The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories

by Brina Courtney

  “You’re amazing, Mr. B,” she said, giving him her first genuine smile since the night before. “What do I owe you for the tow? I know it was after-hours. Thanks for agreeing to wait for me to pay you until today.”

  They worked out the details and she paid him in cash for the tow, then wrote a check for the tires. It put a hefty dent in the savings she’d begun to accrue while working with Cole. She’d have to spend some time that afternoon refiguring the household budget now that she wouldn’t be getting that income anymore.

  The thought produced a dull ache in her chest that had nothing to do with losing the money. She refused to acknowledge why.

  With a last wave at Gerald, she drove Champ home. She was mentally putting together a recipe for dinner when she reached the house. Only when she pulled into the driveway did she register that her grandfather was sitting out on the front porch.

  And he wasn’t alone.

  Her heart thudded as she pulled in behind Cole’s car. It was one of several he owned. She wasn’t even sure what kind of car it was, but it wasn’t a domestic and it wasn’t cheap.

  Regardless of what it was, why in the world was it parked in her driveway? She gripped the steering wheel to keep from reaching for the gear shift and throwing the car into reverse. Every part of her screamed to get away. But she didn’t want her grandpa confronted with dark memories from the past any more than she had been. What if Cole was talking about Aiden?

  Reluctantly, she turned off the ignition.

  “Hey, Evs,” Rayshawn greeted her as she got out of the car.

  She looked at the end of the driveway and spotted her neighbor peeking out from behind the hedge that separated her grandpa’s driveway from the one next to it. A number of sneakered feet were also visible beneath the hedge. Fighting an unexpected smile, she locked and closed her door and made her way to the end of the driveway.

  “What’s up, Ray?” She counted seven other kids behind Rayshawn, including his little sister. She knew all of them. “Hey, y’all.”

  Keeping his voice low, Ray asked, “Evs, is that Cole Parker?”

  She knew they were all visible to the two men on the front porch, but they were far enough away that they wouldn’t be overheard. She nodded.

  “Seriously?” Rayshawn’s eyes widened, then he turned to his friends and said, “I tol’ y’all that was him. Evs, what’s he doin’ on your front porch?”

  “I have no idea,” she said. Then, knowing better than to leave it at that, she went with, “I work with his brother.”

  The kids all nodded and issued vague responses to this. She figured it satisfied their curiosity.

  “He keeps lookin’ at you, Evs,” Rayshawn said. “Guess he wants to chat wit’ you.”

  “Guess so.”

  After looking at the ground and kicking a rock underneath the hedge, Rayshawn mumbled, “You think he’d throw a ball around wit’ us?”

  She didn’t think any such thing, but she couldn’t bear to say so as she looked at their hopeful faces. “I don’t see any harm in asking.”

  There was an excited murmur as the kids elbowed each other and jumped up and down. Rayshawn whooped and turned to run down the sidewalk. She guessed he was going to spread the word. She’d hate to disappoint them, but she’d be happy to play in a game at the ballpark around the corner to help make up for it.

  Unable to put it off any longer, she turned and walked up the path to the front porch. She felt Cole’s eyes on her, but she refused to look at him. Just being near him again brought forth all of the emotion from the day before. She fought the desire to make a scene and shout at him until he left her alone.

  Then she saw her grandpa’s face. He looked happier than she had ever seen him. She knew that Cole had unwittingly given him the thrill of his life. That realization put a big dent in her lingering anger.

  “Pee Paw, shouldn’t you be inside getting ready for the Falcons’ game?” she asked, leaning down to kiss his cheek. “How long have you been sitting without your oxygen?”

  He chuckled. “The TV is set to the channel and my ol’ lungs are hangin’ in there. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to meet Cole Parker.”

  “I’m sure you’re having a grand chat. I’ll leave you to it,” she said, reaching for the screen door.

  “Everly.”

  Cole’s voice made her jaw clench. She paused with her fingers gripping the handle. Not speaking, she finally looked at him.

