“...Okay?”
Was Carli talking to her? She did not look like Carli. She had a funny dress on. Another cramp hit her and she doubled over. Maybe she should sleep. The ground would be nice. It felt cool. She was hot and it was cool. It was perfect.
Seraphina groaned loudly and then winced as even that sound started the ringing in her head. What had happened last night? She felt like utter crap. Her muscles protested strongly as she lifted herself up from the floor. Why was she on the floor? She did not remember falling asleep on the floor. Looking around, she felt herself flood with relief. This was her room. She was not in some stranger’s room like she had feared.
She remembered snippets of the evening. Covering her face in her hands, she muffled the moan as she recalled the shameless way she had danced. There had been some guy there. She was lucky that he or anyone else had not taken undue advantage of her.
How had she gotten back to the apartment? First, she had to find Carli and then slowly kill her for dragging her to the stupid place. She fought to control the nausea that rolled through her when she stood up. Dashing to the bathroom, she made it just in time as the contents of her stomach emptied.
“Rough night, huh?” Carli spoke casually from the door.
She retched again.
“What?”
After gargling with mouthwash, Seraphina turned to glare at her friend. “I’m going to kill you!”
Carli held up her hands in a peace sign. “What did I do?”
“I-I …you!” Seraphina made a frustrated noise and stomped outside.
“There’s coffee for you on the kitchen counter,” Carli yelled helpfully.
“Ungh!”
A cup of coffee and some scrambled eggs later, she felt the majority of her migraine recede. She turned towards Carli who was watching her like a hawk.
“How come you’re not drunk?”
“I was the designated driver.”
“You took me there to get me drunk? I could have gotten drunk at home. It would have been much safer!” Seraphina said indignantly.
“Relax… I was watching you the whole time. Well, most of the time,” Carli said, staring at the ground.
“Ohh,” Seraphina huffed and put her head into her hands. “What did I do last night?”
“You danced. Like crazy. And drank. Like a fish. I had to rescue you!”
“There was some guy… I remember dry humping him.”
Carli crinkled her nose. “Yeah, him. Don’t worry. Nothing else happened.”
“Nothing else? Nothing else?! That’s like enough embarrassment to last me a lifetime.”
“Look on the bright side. You now have a wild memory.”
“Ungh.” Then she remembered her puzzling question. “How did we get home?”
“We had to drag you. Literally.”
“We?” She raised an eyebrow at her friend.
“Uh…yeah. I met someone there.”
“Who?!”
“Ethan,” Carli mumbled.
“Ethan… Wait, Cole’s Ethan?”
“Maybe.”
“Carli!”
“What? How was I supposed to know he was going to be there?” Carli defended herself. “It’s a good thing he was there though. You weren’t an easy drunk. If he hadn’t helped me, you would be waking up in the club’s toilets.”
“Yuck,” Seraphina said, cringing at the mental image.
“Yeah. So you might want to thank him for that.”
“Shit.”
Seraphina could not believe she had been seen in that state by someone she kind of knew. What if he told Cole? Sure it did not matter if he told him. They were not together anymore. But she could imagine Cole not approving of her behaviour. Why was she thinking of Cole again? Oh, because her friend had gotten her into a mess. Maybe thanking Ethan in person would not be necessary. People thanked each other via text all the time. That’s what she would do. That way she would be saved from any further embarrassment.
“Gah, Carli!”
As she passed Carli’s room, she thought she heard the sound of laughter coming from inside.
♥●●♥
Chapter 12
Cole felt his heart stutter as he paced outside Seraphina’s apartment. His palms were sweating and he felt light-headed. He was about to take the big step. It was big for him. He had never done anything like it before. He had never felt anything like it before. He was not being coerced into it. He really wanted to do it. But he was afraid.
The elevator doors pinged and out stepped a strange-looking woman. Her smoky eyes zeroed in on him and she frowned.
“You’re going to stand outside all day or do you plan to knock?”
“You’re the psychic. You tell me.”
Her lips thinned and she shook her head in disapproval, muttering under her breath, “poor woman.”
Lifting up a heavy hand, she knocked loudly on Seraphina’s door causing Cole to yelp.
“I wasn’t ready yet!”
The words were hardly out of her mouth when the door swung open to reveal a very sweaty Seraphina. She had been working out from the look of her clothes. Cole’s mouth dried up at the sight of her as old stirrings awakened, mixed with new ones. Her brown eyes widened as they moved from the psychic to him. For a second he was afraid she would slam the door shut on their faces but she quickly controlled her expression, putting on a calm one.
“What are you doing here?” Her eyes flickered in curiosity towards the psychic before alighting on him. Not exactly on him. She addressed his T-shirt.
He had done a bit of research before heading to her apartment. So he knew exactly when her roommate would be out. He had a little help from Ethan in persuading her to leave Seraphina alone for the day. If they wanted to solve the problem between them, they did not need an obstacle – namely a roommate who painted very vivid images of the damage she wanted to do to him.
“I…uh....” God help him. He was stuttering like a little boy but the relief that flooded him upon seeing her was so profound. That along with the nervousness, momentarily struck him dumb. The psychic scowled at him and turned a smiling face at Seraphina.
