Page 30 of I Wish I Would’ve Warned You (Forbidden Wishes #3)

EMILY

O n Sunday night, I’m in Cole’s lap, riding him as he holds my hips.

The windows are cracked just enough for the sound of distant thunder to slip in, mixing with the soft creak of the bed frame.

His palms are warm and steady, fingers digging into the curve of my waist like he’s afraid I’ll disappear.

Every time I roll my hips, he breathes harder, eyes locked on mine like he’s trying to memorize the way I look coming apart for him.

We collapse naked and sweating, tangled in sheets that smell like laundry detergent and rain. My hair sticks to his chest, damp with effort, and I curl into the solid line of his body, ready to do it all over again.

“I wish I’d met you earlier.” He runs his fingers through my hair.

“How much earlier?”

“Six months or so.”

“I would’ve been living somewhere else then,” I say. “It wouldn’t have been possible.”

“In that case, I wish our parents never met.”

“Me too…” I look at him. “You think it’ll last?”

“I don’t know,” he says. “That’s the scariest part… I can usually read my dad’s every move long before he makes it, but this one feels off.”

“What makes him a fraud, Cole?” I’ve been holding back that question since he uttered that line, and I need to know.

“He’s just not a good person, Emily.” He kisses my forehead. “Trust me.”

“Surely you can elaborate better than that.”

“I will,” he says. “I promise.”

He tightens his grip around me, silently asking me to drop it and go to sleep until sunrise.

I start to drift as he places a few final kisses on my lips, but then the bed begins vibrating.

Confused, my eyes flutter open.

“Did I accidentally hit a remote or something?” I ask.

Cole doesn’t answer, and the bed vibrates faster.

Sitting up, I realize the bed isn’t shaking.

It’s him.

He’s having a seizure.

“Cole?” I turn him on his side. “Cole!”

His arm jerks up and smacks the headboard, a sound that echoes in my skull. His breath comes in shallow gasps, wet and uneven, and the smell of sweat and something metallic floods the room.

Panicking, I dial 9-1-1 and pull on his T-shirt before rushing down the hallway. My hands are shaking so badly I nearly drop the phone, and my lungs can’t seem to fill with air. Everything feels too loud and too far away at once.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” the operator asks as I’m knocking on his cousin’s door.

“My boyfriend—I mean, my stepbrother is having a seizure. He’s?—”

“Cole is having a seizure?” Matt swings the door open and rushes past me.

He runs to his room and I follow.

I push my crumpled panties under the bed with my foot as he presses Cole’s chest.

“Miss? Are you there?” the operator asks. “Miss?”

“Keep him on his side,” Matt says. “I’m going to get his dad.”

Cole shakes under my hands, and his eyes roll backward. My chest aches seeing him like this.

“No, Dad…” he mutters harshly. “Dad, please…”

“Miss, your location is showing as the Dawson Estate,” the operator says. “Is that correct?”

“Goddammit.” Aidan is suddenly pushing me out of the way, sliding a hand under Cole to position him slightly off the bed.

His seizing slows, and then his eyes shut as he stops.

My mom grabs my shoulders from behind, and I lean against her, still in shock. Her arms wrap around me, gentle and warm, but my shoulders stay stiff. I don’t lean in. I don’t move. If I do, I might crack open entirely.

“Is 9-1-1 still there?” Aidan reaches for my phone, his face ghostly white.

“Yes, please send them here.” He speaks to the operator. “I’m not sure if—” He pauses as the bed shakes once more. “Hurry the fuck up. He’s seizing again.”

He tosses my phone to Matt. “Stay on the line with them, please…”

Through the chaos, I hang on to the bits and pieces said, the way Aidan looks more ashamed than concerned.

Like he’s embarrassed…

The medics rush in and place Cole on a stretcher, hooking him up to various tubes, and then they rush him down to the ambulance.

“We’ll follow,” his dad says to my mom, but it comes off like an order to all of us.

“Who discovered Cole seizing?” an officer asks. “I just need to know for my report.”

“I did,” I say.

“How?”

“I just… I heard it.”

“From where?” He clicks his pen. “Were you here with him or just happened to be in the hallway?”

“No, I…” my cheeks flush red. “It wasn’t that. I just… I just heard him.”

It feels like the lie is sitting on my tongue like a hot stone. One wrong word and it all crumbles.

“It’s okay, Emily.” Aidan looks at me. “It’s a lingering effect from—” He cuts off his own sentence. “He has these occasionally, and they’re actually getting better than they were before.”

“So, where were you?” The officer steers us back on track. “Miss?”

I was lying in his arms after he fucked me… “I was on my balcony,” I say. “His balcony is next to mine.”

He walks toward the doors, glancing outside. “And you heard him seizing from in here, out there?”

“Yes.” I swallow. “I just heard something weird while I was out there writing.”

Matt walks behind the officer, as if he’s not convinced, and he looks between the balcony and the bed, mentally calculating the distance.

His eyes slide from the door to the hem of my borrowed shirt. He doesn’t say a word, but the silence stretches between us like a thread pulled too tight.

His hand brushes mine when he returns my phone, and his fingers hesitate for just a second too long. His jaw ticks slightly, like he’s swallowing something he doesn’t want to say.

“You’ve got some supersonic hearing.” The officer smiles. “Glad you heard him.”

“Me too…” Matt says, narrowing his eyes. “Quick question, though. It’s raining outside. You have waterproof paper?”

Silence.

“It’s the weirdest thing.” My mom hugs me from behind again. “This girl will literally sit outside in any weather until she finishes an idea.”

“Interesting.” Matt hands me my phone, and the officer taps his tablet a few times to finish the report.

“You’ve got five minutes to get dressed,” Aidan says to everyone. “I’ll be in the car.”