Chapter 7 Colson #3
I leaned over the table, pulling the cards into my hand, which allowed me to inch closer and make my knee hit hers.
“Okay, then we’ll share.” Nora gave in, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye while focusing on the game board.
The kids drew cards and moved a few paces, Maddy earned a shortcut with one of her cards.
“I always think the princess is in love with the licorice lane guy,” Maddy said dreamily.
“He’s a bad guy!” Mila shouted, completely outraged.
Nora laughed, grabbing for a card. “Sometimes you can love someone, and they turn into a bad guy.”
All three girls stared at her, hanging on her every word.
“Have you ever been in love?” Seraph asked.
Nora flushed red, and I tried to act completely uninterested, but I was definitely interested.
“I was, once.”
Maddy leaned closer. “Was it with a bad guy?”
Nora laughed. “He turned out to be one, yes.”
Mila jumped in, standing up and half sitting on the coffee table. “What was hims name?”
“Mila.” I warned, shaking my head to discourage her from prying too much.
Nora gave a halfhearted laugh. “It’s okay, I’m over it now…his name was Jason.”
“Ohhh, we have a Jason in our school and he’s a bully.” Mila jumped off the table and turned to move her piece up the board.
“We’re going to name the licorice guy Jason,” Maddy said, and each girl agreed with a cute little yell.
Nora was smiling, and that fucking thorn in my chest cut deeper. I tried not to picture this guy who had turned into a bad guy. This person who had earned Nora’s love and affection and had somehow ruined it. But my mind was a vicious pool of jealousy and envy as we continued to play.
The evening went on with Nora helping the girls decorate cookies, then she helped hang up a few lights and garland over the mantel. I didn’t have many decorations, so the girls went through my garage to see what else they could find.
“You have too much builder stuff in here,” Mila said, trying to push aside one of the rolling tool chests I had pulled away from the walls. It wasn’t going to budge, but it didn’t stop her from trying.
Nora was with us, silently helping unload the few boxes I told them they could look through. But when they got to a box of old photos and I tried to take it from them, the three little ones bombarded me.
“I want to see,” Seraphina said, pulling open one of the flaps of the box.
“Who’s that lady?” Maddy asked, grabbing one of the images in between her fingers.
Nora stayed quiet, watching everyone’s reaction, but I saw her eyes flick to the image and the rest inside the box a few times.
Working around the tightness in my throat and the part of me that wanted to walk away, I explained.
“That’s my mother.”
The girls stayed silent, aside from Mila’s humming, and for some reason it was oddly soothing.
“What’s hers name?” Mila held the picture, bringing it way too close to her face to focus on it.
Clearing my throat of emotion as much as I could, I said, “Kathryn.”
I felt Nora’s gaze heavy on me as the girls seemed to pass over the subtle shift in mood when Liam appeared in the doorway.
“Hey, you guys ready to go home?”
The girls all jumped up, running to their dad, abandoning the box, and thankfully letting me close the flaps once more and put it back.
“I should probably head out too,” Nora said, carefully watching my movements before following the throng back inside the house.
“Okay, I’ll walk you out.”
I sauntered over to Liam and told him I would be right back before Nora had a chance to argue. When I turned around, the girls had their arms wrapped around her waist, saying goodbye. She leaned down and smiled at each girl, promising to see them again.
Then she turned toward the door.
I grabbed my coat and followed her out. The sky was a murky purple with wisps of white fog hanging overhead. The moon was bright and the iced over snow crunched under our feet.
“Thanks for walking me, I’m good from here.” She tugged her purse down off her shoulder.
I ignored her and followed her up the steps.
We stood facing one another as our breaths clouded in front of us. Her features faded the slightest bit from the shadow, but her eyes were bright, and the curve of her fuller bottom lip glistened in the moonlight.
“These. Fucking. Lips.” I muttered, my eyes dropped and fixating.
I lowered my head, and she didn’t stop me when I shoved my hand into her hair, pulling her closer by the neck, until her mouth was mine again.
She tasted like cookie icing and hot chocolate, with something underneath that felt familiar.
Like home.
I shuffled forward, pulling her against me in a tight hold.
She lifted her chin, deepening the kiss, and then opened for me with a sultry moan.
Fire ignited in my core, making me groan in response and cup her jaw while I slid my tongue inside her mouth. She accepted greedily, moving against me at a chaotic pace, until suddenly she was pushing me away.
“Colson, stop.”
I pressed my forehead to hers, trying to catch my breath. That’s when I realized I was kissing her on her front porch, where anyone could drive by and see.
Including her dad.
“Fuck.” I stepped back, exhaling heavily.
Nora gathered her hands in front of her, watching me, with a reserved expression.
“What are we doing?” Her soft voice barely registered over the roaring in my ears.
What was I doing?
This was so wrong, and so off-limits.
“Nothing. We’re doing nothing.” I met her gaze, shaking my head. “This won’t happen again.”
She didn’t argue.
I paced her porch waiting for her to say something, but she gave me one soft nod and then turned to open her door.
This wasn’t how I wanted the evening to go. We’d had a good time, and I had to go and mess it up. I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked back over to my side of the fence, wondering why I’d ever thought I could cross it to begin with.