by Caitlyn Dare
We climb out of the car, and Cole fetches our bags from the trunk. The hotel reception is a rich mix of deep golds and reds and has a 1920s feel about it.
We look completely out of place, me with my jacket and Seahawks jersey, leggings, and boots, and Cole in his ripped jeans and black hoodie. The receptionist smiles at us all the same.
“Welcome to The Grand Hotel. How can I help you?”
“Uh, we have a booking under the name Jagger.”
“Let me just check that for you.” She does something in a computer and then pulls an envelope out of a box. “Your uncle said you’re here visiting Colton U?”
“We are,” I answer, noticing that Cole is awfully tense.
“It’s a great school. Right, I have you on the sixth floor for two nights. You’ll find everything you need inside, but if you have any questions or need extras don’t hesitate to call us.” She pushes the envelope across the counter. “Enjoy your stay.”
“Thank you.” I snatch it up and gently pull Cole toward the elevators. “Okay?” I ask him once we’re inside.
“I will be once we’re in our room.”
I smother a chuckle. It’s cute seeing him so out of his depth, but my laughter dies when I see the heat in his gaze.
“Cole?” I croak.
“I hope you didn’t want to go out, because all I can think about is stripping you naked. Except for my jersey, that can stay.” His eyes glitter dangerously. “I’m going to taste every inch of your skin.”
A garbled whimper slips from my lips as I silently will the elevator to hurry up. The doors eventually ping open and Cole takes over, pulling me down the hall toward our room. I press the keycard against the pad, and it clicks open. But I don’t even get to see our surroundings. Cole has me up against the wall and his mouth on mine the second we’re inside.
“Do you have any idea how hard it’s been, waiting for this?” He kisses my mouth, letting his lips trail over my jaw and down my neck. I bury my fingers in his hair, scraping his scalp. It feels so good. It always does.
“We haven’t even explored the room,” I say—not that I care.
“We have plenty of time for that, Little Dove. Right now,” his hand dives for my leggings, yanking them down my legs. He goes for his jeans next, popping the button and shoving them down his hips, “I need you, Hadley. I always fucking need you.”
“So take me,” I sass, need burning me from the inside out.
Cole presses his head to mine, hoisting my body up and caging me against the wall. “I love you, Dove. So fucking much.” He slams inside of me and we both cry out, and then he spends the night showing me exactly how much he loves me, all over the expensive hotel room.
The next morning, I wake with a huge smile on my face. We finally made it to the bed, a trail of devastation left in our wake. Cole had been insatiable. I don’t know whether it was the high from the win, or coming to visit Colton U, or the fact that he’d been completely overwhelmed when we arrived at the hotel. Whatever it was, I wasn’t complaining.
“Good morning.” His gravelly voice sends shivers running through me.
“Morning.” I snuggle closer to his body. “I could get used to this.”
“How are you feeling... after last night?”
“I feel perfect. Stop worrying.”
“About you? Never.” Cole kisses my hair. “What time is it?”
“A little after eight.” I push up on my elbows to look at him. “Are you excited about today?”
“I’m not sure excited is the word I’d use.”
“It’ll be okay, you know. You deserve this.”
“I know, but I think about all the kids who have worked their asses off for a shot at something like this. I haven’t exactly taken things seriously.”
“Most kids our age haven’t lived the lives we have. It doesn’t matter what you have or haven’t done. What matters is what you do from this point forward. If you want a better future, you have to work for it.”
“Yeah, but James—“
“It isn’t your fault your dad is filthy rich, and nobody will think any less of you for letting him help you. After everything you’ve been through...” I hesitate, because I don’t want anything to ruin this weekend.
“People take one look at me and see trailer trash. It’s just how it is.”
My heart aches for him. I reach out, stroking his face. “You are so much more than that, Cole. You’re strong and loyal, and you protect those you care about.”
He wants to argue, I can see it in his eyes. But Cole presses his lips together, swallowing whatever he wants to say.
“Coach believes in you, the scouts at Colton U believe in you. I believe in you. You’ve just got to believe in yourself.”
“You’re fucking amazing, you know that, right?” He curves a hand around my neck and leans down to kiss me.
“I try.” I grin against his mouth.
My cell phone vibrates and I shuffle to the edge of the bed, sitting up. “It’s probably Remi wanting an update,” I say as I open the message.
But it isn’t Remi.
Unknown: I just want to talk, Hadley...
“Hadley, what is it?” Cole asks.
“N-nothing,” I force a smile. “Remi just wants to know if we got any sleep.” The lie coils around my heart.
I don’t want to lie, but if I tell Cole the truth about Tim, it’ll be a dark cloud over the weekend. And I can’t do that to him.
Not when he’s already questioning being here.
I pretend to type a quick reply and hit delete. “I told her a girl never kisses and tells.” I lie back down beside him, trying to ignore the message.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He studies me.
“I’m starving.” The nausea seems to have passed, and now I want to eat everything in sight.
