Page 154 of Ten Day Affair

Then he’s gone, leaving me alone with cold coffee and the lingering scent of his cologne on my couch.

A few seconds later, Arden appears at the bottom of the steps. She must’ve been watching from her porch.

I open the door and call out, “Hey, you mind if I take a quick shower?”

“God, no. Please shower. I don’t want y’all’s smegma sweat all over me.” She drops onto the couch and pulls out her phone. “I’ll sit right here and pretend to check emails.”

I toss a T-shirt at her and head for the shower.

The shower water runs scalding hot against my skin, but I can't wash away the confusion Cole left behind. My muscles ache in places that remind me exactly what just happened on my couch.

He resigned from Kings Holdings. He said I make him want to be better.

I replay his words, searching for lies the way I used to search for hidden bleeds during surgery rotations. ButCole’s voice carried something I haven’t heard from him before.

Exhaustion, maybe. Or genuine regret.

Steam clings to my skin as I step out and towel off. I catch my reflection in the mirror, noting my flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips.

A breeze moves through the house when I crack the back door. The salt air hits my lungs like a defibrillator. I tug on a clean t-shirt and shorts, swipe some moisture from under my eyes, and head back out.

Arden glances up from her phone. “You decent?”

“Mostly.” I drop into the chair beside her.

"You smell good."

“Thanks. Sorry you had to see that earlier.”

“Oh, please. It’s not the first time I’ve walked in on someone mid-thrust. But it was jarring seeing you with him on your sofa. That wasn't on my BINGO card today.”

I groan. “Can we pretend it never happened?”

She stands, stretches. “After you tell me how you ended up naked with him. I have to walk down to the cottage for brunch with my aunt shortly. We’ve got twenty minutes, so start talking.”

I swipe hair off my face. “I can't even tell you how that happened.”

“Well, let's walk through it together.”

“He came out to the beach and met me after my morning run. I was trying to be a bitch, to hurt him like he'd hurt me, to start a fight. I don't know. I wanted to hate him. But I couldn't.”

She lifts a brow. “And then you tripped and fell onto his dick?”

“Arden.”

“Sorry. Proceed.”

“I asked questions. He gave answers. We talked. Really talked. It got emotional. Or, I should say, I got emotional.”

She squints at me. “I'm still not getting the exact bridge here."

“Well, it started when I slammed his arm in the glass door. He's lucky I didn't break it in two. When I say slam, I mean I slammed that shit."

"I've seen you slam that thing. Yowsers."

"There was a kiss once that disarmed me. And then everything else just kind of happened from there.”

She snorts. “You had make-up sex after domestic violence?”