55. Colt – “Music can change the world because it can change people.” ― Bono
55
Colt
“Music can change the world because it can change people.” ― Bono
The hotel room door swung open, and my heart felt like it was shrinking.
“Hi, you must be Mel, I’m Colt.” I held my hand out, but Mel stood with her hand on her hip, leaning on the door a little as the sass rolled off her demeanor.
“Is Abigail here?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She looked ready to go out and party. She was wearing a dressy top that showed off her cleavage, but the top was so small you could see her midriff as she kept her arm raised, keeping the door open. I knew if she was going out, that meant Abigail was, too.
Over my dead body.
“Mel, please,” I hadn’t showered, and I’m sure I reeked of sweat, dirt, and musk all in one, but I didn’t care. I took a step closer. “Is Abigail inside?”
She lets out a long sigh. “No, she left.”
At the same time, my heart burst when Josh came out of the bathroom. “Dude, that game was fire. I mean, whoa. I see why they pay you the big bucks.”
Josh looked like he had freshened up, too, with his hair slicked back and enough cologne to swarm a pack of thirsty women towards him.
“Where did she go?”
“You looking for Abigail?” Josh asks as he takes a bite of some beef jerky.
I don’t even speak. I just give him a look that says, what the fuck do you think I’m here for.
“How did you even know her room number?” Josh asks through a mouthful
“One word, cash. Now tell me where she is?” I was starting to lose patience.
“Naomi was giving her trouble when we left the stadium, and she knew Naomi would be at the after-parties. So rather than dealing with it, she switched her flight back home to tonight.”
“Fuck” I whisper shout.
I knew it would be hard to get out of the stadium with all the questions from the reporters about Blake and of course, the game. They wanted to know why I never talked about Blake, why it was so hidden from the tabloids, and, of course, they wanted to know how he died. I never opened up about Blake because I wanted to keep that sacred. I know how ruthless the media was, and I didn’t want my dead brother to be looked at as some druggie who overdosed. I answered enough questions to keep the reporters happy and not chase me down the stadium, even though one reporter tried. Troy held them back to allow me to break free, but by the time I got someone at the hotel to give me Abigail’s room number, it was too late. Abigail was gone, so I’m standing here talking to these two instead.
“She left about an hour ago,” Josh says.
“If you move fast enough, you may be able to catch her,” Mel says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What airline?”
“American,”Mel says.
“Thanks.” I tapped the door, turned around, and started jogging down the hallway. Mel and Josh were shouting behind me. “Good luck.”
I needed it, and it would take a miracle to catch her on the same flight. If not, at least I knew where she was headed.
Twenty-four hours later and more bribing, I ended up at Abigail’s sister's doorstep. It was worth the five grand to get Josh to fork up where Abigail was living now since Mel was in the background, drunk off her ass, telling him not to do it.
I broke Abigail’s heart once. I didn't need to do it again. Needless to say, my nerves were in overdrive, and lack of sleep wasn’t helping. I rang the doorbell and waited. Praying to the God above, she was here.
When the door swung open, it was Adalee. I recognized her right away from the wedding, but she didn’t have a baby on her hips then. She took me in, no doubt, slightly different from the version of me she met at the wedding.
Adalee had spit-up stains on her shirt, so I wasn’t sure if that was the reason why she had a resting bitch face or because I wasn’t her favorite person to see right now.
“Abigail is at her old school.”
I cursed under my breath. I was getting damn tired of this goose hunt.“Am I supposed to know where that is?”I ask.
She set the baby down, who tried to walk but immediately fell to her bottom, and she started crawling the opposite way. Adalee crossed her arms.“Maybe if you actually gave a shit about someone other than yourself, you may know more about Abigail and the hell you put her through on top of the shit she’s already been through.”
“She told you that?”
“No, she didn’t have to, but the fact that you’re on my doorstep tells me a lot. And knowing Abigail, she hasn’t told me much about you because she didn’t want me to worry. Especially about her eating.” Her left foot tapped a chaotic rhythm. “Abigail is like that, always putting others before herself.”
It was hard to picture her sister with a baby since I pictured her as selfish as all of Abigail's cousins, but Adalee seemed to sacrifice more than the others did, which gave me a sliver of hope.
She sighed.“You want a piece of advice?”
I didn’t say anything. I let my pleading eyes do all the talking.
“If you can’t get your shit together and treat Abigail right, don’t string her along or use her for your pleasures. She’s gone through enough pain and suffering to last a lifetime.” She twisted the door handle while the baby began crying and closed the door before I could answer.
Ten thousand dollars worth of bribing, and over twenty-four hours later, I finally saw Abigail. I slowly drove up to the parking lot and parked my car where I could see her. She was sitting on a bench, and I wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or possibly talking to Blake’s spirit since the song written about Abigail mentioned that there was a bench where she and Blake used to meet for lunch since she had no other friends.
I sit in my car and stare at her. Her golden curly hair framed her face, cascading down her back. She looked like a Goddess. But the fact she has been through shit makes her even more beautiful somehow. I was fooling myself into thinking I would be able to resist her.
Regardless of whether she was Blake’s first, she would be mine now. I still had the lingering question in the back of my mind: why did he never claim her? Was he that messed up on drugs? Or was it because she was a virgin at the time, and he knew he couldn’t hurt her like that since he was in no position to be a steady boyfriend? It’s a question I’ll never know the answer to.
