Chapter 11Braylin
Chapter Eleven
brAYLIN
W e had been seeing each other for several weeks, and every single day had been wonderful. Colton and I hadn’t spent a night apart since our first date. Though I thought I should feel ashamed for moving so fast, with him being my first boyfriend and all, I simply never did. All I felt was an unending happiness. Everyone I came in contact with noticed, too. All of my customers remarked on how I was smiling more. Many of them gave me a knowing grin and asked me how Colton was doing. Small towns were funny that way.
I also hadn’t heard much about the bank robbery. Colton didn’t talk about whatever cases he might have been working on or a part of, but as far as I understood it, the FBI was on the case. Unfortunately, the men who’d been involved had seemed to vanish into thin air. Truthfully, I hadn’t even given them a lot of thought. Colton kept me too busy when we were together, and my happiness didn’t leave much room for worry.
I was getting ready for Colton to pick me up in a few minutes. We were going to the town’s annual carnival, and I couldn’t wait to get my first corn dog of the year. It was my favorite treat there. Corn dogs just weren’t the same anywhere else but at the carnival.
I brushed my hair one more time and looked myself over in the mirror. I was back in my apartment, a place that I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in anymore since Colton’s place was bigger and definitely nicer. But I had gotten off work early, and he still had another couple of hours before his shift ended. But, looking down at the time on my phone, a tingle of delight ran over me; he would be by soon.
I smoothed my hands over the skirt of my cute sundress. It would be hot out, but the temperature would drop once it got dark, so I was planning on taking a cardigan for later. The blue dress with the little white daisies covering the fabric made me feel feminine and pretty. It also made my blue eyes look even bigger. Colton always told me that he loved my eyes.
A knock at the door had a bright smile immediately showing on my face. Even I could see how happy I looked. With a blissful sigh, I snatched up my phone and rushed into the living room to see Colton shutting the door behind him. With a squeal, I jumped into his arms, knowing he would always catch me, and kissed him like I had wanted to do since I had left him that morning.
“Hi,” I grinned at him when we pulled apart. When his dimples popped out, I leaned in and kissed one.
“Hey, sweetheart. Are you ready to go?”
“Yep!” I dropped to my feet and spun away from Colton to grab the cardigan that I had left lying over the back of the couch. I made sure that my money was tucked away in the pocket of my dress and walked back to him. My hungry gaze took in how handsome he looked in a pair of faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt that was stretched over his muscled torso.
Colton leaned down for another kiss and nipped my lip before pulling back with a warning look. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, we are going to be staying right here where I can show you how much I like the way your tits look in that dress.”
My breathy “yes” made him chuckle as he pulled me into him so I could feel how much he wanted to do exactly what he said.
“Then you won’t get your corn dog.” At my pout, he smiled and pulled away before smacking my ass. “Come on, sweetheart. I’ll keep you up all night since neither one of us has to work tomorrow.” Since that sounded like a good Plan B, I agreed, and we walked out of my apartment to head down to the lake.
After Colton parked his car, I jumped out, too excited to wait for him to open my door the way he preferred. I ignored his glower as I beamed up at him while bouncing on my toes until his lip twitched as he stared down at me.
“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go get your corn dog.”
He took my hand, and we headed for the entrance, waving hello at people we knew. It was such a beautiful day out. The clouds were puffy and white, and though it was early summer, the temperature outside wasn’t so oppressive that we couldn’t stand being out in it. There were plenty of tents set up, though, so those who needed a break could do so in the shade.
We were both finishing off our delicious corn dogs as we walked through the row of carnival games. The operators called out friendly taunts to everyone passing by, trying to get more poor souls to lose their cash. I was surprised when Colton paused in front of one game in particular.
I looked up at the huge stuffed animals that were promised as prizes for completing the challenge before even checking to see what game it actually was. Colton was already pulling out his wallet and handing over some bills when I realized it was a shooting game. I grinned and shook my head. No matter how good you were, so many of the games were nothing but luck or knowing the secret to actually winning. I remembered seeing a video once that explained the way to win the ball toss into the basket game required a backspin. I had just shaken my head and closed the video, knowing that I just didn’t have the skill to even attempt it.
