“It worked. They were distracted from your mom,” he said, grinning. My laughter abruptly stopped, as I remembered why we’d started this craziness.
“Who you brought up?” I exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.
“I just said what everyone was too scared to say.” he told me. “And it needed to happen. You can’t keep tiptoeing around her memory. She deserves to be remembered and talked about. You know that.”
I couldn’t argue with his words. He was right, and now there would be a new life in the world that would never have a chance to know her, except through our memories. My face must be reflecting my painful thoughts, because Colt came over and threw an arm around my shoulders.
He gave a big sigh before saying, “If you want to name our daughter Cocoa, then we will.” I knew my smile was stupid, as I reached over and pinched him under his arm.
“Ouch!” he exclaimed, rubbing the skin. “I was trying to make you happy.” I rolled my eyes at him before starting to load the dishwasher. “You may punch like a girl, but you pinch like a champ. I think you might have left a bruise.” I shook my head, as he tried to see where I pinched him.
Colt
Chapter Nine
We headed back to my cabin for the night. It seemed a little strange for Sophie to stay with me, now that she could stay with her family, but she needed to bring me back anyway. At least, that’s what I told myself.
“I’m going to miss this place,” she told me, before running and sliding down the hall in her socks.
“Glad to know you’ll miss the house, and not me,” I said, with a grimace.
“Ha, humility is good for the soul, Mr. I’m So Sexy,” she taunted, as she slid back. “Do we have any brownies left?”
“No,” I told her, looking away. I’d hidden them, so I’d have some when she left.
“Liar,” she said, glaring at me.
“Then why’d you ask?” I asked, exasperated.
“Because I didn’t know, until you lied,” she snapped back, staring me down. “Where are they?”
I couldn’t help the flicker of my eyes, and she groaned, “I should have known.” She headed straight for the garage, but this time I knew how to stop her. I grabbed her and set her on my lap on the couch. I had her arms pinned to her side, and she was straddling me. She blinked at me for a second, while I saw the wheels turning.
“What are you going to do with me now, big boy?” she asked, with a smirk. “You can’t keep me here forever.” She had a point, I couldn’t keep her forever, but I could distract her. My smile made her eyes narrow, but it was too late to stop me.
I captured her mouth in a slow kiss, one that had the possibility to last all night. I lingered on the perfect curve of her rosebud lips, before nudging her mouth open with a slow glide of my tongue. Our first kiss had been lightning, but this one would be the rain that quenched a drought. I angled my head, alternating the kiss from deep plunges to whispers across her cheek. I didn’t release her arms, holding her helpless to anything but my kiss.
I trailed my mouth down her neck with the lightest kisses, before finding my way to the curve of her ear. My warm breath in her ear caused her to shudder. I dragged my cheek across hers, feeling the rough stubble pull across her skin, as she moaned. My mouth found hers again, and I pulled her lower lip in, sucking gently. Her eyes were glazed, as I pulled back slightly and blew on her face. Her breath stuttered, and I covered her lips with mine again. Our tongues slid against each other, a gentle duel.
Her teeth tugged gently on my lower lip before she dragged her lips across my stubble. Her warm breath caressed my face, as she rubbed against my cheek. I realized she liked the sensation of my stubble against her skin. I groaned and captured her mouth against mine. This kiss was deep and desperate, my only desire to devour her and quench the need.
She pressed against me, wiggling her body, because I wouldn’t release her arms. I tore my mouth from hers, as we panted to catch our breath. I bumped my nose against her cheek, the touch a caress, as our breath mingled. Our foreheads rested together, and I felt her shift into me more firmly. Every part of us was touching, our bodies conforming to each other.
Our lips acted as magnets, unable to resist the pull to one another. Our kisses lingered, lips gliding over skin, our mouths drawn back to one another constantly. Time drifted in a haze, counted only by the stroke of a tongue and kisses that lasted hours.