  “Can we talk?” he asked.

  “I don’t think there’s anything to say. Thank you for spending time with my grandpa.”

  She pulled the screen door open and prepared to flee. Her grandpa reached out and took her hand.

  “Hold on, my girl.” He turned and looked at Cole. “I’d like to have a word with Everly, Cole. Would you please give us a minute?”

  “Pee Paw...”

  “No problem, Mr. Wallace.”

  Cole rose and approached. Everly backed up and held the screen door open. When he turned the doorknob and opened the door, he held her gaze. She sensed he was trying to convey something, but she looked away. The door closed behind him.

  “Come here, Everly.”

  She complied, sitting in the plastic patio chair that Cole had just vacated. She placed her purse in her lap and occupied her anxious fingers by fiddling with the zipper.

  “Now, I don’t know what’s goin’ on between you ‘n Cole,” he said, “and I reckon that’s your business. But I do know that you’ve blossomed since you started workin’ with ‘im.”

  She looked up with a puzzled frown.

  “I’ve seen you smile more often. Heard you laugh more often. Seen you act silly more often. All because of that boy.”

  Now, she looked back down at her purse. Her throat tightened.

  His voice was a low rasp. “You’ve never been young, my girl. You grew up too quick. Every day, my heart hurts seein’ you work so hard ‘n gettin’ no enjoyment outta life.”

  A tear fell onto her purse. She brushed it off. A second one hit the rim of her glasses.

  “Times like last night, when you went through all that with your car, those are the times I feel the most helpless. The most useless. I ain’t never been a parent to you. You’ve been a parent to yourself ‘n a caretaker to me. I want more for you.”

  More tears fell. She wanted to argue with him, but she couldn't.

  “You haven’t experienced life, my girl. Your childhood stopped eight years ago ‘n you leapt right into adulthood. Since you met Cole, I’ve seen you act more like a young woman your age should.”

  She pulled another tissue from her purse and wiped her cheeks, then her glasses.

  “Aiden was your age when he stopped livin’,” her grandpa said in the same quiet voice. “It would make my heart hurt less if you’d start livin’. I think Cole can help you with that.”

  A handful of arguments ran through her head, but she didn’t voice them.

  “Whatever happened ‘tween the two of you, I hope you’ll try ’n work it out. He’s a good boy who thinks the world of you. I think you should hear ‘im out. Will you, for me?”

  When she looked into her grandpa’s eyes, she knew she couldn’t deny him. As much as she’d been hurt the night before, she could admit that she wanted to know what brought Cole out to her house. Eventually, she nodded.

  “For us, Pee Paw. I’ll do it for us.”

  Chapter 17

  Cole stared at the television, but he didn’t absorb a single thing on the screen. His mind was on the conversation taking place on the front porch. He’d never felt this wretched in his entire life.

  What would he do if Everly refused to talk to him?

  While he waited, he looked around the tidy family room from his vantage point on the comfortable sofa. The wood floors looked original and well-maintained. An area rug in bold jewel tones covered the floor under an old wooden storage trunk that served as a coffee table. The sofa and single recliner were covered in beige micro-suede fa
bric and decorated with pillows in the same jewel tones as the rug. The entertainment unit was a fabricated wood type just big enough to hold the twenty-five inch tube television it supported.

  A rectangular piece of stained glass hung in the window facing the front porch. Sunlight filtered through it and cast brightly-colored prisms across the room. Outside of a few pictures of Everly and some framed images that looked like old wedding photos of her grandparents, there wasn’t anything on the deep beige walls. Still, it was homey and cheerful.

  When the door opened, he surged to his feet. His heart thundered in his chest as Everly walked in and closed the door behind her. She met his gaze with notable caution as she removed her coat and hung it in the small coat closet by the front door.

  Had she been crying? Oh, God. He would rot in the lowest bowels of Hell.

  “I’m sorry,” he blurted. Then he took a deep breath to help sound less spastic. “Everly, I’m sorry. I—”

  “You can apologize in the kitchen,” she interrupted. He couldn’t read anything in her expression. “I have dinner to get on.”