Colton picked up the small rifle and took his time sighting down the barrel, and then before I could comprehend what I was seeing, he had the paper star fluttering to the ground as everyone who stopped to watch cheered. I grinned up at him when he was handed a giant pink unicorn kitty with a sparkly purple horn.
“I can’t believe you dust did that!” I squealed as I hugged the stuffed animal to my chest. It was huge, and I could barely see past it, but I didn’t care.
“It’s been my favorite game to play since I was a kid. The secret is to shoot a circle around the star instead of trying to shoot the star itself.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.
I pressed up on my toes so I could give him a quick kiss. “Well, I think you are amazing. Thank you for winning me a prize.” I looked down at my giant uni-kitty and grinned. “I love him.”
We walked through the rest of the games, pausing a few times for Colton to win another prize, which he promptly handed off to some child in the crowd who was passing by with their parents. It made my heart melt to see how kind and generous he was. He had been wonderful to me since we’d seen each other in the coffee shop, but seeing the proof that he was genuinely a nice guy to everyone else made the feelings I already had for him grow until it felt as if my heart would burst with the love I felt for him.
I hadn’t told him how much I felt for him since that first day on my couch when he’d told me I didn’t know him well enough to love him. I had agreed with him at the time, and I still did. But now that we had spent so much time together, I knew that what I was feeling wasn’t just lust or a simple crush. I loved him deep down in my soul. I knew there would never be another man for me, but I was scared to say it in case he said it was still too soon.
We walked out of the bustling, energetic crowd and made our way to the edge of the water nearby, where it was quieter. Several families were sitting in chairs or on blankets, relaxing as their children ran around laughing, but it wasn’t anything like the game area. I sat the giant stuffed animal at our feet and leaned my head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around me, and I sighed at how happy I was just being there with him.
“Thank you,” I said quietly as I stared out at the blue water of the lake.
Colton kissed the top of my head and then gently moved my body, turning me to face him. I blinked up at him, taking in every feature of his handsome face. “I’ve never been happier than these last couple of months.” I swallowed at the look he was giving me. He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, his expression one that I desperately hoped I wasn’t reading wrong. “You are so beautiful. Every day, I look forward to seeing you again, and every morning, when we say goodbye, I hate walking away from you.”
My eyes turned glassy from his words, and I blinked rapidly to hold back my tears. He may not be in love with me, but he was making it clear that he cared about me. It was enough for now. I just hoped one day he would care enough to love me. “Colton,” I whispered through the emotion that swamped me.
“Braylin, I?—”
“Hey, Colton.”
His words were cut off by the voice coming from behind us. I tried to tamp down the irritation I felt at being interrupted. I wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but I knew that it was going to be something important. As soon as I saw who was standing a few feet away with a small, unsure smile, my heart began to thump wildly in my chest.
Every nightmare I’d had over the last several weeks seemed to be coming true as I stared in horrified disbelief at the beautiful woman who hadn’t taken her eyes off of Colton since we’d both turned around.
Katy was even prettier than she had been in high school. Her hair was longer, hanging in thick golden-brown waves to her waist, and her figure seemed to have filled out in all the right places. Her breasts were larger than they had been, though they weren’t exactly small when she was a teenager.
When my eyes drifted lower, my lungs stopped working. Holding her hand was a gorgeous little girl who looked to be no older than two years old, with big blue eyes just like her mother’s. Her hair was in pigtails. Her dark brown hair, which was nothing like her mother’s. But looked exactly like Colton’s. My choked gasp didn’t draw the notice of either Katy or Colton, who continued to stand still, staring at each other. Katy’s expression was one of what I could only interpret as one of hope. I tried but couldn’t bring myself to look up at Colton. I was too scared of what I would see.
I stepped away from the man I loved silently as my eyes kept going back to the little girl with her dark hair and blue eyes. God, if I could guess what Colton’s child would look like, she would look exactly like her. I tore my eyes away from the mother and child and looked around as I took another step back. Every eye in the area was watching the high school sweethearts with pitying looks. They were wondering why the perfect couple had broken up, too. Everyone had, ever since Colton had returned to town alone.
I took another step back.
Inside, I was screaming for Colton to look at me, to draw me back into his arms, to tell me it was me he loved. Instead, he kept his eyes on Katy.
Before the tears that were in my eyes and clogging my throat could fall, I turned my back to the couple and walked silently away.