We make our way toward their table and sit down, waiting for them to speak. I have no desire to say anything until I know exactly why they contacted me.
“You were supposed to take care of him, keep him out of trouble. This is all your fault. You ruined his life,” Margie announces, her voice low and menacing.
I open my mouth to speak when Jim cuts me off. “Margie, that wasn’t what you said you wanted to talk to Jessa about. She didn’t do anything. Trent brought all of this on himself,” he states, his gaze cutting to her. I can practically see the fire burning in his eyes.
“She didn’t do anything?” Margie hisses. “She is nothing but a little whore, just like her mother. A cheater, just like her father,” she says. My eyes widen at the mention of my father.
“You know who my father is?” I ask on a whisper. I feel betrayed—completely and totally betrayed.
Margie rolls her eyes. “Everybody in town knows who your father is, and that your mother is a whore. Just like you whored yourself to this man,” she sneers. I feel Cole stiffen beside me, but I can’t focus on anything but her words.
Everybody in town knows who my father is.
All these years, eighteen years, and everybody in town has known and nobody has said a damn word.
“For such a book smart girl, you’re an idiot,” Margie chuckles.
“Jim, you better get a handle on her, or we’re leaving,” Cole growls.
Margie’s eyes narrow on him, and she opens her mouth, but Jim speaks first. “Your father is Police Chief Watson,” he announces.
All of the air in my body escapes me. I can picture the town police chief in my head. He’s tall, with dark blond hair and brown eyes; they’re not as light as mine, but they’re brown.
I don’t know how old he is, but I remember he had children a few years older than me. Boy-girl twins. I remember him being handsome, even though he was older. He was strong and steady, and nobody ever said a bad word about him. I don’t understand how it could be true.
“Your mother wormed her way into his bed. Thought she’d get something from him. When she discovered that all he was going to do was throw money at her, it pissed her off. The whole town shunned her, and we all celebrated when she left,” Margie states, her cold gaze directed at me.
“He knew you were friends with Trent. Asked us if we’d take you in. He always watched you from afar. His wife wouldn’t allow more at the time,” Jim says, his voice gentle.
My head is swimming with the knowledge that I’ve known my father my entire life, and yet, I had no clue who he was to me.
I bite my bottom lip, thinking about the fact that everybody in town knew who he was, too, and nobody, not one single person told me. I feel as though everybody I’ve ever known has lied to me and let me down all at the same time.
“Are we done?” I ask, jerking my head up. I can feel Cole’s eyes on me, and I know without looking that his gaze is a worried one.
“I never want to see you again,” Margie sneers.
“Good, I don’t plan on ever knocking on your door. So you don’t have to worry about that,” I state as I stand. “Jim, thank you for everything.”
Jim’s chin lifts and his kind eyes meet mine, then with a nod he speaks. “Live happy, Jessa.”
“I will,” I nod as I wrap my fingers around Cole’s hand and turn to walk away.
We stay silent as he helps me into his pickup truck, and I expect him to head home, but he doesn’t. Instead, he pulls up to a park and stops. When he shuts the engine off, I expect him to hop out, but he doesn’t do that, either. He just looks at the greenery in front of us.
“She’s a mean bitch. How on earth did you live with her for so long?” he asks after a few minutes.
I shrug, biting the inside of my cheek before I speak. “She’s not mean as long as you do exactly what she wants, the way she wants it done,” I shrug.
“Meaning, take care of her baby and suffer his mental and verbal abuse?”
Turning to face him, I nod my head jerkily a few times as my eyes well with tears. Cole wraps his hand around the side of my neck and he leans forward, pressing his forehead against mine. He lets out an exhale as he closes his eyes.
“I love you, Jessa,” he whispers. It’s all I need to blink the tears away.
I feel his love, like a living breathing thing. I feel his love fill me up, and I know that he means it. He loves me, and I don’t know how it happened, but I’m not going to question it.
