Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
KAIRI
I feel absolutely humiliated as I push my way into the women’s restroom, tears still streaking down my face. I can’t believe I had an outburst like that in public, but I was so angry with Zale for talking about Colton like that, and knowing that he could hear Zale just made it that much worse.
I allowed my anger to get the best of me, and in doing so, I completely let my guard down and revealed the feelings I have for Colton that I’ve been trying to ignore.
Zale called it love, and I don’t know if he’s right or wrong, but the fact that he said it in front of Colton has me in a full blown panic right now.
I thought I’d be coming on this date and clearing up any confusion I feel. I thought by doing this, it would become so clear to me that Zale is still the person I desperately want. But instead, this whole date just felt like a shit talking session, and not at all what I was expecting.
It was like Zale was venting to a friend, not getting to know the girl he’s apparently interested in. I knew I was right about him only wanting to go on this date to prove to Colton that he could still get me. That he was the better option.
After what happened tonight, and the way Zale spoke to me, any feelings I’ve been harbouring for him completely dissolved.
He isn’t who I thought he was, or who I remember him to be.
To even call him my friend right now feels wrong on so many levels, because a real friend wouldn’t insult me the way he did out there.
“Kairi?” I hear Colton’s deep voice call out from behind the restroom door. “Kairi, are you in there?”
A woman exits the stall—flushing the toilet behind her—and walks over to a sink to wash her hands, eyeing me in the mirror.
“Kairi, if you don’t come out of here, I’m coming in,” Colton warns.
“Go away, Colton,” I shout back.
There’s no way he’ll actually come in here, right?
Wrong.
The restroom door bursts open and slams against the wall behind it, causing the lady next to me to shriek and rush past Colton, leaving me alone with him as he locks the door behind him, his eyes never leaving mine.
“This is the women’s restroom,” I say, roughly wiping the tears from my face. “You shouldn’t be in here.”
He stalks toward me, forcing me to back up until my waist hits the sink countertop, leaving me with nowhere else to go as he corners me.
”I’m going to need you to explain yourself, baby,” he says, gripping the edge of the counter as he leans in. “Because what I saw and heard out there wasn’t someone that sees me as just a friend.”
My heart thumps so hard that I’m sure my chest will rip open and expose me raw, so I shove him backward to create some space between us. He stumbles back a couple steps, surprised, and he doesn’t try to come closer just yet.
“You think I should explain myself?” I scoff. “I just found out from Zale, of all people, that you’re leaving.”
He sighs, placing his fists on his hips and staring down at his shoes. “He’s right, I am leaving,” he says, before peeking up at me. “But it’s only for a short time.”
Unbelievable, I think to myself. Does he think I’m naive and stupid too, just like Zale?
“So short that you don’t even have a return date figured out yet?”
“I left it open because I’m planning a trip to see my family,” he mutters, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“I don’t know if they’ll let me stay there at all though, so there’s a chance I come back the same night or there’s a chance I come back in a week's time. Gabriel let me leave the request open-ended until I knew for sure.”
“You’re…visiting your family?” Some of my anger fizzles out as I frown at him.
He nods. “After our drive-in date, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Watching that movie with you and talking about them brought up a lot of feelings for me, and I want to at least try to fix things before it’s too late.”
How can I be upset now that I know his reason for going? The topic of his family has been such a sore spot for him, and I’m positive it probably hurts even more than he’s letting on. But I can’t help but still feel like I play a part in this decision too.
“And leaving has nothing to do with what happened between us earlier today?”
“Sure it does,” he shrugs. “I lied to myself and to you today. I can’t ignore my feelings for you, Kairi—it’s impossible.
But I’m not about to stand in the way of your pursuit of love.
I figured some space could help me figure out how to control my feelings a bit better, so that I can make smarter decisions for the both of us. ”
”But you were always planning on coming back?” I whisper, the anger I felt only moments ago completely fading, replaced with an ache I can’t quite name.
“Always,” he says, taking a hesitant step toward me, followed by another. “Now, can you please tell me what the hell I saw out there?”
He stops in front of me and reaches forward, gently pushing my hair behind my ear, and I close my eyes against his touch.
”I don’t think I have an answer to your question, Colton,” I whisper, my lip trembling. “I don’t fully understand what I’m feeling, and it’s all very confusing.”
His thumb strokes my cheek and I open my eyes to see him smiling down at me with a smile that I can only describe as being filled with love.
“You know what I think?” He asks. “I think you’re in love for the first time in your life.”
My lungs feel like they’re being squeezed as I stare up at him, my lip trembling even harder.
“I think,” he murmurs, eyes dropping to my mouth as his thumb brushes along my lip, “you know it too, and it’s scaring the hell out of you.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. “I don’t know any—“
He cuts me off with his mouth, our lips colliding, and lifts me onto the edge of the sink countertop, not once breaking our kiss as he slides his hand under my skirt and grips my thigh, using his other hand to tilt my head back to deepen our kiss.
