging me to come down and watch a game sometime. They all seemed really nice and cordial. It seemed the guys around here had far better manners than the girls. I was interested to learn that Cole even played volleyball, he didn’t really strike me as a team sports kind of guy. This seemed like good progress, learning these things about him. After some small talk, he excused us from the group.

              “Do you want to walk down by the water?” he asked once we were alone. He held onto my hand and a shiver coursed through me as I thought back to the last time we held hands on the beach, when his lips were pressed against mine.

              “Yes,” I said eagerly. “I have some questions for you.” I glanced over at him and he had a huge smile on his face.

              “It’s barely after ten,” he remarked, looking down at his watch. “It’s nowhere close to midnight.”

              “That’s not what I mean,” I said playfully. “What are all those girls calling me? A Ridge City LC or something? What is that?”

              “Don’t let them bother you, they’re harmless,” he explained, leading me down to the water’s edge. We kicked off our sandals and set down our cups.

              “They’ve been whispering about me all night,” I retorted.

              “They’re jealous,” he said with a slight laugh. “I literally heard them talking about the guy’s name on your shoes for like ten minutes while we unloaded the kegs.”

              I glanced down at the old pair of sandals I just laid on the beach. There was a small Michael Kors label on the back. “Why do they care about my shoes?” I exclaimed. “What could they possibly have to say about that?”

              “A lot, that’s all I heard them talk about,” he smirked. “They’re girls. That’s just something else for them to judge you for.
”
             

              “So then what’s a Ridge City LC?”

              We walked up to an area of the beach where there were huge boulders. They were massive, sitting right up against the water’s edge. We stopped walking and he turned to face me. The glow of the fire in the background didn’t provide us with much light, but the full moon did. He looked at me with sweet eyes.

              “Everyone from the Mountain Ridge side is considered a Ridge City, that’s just what people around here call them,” he explained, both my hands in his now that we stopped walking.

            
 “
And the LC part?” I urged.

              “It’s just a dumb expression, it stands for loose change,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s stupid.”

              “I don’t get it,” I replied curiously. No wonder it hadn’t taken off and appeared to just be a West Cove thing.

              “I don’t really know, it kind of has several meanings,” he said, cocking his head back. “Guys usually mean it in the context of seeing a girl at a bar or a party or a nightclub or something. Like he wants to check her pockets for loose change… It’s dumb, it just means he wants to put his hands all over her or whatever. Girls use it differently though, like an insult.”

              “And the guy version isn’t insulting?” I asked dryly.

              “I know, but for girls it’s more like a cast aside. Like how every once in a while you need loose change, but for the most part you don’t, it just gets in the way… Or like how people throw change into a fountain,” he tried to explain. “It’s like they’re trying to say loose change isn’t important or significant or whatever.”

              “And they got that impression of me from my sandals?” I said lightheartedly, trying not to let it bother me. I couldn’t help it though, these were Cole’s ‘people.’ I obviously wanted to be accepted by them in some way.

              “Let them judge you however they want, it doesn’t mean anything,” he said sweetly, bringing up one of his hands to touch my face.

              “What about you?” I asked apprehensively. “I’m sure you see a Ridge City girl too when you look at me. I get it.”

              “You know what I actually see? What I saw in you from the first night I met you?” he said softly. “
Goodness
. It’s the most fascinating thing to me, the way it just pours out of you. I’ve never seen that in someone the way I see it in you.” He slowly grazed his lips against mine.

              “I’m not so good,” I said quietly.

              “That’s just it,” he replied, gently brushing my cheek with his hand as he touched my face. “You are, in every single way, but it’s like you don’t know how much it stands out on you. I honestly didn’t know that kind of goodness even existed before you. You’re like a dream I never knew to have.”

              He kissed me again, more passionately this time, and his words filled me. I didn’t honestly believe I was any more or less ordinary than anyone else I knew. I was who I was, but the way he saw me through his eyes – that was something far more than ordinary. Kind of the way his presence felt to me – not just because he was physically so big and strong, but the fierceness in his voice when he wanted to protect me from something – that burned through me and I felt cared for in a way I never recognized before.

