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“For the right person, yeah,” I replied, feeling that truth resonate in my chest.
I wanted to show her that I wasn’t just another face in a line of passing relationships.
That I was here for her, and that I’d wait as long as it took for her to trust me.
As she opened the door to the boutique, she looked back, her gaze softening for just a moment.
“See you around, Cole,” Tori said.
And with that, she stepped inside, leaving me standing on the sidewalk.
I was already counting down the moments until I could see her again.
TORI
Iwas really looking forward to seeing Cole again.
This afternoon, with the sun spilling golden light across the outdoor terrace of the café, I could almost forget the shadows of my past.
Almost.
I’d chosen a table near the edge of the patio, overlooking a gentle slope that rolled down into a forested edge of the park.
Oakridge Bay had a natural beauty that drew me in each time I looked, especially with Cole sitting across from me, smiling as if he were perfectly at ease here.
I leaned back, fiddling with my napkin as he recounted a story about his younger sister’s antics.
The more he talked, the more I was struck by how much he’d shared about himself.
Cole had an openness I hadn’t expected from someone so effortlessly confident, powerful even, in his own way.
I found myself caught in thoughts of what it might be like to close the distance between us.
To lean over the table and kiss him, to feel his hand wrap around mine as if he’d never let go.
Before I realized it, I was staring, lost in my own thoughts, a blush creeping up my cheeks.
My gaze drifted down to his hands, watching the way his fingers tapped the edge of his cup—a casual, rhythmic motion that felt oddly soothing.
“Something on your mind?” he asked, catching me off guard.
I cleared my throat, glancing away quickly.
“I just… appreciate you coming all the way out here again. You don’t have to, you know. We could meet halfway,” I suggested.
“Maybe I don’t,” he said, a playful spark lighting his eyes, “but I want to. I told you, I enjoy getting to know you.”
A warmth bloomed in my chest at his words. He was real, grounded in a way that Marcus had never been.
Marcus. I frowned, the unwelcome thought threatening to break the fragile peace I’d allowed myself to feel.
It was rare that I let myself sink into a moment without looking over my shoulder.
I was just about to turn the conversation back to him when something caught my eye.
A flash of movement behind a nearby tree—a figure standing still and watching.
I squinted, my heart giving a wild, painful thud. No… it couldn’t be. I forced myself to keep calm, but my pulse roared in my ears.