“I can’t,” he sighed. For once he didn’t have to make up some excuse; he had preset plans with his family that he couldn’t break. “I would, but I’m heading to Jersey with Minnie to have dinner with our parents—it’s been set for weeks. I can’t get out of it.”
“Not that you would anyway,” she said lightly, “you’re avoiding me, Colton.”
“I am,” he agreed, smiling as she laughed into his ear. He closed his eyes and sighed. He knew he couldn’t avoid her forever and that perhaps the separation would only make things worse when they finally met up face-to-face again. The whole plan would be pointless in the end—he wasn’t going to stop wanting to touch and kiss her. He just wished he didn’t feel so intensely about doing such things. He felt like some rabid animal in heat, aching for it constantly. While that feeling would have been okay if they’d been in a sexual relationship—this friend status turned his desires into self torture.
“So you’re openly admitting that you’re avoiding me?” She was humored by that and laughed a little. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“I am avoiding you, Zoe. But it’s only because you’re just so darn cute.”
“I thought it was because I’m ‘poison,’” she murmured.
“That too,” he smiled. “I want to see you soon, but can I call you later tonight?” She sighed, but it wasn’t an agitated sigh, she sounded tired. “You keep me up too late,” she finally said. “Why don’t you have lunch with me tomorrow instead of calling?”
“Let me look at my schedule,” he leaned forward and shifted through papers until he found his calendar. Again, he wouldn’t have to make something up to get out of seeing her. “Tomorrow I’m actually in the Hampton’s all day—working on several projects. It’ll be hard to get away and meet you in the city for lunch.”
“Convenient,” Zoe murmured. Again she didn’t sound upset with him, which he was relieved.
His chest tightened as damning words formed on his lips. Words that he knew would come back to hurt him in the end. For a few seconds he mentally toiled with himself and in the end he said what he really wanted to say and ignored his more rational brain. “Do you want to come out and have lunch with me? Can you take the day off?”
“The whole day?” She asked sounding skeptical and uncertain; there was a moment of pause and then she chuckled. “You’re going to spend the whole day with me, Colton?
Are you sure that’s wise? Won’t that ruin your avoidance plan?” He heard her sarcasm and ignored it. “Hmm, let me look at my calendar—oh, I have that meeting with Mr.
Mallory in the morning. But… I could leave afterwards and meet you there for lunch?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Colton said his heart racing with premature excitement. Sadly he was already thinking about greeting her with a long, back bending kiss. “And wear something that you don’t mind getting dirty—I’m going to put you to work.”
“Okay,” Zoe said. “Well, I should probably get back to work. I’m glad you got the basket—eat them and think about me.”
“I will,” Colton smiled. “Call you later.”
He hung up the phone and ran his fingers through his hair. For a moment he regretted his decisions, but only for a moment and then he felt almost giddy with excitement to see her. Zoe was really cute and it was pointless to deny his feelings—he was falling for her.
He just didn’t want to fall too hard.
Overhead the chimes from the door sounded again, he glanced up at the speaker and then got back to work, thinking only momentarily that maybe Cara had come home.
Colton’s parents lived in a small, old suburb just north of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Colton and his siblings drove from the city once a month for a long family-style sit down dinner where their parents took turns grilling each one of them with personal questions. It had been two months since Colton had seen his parents. Work really had swarmed him these past several months, but beside that he hadn’t wanted to sit through an entire evening of his mother questioning him about Cara.
Her questions were all the same: Had he heard from her? Were they speaking? When was she coming home from her “vacation”?
Mallory Philips was in denial that Colton had been left at the altar nearly eleven months ago. Mallory loved Cara, who would have become the perfect daughter-in-law, and was certain that she’d come back when she was ready for marriage. Never did she wonder what Cara was up to in her time away from Colton and that she may have moved on and found another potential mother-in-law. Mallory was certain that Cara would come back.
This was a very sore subject with Minnie who tried her hardest not to lose her cool most dinners. At first his mother’s constant optimism was refreshing to Colton who personally hoped that Cara’s wedding jitters would pass with a little time. Now, her optimism just seemed pointless. He was starting to believe all of the things that Minnie always told him: Cara wasn’t coming back—at least not any time soon.