I suck in a ragged breath as I pull back from him a little and open my eyes. He does the same, and that love spills from his gaze, causing me to smile.
“I know who my biological father is,” I whisper.
He grins with a nod. “What are you going to do with that information?” he asks.
“Nothing, yet. Maybe one day I’ll contact him, or maybe I’ll just send him a letter or something,” I shrug.
Cole nods, his thumb moving to trace my bottom lip. “We have some shit to talk about,” he announces. My heart leaps, wondering what else could come at me today.
I listen to him as he tells me about the new job opportunity, that was offered to him earlier this morning. I can tell that he doesn’t want it. He doesn’t say that, but everything about his tone and his body language screams it. I also think that he should talk to his father about it, so I tell him as much.
“You’re living with me, baby. This affects you, and I want to know what you think. I’ll talk to my dad, but your opinion holds way more fucking weight than anyone else’s,” he states.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I ask.
He shakes his head once. “I knew you were meeting with the Keller’s, I figured I didn’t need to throw more at you, but I didn’t want to keep it from you for too long, either.”
Nodding once, I inhale through my nose and turn back to look at the green grass and the park. “I think you don’t want it. Maybe John wants it because he’s worried about providing for his new baby? But you don’t want it. I can understand why, too. It feels like default, and it doesn’t feel like something you’ve earned,” I murmur.
“You’re right. That’s exactly how I feel,” he murmurs. “What do you think I should do?”
“Since you’re in the spotlight, and not only because of what you did but also because of how you look—”
“How I look?” he interrupts.
I roll my eyes and turn back to him. “That female newscaster was panting over you when she told the story on the news. She also made it very clear for the entire world that you’re single. So, yeah, the way you look.”
Cole breaks out into a hug smile, and it causes me to roll my eyes yet again. “Jealous?” he asks.
I don’t respond with words; I just stare at him until he starts to laugh. He then reaches across the truck and wraps his hands around my waist, tugging me across the seat until I’m forced to straddle him.
His hands wrap around my hips, and move up to my waist. I suck in a breath when they both slip up my spine, until one is wrapped around the back of my neck. The other moves to wrap around the side of my throat. He’s surrounding me, and keeping me close to him.
“You know it’s only you, baby. No other woman exists,” he murmurs. “You want to change that single status, I’ll take you down to the courthouse right now and change it.”
“Cole,” I gasp.
He leans forward and presses his lips to mine before he speaks, just above a whisper. “No reason to be jealous, ever, Jessa. You’re it for me. I’ve never felt the way I do when I’m with you.”
“I love you,” I say through trembling lips.
He grins, then speaks. “Now, sweet baby, what do you think I should do?”
His voice is so soft, so gentle, and I think about his words about going to the courthouse. I want that, but not in a quick thing. I want a wedding, not for me, but for his family. Pushing that thought to the side I tell him what I think he should do, and I hope that he doesn’t think I’m crazy fo
r suggesting it.
“A training facility,” he repeats.
Shaking my head, I clarify, “Not just a training facility. One-on-one training, and small group training. Elite training, and you could do one of those teams that only does tournaments, but open it up for different ages. The best of the best,” I murmur. “Year round training.”
“How’d you think of this?” he asks, looking extremely curious.
“Trent found one once. It was too far away for him to travel, but he wanted to do it so badly. His parents couldn’t drive him and didn’t have the money,” I murmur. “Oh, you could do like a couple scholarship students, too.”
“Fuck me, baby,” he rasps. “I’ll get to work with kids, real kids, and shape them into the ball players they want to be. Plus, have some freedom in my schedule. You’re a goddamn genius,” he rasps.
“You like that idea?”
He nods with a smile. “We could move closer to my family, if you wanted, start fresh. Both of us. You’re not even one semester completed with school. You can start over somewhere else and you wouldn’t lose that much time.”
“Move to Colorado?” I ask on a wheeze.