  “Oh. Sure.”

  Feeling like a prize ass, he followed her into the kitchen. It was just off the family room. Instead of the house having a separate dining room, the kitchen was a large, eat-in style. When she waved him over to one of the chairs at the wooden table, he sat down even though he didn’t feel like it.

  “Would you like something to drink?” she asked. She had bent down and opened a cabinet and now stood with a Crock Pot in her arms. “We have sweet tea.”

  His leg bobbed up and down as he watched her. “Everly, all I want to do is apologize for last night. I’ve never done anything that I’ve regretted more.”

  She plugged in the Crock Pot and moved over to the refrigerator to pull out a package of cubed beef. As she unwrapped it and dumped it into the Crock Pot, she said, “I know you’re worried about your arm, Cole. But you’ve learned the basic exercises now. Just keep—”

  “Don’t do this,” he said. Unable to sit still, he stood up and moved closer to her. She threw out the meat tray and washed her hands. “You know I’m not here because of my arm.”

  “I know no such thing,” she countered, drying her hands on a towel tossed over the oven’s handle. She pushed her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose and glanced at him. “What I do know is you came to my place of employment last night and accused me of being a deceitful psycho.”

  Her voice wavered. She turned her back to him, walking to the pantry and bringing out several cans. He ran a hand across his mouth. Lord, how he hated himself.

  “Everly, I want you to know that I wasn’t aware of the specific details about your past when I went to Prix Fixe last night. I’d had drinks with my ex-girlfriend, Rebecca, because she wanted to try and rekindle things and I had to tell her I wasn’t interested.”

  Her shoulders tensed when he mentioned Rebecca, then eased when he said he had met with her to fend her off. A tiny portion of his anxiety eased over that observation. He watched as she opened a couple cans of tomatoes and dumped them in with the beef.

  “I didn’t know it at the time, but Rebecca has basically been stalking me. She knew about you.”

  Everly froze. “What?”

  “She saw you coming and going to my house. I suspect she slashed your tires last night.”

  Her eyes wide, Everly turned all the way around to face him. “People actually do those things? I thought that was just an old movie cliché. Sweet Jesus. And you called me a psycho?”

  Pacing in frustration, he tossed his hands into the air. “I didn’t use the word psycho.” Had he? Damn it. “And that’s just the thing. Rebecca fed me these lines about your past and they got under my skin. I didn’t realize at the time that she’d told me things completely out of context just to rile me up. I’d had just enough to drink to be dangerously stupid, which I proved by going to see you.”

  She turned back around and opened a cabinet with spices in it. “So it’s Rebecca’s fault?”

  “Of course not,” he said, barely maintaining his patience. She wasn’t making this easy. “I’m to blame for going off half-cocked. I was focused on myself. My feelings.” He stopped pacing as the words hit him. When had he become such a selfish ass? “I’m sorry that I didn’t stop to consider yours.”

  “Well, I appreciate you coming to apologize,” she said as she added spices to the pot without measuring them. “But as you have such concerns about my honesty and worries that I’ll reveal your injury to the world, it’s still best that we part ways.”

  The words sliced at him. Deciding to ignore her order to never touch her, he reached out and caught her hand as she finished putting away a container of chili powder. When she tried to pull her hand away, he held on tighter. Then he slowly turned her around so she faced him again.

  “Everly, my unjustified anger yesterday was motivated only in a small part by a fear that you would tell anyone about my injury.”

  She stared at him, confusion in her lovely eyes. He reached up to touch a curl that had escaped her ponytail. He’d wanted to feel her hair for quite some time. It was every bit as soft as he’d imagined.

  Tucking the tendril behind her ear, he watched her cheeks color. Her breathing became irregular. Was she reacting to his touch?

  “The real reason I was so out of sorts was because I thought Aiden was a guy you were dating. And since I’d decided that I wanted to ask you out on a date, I was jealous.”