But one day, maybe.
Colton found himself thinking less and less about Cara lately, which probably meant that Minnie and Paige’s plan was working. Still, he wasn’t quite ready to let go of someone he’d loved with his entire being, but she was fading, bit by bit.
“Colton, you seem so far away,” his mother lay her soft, little hand on top of his. He was standing near the stove coveting the delicious smells of her pasta sauce and the garlic bread in the oven. Her fingers rubbed his gently and brought Colton’s attention to the present. Mallory was short, like Minnie, with dark brown hair and eyes like his. She worked as a nurse in the neonatal ICU at St. Mary’s Hospital in Elizabeth. She loved her work, but being on her feet all day and night exhausted her more and more lately. The moment he walked into the house and saw the dark circles under her eyes, he scolded her for working too hard and ignored the “look who’s talking” glare she responded with.
“Everything okay, baby?”
“Fine,” he nodded. “I’ve had a few late nights these past few days; I suppose they’re catching up with me.” Setting his beer down on the counter, he lifted a lid and stared in at the bubbling pasta sauce. His mother scolded him and shooed his hand away.
“Minnie mentioned that…” she hesitated, “that you’re dating someone new?” Mallory asked this without looking at him, but she didn’t need to. Colton could hear her curiosity and perhaps concern and sadness in her voice. “Does this new girl keep you up?”
“We’re just talking, Mom,” Colton said reassuringly. He saw her skepticism and felt his own doubt bubbling up. “She’s a great girl—but we’re just friends.”
“Oh?” The hope in this mother’s eyes pained Colton for some reason. He smiled and picked his beer back up. After gulping the rest he tossed the bottle into the recycle bin and helped himself to a new one from the refrigerator. He used his father’s magnetic bottle opener and popped off the cap. Rolling the bottle neck between his fingers, he watched his mother stir her sauce. Casually—too casually—she asked: “Have you talked to Cara?”
“No,” he said firmly. He didn’t want to get into this again and felt extremely annoyed for some reason. “I don’t even know where she is Ma. If she wanted to be with me she would be—right?”
“Yes,” Mallory nodded. Colton foolishly thought that was the end of the conversation.
“But,” his mother continued with hope, “if she’s busy with work, maybe not. I heard from her mother that she was working under a French architect in Paris.” Colton’s stomach clenched at this news. A part of him had always wondered where Cara had gone off to. What had been powerful enough and more important to drag her out of a church and out of his life in a flash? He knew that she’d had a desire to team up with an architect, large-scale landscaping around and inside commercial buildings brought in really good money. But was she working under with this person professionally or physically? Colton felt sick at the thought that she was probably sleeping with someone else. At the same time he felt a swell of guilt for his own thoughts towa
rd Zoe. He felt stupid for pining after a lost hope and was ready to forget about Cara as she obviously had forgotten him. Still, he wasn’t going to throw all caution to the wind, as they say, and sleep with Zoe just because Cara was probably in another man’s bed. He didn’t want Zoe to be the rebound girl. But, wasn’t that what she was in a sense, he wondered? Was he lowering her to become a physical distraction or did he feel something more? The confusion left him with a knot in his stomach and a growing ache in his head.
“Honey?” his mother reached up and cupped his cheek. She caressed his jaw and smiled,
“I have Cara’s number—would you like to call her?”
“No,” Colton stammered drawing back from Mallory’s warm, garlic-smelling hand. “No, that’s fine—I’m not going to chase her around the world mom. Maybe it’s really over.” Mallory seemed panicked by that idea, “Of course it isn’t! Maybe she feels so much guilt leaving you—behind—” Mallory never brought up the church and never ever said the phrase left at the altar “—Maybe she’s afraid to call you. Maybe she is so ashamed of her actions that she thinks you wouldn’t take her back. But you would—wouldn’t you?
You’d give her a second chance?”
