Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Cole
My head is spinning as I start my drive to the airport.
She hopes I come back soon?
I never had any intention of leaving her in the first place.
She’s got my entire soul wrapped around her little finger.
This isn’t like me. I’ve always wanted total, absolute freedom. Freedom to do what I want, when I want, with nothing holding me back.
I have my entire life planned out, centered around the assumption that I would do it all on my own.
For years, I’ve craved the thrill that comes with scaling the highest mountains.
I’ve swam deeper into the sea than I ever thought possible.
I’ve piloted jets over deserts at altitudes higher than any sane person would fly.
And now that Ella is in my life, all of those things sound boring.
I want my only plan to be Ella. I want her morning, noon, and night. I want to fill my entire calendar with her name.
She will never be just a stop on a layover or some little fling.
She will be a permanent part of my life.
She will be my whole life.
I take a deep breath, my hands wrapping tight around the steering wheel.
What the fuck am I doing?
I yank the steering wheel toward the highway exit, a blaze of horns honking behind me. I steady my gaze on the road ahead of me, my fists wrapping tight around the steering wheel.
The exhilaration the first time I felt the crash of waves on my skin in Australia…all of it feels insignificant and small.
Without her, it would be meaningless.
I want her to do all of it with me. And not because it’s convenient or sexy or fleeting—but because I want her eyes on the same world I see. I want her in it. I want her there.
And then—just as clearly—I see the stillness.
A house. Quiet. Sun-washed. Windows open. Music playing in the kitchen. Her hair’s wet from a shower, and she’s barefoot.
There’s a version that includes her laugh in the morning and her fingers on my jaw at night.
This isn’t just some crush, a fling, something to put down in the record books as a nice memory. I never would have put my hands on her if I didn’t think she would be the one.
No matter what happens, one thing is for sure.
I’m not leaving Miami the same man I was when I arrived.