Page 24 of Wildfire (Owl Creek #1)

When I wake up, Cole is gone. I pull my tired ass out of his bed and go looking for tea. On the counter is a short, scribbled note.

Fire call

I don't know where my phone is, and as my body wakes up while I look for it, I notice how sore I am. Down there.

We'd gone ape shit on each other. After the first round, I passed out, but I remember waking up at least two more times and crawling on top of him. Memories start flooding back, and I feel my vag respond.

I need tea and a shower before I can do anything about that . But what I really want to do is to text Cole to make sure he is okay. I know he's a professional, but that doesn't make it any less scary.

I find my jeans with my phone in the back pocket and text.

Then I steep a pot of English Breakfast, throw on some clothes, and drag my ass over to my apartment with a giant mug in my hand.

No matter what happened between us, it is time for me to prepare to leave.

I'll take a shower and then start some laundry.

That is a positive and easy step forward.

I finish my shower and lay down on my bed for a minute. A knock on the door startles me, and I realize I've fallen back asleep. I throw on a robe and answer the door, knowing it is Cole.

"Hi." His dark hair is mussed up from work, and his eyes are lustful.

"Hi. You're safe."

He steps inside and wraps his arms around me, inside my robe. His clothes are damp from sweat or maybe from fighting the fire, but all I feel is relief.

"I'm sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye."

"Duty calls. I get it."

"Not how I imagined the end of our first night together."

I pull back a few inches and quirk an eyebrow at him playfully. "You imagined our first night?"

"Renée," he growls. "I've imagined you in my arms every day since the moment I saw you walking down that road."

I bite my lip to prevent myself from saying something awkward I might regret. Instead, I say something cheeky: "Well, now that you've got me, what are you going to do with me?"

Rail me. That's the answer. Fuck me till I'm too tired to lift a finger to do my damn laundry.

"Hungry?" he asks an hour and three orgasms later.

"Considering I haven't eaten anything except your cock since last night, yes. I'm starving."

He shakes his head as he chuckles and rolls off the bed, then plants a kiss on my bare butt cheek. "Let's shower, and then I'll cook something."

I raise my hand for him to help me out of bed. He's fucked me senseless, and I can barely move my legs.

We shower, and I put on a loose cotton tank, skirt, and flip-flops. Then we walk over to his house to make some brunch.

I guzzle water and more tea while he starts prepping the food. I know we will have to talk about things, and I want to be caffeinated and hydrated before we do.

"So, Renée."

Here it comes.

"I want you to know that I support you and your decision, no matter what you decide to do."

"What I decide to do?"

"Well, we just…um…"

"Fucked?"

"I was going to say something more like made love all night."

I wince. Cole is right. What we did was much more than fucking, and I am making light of it. I am shutting myself down. I can feel it.

"You're right, Cole. We did. And it was special, and you are special."

"But you're still leaving tomorrow."

He says it like a statement, not a question.

"My car will be ready this afternoon. There is nothing left—"

"Please don't say there is nothing left here for you."

I wince again. I suck at this stuff. Maybe that's why I just ran instead of talking to my family.

Because I put my foot in my mouth and hurt people's feelings.

I shut down and shut people out to survive.

I learned from the best of the best—my dad and brothers aren't exactly prize-winning communicators.

"I'm sorry, that's not what I mean. You are here. And you mean a lot to me." I round the kitchen island to stand next to him. "This place, your mom and Buzz. Hell, even the band! But I have to go. You know that. You've known it all along."

"I have. But I wanted to let you know that…if you decided to stay…I would be…You are welcome to stay. I'd…Damn it! I would love it if you stayed. But I won't ask you to. I won't ask you to give up your dream."

"This feels a little like you're putting everything on me."

"Everything is on you. My cards are on the table. If you want to stay, you are welcome. If you go, I will support you. I won't be mad or feel like you broke any promises or…"

"Snuck out in the middle of the night like I did with my family?"

"You've never really told me that story." He returns to the food and starts prepping again, and I join him. As I cut strawberries, he gets the French toast on the griddle, and I tell him.

"My mom died when I was a kid. And it changed everything.

My dad didn't know how to raise three kids on his own, but he tried.

He really tried. But I took over much of what she used to do for us because it was part of the family dynamics.

Anyway, when I was fifteen, my dad fell at work and broke his back.

He became paralyzed. And after he'd been trying to raise us and never dealing with my mom's death, it broke him.

It broke his spirit. He was never the same.

He started drinking, and he was depressed.

I had to take care of him. My brothers both moved out and left me there to deal with it.

To deal with him. And when the money ran out, I had to go to work to support us both.

So I juggled school, caring for him, and work while my brothers drifted in and out of our lives.

Once in a while, they'd drop off a little money or some meat from hunting, but mostly they just dicked me over and made it all my problem. "

"They sound like real assholes."

"They are. Anyway, my brother Brian meets this girl, and she starts pressuring him to get his shit together. She wants to get married and start a family. So they move in with me and my dad to save money."

"Did he start helping out with the bills?"

"That would require him to be a grown-ass adult, so no. He didn't. She'd bring home groceries and help with the cooking, so he felt like that was enough since my dad and I were eating that food. But I was paying the mortgage and all the bills."

"Wow. What a prince."

"Anyway, I realized that he would just keep freeloading off me.

And he wasn't helping with anything with Dad.

Not the medication, bills, repairs on the house, or helping him get around town.

Nothing. So I decided to leave. They left me to care for him for seven years with no help and only a few hundred dollars in support.

I figured it was my turn to have a life.

Especially because I knew if I didn't make the move, no one would hand it to me. "

"And then your car broke down a few hours from home."