Colton pressed his lips to the rim of his bottle and took a swig. Could he give her a second chance? Sure. Would he? Probably—sadly enough, he probably would.
“Why don’t we deal with all of these questions when Cara finally comes home?” He suggested. “And I don’t think that’s anytime soon, Ma, so maybe you can start to let her go too and maybe I could move on as well.”
Mallory sighed and pressed her lips together firmly. Colton waited for her to say something and when she did, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Cara’s a good woman, Colton, she’s just a little confused of what she wants. I know that you love her very much and will wait for her. In the mean time—I think it’s good to have friends.” He didn’t know why, but he had the desire to make his mother understand that he was trying to move on. “I like Zoe a lot, Mom.”
Mallory turned her head, “What do you mean a lot? Do you love her?” Colton laughed, “Of course not!” He didn’t think so anyway. “We’re just friends right now, but there is potential there—Zoe’s funny, sweet, gentle, kind, smart, beautiful—so beautiful. And—”
“And it sounds like you’re falling in love with her!” Mallory was outraged. She pointed the wooden spoon she was holding at him. He stepped back so the sauce wouldn’t splatter his shirt. “Come on Colton, you don’t need a fling. You’re not your brother! You need to wait for your true love, which is Cara. I have her number, I want you to call her,” Mallory set her spoon down, wiped her hands on a dish towel, and walked across the kitchen to the counter where her purse was sitting. “All it’ll take is one call, you know.”
“I’m not interested, Mom,” Colton pushed away from the counter and walked around the island heading for the living room where his father and Minnie were playing chess.
Mallory followed him trying her best to persuade him to call; she even slipped a piece of paper with the number into his pocket. He took it out and tossed it aside. He wasn’t going to call. Cara was the one to leave him so she could be the first to call or come back, but he wasn’t going to ask her to do either.
“What’s going on?” Minnie asked as s he looked up from her black chess pieces.
“The usual,” Colton sighed as he sat down on the sofa. “She got ahold of Cara’s number.
She’s in Paris—I guess she’s working with some architect there. I’m not calling.”
“You shouldn’t,” Minnie said in a voice laced with disgust and hate. “Stupid bitch is probably sleeping with the architect.”
“Min,” Edward Philips scolded, “Colton, you’re dating someone new?” Colton turned his eyes on Minnie and when she looked over at him he glared at her. Couldn’t she keep her mouth shut about anything? Did she have to tell their parents? Minnie’s mouth dropped open innocently and she shook her head as if she hadn’t said a word.
“I heard you talking to Mom,” his father explained. “Who is she?” Luckily Colton was able to dodge another bullet when Preston announced his arrival in his usual loud and obnoxious way. His kid brother, dressed like an Abercrombie model, entered the house and the living room with the gusto and flair of a superstar. He tossed his keys onto their mother’s polished mahogany coffee table, squeezed Colton’s shoulders so tightly it hurt, and then walked over toward the small chess table. Colton’s eyes moved to Minnie. Preston didn’t see Minnie’s rage and he probably didn’t even see her stand up. Colton shrank back into the sofa cushions, grinning stupidly. With an odd mix of fear and excitement, he waited for Minnie to explode. And she did. The minute Preston was done greeting their father, he turned to Minnie and she hauled back and slapped him across the face. She slapped him so hard that Preston staggered back as if he’d been punched. And if that wasn’t enough, the moment he straightened up to confront him she slapped his other cheek with even more force.
Colton doubled over with laughter as Preston started shouting at her. Their father stood with his mouth hanging open in shock as Minnie punched Preston’s chest.
“You are a cruel, self absorbed asshole!” Minnie shouted. “How dare you pretend to be Colton and treat my friend like shit? You can’t walk all over people, Preston. You’re not God’s gift to mankind, you know. You’re just an asshole.”
“What are you talking about?” He shouted blocking another blow. “I didn’t pose as Colton! Dad stop her!”
Edward continued to stare at them as if he was lost in a trance.