Cole lays a hand on my stomach. “We should feed him.”
“Yeah,” I say.
“Just five minutes. I like being here with you like this.” He lets out a small sigh. “It’s like I can finally breathe.”
I decide then that I can never tell him about Tim. I’ll have to change my number, work out a plausible excuse with my parents. Maybe I should tell them Tim is harassing me? No, that might cause more harm than good.
If I ignore him, he’ll go away.
But as Cole wraps his big, warm body around mine, a little voice in my head tells me Tim isn’t going anywhere.
Which means I won’t be able to hide this forever.
Chapter Eighteen
Cole
Hand in hand, we walk around campus with the warm winter sun on our backs and the crunch of the fallen leaves beneath our feet. Despite my nerves about this visit and the reality that I’ve got to start thinking seriously about the future, I think this could be one of the best days of my life.
My fingers squeeze Hadley’s a little and she looks up at me. There’s a softness to her eyes that’s not usually there, and her smile is easier than normal. I know it’s because we’re out of the Bay and away from the monsters that haunt her.
I smile back at her, loving that we’ve been able to have this time together, but I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right.
I think back to the way her entire body tensed up when she checked her cell this morning. Her explanation about it being Remi would have been fine, if it weren’t for her obvious hesitation and panic.
Every fiber of my being wants to believe her, wants to trust her. And while my heart is totally on board with that plan, my head is screaming that something’s not right, that I need to question her. But if I do that, it’s going to ruin our weekend. If I start accusing her of hiding things from me, then all the good that getting away has done for her will be shattered.
“So what do you think? Do you feel at home here?” she asks.
“I never thought I’d say it, but I kinda do. Something about this place just feels so…” I trail off, not able to find the words to describe ho
w I feel being here.
“Right?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure the Bay will ever truly feel like home, and the Heights… we stopped belonging there the second we left. But this place? It could be that for me.”
A wide smile spreads across her lips, but her face falls the second her cell pings with another message.
Something uncomfortable twists inside my chest, but I keep the feeling, the suspicion, from my face.
“Are you going to get that?” I ask when she makes no move to pull it from her purse.
“Nah, it’ll just be Remi. She can wait until later. Where do you want to go next?”
I check my own cell for the time, noting that we’ve still got an hour before I agreed to meet Chris for the stadium tour. “Food?”
“Yes. What about the diner we passed that had those huge milkshakes?”
“Whatever you want.”
Spinning around, we head in the opposite direction to find the diner.
We order burgers and fries each along with two huge milkshakes. Hadley’s eyes light up like it’s Christmas morning when the shakes arrive, and she immediately dives in.
Leaving her to it for a moment, I head for the bathroom. As I return to the restaurant, I spot her sitting in our booth with her head in her cell and her brows drawn in concern.
I slow my steps, studying her for a few seconds in the hope that I find some answers. But other than her obvious worry, I don’t discover anything.
“Everything okay?” I ask, returning to my seat and sliding my milkshake in front of me.
She startles, looking up at me with wide eyes, and rushes to shove her cell away. The move does nothing for my suspicions. “Yeah, yeah. Everything is good. Oh look,” she says, her eyes widening once again despite the huge lunch we had earlier.
The server places two huge plates down and Hadley dives in. I want to say it’s because she’s hungry, but I fear she’s just trying to avoid my eyes and the question on the tip of my tongue.
The Colts’ stadium is bigger and grander than anything I’ve seen before—not that I have a lot, or any, experience with college football. I stare up at the impressive building in complete awe.
“Oh my God, can you imagine playing here?” Hadley asks as we walk up to the main entrance. “All those people watching you, cheering for you. It blows my mind.”
“You’re telling me,” I mutter, continuing forward toward a guy I recognize.
“Cole, it’s so good to see you again,” Chris says, holding his hand out in greeting.
“Hey, it’s good to be here. This is Hadley, my g-girlfriend.” I don’t mean to stumble over the word, but as it sticks in my throat, I realize that it’s the first time I’ve referred to her as such. It’s weird as fuck.
She glances at me for a beat before turning to Chris. “This place is incredible. How many people does it hold?” she asks. She knows the answer, we both looked it up together, but I appreciate her distraction technique as it starts Chris off on his speech.
We walk past huge trophy cabinets that proudly display all the Colts’ achievements over the years, along with a wall of fame showing numerous ex-Colt players during their impressive NFL careers.
The fact that this is happening to me feels totally surreal. If they accept me, if I do well here, literally anything could happen. It’s a sobering thought.
Could I really go from my bullshit life in the Heights all the way to the NFL?
I guess only time will tell.
Chris walks us around, talking about all things football and what my future college career could look like if I were to become a Colt for a good thirty minutes before he shows us to some seats to watch tonight’s game.
“I’m sorry, where’s the bathroom?” Hadley asks before we find our seats.
“Just down there on the left.”
“Thank you.” I give her hand a squeeze and watch her as she makes her way there.