I woke up slowly, my body stiff. I was sitting upright on the couch, with Sophie sprawled on top of me. At some point, I’d released her arms, and they were wrapped around me. I couldn’t tell where either of us began or ended.
The sun was streaming through the windows, and I knew it was late morning. Our last day. Sophie was catching a flight home later that evening. We’d be going our separate ways. My chest tightened at the thought. It seemed impossible that someone I’d met three days ago could become so important.
My hands stroked down her spine. I knew I needed to wake her, but then this moment would be gone, and I wasn’t ready to lose it yet. She had shifted something inside of me, and I shied away from acknowledging it. The fear of being betrayed nagged at me. As much as I wanted to cling to her, I refused to. I couldn’t allow her the same power to destroy me that I’d given Hannah.
My heart pounded at the thought of speaking to Ford again. I knew it was time to heal those wounds, and I was ready, but the idea of opening myself to Sophie was terrifying. Sophie had cracked the door, allowing the light back in, but I wasn’t ready to give her the key to the lock.
I nudged her gently, my hand still gliding slowly up and down the curve of her spine. I felt her face rub against my chest, as she woke up, and it was the most intimate moment of my life. I’d never experienced this before. We’d kissed for hours before falling asleep. I’d held her as she slept, and feeling her wake, her movements sleepy and trusting, made my chest ache with the need to keep her safe.
“You are surprisingly comfortable to sleep on,” she murmured, causing me to laugh. “I figured it’d be like sleeping on a bed of rock.”
“So you’ve thought about sleeping with me?” I teased her distractedly, my attention fixed on her movements. She was stretching, her arms raised to the ceiling, as she arched back against my hands supporting her. She was messy, completely natural, and beautiful. Part of me wondered if she’d cast a spell over me. I’d been with women far more beautiful, but none had ever captured my attention like she had.
“You’re beautiful.” The words tumbled from my tongue before I could stop them. I’d said those words to other women before, but never meant them like I did now. She paused mid-stretch, her eyes searching mine.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I’ve always believed that. A person can only determine beauty, based on their own perception,” she smiled, her face lighting up. “You make me feel beautiful.”
My heart gave a slow thud at her words. Before I could say anything, she leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the nose. She was out of my arms a second later.
“I need to pack my stuff. I can’t afford to miss my flight,” she said over her shoulder, as she moved down the hall. I got up slowly, making my way to the kitchen to prepare her breakfast. I didn’t want her traveling on an empty stomach.
We hurried to get her stuff loaded in her rental, rushing because it was later than we thought, and she still had a two-hour drive to the airport.
“Are you going to be okay?” She asked me, concern evident in her voice. “I don’t like leaving you here without a vehicle.”
I smiled at her concern. “The tow truck is going to pull my car out today. A rental company is bringing me a car. I’ll be fine,” I said, drinking her in. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She had jeans and a Henley shirt on, under her jacket. “You warm enough?” I asked, freezing in my t-shirt.
She laughed, “Yeah, in fact the jacket will come off, as soon as I hit Georgia. It’s in the sixties there.”
“I wish I was going w
ith you.” I attempted to joke, but it fell flat because it was the truth. Her smile was twisted, as if she wished I was going with her too.
“I better go,” she said, her smile sad, as she got into the SUV.
“Be safe,” I told her. She nodded, and then she was backing out of the garage. I watched her head down the driveway, until I couldn’t see her anymore. My heart thumped in my chest. I had the insane thought to run after her. My phone dinged, and I saw a message from my agent. I suddenly realized I didn’t have Sophie’s phone number, or anyway to get in touch with her. The second I realized it, I also recognized I wasn’t ready to let her slip completely out of my life.
I cursed myself. What the hell had I been thinking, letting her leave with no way to contact her? I shook my head. I’d figure it out. If nothing else, I’d head back to her family’s cabin. One of them would give me her number.