“Yes, you did, nearly three weeks ago, you did!” Minnie jumped at him ready to fight and Preston jerked back, tripped over the ottoman in front of their father’s recliner, and fell on his ass.
Colton laughed harder.
Things didn’t get better at that point. Mallory walked in just as Minnie reached down to punch Preston in the side. Edward finally moved forward to intervene and was scolded by his mother for not doing so earlier. Preston was livid that Minnie had actually slapped him—although it wasn’t the first time she’d been physically violent—and that Colton had done nothing to stop it. Minnie pulled her arm back to punch Preston again, but he finally got over the shock of being hit, and lurched to his feet. Minnie backed off instantly and hid behind their father. She didn’t need to exert her power over Preston anymore; she’d succeeded in thoroughly embarrassing him. For the rest of the night, Preston continued to play dumb and said he didn’t know what Minnie was talking about.
When he asked Colton later why he hadn’t stopped Minnie from attacking him, Colton just shrugged and said that it was a long time coming.
“I was just trying to help you out of dating some loser—I knew you wouldn’t want to go out with her. She’s not your type at all, bro!” Preston touched his cheeks tenderly.
“Damnit that hurt! I should press charges—that’ll teach her. Brat.”
“I was hesitant about going on a blind date,” Colton corrected him. “It had nothing to do with the girl Minnie picked for me. And you don’t know my type, Preston.”
“I know your type,” Preston snorted. “You’ve only dated tall, thin, sexy women like Cara. Not chubby…”
“Watch it!” Colton snapped.
Preston held up his hands in surrender and continued to baby his red face.
Colton rolled a glass tumbler between his palms and stared at Preston for a while. “You went above and beyond what was appropriate or necessary and you hurt Zoe’s feelings for no reason. I can’t believe you actually deal handle people so poorly, Preston.” His brother sighed and rolled his eyes, “I just thought that I needed to come on a little strong to make sure that she stayed away from you. No big deal.”
“Zoe isn’t one of the ditz girls that you date, bro, not that you should treat anyone so rudely,” Colton rubbed the bridge of his nose. Conversations with Preston exhausted him.
“Zoe’s smart and would have taken
the hint had you been gentle and understanding with her. Anyway, you deserved to be slapped—you need to think more with your heart, if you even have one. Zoe’s a great girl.”
“So wait—you’re actually dating her?” Preston asked as he helped himself to more of their father’s scotch. He leaned against the kitchen island and sipped the amber liquid slowly. “She was cute, I suppose—I don’t blame you.”
“We’re… it’s complicated,” Colton said. “I like her—but I don’t want to rush into things with her.”
“You still waiting for Cara?” Preston asked. For once he didn’t sound accusatory or judgmental, he was just asking. Colton shrugged his shoulder in response. “Cara’s hot—
perfect body, great boobs.”
“Okay, enough,” Colton sighed. “You don’t have to reduce all women to their boob size you know. I don’t know what to do with Zoe. Well, I know what I want to do, but, I’m not going to.”
“You want to fuck her?”
“Jesus, Preston,” Colton drew away from his brother as if his attitude were catching and walked toward the sink. He tossed out the last of his scotch and rinsed the glass. He then stood there thinking. “But that’s exactly what I want to do,” he finally admitted, to which Preston snorted a laugh. “But… more than that too. I mean, it’s not just a physical thing.
It’s just I feel so good when I’m with her—she makes me happy.”
“Wow, you sound like you’re in love or something,” Preston said seriously.
“I’m not,” Colton said with a flash of annoyance and ire. “It’s just lust—and I don’t want it to be. Zoe’s a great person and I don’t want to hurt her.”
“You just need to get it out of your system—want me to hook you up with Shelia again?
She asks about you all the time.”
He didn’t need 23-year-old Shelia, the girl he’d slept with a few weeks after his wedding day in effort to move on, to distract him or tame his constant hard-on. “I am getting it out of my system,” Colton said quietly.
Preston’s brow wrinkled with confusion and then realized what Colton meant and blew a raspberry. “I’m talking about a real piece of ass, not a cold shower or a five-finger-whack-a-doodle.”
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