              His arms wrapped tight around me, and I was entranced by his embrace. It felt sturdy and powerful, but also delicate and tender in some way.

              He trailed kisses down my neck and my entire body felt it. I wrapped my arms around him, reveling in the moment.

              Loud shouts from around the bonfire echoed out through the quiet night, breaking our concentration on each other. We both looked over to see what the noise was. It appeared to be a couple guys fighting.

              “Of course, something else to go wrong tonight,” he said with a sigh and a hint of frustration.

              “This night hasn’t been so bad,” I replied with a sexy smirk, turning his attention back on me.

              “No? What was the highlight for you?” he asked with an amused look on his face.

              “Earlier, when you stopped the truck,” I said hesitantly, not totally sure I was ready to share my honest thoughts with him just yet.

              “Stopping for Crazy Jamie was the best part?” he replied gregariously, throwing his hands up in the air with a laugh. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. Only you would say that.”

              “That’s not the part I was referencing,” I said with a shy smile. “When you approached her…” I said reluctantly. “You called me your girl.”

              “That was your highlight?” he said with a boyish grin. I nodded. “Good,” he whispered. “Then I’ll keep saying it.”

              He kissed me again, completely ignoring our surroundings and anything happening over by the fire. It was as if we were the only people out under the night sky. His strong arms wrapped around me again and scooped me up so that my legs were straddling him. He leaned us up against one of the rocks and our bodies were completely pressed up against each other. His lips searched mine, moving downward as I held onto him.

              “Seriously, blink twice and I’ll carry you out of here,” he whispered into my hair as his hands slid down the contours of my body.

              I looked up at the stars hovering perfectly above us. I knew with complete certainty in this moment that whatever secrets Cole had, big or not, they didn’t matter to me. If they didn’t change the way he felt about me, or the way he saw me, then I didn’t care. If we could be together – if I could feel like this – cared for, safe, protected, wanted….

              Then nothing else mattered.

CHAPTER 9

            
 
Sunlight filtered in through the sides of my bedroom curtains as I stirred and rolled over. The clock read nine-thirty which was impressive for me, even for a weekend. I never slept this late. I thought back to everything that had happened the night before – Cole’s hands – our bodies pressed up against each other... I stared at him lying next to me, shirtless and asleep.

              I had to admit, I never really understood the whole tattoo thing, especially when people had them all over their bodies. Cole had more than I thought, not just on his biceps, but across his entire upper back. I vaguely remembered a few on his chest as well from the night before. Staring at him now though, it didn’t seem strange to me at all. Instead he looked like a perfectly painted canvas, like a complete work of art. It made him beautiful to me.

              I climbed out of bed, putting on his grey v-neck shirt lying on the floor. It practically looked like a dress on me. I tiptoed to the kitchen and opened my fridge, wondering what I had to make us breakfast. Unfortunately the fridge sound alerted Dexter, and he went nuts for his own breakfast. I quickly set a bowl of pellets in front of him, hoping he didn’t wake up Cole. I quietly walked back upstairs to check and see if he was still sleeping. As soon as I entered the room, he smiled at me.

              “It actually happened,” he said with a grin. “You really are a bad friend, you literally borrowed my clothes without asking.”

              I climbed onto the bed with a sultry look. “You gave me your expressed permission to borrow them anytime I wanted, remember?”

              I leaned down and kissed him softly. He grabbed my sides, making me giggle, and pulled me next to him.

              I traced the tattoos on his chest, finally making a point to actually look at them. “What’s this,
413
?” I asked, pointing to one above his heart.

              “Here we go,” he replied, smiling at me. “Now I have to answer every question you ask of me, right? All of a sudden, now that you’re my girl, I can’t just shrug you off any more?”

              “Nope,” I giggled, lying down right next to him. “Start talking.”

              “That’s the day Harvey became my legal guardian,” he stated, almost looking embarrassed to be talking about it. “April thirteenth.”

              “Why no year on there?” I wondered aloud.

