Chapter 28 Colton
TWENTY-EIGHT
COLTON
OCTOBER | COLUMBUS, OHIO
COLTON
I’ve got an idea for another scene
I checked the spreadsheet and we have the same favorite in the college one
VIOLET
how would we act that out?
COLTON
one of the biggest universities in the country is in our city
VIOLET
one problem
we’re old
COLTON
not tonight, we’re not
you in?
VIOLET
only if jordan houser is going to put me on my knees
COLTON
it’s so weird, i just checked my driver’s license and that’s my name
I played one of my best games to date.
The rest of the Ohio Rusties did not.
It was a comedy of errors, except not funny at all.
Dottie tripped over his own feet, blamed it on Pittsburgh, and started a brawl, getting thrown out in the second.
I started wondering if perhaps our goalie Royce had taken a gummy before the game with how slow his reflexes were.
Leroy broke a skate blade right when he was in a perfect position to shoot.
It sucked.
I, however, did not suck. I got a goal and two assists.
To note, those were our only three goals, while Pittsburgh managed to score six.
Whenever a game started to devolve into shambles, it was hard for me to not start blaming myself.
I stewed on what to say between periods in the locker room.
Should I be mean, like Sorrento always pushes me to be? Should I be encouraging? Disappointed?
If anything, I was most disappointed in myself. What was I doing wrong that made the team suck so bad? How had I let them down? Why could I be good for myself and not for them?
But this night I didn’t want to dwell on it. Because this night I had plans.
Violet waited for me in the WAGs room, a space where partners and families could wait for the team without being bothered.
It struck me how relaxed her posture was when I entered the room.
Her back was to me, and she was talking to Mara and Jeanine.
It looked like she hit it off with them, and that sent tingles through me.
I wanted her to be happy, and have friends.
Because if she was happy, maybe she’d stay.
I couldn’t consider the alternative.
They call people you’ve loved before your old flames, or say you carried a torch for them. My internal eternal flame for Violet was sometimes worn down to a flickering nub of a matchstick, but I still held out hope. Because what if, one day, she came back?
I couldn’t push her. I couldn’t rush whatever it was that kept her away. All I could do was wait, and hope all my waiting wouldn’t prove futile.
And here she was. Long hair cascading down her back. Hands tucked into the sleeves of my sweatshirt, one leg crossed over the other where she stood. How long had it been since Violet waited for me after a game? When I made it to her side, I stroked my hand down her back. “Did you stay warm?”
She turned to me with a smirk. “I am quite warm, thanks. Good game, Cap.”
I grimaced and she mirrored me. “Not so loud,” I mumbled.
“My bad,” she said. “Everybody wants to know if we’re going out.”
“No. Because we have other plans.”
“You were serious about that?” she asked.
“As long as you’re good with it. It won’t set you off?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I feel like it could be a good healing moment.”
I grinned. “Was hoping that would be the case. Though it’s fine if you ever want to bail.”
“I know. I trust you.” Her blue eyes glowed up at me with that statement. It took everything in my power not to bend and plant a kiss on those upturned lips. “Shall we?”
I went to reach for her hand, but realized I shouldn’t.
Friends.
My hand flexed at my side before I stuffed it in my pocket. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
I didn’t have too long to mope about the lack of affection, because Violet shot one mischievous glance over her shoulder before running toward the garage.
“Last one there doesn’t get to come!” she called. Thank god no one was around to hear her.
We sped off toward my car in the garage, giggling all the way. This was fun. It was an adventure, just the two of us. We were neck and neck racing down the hallway. I beat her to the double doors that opened to the garage and I acted like I was going to hold the door for her.
“Always a gentleman,” she panted. “Sucka—HEY!”
With a light shove, I pushed her back from the door while I went through myself and pulled it shut behind me.
She pounded on the door until she flung it open and chased after me. “I could bite down while you’re in my mouth, you know!”
“You won’t, though. It’s your favorite wiener!”
I kept running until I noticed I didn’t hear her footsteps. I turned to look for her, bending to see if she’d fallen. “Vi? Hey, you okay?”
Then, Violet burst out from between two cars to my left. “Eat shit!” she taunted me.
We were within sight of my car and she was closer. There was only one way for me to win.
Right as her fingers stretched out to tap my car, I grabbed her around the middle and whirled her backward, stopping when my ass rested on the bumper. “I win.”
“Let go of me.”
Her voice was low and stern.
I stood from my perch and put her on her feet, turning her by the shoulders to face me.
Her face was pale, her chin quivering.
“Oh, fuck, Vi, I’m sorry.”
I had grabbed her from behind. I did the one thing that I absolutely, under no circumstances, was supposed to do.
