Chapter 32 Violet
THIRTY-TWO
VIOLET
OCTOBER | COLUMBUS, OHIO
“There’s my favorite celebrity. She even has to wear a hat to hide from the public!” Margot opened her arms to hug me in the small café near her house. She held me back by my upper arms and looked me over. Her thick Boston accent shined through. “No hickeys. Boring.”
“What?”
“Come on. Just because I’m old and have kids doesn’t mean I don’t follow sports. Andrea’s becoming quite the Rusties fan. Even took the kids to a couple preseason games.”
“Wow, okay. Didn’t see that coming.” We stood side by side, reading the coffee menu on a board above the bar. “Go ahead and order. I’ll get you.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Margot said. We ordered, and the sneak she was, she tapped her watch to pay before I could get my card out of my pocket.
“Margot!”
“What? You look like hell. You’re so uptight with your personal life. I gotta juice you up so you’ll tell me the good stuff.”
“I told you when I went on a date with Vince!” I objected.
“Yeah, and look how far that went.”
“With good reason,” I said, grabbing my latte from the bar. “I think the detail you’re missing is that my life is a little bit boring.”
“About that,” Margot said, getting her cappuccino and heading toward a table. “You do need to get out more.”
“As a scientist saying that to another scientist, this somehow feels like a knock knock joke, and the punchline is something about neither of us seeing the sun.”
Margot chuckled, settling into a seat facing the window. The other seat glowed with the last rays of autumn sun on it. “There, take the sun seat. Then I can say I made you see the light.”
I sat and held my mug, letting it and the sun warm me. “You’re really on one today. How much caffeine have you had?”
“One of the other moms gave me one of those fancy energy drinks at soccer. I’m just now coming off it. Shit’s miraculous. I feel like I could touch the damn sky.” She crossed her legs and sat back. “Anywho. Tell me about your scandal.”
Words caught in my throat. “I take it you saw the video?”
“That is correct. Good for you, kid.”
I pinched my eyes shut. “What do you mean, good for me?”
She flipped her hand and shrugged. “You were actually out and about. Can’t complain about that.”
I chuckled. “Right, but . . . at a college party. Underage drinking.”
“Not ideal, sure,” she said, taking a pensive sip of her cappuccino.
“Can’t I get fired? We work for the university, in a roundabout way.”
She lifted a shoulder. “Not if I have anything to do with it. I didn’t drag you from Boston to have them fire you over what you do in your spare time. Didn’t they already take down the video anyway?”
“They did,” I said, idly stirring some sugar into my drink.
“Alright, well. We just won’t say anything. And if it comes up, I’m fighting like hell to keep you.”
I pressed my lips together. “Thanks, Margot.”
“How’s Jonesy in all of this? He in trouble at work?”
I grimaced. “I think at least a little. They’re not happy with him, but it’s also their job to protect him. He’s not used to being in that kind of trouble, though.”
“What are you doing here? Why don’t you go cheer him up?”
I flicked a glance at my watch. “He’s leaving for the road soon. They’ve got a long road trip. And I just saw him this morning.”
Margot wiggled her eyebrows. “Oooh, you did? Leaving the morning after?”
I let out a heavy sigh and stood. “And just like that, my personal life dossier is closed once again.”
As I headed for the door, Margot called after me. “Actually, if you want to keep your job, you have to tell me everything!”
I laughed as it was the emptiest threat I’d ever heard. “Fire me then.”
Still, Margot had a point. Colt seemed super stressed out when we talked. He’d leave in a little less than two hours. That meant I had time to pull off something special.
While I sat in the Wendy’s drive thru, I checked my messages. The fantasy team group chat was another source of absolute nonsense.
VINCE
Looks like Violet’s been holding out on us with the insider trading
(broken link from Slapped Shot)
GARETH
link doesn’t work bro
VINCE
hang on let me find a screen recording
anyway, Vi, do you have something to tell us?
VIOLET
absolutely not
VINCE
fess up or I will be forced to open an investigation into this insider trading
unless you provide a signed jersey
FART SALAD
wait, what did she do?
VIOLET
nothing that is anyone’s business
FART SALAD
oh I just looked it up. she and Jonesy made out at a college party?