              “Because that part is unimportant,” he explained. “That day changed me, for the better obviously. But it didn’t matter to me whether it was five years ago, or fifteen years ago… It’s the day that mattered.”

              “So what about that one,” I said pointing to another tattoo with an
818
on it. I assumed that was an important date as well.

              “That’s the day God sent me back here,” he said, staring at me with an honest expression. “I was in a pretty bad motorcycle accident. I still have some scars here,” he said, pointing to areas on his chest and around his ribs. I touched them gently with my fingertips. “I was pronounced dead at the scene. Then I took a breath.” He shrugged like that was it, but I imagined it was a much bigger moment.

              “Do you remember it actually happening?” I questioned, wanting to know more.

              “No, people ask me that all the time, if I saw lights or whatever. Honestly I don’t remember a single thing, I woke up out of a coma three days later and someone had to tell me what happened. But I don’t know, I felt changed after that. Something must’ve happened. They told me I shouldn’t have gotten a second chance, but that breath… I wouldn’t know how else to explain it.”

              I smiled at him as he spoke. I loved listening to him open up to me. Things had certainly changed between us after last night.

              “What really happened here?” I asked softly, running my finger along his left forearm, the area I cleaned and put back together the night we first met. He finally took the bandage off it yesterday and I could see the wound was healing well. 

              “Harvey runs some kind of gambling circuit,” he began, not hesitating this time to tell me the story. “Usually he handles it all himself, but this time he was working for another guy. I never met him, someone named Waltz or something like that, probably his last name. Harvey couldn’t cover one of the bets, which isn’t usually a risk he takes, so I don’t know where it fell apart that night, honestly. But Harvey went out to try and handle one of the drops himself, and he was shorting the guy some money. I don’t know why he didn’t send someone else to do it, that was a red flag to me. That’s usually the kind of work I do for him. I mean I’m not out ripping people off. But when he owes money or when someone owes him, I collect it.”

              “It’s all from gambling?” I clarified, trying to understand what he was telling me. I knew Mountain Ridge had plenty of casinos, but I knew nothing about gambling outside of one.

              “No,” he answered honestly. “There’s other stuff.”

              I appreciated his truthfulness, but I could tell by his hesitation that we were at a point he didn’t want to continue with the details.

              “And you’ve been stabbed before over this kind of thing?” I asked, trying to redirect the conversation. I guess it didn’t matter where the money was from, it didn’t sound legal either way.

              “Sometimes we get roughed up a bit, it happens,” he confirmed. “But usually he doesn’t send me for those, he’s got some other guys who deal with most of those jobs. They’re a lot rougher than me.”

              “I think you were right before, maybe I don’t want to know more,” I conceded, starting to feel worried about him. I had a pit in my stomach, and I hated the feeling. Instead I preferred pretending Cole was more oblivious to Harvey’s activities than what he was now sharing with me.

              “So no further questions?” he asked with a smirk.

              “Just one more,” I said, not totally sure I wanted to bring it up now. But while he was being so forthcoming and honest with me, I figured it was a good time to get it off my chest. “Who’s Britt?”

              “Oh no, now it’s getting good,” he said, laying flat on his back with a laugh. “It’s easier for me to talk about now, but it was a rough situation for awhile. How do you know about her?”

              “I saw her at the party last night, and one of your friends told me who she was. I didn’t get any details though,” I explained, sitting up to look at him. “Any tattoos of her?” I studied his chest, but the rest of the designs were more like art that I couldn’t decipher.

              “This one was supposed to be,” he said rolling over, pointing to a spot over his shoulder. “Not for her exactly, but for the baby’s birth date.”

              “You have a baby?” I gasped, suddenly regretting this entire topic. I hadn’t even considered something like that. I had hoped for some crazy high school sweetheart montage, not something more serious than that.

              “That’s the kicker,” he said, burying his face in his hands. “We dated on and off in high school, but she couldn’t keep out of the guy’s locker room,” he said with some sarcastic irritation. “I swear she slept with half the football team while we were together.”