“I believe this idiot has come to his senses,” she said coolly.
“Who are you?”
“She’s a psychic!” he finally blurted out.
Seraphina’s eyebrows rose and something – pain – crossed her face. “I don’t know why you’re still trying to hurt me. Just leave me alone,” she said, her voice trembling with tears.
He felt like someone had sucker-punched him. “No!” He held up his hand to block her from shutting the door on his face. “I don’t want to leave you alone. I don’t want to be left alone either. Please, Seraphina. Please let me say what I came to say before you make your decision.” He pleaded with a desperation that was loud and clear, not just in his voice but also in the way he held his body.
She hesitated and then relented. “Okay.”
“We shouldn’t do this in your hallway.” Cole could feel the prying ears pressed up against the doors of the other apartments. This was private. It had to be done behind closed doors.
Seraphina looked like she was about to argue and then her gaze flickered on the door across from hers. She could sense the ears too. Opening her door just enough, she let both of them in.
“Why are you here? And why do you have a psychic with you?” She got straight to the questions.
“Every time I tried to talk to you, I found the door shut on me. And I got threatened a lot. I had to come up with something if I wanted to clear the air between us. Your roommate, by the way, is very mean.” For a moment, he thought he saw a ghost of a smile on her face but in a blink of the eye, it was back to its blank expression. He considered that a small victory. She did not hate him that much then. “Seraphina… I want to say so many things to you. Especially to apologize for being an idiot. But I think the psychic should speak now. For the recor
d, I have told her nothing about us. I knew the only way you would believe me was through her.”
The psychic rolled her eyes at him and Cole could not help but feel annoyed. She had been directing that attitude at him since her arrival. Ignoring Cole, she pushed him aside and pulled Seraphina towards her, her callused hands gripping her softer ones.
“He tells the truth. He hasn’t told me anything. In fact, I am meeting him for the first time. This was set up through another medium. Child, you’re in pain even though I can see your future is bright. But it’ll only remain so if you accept him and he accepts you. You are destined to be together. It’s written in the stars.”
Seraphina’s breathing caught and she tried to pull away but the woman would not let her go.
“Don’t fight it. You think he lies. He doesn’t. He is just an idiot. Men usually are. You should make him grovel for misleading you. When you first met him, he was different, was he not?”
Cole frowned and then quickly transformed that into a nervous smile and a shrug when Seraphina looked at him. He had been different then. But now he was a better kind of different. She had done that to him. She had opened his eyes to see things more clearly. He fought to control his panic when her expression did not change at the psychic’s words.
He did something drastic. He dropped to his knees and looked beseechingly at her. “Like she said, repeatedly, I was an idiot. I am an idiot. I never meant to hurt you. That day what you saw, it wasn’t what you thought it was. That woman,” he said with obvious distaste, “She showed up at the café just after I texted you. I didn’t want you to see her there. I don’t know why at the time I thought it was a good idea to lie to you rather than be honest. But I swear on my mother’s life – that’s all that happened!”
His voice tremored with slight emotion as he continued. “Ever since you turned away from me, God…I have never experienced such despair in my life. I didn’t know what I had until I lost it. I had you, Seraphina. I have to have you in my life again. If I don’t, I don’t know how I will live. You breathed life into me when I felt it slipping away. You’re my light, Seraphina. Please say you’ll forgive me and take me back. I’ll do anything. Just don’t ask me to go away again. I-I can’t.”
He sat on his knees, lowering his eyes fearful of her answer. She had to say something positive. She had to. If she did not, he did not know what he would do. His ignored the throbbing that began in his knees. He opened his mouth and then shut it again, looking pleadingly at the ground.
“Oh, kiss him already, child! You know you want to!”
A force hit him and he suddenly found himself flat on the ground. Seraphina lay against his body and before he could say anything, smashed her lips against him. That had to be a good sign. His body reacted instantly. He had missed this. He had missed this. He had missed her. He let her take control.
“You’re an idiot.” She grinned at him as she came up for air.
He looked at her bemused but just nodded.
“But I forgive you.”
Joy burst through Cole and he felt like someone had awakened him out of his stupor once again. Flipping her on her back, he kissed her passionately, showing his gratitude.
“Ohh, Seraphina! You have no idea how much this means to me. But I’m scared. I was not kidding when I said I had never done this before. I’m new to all this.”
She hushed him. “I’m new to this too. I never had anything as intense as this with anyone. But it’ll be fun figuring it out, won’t it?”
He laughed. “Those are some very familiar words. But yes, it will be lots of fun. If I meander off path, you will set me straight, won’t you?”
“It’ll be my pleasure, Cole St. John.” She began to show him exactly how much pleasure it would be for her to teach him.
Energy sizzled around them as they finally accepted their fate. The stars across the universe danced in merriment as the two souls finally connected. It was more pure than anything ever imagined. Nature smiled down at them. It was just the beginning of a beautiful start. Even idiots could not mess with the plan universe had in store for them.
♥●●♥
Thank You
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Romance: He Done Her Wrong (Cuddlesack Queens #2) Page 22