46. Cole
COLE
Jenny sat at the end of the bed. She held out a large mug of coffee toward me. “It’s late. You need to get up and drink this. Otherwise, you’re going to get a headache.”
“Oh, I already have a headache.” I sat up, wincing. I was hungover. I was sexed over. I was also probably dehydrated. But the prettiest girl in the whole world was sitting at the edge of my bed, offering me a coffee, which made everything okay.
“Thanks.” I sighed after I had a sip. “Mmm, that tastes good. Did you go out?”
Jenny nodded. Her face was clean, scrubbed free of makeup, and her hair fell in loose waves over her shoulders. She was wearing sweats, and although she had dark circles under her eyes, courtesy of our debaucherous twenty-four hours, she looked gorgeous. “I was too hungover to try the fancy coffee maker,” she admitted. “So I ran to Dunkin’. I hope it’s okay.”
“It’s great. I appreciate it.” I took another sip of coffee and sat up straight. My head was fuckingkillingme. “I feel like shit.”
“Me too.” But she smiled. “Hey, we just got a message from James and Audrey. They said something about a trip. Do you know anything about that?”
“I do.” I grinned at her sheepishly. “It was actually my idea. I thought we could pull a little Todd-and-Evie action and make their wedding a whole thing.”
Jenny appeared thoughtful. “You wanted to do something fun with me?”
I shrugged. “I did, but…”
“But then you got mad,” she finished for me.
“Right.” I sighed. “Then I got mad. Andthenwe got drunk.”
She nodded. “Drunk is better than mad, although my hangover is making me question that.”
“Me too.”
“So…” Jenny hesitated. “Do you want to go on a trip with me? And James and Audrey?”
She sounded guarded but, underneath that, hopeful.
I took her hand. “I do,” I admitted. “Is that okay?” I wasn’t about to admit it to Jenny, but not only was the trip my idea, but I’d also cleared my entire schedule for the next few weeks.
“S’Okay, Coley,” she said, her voice gravelly. “I’d like to go, too.”
“Yeah?”
She smiled at me. “Yeah.”
I grabbed my phone and pulled up Audrey’s message to both of us.
We have a private flight Friday at 8am from Logan.
Can you guys make it?
We’re booked for four nights.
“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” I asked Jenny.
“No, Audrey didn’t say. She just said to pack jeans. And boots. And a jacket.” She shrugged. “So I’m guessing this isn’t a tropical vacation.”
I scrubbed a hand across my face. “I’ll call James later and ask him for the details. Are you ready to go away for a few days?”
Jenny nodded. “I’m happy to get out of town.”
“Then I’m happy to get out of town, too. Listen, about all of this…” I patted the bed beside me, and she came closer. I inhaled her coconut-y scent. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m sore, but I’m okay.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked.
She lay down next to me. “You could hold me for a minute,” she whispered.
I put my arm around her and pulled her close. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s okay.”
But Jenny didn’t sound okay. She sounded sad.
“Listen, I’m beat. And it’s already afternoon. I feel like we wasted the day,” I said. “Do you want to do something tonight—something low-key?”
“Like what?” She sounded vaguely suspicious, like I might lock her in the bedroom again for another six-hour sex fest. Not that that would be the worst thing…
“The Thunder has an away game tonight in upstate New York,” I said. “Do you want to watch it on TV? And order a pizza? And sit on the couch like slugs?”
She turned to look at me, and I noticed tears in her eyes. “Does that sound like fun to you?” she asked hopefully.
“It sounds like the best night ever.”
Jenny nodded. “I agree.”
“Good.” I kissed the top of her hair and held her. I wasn’t sure why she was emotional, but I hoped it was because she was happy.
Only one thing was for sure: she was here in my arms.
And I intended to make the most of it.
“That’s called icing,” I explained when the referee blew his whistle. “You can’t hit the puck down the ice like that when there’s no one else there.”
Jenny blinked at the screen. “When are they going to fight again? That’s my favorite part!”
“Soon,” I assured her. “There’s bound to be a power play in a minute.”
“Good thing, Coley. I don’t want our guys to lose.” She squeezed my thigh, and my heart flip-flopped.
Jenny looked adorable in the Thunder sweatshirt I’d given her. We were on the couch in front of my enormous flatscreen television, snuggled under a blanket while we watched the game. Empty pizza boxes littered the island in the kitchen. Jenny had insisted on pepperoni, while I’d ordered one with braised short rib and gorgonzola, which Jenny had deemed an “insult to pizzas everywhere.”
In a minute, we were going to have ice cream sundaes.
In a minute, I might die from happiness.
The Thunder was winning. Jenny was wearing sweats and cuddling with me on the couch. We were both recovering from our respective hangovers and the punishing sex we’d had earlier that day. Somehow, the tension between us had broken. It was like the morning after a heavy rainstorm when the sun finally came out.
I didn’t know whether I could trust the newfound peace. Like the conversation I’d had with my father, it seemed too easy. It was almost anticlimactic. Still, I intended to enjoy it.
Jenny leaned her head on my shoulder. I threw my arm around her, feeling like my heart might burst. Since when did I, Cole Bryson, enjoy watching the game with a woman while we were both wearing sweats? When had I enjoyedsnuggling? What had happened to me? I didn’t know why, but tonight was the best date I’d ever been on. But it wasn’t a date. It was…
A relationship.
“Do you want some ice cream?” Jenny asked when the next commercial break came on. “I looked in the freezer—you got some good stuff in there, Cole. I know you didn’t buy it, but whoever you’re paying has good taste.”
“Okay.” I shrugged happily. “I’ll have some ice cream if you’ll have some.”
“Great.” She jumped up and padded to the kitchen. I heard her rummaging around, talking to herself.
“Now, where are the jimmies? Got ’em… Chocolate sauce, check! Coffee Oreo ice cream, check! Cole,” she said, suddenly very annoyed, “what the hell is avocadoice cream? You have got to be fucking kidding me!”
I snorted. “I didn’t pick it out. It’s supposed to be Paleo,” I said, as though that was a solid excuse.
“It’s an aberration. It’s outta here.” I heard the pint hit the trash can. “You have fresh whipped cream? Ho my God, I might marry your chef.”
Jenny banged around in the kitchen until the game came back on. “Pause it, please. I’m coming!”
I loved that she wanted me to pause the game, that she hated avocado ice cream, that she was making us sundaes, and that she was wearing my hockey team’s sweatshirt.
I loved everything about having Jenny back. And if that terrified the fuck out of me, I refused to admit it.
Not even to myself.