Chapter 9
Cole
"D o you want to talk about it?" Levi's deep voice cuts through my sullen thoughts as he hands me another beer.
I take a swig before responding. He was talking to a group of guys when I stormed in and sat at the other end of the bar without a word. He left me alone for an hour while I stared at the TV screens hung over the bar. I don't even know who's playing.
"Depends," I say, focusing on the beer bottle. "What's the school's policy about dating a student's guardian?"
Levi's friend, Alex, whistles, and I glance up at him. "Do you want me to go over there?" He points to the other side of the bar. "This sounds like a personal conversation."
"No, man." I sigh. "I could use all the feedback I can get on this one."
Alex nods but sits a few stools away.
Levi sits next to me. "Officially, we don't have a policy. But it's best to avoid it." He pauses. "If possible."
I look at him now. "What's the school's policy about falling in love with a student's guardian?"
"Cole." Levi chuckles uncomfortably before sighing. "You just met her, man." He shrugs when I look at him in confusion. "It's a small town, and Betty knows, so word has gotten around." I shake my head, but Levi pats the bar to get my attention. "Don't get me wrong. You have great taste. Miranda is amazing. She's funny and beautiful and smart, but you don’t know her yet. So pump the brakes a bit before you start declaring your love—"
"We went to college together," I interrupt.
Levi pauses, furrowing his brow.
Alex moves over a stool, leaning in to hear me. "You dated Miranda in college?"
I shake my head. "One date. Did you grow up with her too?"
He shakes his head. "No, I'm not from here. Moved to town with my now ex-wife about six years ago. But everybody knows Miranda. Best coffee in town."
"Why only one date?" Levi asks.
I shake my head, sighing. "Apparently, she got the news about her parents' accident the next morning."
Levi's eyes widen with surprise. "Holy shit, Cole. Terrible timing to fall in love."
I grunt out a sharp laugh. "I was in love with her for a year before I got up the nerve to ask her out. Miranda was this bubbly, funny art student. Friends with everyone. I was barely nineteen. Terrified of rejection. I found every excuse I could to hang out with her freshman year. I packed up in May and went home after saying no more than two words to her. The summer before sophomore year, I psyched myself up and decided to ask her out. No big deal." I shake my head again. "It still took me until October to do it."
Levi gives me a sincere look of empathy and asks, "Why didn't you stay in touch with her? Or did you?"
"She snuck out of my room. I woke up the next morning and went to her dorm to take her to breakfast, but she was gone. Social media accounts down. She ghosted me like it was her job to disappear." I sigh.
I take another sip of my beer, and it's a few moments before I realize Levi hasn't said a word. Turning to gauge his reaction, I find him looking at me, but his expression is blank. He has a sort of half smile frozen on his face.
I tap his arm. "Levi?"
He explodes like a grenade went off in his brain. "She did what?"
I look around as the entire bar quiets from his sudden outburst, everybody staring at the typically unflappable Levi getting pretty damn flapped.
I lean into him. "Man, it's cool. We were young."
"No fucking excuse, Cole!"
I stare at him, simultaneously thrilled that somebody appreciates my pain and frustration but also wondering if this is still about Miranda and me.
Then it dawns on me.
"Levi, are you in love with Miranda?" I ask through gritted teeth. Closing my eyes, I wait for him to respond. How much damage will I do to our relationship if I knock his teeth in? A lot, I'm guessing.
"What? No." He grabs my arm and shakes his head. "I have never been and never will be in love with Miranda."
"Okay," I say slowly. "But you seem a little...invested."
"Ghosting a man is not okay, Cole." He gives his head a hard shake. "And it's about time they know it." On that note, he downs his beer and takes off for the front door.
"Wait, Levi!"
I start after him and realize neither of us has paid for the beers.
"I got it, man. Go after him!" Alex pushes me.
I run out the door, yelling Levi's name. Outside, I skid to a stop and look both ways, seeing Levi storming toward the coffee shop.
Fuck.
"Levi! Hold on!" I race down the street, breathing hard as I catch up to him. "Dude, you are so fucking fast. What the hell?"
He's angry, talking to himself, and I hear him mumble something about "birds of a feather."
Still embarrassingly winded, I try to reason with him as we get closer to The Reading Grounds . "Levi, man, I think I need to take a night and think this through before—"
He stops abruptly and whirls on me, cutting me off as I back up against the building next to Miranda's place, my arms up in surrender. The look on his face is so comically enraged that I blink hard and dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands to keep from laughing. His eyes are a little wild, and his hair sticks straight up like he gripped it all the way here. He's a real-life giant-sized Yosemite Sam, and all I can do is let him rant.