His smile fades slightly, misreading my words and breath. He doesn’t realize that what he’s suggesting, what he wants, it’s everything. He wants me near his family, a real family. Away from Nebraska and all of the bad memories that are here. Without another word, I launch myself at him, my lips pressing against his and my tongue slipping inside of his mouth.
“Yes,” I breathe. “A million times, yes.”
His hands squeeze my neck in a reflexive move, and he grins against my mouth. “My sweet baby,” he rasps.
“I love you, Cole. I love everything about you,” I breathe as I sit up slightly.
“A new beginning for us, away from everything,” he murmurs.
“Away from everything except your wonderful family,” I state.
He chuckles. “You may not say that after you live near them for a while, but yeah.”
We kiss for a few more minutes, and then I climb back to my seat, both of us smiling so huge. We can’t help ourselves. He’s excited to move back home, and I’m excited to move away from what I’ve always known as home, and start over. It’s going to be amazing, new, different, and a little wild.
“Are you telling your family, now?” I ask as we walk up the back of the house toward the back entrance.
Cole smiles, tipping his head down to me and nods his head once. “Yeah, sweet baby. My mom will probably cry, fair warning,” he chuckles.
“I’ll join her,” I admit with a nod.
He turns the handle of the front door before he whispers, “Love you, Jessa baby.”
I’m unable to say anything else as he walks inside and his family is all in the kitchen, their eyes on us, as though they’re expecting some kind of news.
COLE
MY DAD LOOKS AT me, his gaze is a little hard, which I don’t understand. My mom looks like she’s on the verge of tears, and Caitlyn is just observing. Giving Jessa’s hand a squeeze, I ask them what’s wrong.
“John came by. He said you were offered the head coaching position,” my dad announces.
I don’t know why he seems pissed, so I ask him, “And you have a problem with this?” I ask. Jessa squeezes my hand, but I’m curious as to what my dad has to say.
My dad is level headed; he also holds nothing back on what he believes is right or wrong. The man has taught me to be much of the same way, which is why I didn’t want to take a position I hadn’t earned. It would be wrong.
“You take it?” he clips.
I almost laugh at his irritation. “No,” I admit.
“You turn it down?”
Shaking my head. “No. I told them I had to think about it. John wants me to take it, makes him my assistant and gives him a raise. He and Tiffany are having a baby,” I explain. My dad only grunts. My eyes move over to my mom, but she still looks like she’s about to cry. “Jessa and I just talked about it. I wanted to know how she felt before I made a decision one way or the other.”
“Well, what the hell is happening?” Caitlyn blurts, unable to wait another minute. My sister is extremely impatient, always has been.
“I’m turning it down,” I murmur. I watch as my father’s brows shoot to the sky and my mom’s hand covers her mouth, which is no doubt hanging open in surprise. “We’re going to move to Colorado, closer to home, and I’m going to open up a football training academy. Maybe have an elite travel team,” I explain as I remove my hand from Jessa’s and wrap my arm around her shoulders, tugging her into my side. “It was all Jessa’s idea.”
“You’re moving home?” my mom whispers.
“Me and Jessa,” I say, giving her shoulders a shake.
Caitlyn smirks before my mother bursts into tears, and my father grins. “I’d hoped my son wouldn’t stay at this dirty as fuck college,” my dad rumbles.
“Let’s celebrate,” my mom cries as she throws her hands up in the air.
I want to celebrate all right, but I’ll save that for later tonight. We all hug, and I notice that Jessa and my mom hang onto their hug a little longer and are whispering to each other.
It’s been such a tough day for my strong girl. I’m going to take her to a nice dinner, celebrate with my family, and then tonight the real celebration will start. I’ll show her just how much her support means to me.
JESSA
“HONEY,” I BREATHE as he slowly guides himself inside of me to the root.
I’m lying on my back in the center of our bed, my eyes looking straight into his pale green ones.