              “Why did you stay with her?”

              “I didn’t know better,” he said speculatively. “I was a dumb eighteen year old kid. She knew about me, she knew about my situation with my parents and Harvey and stuff. So it was just… comfortable. She made me feel like she was the best I could ever do, and I believed that.”

              He looked at me with such honest eyes, and I felt sad for him for a moment. It seemed like he never had a real, true relationship in his life, as a child or even as an adult.

              “She got pregnant when we were twenty, so I figured that was it. Maybe that would settle her down and we could try the family thing. I don’t know. Things were even rocky then when it was supposed to be good news. It was a toxic relationship. She continued to remind me that was the best it could ever get for me, and I drowned myself in shadowing Harvey, trying to pick up business for him so I could earn extra money to support a family.”

              “I feel like this story has a sad ending,” I said softly.

              “Quite the opposite,” he said with a smirk, rubbing his forehead. “The baby came out a whole lot darker than my summer tan.”

              I clasped my hands over my mouth. I couldn’t believe that kind of thing actually happened to people.

              “Seriously?” I stated loudly.

              “Well needless to say I never filled in the birth date on the tattoo,” he said with an embarrassing blush. “Yeah, I was that guy at the hospital waiting for my kid to be born, just to find out I didn’t have a kid being born. It was mortifying.”

              “So that was it? You finally realized you should be done with her?”

              “Yep, that was the turning point,” he said with a slight laugh. “I felt like such an idiot. For a year or two after, every so often when she had a break from yet another failed relationship, she would come around, but I was numb to it by then. Sadly it took something that traumatizing for me to realize she wasn’t the girl for me.”

              I was still amazed by this entire conversation, but relieved at the same time. When he told me initially he had secrets, I thought those secrets were more along the lines of, you know,
murder
or something. This was far easier to handle.

              “
She
was judging me up and down last night as not being good enough for you, and
that’s
what she put you through?”

              “I know, she’s a peach, right?” he laughed. “I was messed up for awhile of course after that. As if I didn’t already have trust issues before then, that certainly didn’t help. So, I’ve just focused on work and southern California ever since.”

              “You’ll really leave here?” I said feeling somewhat saddened by the thought. I knew all of this was so new, Cole and I. It’s not like I could hold him back from any of that. I just hoped his plans were much farther out in the future.

              “I’m still saving up,” he said hesitantly. “Land in California isn’t cheap. But I think I’ll be ready for it sooner than later.” He looked at me sweetly as he said it. “Do you want to go with me willingly, or will I have to kidnap you like we talked about earlier?”

              “How did we get from tacos to California in just a few days?” I laughed. Obviously I knew he was kidding. No one would be so crazy.

              “You obviously don’t watch much baseball,” he teased. “After home plate is California. That’s how it works.”

              I playfully smacked his arm and he pulled me in close to him. He caressed my face, and all the tingles I had before surged back through my body.

              We spent the rest of the morning wrapped up in my sheets, and I felt like nothing could wipe the stupid grin off my face. He was so different from everything I first imagined the night we met. I was obviously drawn to his handsome face initially, that was impossible not to notice. But the way he spoke to me – he was so full of sincerity and genuine concern and he was more thoughtful than I ever imagined he would be. And then there was the way he touched me, with such tenderness – I was initially so intimidated by him, but I knew now with certainty that these hands of his would never be unkind to me. They held me with such purpose, and I was so eager to begin this adventure with him. After Ian, that feeling of falling I couldn’t escape from – like my arms were flailing around but unable to ever pull my weight up – Cole’s arms caught me in the midst of all that.

I knew it was far too soon to tell where this was going, or how this would end. I wasn’t so naïve to think this was my happy ever after, I knew that in itself was a rarity, and not everyone even got that kind of ending. But whatever this was, it was already changing me into the girl I was before my mistake – before my hesitation and uncertainty as to what I wanted – and I knew I would be forever changed by meeting Cole Mason. Maybe our time together would be brief, or maybe it would be so much more than that. Either way, what I felt now – it was a whole different kind of falling.