Levi yells, "No thinking! They run away and never come back when you give them time to think."
Oh shit. This isn't about me.
I nod. "Right, man. Who are you talking about?"
He turns toward The Reading Grounds and practically bellows, "The runners!"
Alex catches up to us as I grab Levi's arm. I try to haul him away from the front door, whisper-yelling, "Levi, parents could be on the street right now, and I'm new. I don't know what they look like!"
"They'd love that, wouldn't they?" He turns to me and says in a mock falsetto voice, "Talk to me more, tell me how you feel, blah blah blah." He drops an octave to his regular voice. "But then you tell them how you feel, and they run away like their ass is on fire, taking your heart with them, and you don't get to say anything about it!"
I turn to Alex, but he looks as lost as me, shaking his head. This obviously happened before our time in Duhring Park.
Levi suddenly freezes. Putting a hand to his mouth, he steps back like he’s snapped out of a daze. He looks around the street quickly, then back at Alex and me with wide eyes. "Oh, fuck."
I look over as the door to the coffee shop opens, and Miranda pokes her head out.
"Levi? Cole? What's going on out here?" Miranda looks up and down the street, searching for the cause of the commotion.
Levi stares at me with panicked eyes, silently pleading for me not to say anything.
I shake my head subtly at him, assuring him it's between us, and turn to my girl. "Miranda, we need to talk."
She bites her lip, pausing for a moment. Nodding, she motions me into the shop.
Alex puts his arm around Levi's shoulders. "Hey, bud. Let's go for a walk." He leads a still-befuddled Levi back to the bar, waving me toward my conversation with Miranda.
This town is crazy. God, I hope Miranda doesn't break my heart and make everyone hate me because I never want to leave.
When I get inside, Miranda has pulled down the chairs at one of the tables and is sitting with her hands folded in front of her. I pull out the chair across from her.
She clears her throat, starts to say something, and then stops. A range of emotions flits across her face. Anger, sadness, frustration, and embarrassment roll over her like spotlights. I wait for her to reveal which one she's leading with tonight.
Finally, she shrinks back in the chair, looking young and tired, and whispers, "I'm scared."
This. I can work with this.
I nod. "Miranda, I grew up in a town a little bigger than Duhring, and everybody expected me to take over my uncle's construction business. I didn't want to. I wanted money. So I took off for college and worked my ass off to get into a profession that made a lot of money. And I hated it. I missed my friends, sure, but what I missed more was not needing anything to have a good time."
I can't tell what Miranda’s thinking as she watches me. It drives me crazy. This seems like an important moment, though. One I need to handle delicately. I place my elbows on the table and scrub my face before continuing.
"I wasn't happy, but I was also afraid to quit. I didn't want to work for my uncle or take over his business, but I also didn't want to work a corporate job for the rest of my life. I felt stuck. After four miserable years, I woke up one day and decided to do more with my life. I went back to school and got my teaching certification. When I landed the job here in Duhring, I thought I knew what happiness was again." I smile at her, and she returns it, biting her lip.
"But nothing compares to what I felt when I walked into your coffee shop last week." Her breath catches as I gaze deeply into her eyes. "For the last eight years, I've hoped and wished and dreamed about seeing you again, Miranda. Now I've found you, I'm not letting you go." I lean forward on the table, grabbing her hands. "You are end game for me. Worth whatever time you need. I'll tackle any trials and tribulations our story's plot takes, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that you are my happily ever after."
Miranda jumps up from her chair and crawls across the table to me. I stand and pull her into my arms, kissing her like I’ll never get another chance. My lips are everywhere. I taste her neck, the tops of her breasts, her mouth—I can't get enough. I'm desperate for her.
"You used your English teacher tricks on me," Miranda pants, trying to catch her breath as I bury my face in her cleavage. "Beautiful words."
"What tricks, little ghost?" I pull back, breathing hard. "I'm no villain, but I’ll burn the world down to save you. You deserve nothing less."
Miranda pauses, grinning. "My painting. You remembered."
I gaze into her eyes, and my love for her fills me entirely. "Miranda, I'm going to marry you."
Giving her head a little shake, she huffs out a short laugh. I put a finger to her lips as she starts to speak, quieting the anxiety about to spill in the form of a protest. "Not yet. I promise. And if marriage isn’t something you want, that's fine. But you’re mine, and I’m yours."
Miranda watches me through watery eyes as she smiles. "I trust you with my heart, Cole."
The sun breaks through the clouds after days of gloomy weather. I pick her up and she wraps her legs around me as I head through the curtain and up to her apartment.
Mine. Forever.