Wrapping my hand around the side of his neck, I whimper when he pulls out and then slowly slides all the way back inside, his pelvis grinding down against mine, causing my breath to hitch. I lift my legs higher around his waist, squeezing a little tighter, and he groans, his mouth dropping open in a look of awe.
“This pussy, Jessa, it’s so amazing. My sweet baby,” he rasps.
We ate dinner and celebrated Cole’s decision to change his life, our life, and Cole’s parents celebrated their son coming home. In fact, they celebrated so hard, they spent the entire dinner looking up houses to rent in Colorado Springs, the same city they live in.
Caitlyn even joined in, happily showing me that there were a couple college choices to choose from, depending on my major—which I still haven’t decided on.
Cole’s eyes break away from mine, his head tipping down, and I realize that he’s watching the way he enters and exits my body. It excites me. Why, I’m not sure, but it’s sexy as hell. “Cole,” I whisper as my fingertips rake down his biceps.
“Fuck, baby. Watching my cock disappear in your tight cunt is the sexiest fucking thing I think I’ve ever witnessed,” he murmurs as he starts to move a little faster and harder. “Touch your clit, take yourself there again,” he demands.
I moan as one of my hands moves from his arm to between our bodies. When I touch my already sensitive clit, I can’t help but whimper. Cole growls as his hips jerk, fucking me harder and faster with each thrust. He’s holding himself up with his hands next to each of my shoulders, but I can see the sweat forming on his forehead.
“Hurry, baby, make that pussy strangle me,” he groans as his arm shakes under my hand.
I move my fingers faster against my clit, the circles I make smaller as I press harder until I’m shaking beneath him. My legs tremble and my hips start to buck, uncontrollably as I throw my head back and cry out with pleasure.
“Fuck,” he hisses. He plants himself deep letting out a long moan before he completely collapses on top of me. He buries his face in my neck as one of his hands slips under my head, and he holds me against his strong body. “I love you,” he rumbles against my neck.
Wrapping my legs tight around him, then my arms, I hold him to me and try to catch my breath. “I love you,” I whisper.
A few minutes later, he lifts his head. Without uttering a word, he rolls
us over so that he’s on his back and I’m straddling him, his semi-erect cock still inside of me. I can feel his release slipping out of me, and I make a move to get up, but his arms hug me tighter, not allowing me to go.
“Stay here, baby,” he murmurs as his lips brush mine. “Let me stay inside.”
I sigh, because I’ll give him whatever he wants, including this. I press my face against his neck, nuzzling him before I speak. “Will you resign tomorrow?” I ask quietly.
“Their entire team is so fucked,” he sighs as one of his hands moves to my ass and he starts making patterns with his fingertips. “I’ll see what they want me to do. If they want me to stay on until the end of the season, then I will. If not, then I want to get out of here and start on our new lives as soon as possible.”
Moving my hand so that I can comb my fingers through his hair I sit up slightly and look into his eyes. “I never imagined this would be my life, Cole,” I admit.
“What’s that?”
I trail my fingertips across his eyebrows, down the bridge of his nose to his mouth, then trace his full lips. His tongue peeks out and tastes my fingers, sucking two of them into his mouth. I watch as his pale green eyes darken slightly as his hips move in a shallow thrust.
“That I would be so in love with a man, so completely in love with him that I couldn’t imagine breathing without him at my side,” I shamelessly admit.
Cole’s hands wrap around my hips and he starts to gently lift and lower me down on his cock. “Don’t move a muscle,” he warns as he uses my body to fuck his.
His eyes hold mine, and I keep my body completely loose as he moves me the way he wants. His hands move from my hips to my ass, and I wrap mine around his shoulders to hold on. His soft grunts fill the room, and I watch as his teeth sink into his bottom lip while he grins.
“Sit up, baby,” he murmurs. I do as he asks, tipping my chin to keep my eyes on his. When his thumb moves against my clit, I automatically jerk my hips. “Still, Jessa,” he whispers his warning.
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