Page 42 of Don’t Leave (Stay #2)

CASSIDY

I t’s more than two hours later we finally leave his room to scrounge up some food.

After making love three times, I’m famished. I’m so hungry that my belly is rumbling and growling in protest.

Once in the kitchen, Cole fills two bowls with cereal before saturating the flakes in milk.

“Eat up,” he says with a wink before shoveling a spoonful into his mouth. After he swallows it down, he adds, “You’re going to need all your energy.”

A giggle slips free as I spoon Frosted Flakes into my mouth. As we finish our bowls, his phone chimes with an incoming message. He picks up the slim device and glances at the screen.

His gaze flicks to mine. “It’s my mom. She’s going to drop off some laundry I left at the house over the weekend.”

My heart stutters as my eyes widen.

Dr. Thompson who also happens to be Cole’s mother.

My teeth sink into my lower lip as an internal debate gets waged in my brain.

Do I tell him that his mother was my therapist?

Or do I bury it in the back of my mind since I’m no longer one of her clients?

“Cassidy?” My gaze jerks back to him and I see all the questions that now swim around in his golden depths. “Are you all right?”

“Umm, yeah.” A fresh wave of nerves skitters across my flesh. “I’m fine.”

The problem is that I can’t have any more secrets sitting between us.

His brows pinch together. “Are you sure?”

Heat fills my cheeks as I force out the words. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

I blink as Cole swallows up the distance between us and sweeps me up into his arms before settling at one of the kitchen chairs. His arms stay wrapped protectively around me as he holds me close.

“So, tell me,” he murmurs against my hair.

I stare at my fingers, which are knotted together in my lap. “The dinner at your house wasn’t the first time I met your mother.”

His body stills beneath mine.

I push the rest out in a jumble, “I had met her in August at the counseling center.” There’s a pause. “She was my therapist.”

Air gets wedged in my throat as I sit frozen on his lap and wait for his reaction. My muscles are locked so tight that it feels as if I could shatter into a million jagged pieces. The idea of getting back together for a few short hours only to lose him all over again would very likely kill me.

When he remains silent, everything just pours out of my mouth. “I didn’t know she was your mother. You don’t have the same last name. It never occurred to me that she might be related to you.”

When he continues to remain silent, fear slides down my spine and I begin to babble.

“She knows everything about our relationship, Cole. Like us sleeping together and that we were using condoms. But, umm, I haven’t seen her professionally since I realized she was your mother.

” There’s a pause before I add, “Actually, I saw her on campus before Thanksgiving break and we cleared the air.”

I really wish it were possible to sink into the floor and disappear.

It’s the shaking of his body that has me glancing up. A frown tugs at the corners of my mouth as my brows pinch together. He can’t possibly be…

Laughing.

Oh my God, the guy is actually laughing!

“Cole!” I screech. All the embarrassment from moments ago ebbs as anger fills the void instead. “Are you seriously laughing about this?”

“Sorry.” His shoulders tremble. “I knew something had to be wrong. That dinner went to total shit as soon as my mom walked through the door, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.”

When he continues to chuckle, I slap his T-shirt covered chest before trying to jump off his lap.

“It’s not funny,” I seethe. “She knows everything about our relationship because I told her! I talked to her about going on the pill.” I drag a hand over my face.

“Do you have any idea how blindsided I felt when she walked through that door, and I realized that the woman I’d been confiding in was none other than my boyfriend’s mother? ”

A fresh wave of humiliation crashes over me again, making me feel even worse.

Before I can get away from him, Cole tightens his arms around my wriggling body. They feel like steel bands holding me firmly in place. Even as I continue to fight, I know the struggle is futile. I won’t be going anywhere until he decides to release me.

“Do you want to know what’s even more embarrassing than that?”

Lips smashes together, I refuse to respond.

When it becomes obvious that I’m not going to answer, he says, “Having your mom barge into your room when you’re balls deep in your girlfriend and seconds away from blowing your load.

Trust me, that’s a lot worse. And because that experience wasn’t mentally scarring enough, I had to sit down with her and my stepfather to discuss the ramifications of what Jackie and I were doing with our bodies.

It unfortunately ended in an overly graphic power point presentation regarding STI’s and pregnancy.

” He shudders. “The only thing that would have made it worse is if she’d decided to give me a few pointers and tips before finally allowing me slink back to the scene of the crime. ”

A smile trembles around the corners of my lips as laughter explodes from me.

His arms tighten around me as he grins. “Oh, so that’s funny, huh?”

When his dimples pop, my heart melts.

“I didn’t have sex for two months after that fiasco.” He shakes his head at the memory.

I’m dying as I imagine Dr. Thompson sitting down to have an in-depth sex talk with a teenage Cole.

After my giggling subsides, he says, “So, do I think it’s a catastrophe that my mother knows I’m having sex with someone I love and that we’re trying to be responsible about it?” He shakes his head. “No. Honestly? It doesn’t bother me at all.”

I shoot him a look from beneath the fringe of my lashes. “She knows about my past, Cole. She knows everything about me.”

He shrugs. “Who cares? You’ve worked hard this semester to overcome everything and I’m proud of you for that, Cassidy. In the grand scheme of things, nothing else matters.”

His words ring throughout my head as I release a steady breath. “You’re right.” I press my lips to his. “I’m sorry if I made a big deal out of it. I just don’t want there to be any more secrets between us.”

His mouth ghosts over mine. “I don’t care about any of that.” His tongue slips inside my mouth as his hands slide under my T-shirt before settling on my breasts and stroking my nipples.

Just as my head lolls back, a deep voice says, “Breakfast and an X-rated show! Now that’s how you start off the morning.”

We swing around and find Alex wearing a huge smile. When Cole growls, he raises his hands in a gesture of surrender before backing out of the kitchen, leaving us alone again.

I duck my head and press my face against the curve of Cole’s neck before groaning.

“Maybe we should take this X-rated show back up to the bedroom.”

I lift my face to meet his gaze. My cheeks feel like they’re on fire. “Is this one of those embarrassing stories we now get to tell?”

“Sure, but it’ll probably take a couple of months before it seems funny.”

Before I can say anything else, he rises to his feet with me held securely in his arms and strolls out of the kitchen and back up to his bedroom. Once the door to Cole’s room is closed, I realize we’ve missed our nine o’clock class.

I guess we’ll have to borrow Sammy’s notes.

As Cole slides his thick erection inside me, the world around us falls away. It doesn’t take long before we’re both splintering apart.

Last year, when I got kicked off the hockey team and failed out of Dartmouth, I couldn’t imagine anything good ever coming out of it.

But that’s exactly what happened. If my life hadn’t taken a detour, I wouldn’t have found Cole or fallen in love with him.

And I wouldn’t have this opportunity to forge a new relationship with my mom and an even better one with my father.

Brooklyn and I wouldn’t be roommates or best friends.

And I wouldn’t be playing hockey on a team that I actually enjoy.

Even though last year was painful and it felt like I’d lost everything important to me, I actually ended up gaining more than I ever imagined possible.

Unable to help myself, I reach up and brush the hair out of Cole’s eyes. One side of his mouth hitches at the corner.

I honestly couldn’t love him more.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks as we lay spent in each other’s arms.

For a moment, my mind is filled with all the good that has found its way back into my life.

“I was just thinking that everything happens for a reason and you, Cole Mathews, are my everything.”

A smile spreads across his face before he takes my lips in a kiss that sears every single part of me.

I’m sure you can guess what happens after that.

Total.

Bliss.