  She blinked. Then she blinked again. Trying to think of a response, she moistened her lips. His gaze moved briefly to her mouth.

  “You said those things to me because you were jealous?”

  “I said them because I was an intoxicated jackwagon. Yeah, I was jealous, but I should never have done and said what I did.”

  She just stood there for a moment, considering his words. Then she pulled her hand from his. Uncertainty shadowed her expression as she turned to open a can of beans.

  “So, if I continue to work with you, is this Rebecca person going to come after me or what?”

  If. She was actually considering it. Relief surged through him.

  “I seriously don’t know what got into her. I’m sure she got it out of her system, though, and I’ll pay you back for the tires,” he said. “I had no idea she was like this, Everly. I swear.”

  “Would you get me a beer out of the fridge?” she asked.

  “Uh, sure.” He opened the fridge and pulled one out, handing it to her.

  She twisted off the top and dumped the contents into the pot. “You sure you want to go from one psycho to another?” she asked, her tone casual.

  “I know you’re not a psycho,” he said in a quiet voice.

  She turned to look at him over her shoulder. Her eyes swept over his face, reading his expression. Pursing her lips, she nodded.

  “So you did your research.”

  “I did a little,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. It now felt like an invasion of privacy. “I began to realize that I didn’t really know what the hell Rebecca was talking about, so I...checked.” When she just stirred the contents in the Crock Pot in silence, he added, “I’m very sorry about your brother.”

  She banged the spoon on the side of the Crock Pot and set it on a ceramic spoon rest. After covering the pot with the lid, she looked again at him.

  “I believe you are. Thank you.”

  They stood there in awkward silence. He didn’t know what else to say. He’d already laid his cards on the table and done more apologizing to her than he had to anyone he could remember. Yet she didn’t seem eager to give him another chance.

  “Is there anything I can do or say to convince you how sorry I am and that we should start fresh...give things another try?” he asked at last.

  She stared at him for a moment. Then a small smile touched her lips.

  “Actually, there is one thing...”

  Chapter 18

  Everly was a hero among the neighborhoo
d kids, and all because she convinced Cole Parker to play a game of baseball with them.

  The truth of it was, she hadn’t had to convince him at all. He’d jumped on board the moment she asked him. Even though she imagined his jeans, long-sleeved T-shirt, and sneakers cost more than her monthly food budget, he walked with her and twenty-seven kids over to the local ball field with a smile on his face and ready answers for all of the questions thrown his way by his eager fans.

  It was pretty adorable, really. Rayshawn’s eyes widened to the size of Dixie dinner plates when she told him that Cole wanted to play. They hadn’t returned to normal yet. He hadn’t moved less than a foot from Cole’s side since leaving Everly’s house. Ray’s sister, Jayden, latched onto Cole’s hand when they had to cross the street and she didn’t let go.

  They got to the field and gathered around home plate. Not for the first time, Everly wished for powdered chalk to draw true foul lines, but she knew they’d have to deal without it. At least the fence in the outfield would keep the ball largely contained, and the red Georgia clay peeking out from the dead grass did enough to define the baselines. The field was only rarely groomed by the city since there weren’t any registered leagues playing there, so she was grateful for what they had.

  She watched Cole examine the field as they approached it. Because the kids were jabbering at him and his attention was split, she couldn’t tell what he thought. Was it ironic that the professional ballpark he played in was less than two miles from here? Did he notice the bare patches of grass in the outfield and the large divots in the infield? Was he embarrassed to play on a field that paled in comparison to his usual one?

  As they stood by home plate as a group, all eyes turned to him.

  “Y’all play here a lot?” he asked.

  “Yep,” Rayshawn answered. “Durin’ the summer, we replay your games sometimes. Evs bought us the real bases to use and everythin’.”

  Everly felt her face grow hot when Cole looked at her. Then he smiled.

  “This is just like the diamond near my family’s home that made me fall in love with baseball,” he said, not looking away from her. Then he glanced at all of the kids. “Y’all should be proud of what you’ve got here.”