I opened the car door and closed it behind me as I walked up to where Abigail was. She didn’t see me at first, that’s how much she was in her own world, but when my foot stepped on a branch, making a cracking noise, she jerked her head in my direction. Her expression was not what I was expecting since she looked disappointed—actually teetering on the lines of pissed now that I was standing in front of her.
“What are you doing here?” is the first question that comes out of her mouth. “Actually, how the hell did you find me?”
“Lots of bribery.”
She raises one eyebrow an inch at that.
“And I’m here because-” I paused. There were many reasons, but the main one was, “I’m an idiot.”
“You didn’t have to come up here to tell me that Colt, I already knew.”
Her playful tone was back slightly, making me feel better about pressing further.
“So that’s it, you came here to apologize? Because If that’s all, know your apology has been accepted. Anything else?”
Remembering I had the CD she gave me as an excuse to be here, I pulled it out of my back pocket and handed it to her.
“No, I wanted to give this back to you.”
“Keep it. It’s yours. Hence why I had Josh send it to you.”
“I don’t know if I can handle not completely breaking down if I have it in my possession. I already cried while listening to it for the millionth time.”
She purses her lips together as she eyes me. “Place it on the ground. I’ll get it when I leave.”
Abigail didn’t want me near her, fear of me touching her, which killed every cell in my body because that’s all I wanted to do.
I was nervous about what I needed to say and had no idea how to start, so I just went for it.
“When I won the Super Bowl, the person I wanted to hug was nowhere in sight. And it reminded me of the feeling I had when I won my first game in the NFL.”
She looked up at me, the sunlight making her hazel eyes almost look like glass. They were sparkling.
“For so many years, I’ve been here but not truly present, just trying to do what’s best for my career and Bodie. I’m tired. I’m fucked up, but unlike you, I never faced it head-on, and this is me doing that.”
“I know Blake loved you, but I’m hoping from the stars above, the Gods above, or something above, that I will be forgiven; it’s the whole reason for you and Blake meeting in the first place, as hard as it for me to believe that shit, maybe there is some truth to the stars aligning crap.”
She folds her arms over her chest.
“What are you trying to say, Colt?”
I knew I wasn’t making sense, so I came out with it instead of stalling.
I swallowed hard. “I love you, Abigail.”
She winces as her eyes go wide. I guess this is a little shocking. “I fucked up. I thought by leaving you alone, I was doing you a favor, but the truth is, I miss you so damn much. I miss Blake. I love him, and I love you, so maybe it makes me a horrible brother because I want to take the last thing he loved, but I can’t deny that you are the only person who popped into my mind after we won. You are the one I think about when I lie my head down at night. You, Abigail, are the only thing that keeps me going. It feels selfish to admit it, but I’m done letting the guilt continue to eat me alive. By not sharing how I felt about you, I realized I was even more selfish to the person it mattered to most. You.”
“You, you love me?” She struggles to get her words out. I close the distance between us and kneel beside her, grabbing her hands. Her mouth drops open, but I shake my head. “No, I’m not proposing, but I am asking you to be with me, Abigail.”
Tears dropped down her cheeks.
“I’m crazy about you. Please tell me you feel the same.”
“You drive me crazy, and I want to smack you sometimes, but I love you too, Colt. Never stopped.”
I smile wide before I seal those words with a kiss, crashing my lips to hers. I lifted her off her feet and carried her to my car.
I didn’t want to wait another second until I was inside her. I placed her feet on the ground so I could open the back door of my truck, throwing her inside. She giggles as I shut the door behind me. I started to unbuckle my pants. Now that she was in front of me, I wanted her so damn bad I couldn’t get my clothes off fast enough, she reached for the hem of her shirt, but I stopped her.
“Let me, please,” I say. She nodded. It was almost torturous as I took my time, but it had been so long that I wanted to let the image of her body sink into my brain.
“You know,” she says as I brushed back her thick, curly hair behind her ears. “I’ve never even come close to having sex in high school, especially in a parking lot.”
“Oh, sweetheart, let me show you how fun it can be to be a bad girl.” I leaned down as I slowly pushed inside her. I looked into her eyes for the longest time before I started thrusting. As much as I wanted to fuck the shit out of her right now, I wanted to make love to her more. Our gazes never wavered as I filled her up to the fullest. My arms began to shake as I leaned down to retake her mouth. It felt like I was in high school since, for the first time, I was having sex with a girl I was in love with.
“You feel so damn good, Abigail,” I whispered. The windows were steamy by now, and a light layer of sweat glistened our bodies.
“Fuck” I say. “I’m not going to last long.”
She stared at me with those longing eyes, never taking them off me.
“Me either. I’m so close, don’t stop Colt, please.”
I swirled my hips as she wrapped her legs around me, moaning in my ear, and I nearly came undone from the beautiful sound she kept repeating in my ear.
“Colt, I’m going to,” and before she can finish, I feel her pussy clench around my dick, and that’s when I come undone. I never knew it was possible to come at the same time as a girl does. But I was so in love I cared that she came first. Other girls I never really did, but from this day forward, Abigail comes first in all things.