Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Riley
With my butt perched on the stairs, I slide my snow boots over my fleece-lined leggings. I grab my coat from the closet.
I don’t think I’m going to need my hat or gloves. I can get it done pretty quickly, and it isn’t too cold out there.
It’s been snowing for the last few hours, but it tapered off within the last half hour. It isn’t anywhere near the amount of snow that fell the first few days I was back in town. There are just a few inches out there.
Cole has been holed up in his office, working all day, like he does most days. Theo has been working on the updates he’s making to their website.
He sat beside me at the kitchen island for a while, but eventually, he said he needed multiple monitors for what he was doing. He’s been in his room ever since.
Finn has been in the work garage, fixing a piece of equipment that needed some repairs. Every time he snuck into the house to get a glass of water or a sandwich, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
Apparently, I have a thing for that grungy look because the grease smeared under his right eye and all over his hands just did something to me.
I guess glasses are to Finn what a grease-covered man is to Riley.
With all of them working, I figured I would help and tackle the shoveling that needs to be done after that little storm.
It’s chilly when I step outside, but it isn’t nearly as bad as the last time I was out shoveling. I grab the smallest shovel and get to work.
I wish I had brought my earbuds out, so I could listen to some music. I focus on the peaceful sounds of nature around me as I work. The crisp mountain air fills my lungs and brushes against the exposed skin on my face and neck.
The slight burn in my arms feels good as I heave shovel after shovel of snow onto the surrounding piles. I’ve been shit about working out since I’ve been here.
I could blame it on the weather or being in a different place than I planned, but in truth, I haven’t thought about it once since I’ve been here. My mind has been preoccupied with other things. Theo. Finn. Cole… unfortunately.
I’m halfway done with the driveway when Cole stomps into view. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I ask. If he’s going to have an attitude, then I can have one right back.
“You don’t need to be out here shoveling. I’m fully capable of shoveling my own driveway,” he grumbles.
“I never said you weren’t,” I snap.
He lets out an honest-to-goodness growl, thrusting his fingers into his hair. He pulls so hard at the dark strands, I swear they’re going to fall from his scalp at any second.
I try not to look at his biceps that are bulging from the action, but come the fuck on. They’re right there, like two feet in front of my face.
How the hell am I not going to stare? Why are his muscles even more defined than they were years ago?
He’s not even wearing a coat, just his fitted black T-shirt. He was in such a rush to come out here and yell at me. He couldn’t even be bothered.
“I don’t need your help, Riley.” His hands fall to his sides, thankfully eliminating the worst of the arm porn.
“Then, here,” I say, thrusting the shovel toward him. “Have it your way. I promise I won’t try to be helpful the rest of the time I’m here, tainting your home.”
He wraps his hand around the shovel. His hand covers mine in the process. The air seems to hitch in our lungs at the same moment.
There are only a few inches and a shovel separating us. A thousand unspoken words silently pass between us.
A yearning for things to be the way they once were settles over me. If only…
“You drive me crazy,” he says. His voice is much quieter now, his earlier anger draining away.
I swipe my tongue across my bottom lip. “That isn’t the first time you’ve said that to me.”
Based on the heat in his eyes, I’m sure his mind has wandered to the first time he spoke those words to me. They fell from his mouth right before we tore each other’s clothes off the day we met.
In the next second, the shovel is thrown to the ground, and I’m pulled against Cole’s chest. Our lips crash together.
The kiss is wild and desperate. It’s layered with equal parts lust and frustration.
My hands grip his shirt, wanting to eliminate every inch of space the last eight years caused. I gently bite his lower lip, and he does the same in retaliation.
It’s almost terrifying how easily we fall into the rhythm of kissing each other, as if it has only been hours since we did it last and not years. We can’t seem to get enough. We couldn’t get any closer to one another if we tried.
Reality slams back into me all at once. What the hell am I doing? I’m kissing Cole. That is the idiotic mistake I’m making.
My hands thrust against his chest, shoving him away from me. “I can’t do this,” I mutter, staring at his kiss-swollen lips. “This was a mistake.”
He doesn’t say anything for far too long, just stares at me with wide eyes. I wish I could drill inside his brain and see what he is thinking.
“You’re right. It was a mistake.” He doesn’t say the words, but it feels like he’s saying I was a mistake. It felt like it eight years ago, and it feels like it now. “Let’s just forget it happened.”
“Consider it forgotten,” I say before stomping back into the house. He can handle the rest of the shoveling on his own. It isn’t like he wanted me to do it, anyway.
Discarding my boots and coat in the closet, I make my way up to my room. I see a sliver of Theo’s face peeking from his room, but I can’t talk to him right now.
I would probably bite his head off when he isn’t even the reason I’m fuming. He doesn’t deserve that. No, this is something I have to deal with all on my own.
I just kissed Cole, the very same Cole that broke my heart. I can’t even think about the kiss because it felt amazing to be wrapped up in him again, and that is absurd. I can’t feel that way about Cole.
He said he wants to forget it ever happened. I wish it were that easy for me. Things would be a hell of a lot easier if I could just forget the man, but I can’t.
Despite how hard I try, he’s always right there in my mind. I’ll try my damndest to forget that moment of weakness, but I doubt the feeling of his lips against mine will leave me anytime soon.