“So what do you think?” Chris asks, turning back to me.
“I think everything looks and sounds incredible. I can’t quite get my head around it all, to be honest.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, and how big a decision it is.” I refrain from telling him that I don’t have teams fighting over me right now and that this is currently my only option.
“It is. But I feel at home here. Something feels right.”
He nods, his lips curling at the corners at my words. “That’s really great to hear, Cole. I think you could do really well here. What about your girl? What are her plans?”
“Uh…” I hesitate, not really having an answer for him. “It’s all up in the air right now.”
“It’s still early days, you’ve both got time.” There’s some commotion down on the field, making him look over his shoulder. “I should get down there. I’m glad you came out today, Cole. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.”
“I will, thank you so much.” With one final handshake, he disappears off toward the field.
With the beginning of the game still a few minutes away, I head toward the bathroom to wait for Hadley so we can go and get drinks—and, if I know her at all these days, more food.
I only have to wait a minute or two before the bathroom door is pulled open and she steps out, although what I’m not expecting is to see tears filling her eyes.
“Hads, what’s wrong?” I ask, rushing to her and taking her hand in mine.
“It’s nothing,” she says, waving me off. “Isn’t the game about to start?”
“I don’t give a shit about the game if something is up with you,” I state, possibly a little too harshly.
“Honestly, it’s nothing. I’m just feeling a little emotional.”
I narrow my eyes at her, and she plasters a smile on her face. “If something was going on, you’d tell me, right?” I ask, giving in to my suspicions.
“Of course. Honestly, there’s nothing you need to worry about.”
She blinks as she says it, severing our connection for a beat, and it makes my heart drop into my stomach.
She’s hiding something.
The roar out the crowd sounds out from behind me, forcing us to return to our seats.
“Would you like a drink?” I ask once she’s settled.
“Uh…” Hadley looks down to where the teams are getting ready. “I don’t want you to miss anything.”
“I won’t. Soda?”
“Please. Thank you,” she says softly.
I walk away but stop when I’m just out of sight. Sure as shit, the first thing she does is pull her cell from her purse.
A fire that I’m all too used to begins to crackle inside me.
Who’s she texting, and why is she hiding it from me?
I run through a handful of names, including Hayden and that douchebag who was interested from our game the other week. One thing I know for sure is it’s not Remi.
“Here,” I say, handing over her drink once I rejoin her.
“Thanks. You’ve been ages, I started to think you weren’t coming back,” she says with a laugh.
“The line was long,” I lie. In truth, I ended up pacing up and down in front of the stall as I willed the anger crackling within me to die the fuck down. The last thing we need is to have this out here.
I want to enjoy this weekend, but I fear I’m not going to be able to keep a lid on this long enough for us to return to the Bay.
My eyes remain on the game, but when the final whistle blows, I realize that I didn’t really see any of it. I do, however, know that Hadley’s cell went off twice. I also know that she’s desperate to check it.
“That was incredible. The roar of the crowd… can you imagine being one of those players down there?” Hadley asks excitedly as we make our way out of the stadium.
The Colts won by a mile and the crowd around were on fire as they cheered on their team.
“I really can’t. It must be mind-blowing to know that so many sets of eyes are on y
ou.”
“I guess you’ll soon get used to it. Hopefully you’ll get to find out this time next year.”
A little excitement pushes my dread aside from a few moments ago. Could that really be me down there next year, playing in white and black?
“What about you? How do you feel about this place?” I ask as we make our way back to the hotel.
“I like it. You were right earlier, it does feel like it could be home.”
“So you think you could raise our baby here?”
“I really do,” she says with a wide smile. “It’s mind-boggling, isn’t it? This time next year you could be a Colt and I could be watching you with our baby.”
“Jesus,” I mutter, panicking slightly at the picture she paints. “Do you think we’re actually capable of looking after a baby?” I ask with a laugh, only half joking. I barely feel like I can look after myself most days.
“I’m sure it’ll be like riding a bike.”
“Hmm… I’m not sure about a bike, but I know something I want to ride,” I say, dropping my face to her neck and breathing her in.
“I guess it’s a good thing we’re here then,” she says, nodding to the building before us.
“Perfect timing.”
I drag her inside, and in seconds we’re alone in the elevator.
“I like being away from everyone else,” I mutter as I brush my lips down her neck.
“Mmmm,” she moans. “Me too.”
Before our hotel room door has even closed behind us, I spin her back against it. Taking her wrist in my hand, I press it against my already hard cock.
“Cole,” she gasps.
“I need you.”
“God,” she moans as I slip my hand up her shirt, finding her lace-covered breast. “Hold that thought. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“I don’t need anything right now other than you naked.”
“Trust me. I think you’re going to like it.”
Pressing her palms to my chest, she pushes until I back up.
“I’ll be like, two minutes, tops.”
After dropping her purse on the desk, she rummages in her case before pulling something out and rushing to the bathroom.