VIOLET
need I remind you that you’re an MD and the people in this group call you Fart Salad?
whatever crime made that nickname happen is far worse than the PRIVATE MOMENT that I had
NOURI
Vi, I’m supposed to tell you that Maya wants you to call her right away because she’s bored and your life is suddenly not boring
also she says tell Colt hi
anyway call her or she’s going to rat to your parents
VIOLET
tell Maya to take care of my niece and mind her biz
VINCE
what about the signed jersey?
you didn’t really fess up. Fartie did it for you.
VIOLET
i’ll provide a signed jersey if i lose this season
that will be my punishment
GARETH
also atomic wings
VINCE
you can’t get out of eating the atomic wings
FART SALAD
wings will happen. no one can escape the wings.
NOURI
sorry sis. atomic wings got your name all over them
Maya says no niece pics until you call
VIOLET
i’m sorry, is this a hostage situation?
Still, I knew I could never win against Maya. As I pulled away from the drive-thru, I dialed Maya.
I got no hello from her, instead a, “Is my favorite future brother-in-law back?”
That stirred up a handful of conflicting emotions. I emitted a groan. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know? Did you get in a fight or something?” My niece, Zahra, babbled in the background.
“No fight. It’s just complicated. But my Zahra isn’t. What’s my girl up to?” I was scrambling for a change of subject, and I was always invested in any Z developments.
“Stop distracting. Can you start from the beginning? Why is it complicated?”
I glanced at my GPS. I was three minutes from the smaller airport the team flew out of. I had neither the time nor the emotional energy to give her the whole rundown: the assault, the books, the fake dating. “We’re just taking it slow, but now it’s on a public stage.”
“That’s not taking it slow!” Nouri piped in from the background.
“Tell my brother-in-law to shut up,” I said to Maya.
“Let me talk to my sister,” Maya scolded him. “Okay. I’m not going to hound you about whatever mischief you made last night, but are you having fun with him? Is he making you happy?”
I let that question sink in and stopped myself from running a red light. What we were doing was fun, yes. Having him back in my life was fun. But trying to sort out whether it was all a good idea was not as fun. I kept it simple. “It’s nice to have him around. You know how he is.”
“A total sweetheart in a dreamboat’s body? Yeah. I know how he is.”
“Hey,” Nouri chimed in again.
“You’re a dreamboat too. Will you seriously leave me alone? Take the baby!”
“Actually, I’ll let you get back to your family. I’m about to surprise him, so I need to go.”
I barely heard Maya as I hung up because my stomach lurched at the sight of several tall men walking toward the airport with rolling suitcases.
Leaves crunched under my feet when I stepped onto the parking lot, shouldering my purse and grabbing the bag of food I intended for Colton.
Even though the air was as autumn crispy as it can get, sweat prickled at my collar.
I leaned against the hood of my car and tried to not feel like a complete stalker.
What, exactly, was the difference between surprising someone and stalking them?
My bubbling insides calmed when I spotted the casual, confident gait I’d know anywhere.
I waved over my head and Colton brightened.
“Violet, what are you doing here?” Colton’s smile stretched across his whole face, and fake or not, it filled me with jump-around-giddy feelings. He broke away from a small group of guys headed into the airport.
“Felt like you could use a little boost.” I extended my hands containing a Wendy’s bag and a Frosty.
Colt stopped walking my way and pressed his hand to his heart. “No. For me?”
My face felt hot. This all seemed like a good idea until I was facing the scrutiny of several giant men. Keeping his eyes on me, Colt called over his shoulder. “Owen!”
The sweet kid who brought me my car at work came jogging over. “Hey, Violet!”
He put his arms out for a hug, which surprised me since I’d only met him once before. Still, I returned his embrace. “How are ya, buddy?”
“Great!” he said. “Hey though, next time you’re going to a college party, invite me! I missed the whole college experience.”
“I don’t think we’ll be frequenting college parties. That was a one and done,” I said with a laugh.
Colt’s jaw feathered and his sunny expression disappeared. “Alright, alright, that’s enough. Owen, carry my food onto the plane. I can’t be seen misbehaving right now.”
“Sure, Cap,” Owen said. “But don’t be surprised if some of the fries are gone.”
Colton scowled at him. “Better not be.”
“Bye, Violet!” Owen called, unaffected by Colt’s mild threat.
“Misbehaving?” I asked, following up on what he said to Owen.
Colt shrugged. “I don’t want to give anyone any reason to criticize me. They’ll somehow call it hangover food or something. Say I’m letting myself go.”
