Page 45 of My Return to the Walter Boys (My Life with the Walter Boys #2)
Finally, he spoke. “Okay, just so we’re clear—are you saying that we broke up because you like my family more than me?” The playful note in his voice sent a jolt of hope through my body. “I’ve been through my fair share of breakups, but I’ve never heard that excuse before .”
“Sorry,” I choked out, half sobbing and half laughing, “but can you blame me?”
“No, I get it. Benny is a stud.” He flashed me his trademark smirk but it disappeared in an instant. “I suppose there are a lot of worse reasons to be dumped.”
After reading his letter, I could see it now—the blink-and-you-miss-it moments when Cole’s insecurities reared their head.
I rubbed at my chest as I remembered exactly how I’d prodded that self-doubt to drive him away.
“You know you’re amazing, right?” I asked softly.
My fingers twitched in my lap. I had the urge to reach out and brush his bangs out of his eyes, but he’d pulled away the last time I touched him, so I pinned my hands under my thighs and tried to reassure him with words.
“I don’t care that you’re still figuring out who you are post-football, that was never who you are to me. ”
“Feel free to keep going,” he drawled in a cocky tone that I would have rolled my eyes at under normal circumstances. “I won’t stop you.”
“Well, you’re a supportive older brother, an incredibly hard worker, sweet when you want to be, and, according to your zodiac sign, incredibly mysterious.
” I said the last bit jokingly, and his mouth quirked.
“But in all seriousness, I do really miss being with you, Cole. I never should have shut you out, but I didn’t realize how terrified I was until it was too late and I’d messed everything up.
But I need you to know that I’m not afraid anymore. ”
“Jackie,” he said, his pupils so dilated that they nearly swallowed the beautiful blue of his irises, “you’re forgetting my best trait.”
“Oh?” I tried to sound nonchalant, but it was no use—the frantic drumbeat emanating from my chest was so loud, I didn’t doubt that he could hear it.
“What’s that?” Cole leaned over, curled his hand around the back of my neck, and claimed my lips in a bruising kiss.
I melted into him, every nerve ending in my body lighting up as I looped my arms around his neck.
My heart expanded, so full of joy and affection that it was subject to burst, and made the grief still lingering inside me recede into the background.
Not gone, but bearable. That was what true healing was, wasn’t it?
Acknowledging your pain but choosing happiness—and I was ready to choose Cole, over and over again.
When we pulled apart and I opened my eyes again, I could sense the atmosphere in the room was different—the lights had been dimmed, and all around us, the candles were flickering.
They cast a golden warmth over the room, transforming the space into something more romantic than a board game café had any right to be.
“Weren’t you going to tell me what your best trait is?” I asked once I’d regained my composure. His ability to kiss me breathless was a strong contender.
“Obviously, it’s my minnow-racing prowess,” he said with faux haughtiness that made me laugh, but his eyes turned serious a second later.
“Jackie, I want this, I want us, but you should know that I’m not moving back to the ranch.
If I want to make a change, then I need to do this for myself.
Plus, I’ve got my own bathroom at Will and Haley’s, and they don’t have any rules. Is that…will you be okay with that?”
His leg was bouncing underneath the table as if he were worried our new living arrangements would be a deal-breaker for me, so I nudged his foot with mine.
“No rules, huh?” I said, wiggling my brow suggestively. “I think I can get behind that.”
The bell above the café door rang, and both our heads turned toward the sound. A woman in a cocktail dress walked in followed by an older couple who looked like her parents. Garrett glanced over at us, and I nodded my head in understanding.
It was time for us to leave. We gathered our things—my purse and jacket, his phone and keys—and as the two of us made our way toward the exit, Cole glanced over at me.
“Thanks for sharing this place with me, Jackie. I appreciate getting a glimpse into your life back home. I’d love to go to New York with you at some point.
” He slung an arm over my shoulder and tucked me into his side.
“If you’re ever interested in showing me around, I’d love to see more of it. We should visit Danny sometime.”
Something about his comment felt off, but I couldn’t put my finger on how.
“Since you’ve always been my tour guide, it seems only fair that I take a turn,” I told him. “There’s a lot more to New York than the Caffeinated Pursuit.”
As I thought about all the fun spots I could take him, it dawned on me why Cole’s words stuck out. New York would always be my home; it was the place of my birth, the backdrop of my childhood, and the city of my heart.
But home was also where your family was, and the Walters were here.
That made Colorado my home now too.