A few hours later, the rental company dropped a car off. I was about to head back up the mountain to catch her family before they left, when I heard my phone. I looked down at the text and saw Sophie’s face with the words, “Call me, maybe.” I laughed at her word choice, and was glad she’d put her contact info into my phone at some point. I didn’t know if it was when she’d texted Ford, but I was relieved she did it.
I text her back saying, “Let me know when you make it home.”
Sophie
Chapter Ten
I got his text just as they called for my plane to board. I was grinning like a lunatic. He texted back! I wasn’t sure he would. Our time together had been a strange step out of the ordinary. He’d become important to me in an unbelievably short amount of time, but I couldn’t see a future between us. I was glad to see his text though. We might not have a future, but I wasn’t ready to let him go either.
I texted him when I got home, groaning at the thought of unpacking. I texted him a picture of my luggage with the words, “Unpacking sucks.”
He texted back, “Try traveling during football season. I don’t have time to unpack.” I frowned, because that did sound like it would suck.
Later, he texted me a picture of an SUV with, “My ride.”
“Snow tires!!” I texted back, smiling.
Thus began an odd relationship between us. We texted daily, sharing parts of our lives with one another, through pictures and occasional late night talks on the phone.
I found myself turning ESPN on when I was home. I listened for any mention of Colt’s name. Surprising to me, it popped up frequently. The sportscasters talk about his amazing season, and how he led his team to the playoffs, even though they didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. They replayed old game footage and interviews. I found myself watching it all. I’d never cared about football, but when it came to Colt Anderson I was becoming obsessed.
He texted me that he was making a trip back home. Since they were out of the playoffs, he wanted to see his family before spring training started. I sent him a dozen happy faces at the news. I knew how big a step this was for him.
A few days later, I got a text and a picture of him with another guy, that I could only assume was his brother Ford. Colt texted that the shirt he was wearing was a gift from his brother. Ford had bought it the day Colt signed with the Broncos. I zoomed in to read the words and busted out laughing when I saw it said, “Colts Grow Up to Be Broncos.”
“Fitting,” I texted back, with a grin. “Is that Ford?”
“Yep. You can see I’m the better looking brother,” he replied instantly. I looked at the picture again, and maybe I was biased, but I thought he was right. Not that I’d admit it and inflate his ego any more than it already was.
“You look happy,” I texted back before saving the picture as my contact for Colt. It felt right to me that his picture would be of he and his brother together.
“I am. Call you tonight?” he asked.
“Can’t wait,” I replied. School was back in session, and I had a pile of essays that need grading. I grabbed my red pen and started. I wanted to be finished before Colt called.
I’d barely finished the last one before my phone rang. I grabbed it quickly, saying ‘Colt’, without even looking at the caller ID.
“Noooo. Michelle. I’d ask how you are, but apparently you’re waiting for a sexy football star to call you. So, should I just hang up now?” Her words echoed through the phone, and I smiled.
We’d talked several times since Christmas. Michelle’s pregnancy had brought us closer. We talked about baby stuff and even Mom. There’d been a few calls both of us ended up in tears, but it felt okay.
“Nah, I don’t know what time he’ll wind up calling. There’s an hour time difference anyway,” I told her, pulling my feet up under me. “How’s the lima bean?” I asked, referring to the baby’s size, based on the app she’d forced me to install, so I could keep track of the baby’s development.
“Still making me sick,” she grumbled, but she didn’t sound overly upset about it. “I have a sonogram picture I’m sending you,” she exclaimed excitedly.
“Yay!” I said, while simultaneously holding back from adding, “Another picture of a gray and white blob!”
“Dad wants to know if you’re coming home for Easter,” Michelle threw in, changing the subject from her developing offspring.
“Nope. You know I can’t afford it. Besides, I just saw you at Christmas,” I told her, instantly aggravated by the topic.
“You were barely there at Christmas. You spent all of your time with Colt,” she fussed. “I’m happy to pay for your plane ticket.”
