Chapter 43 Cole
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Cole
The feeling of delicate fingers tracing over my chest draws me from sleep.
“Hey,” Riley whispers when I pry my eyes open. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was doodling while I was thinking, I guess.”
The smile she gives me is sleepy, and it’s something I want to wake up to every morning.
“How are you feeling?”
She shrugs one of her shoulders. “My head hurts, but at least I don’t feel like I’m going to puke.”
“I guess the burgers were a good call, then.”
“Very good.” She gnaws at her bottom lip for a minute before continuing. “Sorry if I was a mess last night.”
“You weren’t.” I move my head from side to side. “A little drunk, yes, but you are a cute drunk.”
My eyes roam to Theo, who is still curled around her back. I can’t see Finn, but I can hear his heavy breaths coming from the side of the bed.
“Why don’t you wake them up so we can make some breakfast? I’m going to go get you some meds for that headache.”
She nods but slides her arm around me. I roll onto my side, so I’m facing her. I move to kiss her, but she puts her hand up between us. “Morning breath.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I say before pressing my lips to hers. I’ll gladly kiss her, morning breath and all. As long as it’s her, I don’t give a damn.
She gives a quiet whimper when I pull away. I kiss her forehead before sliding out of her too-small bed. I glance over my shoulder before stepping out the door.
Riley is rolling Theo onto his back and straddling his waist. He smiles as she starts kissing his cheeks.
The corners of my own mouth tilt up as I head downstairs. I never would have guessed I would be okay with the situation we are in with Riley.
The thought of seeing Riley with any other guy makes me more than a little crazy, but it’s different with Theo and Finn. It makes me happy to see their joy from being with her.
I don’t know why this just seems to work, but it does. I’m not too interested in analyzing that at the moment. I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts, which is probably going to be less time than any of us would like.
The three of them pad down the stairs a few minutes later. Riley swallows down the pills I left out on the counter for her and guzzles the whole glass of water.
“I’m kind of impressed you aren’t puking your guts up this morning,” Finn says, moving to the coffee maker.
“I can handle my liquor,” she says, sitting on one of the barstools.
She is still wearing only one of my T-shirts, so most of her long legs are exposed—saliva pools in my mouth. I want to drag my tongue all the way from her ankle to…well, you know where.
We go about making French toast and bacon. The domesticity of it all makes me wish for more mornings just like this. If Mav were here, it would be damn near perfect.
All of us gathered around the table, eating and laughing, just feels right. There is nothing awkward about this. It feels like Riley was always supposed to be here, sitting next to Finn.
When everyone’s plates are pushed toward the middle of the table, we stay sitting here, drinking the last of our coffee and enjoying each other’s company.
Riley’s phone rings. She looks over to the island where it’s sitting. With a sigh, she moves off the chair and into the kitchen.
Her whole body seems to deflate when she sees who’s calling.
My guard immediately goes up. Given the way Theo and Finn react, I’m guessing they did the same.
“It’s my agent. I have to take this,” she says, pointing to the hall. “Hi,” she says before walking away.
As soon as she leaves the room, the three of us look at each other. I don’t know what to say, but the panic rising inside of me is mirrored in their eyes.
We can’t hear all of her conversation, but it’s obviously about her flight back to California in only a couple of days.
“I don’t want her to go,” Finn finally breaks the silence.
“I love her,” Theo says. There isn’t a shred of doubt in his eyes.
Finn runs a hand through his hair. “I love her, too.”
I nod because we all feel the same way. “I’ve been in love with her for eight years. I tried to move on, but it never worked because my heart has always been set on her.”
There’s a beat of silence. The only thing we can hear is the hushed murmur of Riley’s voice from down the hall.
“So, what are we going to do?” Theo asks.
“We ask her to stay, or at least try things long distance,” I offer.
I know it’s selfish, but our lives are entirely tied to Aspen Springs. Between the business and Mav, there’s no way we could go anywhere else, especially me.
They both nod. There are no guarantees, but we have to try. She hasn’t said how she feels about any of us, but I know her.
She might hide things with her lack of words sometimes, but her eyes are beacons of truth. And her eyes have been saying plenty about how she feels about all three of us.
“Tonight. We will talk to her tonight,” I say.