I rubbed his upper arm. “It’ll pass. And you don’t have to take the food. I just didn’t want to come emptyhanded.”
That seemed to shake him out of his negativity. “No. The food’s awesome. Owen probably already ate half of it, but that’s okay. I’m happy to see you. Surprised.”
We fell into a hug and Colton squeezed me tight. He ran his hands up and down my back like he was warming me up, and it made me giggle. “How are you?” he asked. “You sound okay.”
“I just met with my boss. We should be fine. The fantasy league is having a field day, though. Might need you to Jones them.”
He kissed the top of my head. “Just let me know when and where.”
I held him tighter and hummed. “Such a dirty talker. You know how to get a girl going.”
Colt chuckled. “Violence does it for you?”
“Violence on my behalf? Absolutely. We’ll get to dark romance eventually.”
Colt’s smile turned wry. “Yeah. Guess I’ll start that hockey romance on the flight.”
I chewed my bottom lip and blinked against the sun behind him. “You’re tired. You can take a break. Or quit entirely. It’s a massive favor. Don’t wear yourself out over me.”
Colton stuck out his lip. “Nah. You don’t wear me out.” His eyes skated over my face. “You make everything better.”
My throat tightened. Colton: vulnerable to a fault, as always. I wrapped my arms around his waist to hug him again.
“Well, just know you have my permission to do whatever will make you feel good.” I hesitated, thinking that statement through. “I mean, except doing sexy stuff with other people. Unless you want to. But, you know, just let me know so I don’t—”
“Hey.” Colton kept an arm around my back but brought his finger up to boop my nose. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
My heart started to race, the thud resonating at my jugular. “Even if we’re fake?”
Colt stilled, looking somewhere past me. “Our arrangement hasn’t changed. Not for me, at least. Nobody else. No labels.”
I nodded. “Not for me, either.”
Colton looked like he did in college when he ate too much and was trying to be cool about it.
He stepped back from me and crossed one arm across his middle, sending the other through his hair.
“Hey, so . . . I’m kinda worried about what people are saying out there.
The team said we should give it a couple days before making a statement, but, I don’t know. That feels kinda weird too.”
He scratched his neck, then rubbed the back of it.
“Yeah. It does. And, you know . . . kinda weird for the team to talk about your personal life.”
“Exactly,” he said, some of the anguish leaving his expression. “So. I don’t know. Maybe we could . . . get ahead of it? But I don’t want to put the spotlight on you any more than I already have.”
I let out a morose chuckle. “I mean, if we’re sticking to the tenets of fake dating, part of it is making a public appearance. What kind of spotlight are you thinking?”
Colton popped his jaw and pulled on his temple, opening and closing his mouth several times like he was afraid to speak. I reached for his hand, squeezing it. “Hey. I’m fine. What should we do?”
Colton blew out a long breath, shaking his head to clear it. “Sorry. Yeah. I could . . . post a pic of us.”
I shrugged and let my hands slap my thighs. “Easy peasy. Works for me.”
He gnawed on the inside of his lip. “The problem is, I don’t have any current ones. Just, you know, from back then.”
Back then. College. When we were really together, and not together to get the internet off his back.
“How about a quick one now? I’m not dressed up, but it’s a casual weekend vibe, I guess,” I said, gesturing with my hands to try to relieve some of the tension between us.
“Vi, you look great,” Colt said, cocking his head at me.
“Oh, stop.” I stepped to his side and put my arm around his back. “I assume you have the fancier phone and longer arms.”
I looked up at him with a grin, and Colton froze, eyes flitting over my face. My stomach dropped when his gaze so clearly went to my lips. He licked and bit his bottom lip, and I must have let out an infinitesimal sigh. He was going to kiss me, wasn’t he?
“Right. The phone,” he said, shifting to get his phone out of his pocket. He opened his camera app and held it out for a selfie. “What pose?”
I had one arm wrapped around his back, and patted his chest with the other, looking up at him. “Just take a bunch. Act natural.”
“Oh, natural?” he laughed, gaze dropping to where I looked up into his face.
He puckered his lips and pressed them to my forehead.
I closed my eyes and breathed in the joy of the moment.
It wasn’t about the camera, or the autumn sunshine framing us.
It wasn’t about the crisp breeze or the smell of decaying maple leaves.
It was about the sweet man who, for that moment, held me as his own.