"Yup. Just my luck, huh?"

"I get it. I mean, I get why you left without having a conversation. It sounds to me like there were a whole bunch of conversations that should have been happening all along leading up to you leaving. So this was just…"

"Normal."

He bites his lip and stares at the griddle while he flips the French toast.

"Renée, it doesn't have to be normal for us."

I lean on my back foot to see his face clearly. I need to read him right now. I need all the cues to tell what is happening.

"What do you mean, Cole?"

"I mean, no matter what—we can talk. We can say what we need to say. I think being open requires a decision—and not just one time. You have to repeatedly decide that you will choose to communicate."

I stare in awe at this man. He seems wise beyond his years.

"Okay. I choose it. Right now."

He plates the toast, and I add the strawberries and dollops of butter. He walks the plates to the table and then looks at me squarely. "I choose it, too."

"Being here has been amazing. It has been… enlightening. And even though that is true, I want to go to Los Angeles. I have to try, at least."

"Well, we better get your car after we eat."

I nodded. So that's it. That's what a mature conversation is like.

While cleaning up brunch, I get a text from Jordy, the band's drummer. He asks if I can meet him at the burger place this afternoon.

"Wonder what he wants to meet about?"

"I didn't tell you. The fire this morning was at Georgia's house. She was taken to the hospital with third-degree burns."

"Oh my God, is she going to be okay?"

"She should be, but I'm guessing their tour is canceled."

"That sucks, but it's probably for the best. Hopefully, she heals quickly. They're too good to get sidelined."

"Yeah, they're one of my favorites. Listen, I need to talk to someone at Sam’s Grill about something. Would you mind if I tagged along?"

"Be my guest. I don't know his plans, so if it's just a quick meet-up to give me the bad news, maybe you and I can get burgers? I hate to say it, but that double with cheese is my new favorite."

"It's addicting and all part of my secret plan to bring you back here someday." He winks at me playfully.

We spend the rest of the early afternoon puttering around doing domestic stuff. I wash my clothes and play guitar while Cole changes the bed sheets and reads a book. It's as if no horde of tourists has descended on his mother's for the rowboat race happening right outside our backdoor on the lake.

My phone chirps, startling me out of a daydream. I see a text from Caleb letting me know my car is ready. My stomach lurches into my chest. I run up to the apartment to pull out my stash of cash and stuff it in my purse, then find Cole repotting a plant on his back patio.

"It's ready."

He nods solemnly, rinses his hands under an outside faucet, and grabs his keys. We drive to the garage slowly and silently. It takes twenty minutes to drive two miles because so many people are on the streets.

We park in the shop's lot next to my car. It shines in the sunlight, still looking like it was on the showroom floor. I love my car, especially the freedom it gives me. And now I have her back.

Caleb discusses the repairs again and informs me that his work has a ten-year warranty.

If I were sticking around Owl Creek, that would be worth something.

Right now, I have to take him at his word that the car is in like-new condition.

I give him the money, he gives me the keys, and I start her up.

She thunders to life, and it shoots a thrill into my heart.

No matter how I feel about Cole or what feelings I am suppressing so I don't feel them for Cole, getting back behind the wheel is freedom. It is life. I drive her to Sam’s Grill and grab the only table available while Cole follows in his truck and chats with one of the busboys. I order a shake as I wait for Jordy.

He comes in looking disheveled and tired. He slides into the booth across from me and gets right down to business.

"I'm sure you heard about Georgia since you're staying with the Chief. I visited her in the hospital, and there is no way we can go on tour with her being injured. But she had a suggestion I want to run past you. I already spoke with Trevor, who agrees with Georgia and me."

"Agreement about what?"

"Oh!" He runs his hand through his thick hair, making it messier than when he walked in.

This poor guy looks like he's been through the wringer.

"Sorry, things are happening so quickly, and I've been up since this morning after we had…

well, you know the night we had. We want to know if you want to go on tour with us.

To take over for Georgia while she heals. "

I could catch flies in my mouth it is hanging so wide open.

"You…you want me to tour with you guys? As the lead singer?"

"And rhythm guitarist. You'd have to learn all the songs really fucking quick because our first gig is in a week. Trevor waited to cancel the tour dates—"

"Yes! Oh my God, yes!"

"Okay." He blew out a deep sigh. "I'll let everyone know."

"What, um, what's next?"

"I'll bring all the music by the Chief's house tonight, and then we'll have to practice every day until we leave. And then… it's a lot of driving in Trevor's ugly but well-maintained van and sleeping in roach motels. You know. Glamorous stuff."

"How long is the tour? Where are we going? What…what do I wear? How…holy crap. Thank you!" I shoot out of my seat and pull him into a hug. "This means the world to me."

"Thank YOU. You're saving us from canceling the longest tour the band has ever planned, all before we're set to go into the studio to record a new album.

Oh, and by the way, we all pitch in for gas and motels, and then we use the proceeds from the shows to try and repay ourselves.

And save something for the studio time to record that album.

I hope you're good at selling merchandise because we need to unload a bunch of T-shirts and CDs. "

"I can sell it, no problem. You just point me in the right direction, and I will do it.

" I am babbling at that point. I can't believe what just happened.

I am going on tour with the coolest band I've ever heard.

They are the sound I had dreamt of making when I got to L.A.

and I feel like I am floating on a cloud.

"Alright, I'll see you later. Gonna take me an hour just to get across town to get everything for you."

"Just text me, and we'll figure it out. Thanks, Jordy."

He nods and walks out.

I scan the restaurant for Cole, and when our eyes meet, all I can think is that he is the person I most want to tell what happened. He is the one I want to share my joy with.

And I don't know how to process that information.