“I was stuck in a blizzard,” I said rolling my eyes. “Spending time with Colt was unintentional. And you know I’m not going to let you pay for my plane ticket.”
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” Michelle asked rhetorically. “I’ll let Dad know. But he’s gonna be upset.”
I let the mini guilt trip roll off my back. “Thank you,” I said, with a fake smile plastered on my face. I practically heard her eyes rolling.
“So how’s school going?” she asked, giving up for now. I knew it was not the end of the ‘Sophie needs to come home’ discussion though.
“Fantastic. I just finished grading papers that would have failed me if I wrote them in high school. I have to wonder sometimes about college acceptance criteria,” I bitched to her, the words familiar to her by now.
“Maybe you need a different school,” she said, laughing at me. I groaned at the thought. A different school, starting over, the idea didn’t appeal to me.
“I can’t imagine the students would be any different. I swear I wasn’t like this in college,” I told her, glancing at the clock to check the time. I didn’t want to miss Colt’s call. I was dying to know how it went with his family.
“Uh huh, pretty sure you were worse, sis,” Michelle teased. “Look I have to go. I’m gonna call Dad and tell him his youngest child can’t be bothered to come home for Easter and visit him.”
“Wow, not even ashamed of how thick you laid that, are you?” I shot back.
“Nope. Not a bit,” she replied deadpan.
“Well, I guess that makes you the favorite,” I replied sweetly.
She started laughing, “I think having the first grandbaby settled that.”
“Good point. Love ya’,” I told her, smiling.
“Love you longer,” she sang, before hanging up.
I wandered to the kitchen and grabbed a pint of Blue Bell ice cream to devour, while waiting for Colt to call. It occurred to me that I resembled a high school girl waiting for her crush to call, but the thought didn’t stop me. Colt had wormed his way into my life somehow. For Pete’s sake, I had ESPN turned on because of him. If that didn’t show how I felt, I didn’t know what would.
I was so busy digging the cookies out of my cookies and cream ice cream that when the phone finally did ring, it scared the crap out of me. I dropped my spoon on the floor, while grabbing the phone.
“Shit,” I said, reaching for the spoon.
“H
ello to you too,” I heard, in reply.
“Hey. That shit wasn’t for you,” I told him, checking the spoon, before shoving it back into my ice cream.
“Glad to hear it. Gonna tell me what it was for? Grading papers by chance?” he said, the smile evident in his voice.
I laughed. “You know me so well. I actually finished those and have moved onto drowning my sorrow in ice cream. I dropped the spoon.”
“Ahh, what kind?” he asked.
“Cookies and cream,” I said around a mouthful. “How’s your trip?”
I heard a heavy sigh through the phone, and I was instantly concerned. From the picture earlier, I thought it was going well, but maybe something had happened. It had been four years.
“It’s good,” he said hesitantly.
“Okaaaay. Care to elaborate?”
“It’s better than I thought,” he said, dragging it out. “It’s different. Things have changed.”
“You had to expect that. You’ve changed,” I said, feeling him out. I couldn’t imagine not talking to my family for four years, even if, on occasion, it sounded like a great idea. This had to be hard for Colt.
“We’ve talked on the phone a few times, since Christmas, but this was the first time I’ve been home,” he told me. I knew this already, but I let him talk it out. “I knew it would be different, but in my mind everything would be exactly the same as when I left.” He paused again before continuing. “She’s four. I missed a lot.”
My eyes were damp from the regret I heard in his voice. We couldn’t go back, but it still hurt when we realized all we’d missed.
“You’re there now. It counts,” I told him, attempting to reassure him.
“Yeah, apparently I’m Uncle ‘Olt,” he said, with a laugh. “Grace has trouble with the C sound. She knew who I was though when she saw me. She’s incredibly smart. They’ve been showing her my picture and telling her about me,” he told me proudly.
The Anderson Brothers Complete Series Page 27