“Don’t touch me,” she whimpered.
I moved my hands to press over my mouth. “Violet, I am so, so sorry. I really didn’t mean to. I wasn’t even thinking. Are you okay?”
She drew a choppy breath. “I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t have to be fine. We were playing around and—”
“I know,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting her thumb to nibble on the nail. “It’s my fault.”
“Violet,” I dipped to get in her line of sight. “No. It’s mine. I knew better and I got carried away. I’m so sorry.”
She nodded feebly and swallowed hard. “I know. I know you didn’t mean to. I know you’re not the bad guy. But it’s going to take me a minute to calm down.”
“I’m here. Take as much time as you need.”
She chewed the inside of her bottom lip and held her eyes shut.
“Can I do anything to help you right now? Do you want to sit?” I tapped the back door of my SUV, and the door lifted.
“You sit,” she said.
“Vi—”
“Would you just sit?” she barked. “God, you ask what you can do and I tell you, and you don’t believe me?”
Consider me more than adequately chastised. My ass was pinned to that trunk at lightning speed. She stood there, wringing her hands.
“Sorry. I don’t mean to snap at you. I’m just . . .”
“It’s alright. You don’t have to explain.”
Her face crumpled and she sniffed hard. “I hate that you’re so nice about it.”
I stuck my lip out. “Why?”
She rubbed under her nose. “I just hate that I get like this at all.”
“I get it.” I leaned to get in her line of vision. “But you should be nicer to yourself.”
She sighed with a sad chuckle. “Working on it.” Violet looked up and chewed her lip. “Can I sit with you?”
I patted my thighs. “C’mere.”
Vi placed her hands next to me and hoisted herself up into the back, then she crawled to sit sideways on my lap. “I assumed you meant I should sit on your lap.”
I cradled her upper body with one arm and wrapped the other one over her legs. I gave her a tight hug and she rested her head on my shoulder. “That’s exactly what I meant.”
She let out a deep sigh and nestled into my hold. We sat that way for a few minutes, breathing together, my body surrounding hers.
“I wish it didn’t bother me,” she whispered.
“I know.” Though I probably shouldn’t have, I pressed my lips to her temple. “I’m a little surprised. We were pretty wild the other night.”
She snorted. “We were. But it was planned. And it wasn’t from the back.”
I nodded. “Then we’ll stick to the plan.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I wish I could be more spontaneous.”
“Hey.” I jostled her in my arms. “I had an incredible time the other night. The plan has plenty of perks built in.”
“I know,” she said. “But I wish I could deviate from it.”
“We just started the plan two nights ago,” I said. “This stuff will take time. And you don’t have to hide the hard stuff from me.”
She whined and snuggled closer to me. “Wish you could have been there the other times this happened.”
“What do you mean? I was there the other times. If you’d asked me to, I would have held you.”
Hell, I tried to and she couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
She shook her head. “No. Another time was when I was with another guy.”
“Well, I couldn’t have been there then.”
Her eyes met mine with a quizzical look. “Why not?”
“Because if I saw someone else getting to have you, I’d have to kill them. And that’s just a whole inconvenient mess to clean up that I don’t want to deal with.”
Vi held back a smile, and I got a twinge of that magician feeling I had when I first met her. I took her from scared to smiling. She traced a finger down my breastbone. “So, if I called you and I had a body in the trunk, you wouldn’t help me get rid of it?”
“Depends. Is it his body?”
Violet laughed and her smile made everything in my body stop. In her joy, in her pain, in everything, Violet was the most remarkable person ever made.
“I’m kidding,” I said, jostling her in my arms. “I’d bury any body for you.”
She paused to study my face, a soft smile on hers. “I know you would.” She rubbed her lips together, then her gaze flicked to my lips. Holy shit, was I going to get a natural, no-pretense kiss?
Just then, the door to the parking garage creaked open. “Woo! Didn’t know the party was out here, Cap,” Royce called. “You coming to Z Bar?”
I glanced at Vi in my arms. She leaned to address Royce. “We’ve got other plans.”
“Oh, hey, are you Iris? Cap said your mom—”
“NO!” I barked. “Go home, Royce.”
“Night, Rice,” Violet said.
“His name’s Royce,” I said.
She shrugged. “He got my name wrong. I wanted to get his wrong.”
I laughed. “You’re diabolical.”
She pursed her lips. “Yes, I do think I still feel diabolical. You want to go to this party?”
I pulled back to look at her. “You still feel up to going?”
She nodded. “I think I’m back to normal now. But,” she pointed in my face, “don’t do it again.”
“I promise to make it my life’s mission not to do it again.”
“Good. Take me to the party, Cap.”