Page 105 of When We Fall: Part One

“Can we?” I crinkled my brows at him.

“Fuck everything. I don’t care about it. I only want to get into my car with you and drive. Can we? Please?” he pleaded softly. He reached out and tucked a curl behind my ear.

“OK,” I answered.

He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, so much relief washing over him that it was nearly palpable.

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand and leading me to the garage. He opened the door to his sports car and helped me inside before he got behind the wheel and opened the garage door.

“I don’t have my purse or phone?—”

“I’ll take care of everything,” he answered as he pulled out of the garage. I went silent as he drove us past the gates and onto the road.

“Did you tell anyone we were leaving?” I knew he hadn’t told Enzo or Ethan because they were sleeping. Fox probably was, too, since he wasn’t downstairs.

“I didn’t tell anyone shit,” he muttered, speeding up.

I frowned. “Do you have your phone?”

“No.”

“Cole, what if they need us?—”

“I fucking need you more than I need them right now.” He looked over at me. “It’ll be fine. Do you have your necklace and stuff on?”

“No. I forgot to put it on after my shower.”

He sighed but didn’t say anything. Instead, he made a left turn, taking us outside of town.

We rode in silence for a long time before he finally spoke.

“It’s weird being so disconnected.”

“It is,” I murmured, staring out at the passing scenery.

“We needed this. I was going to wait until our little vacation, but I’ve decided I can’t. I suck like that.”

I looked over at him to see that he was serious. Cole was never like this. He was my crazy goofball. This wasn’t like him.

“You don’t suck.”

He grunted.

Silence descended once again. I didn’t know what to say to him. I was still upset over everything, but that was becoming an increasingly common occurrence. At some point, I needed to let it all go and accept things as they were. Whenever I thought I could or was, something like this would happen, and I’d be back to square one.

A half-hour into our journey, I broke the silence.

“Cole—”

“Shh,” he instructed, pulling his car into a diner parking lot.

I zipped my lips and waited until he parked. When he did, he turned off the car and got out, wasting no time coming to my door and pulling it open. He reached for me and helped me out, tugging me close to him.

“I’m sorry. I’m on edge. I haven’t been out alone in a long time. We have no one. It’s just us.”

I swallowed hard at his words.

“Should I be afraid?”