Our tongues dance together, and every few seconds he squeezes my thigh, building up my need for him until I can’t take it anymore. I reach down and take his hand, guiding him higher until he’s right where I want him
Colton pushes my underwear to the side and sinks two fingers in, making me gasp against his mouth. We’d fucked just this morning, and yet the whole day I found myself desperate for more.
“So greedy for me,” he mumbles against my lips.
His fingers work me so well that any second now I’m going to explode around him. But just before I tip over the edge, he pulls his fingers out and the mounting orgasm quickly fades away.
“I should leave you like this,” he says, pulling back to look me in my eyes. “Needy, and desperate for more until you figure out what it is that you feel for me.”
My heart sinks, because I don’t want that. I want him to leave me with comfort. Not the kind of desperation that’ll have me hitch hiking to Bluewater Bluffs to chase after an orgasm.
”But I can’t do that to you,” he continues, unbuttoning and zipping down his pants so that his cock springs free. “I want you to feel good before I go.”
He slides into me, rougher than usual, and a strangled moan escapes from my lips.
”While I’m gone,” he grunts. “I want you to think long and hard about what it is you want from me.”
“Okay,” I whimper, gripping onto the back of his neck for balance as he slams into me repeatedly. “I will.”
“And be honest with yourself. Don’t go convincing that head of yours that you’re confused. And don’t deny the truth of how you feel.”
“I-I’ll be honest,” I gasp, the mounting orgasm from earlier returning with a vengeance.
”And ask yourself if you really think anyone else can make you as happy as I do,” he says, his own voice starting to shake. “And if you really think anyone can make you feel this good.”
I throw my head back as the orgasm crashes into me in waves, and Colton covers my mouth just as I begin to moan loudly.
“Ahh, fuck,” he growls, pounding into me faster and harder as he tips over the edge alongside me.
Someone knocks on the restroom door as we ride out the orgasm together, but we completely ignore them until they give up.
We’re left breathless, gasping for air with our foreheads pressed together, and when the knocking starts again coupled with desperate turns of the door handle, Colton slides out of me and tucks himself back into his pants.
He pushes open a stall, and grabs a handful of toilet paper before walking back over to me and cleaning up the cum that’s seeping out of me and running down my thighs. He’s being so gentle, so caring, and another wave of emotions surge through me until I find myself sniffling back tears.
”Think about me while I’m gone,” he murmurs, not looking up as he continues cleaning. “And ask yourself if you can live without me. That should clear up any of your confusion.”
Colton tosses the toilet paper into the trash can, and helps me onto my feet, fixing my skirt back into place before he takes my hand and leads me out of the restroom. There’s a line of angry women when we open the door, but one look at Colton and my messed up hair causes them to smirk knowingly.
My face burns hot as I wonder if any of them heard me, and I force myself to look away for my own sanity. He leads me all the way back to my table, and I’m surprised to find Zale still sitting in the booth, arms crossed with an annoyed expression.
Colton completely ignores him as he lifts my chin and looks into my eyes.
“I’m going to leave for the ranch now," he says. “And unfortunately this is where my love coaching has to end, darlin’. I’m not going to help another guy win you over if there’s even a tiny chance you might have feelings for me too.”
“Promise you’ll come back?” I whisper, my lip beginning to quiver.
He smirks before kissing my forehead. “I promise,” he says. “One week is the longest I’ll be gone for.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll be waiting.”
He turns to Zale, the smile dropping off his face. “Bring her back to the house safely," he says. “And apologize for all the bullshit you said to her before you lose a real friend, dumbass.”
Zale stares at him stunned, nodding ever so slightly. Colton gives me a short peck on the forehead and walks out of the restaurant to his car. Even though I know he’ll be back, it still hurts to watch him go.
“You really like him, huh?”
I look away from the entrance and toward Zale, who's been watching this whole time with his chin resting on his palm.
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
One side of his mouth quirks up into a smile. “Yeah you do,” he replies before taking out his wallet and tossing down cash to cover our meals. “Let’s get out of here.”
We leave the restaurant and head to the company van that we drove to get here, seeing as neither of us has a car, but he doesn’t start the engine when we get inside.
”I’m really sorry for the way I spoke to you and the names I called you in there,” he says, staring at the steering wheel with a disappointed expression.
“I have an ego problem, clearly, and getting dumped by Alessia and then having you move on from the crush you had on me…it hit my pride and I lashed out.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper, playing with my fingers on my lap. “I know I’m not naive or stupid.”
”It’s not okay,” he says, shaking his head and finally looking at me. “And no, you’re not naive or stupid—that would be me. I hope you can forgive me because losing your friendship would really really suck.”
I sigh, looking out the window for a moment while I collect my thoughts.
“I don’t want to lose your friendship either, Zale,” I mutter. “But you’ve changed so much from the person that I used to know…I’m worried I don’t actually know who you are anymore.”
He winces, then nods. “You’re right,” he replies solemnly. “To be honest, after watching my sister go through the worst years of her life and then almost dying last year in the accident and from childbirth…I’ve probably internalized a lot of my own fears and built up walls around myself.”
My heart hurts for him because I can imagine how hard that must have been for him, to feel so helpless while the person he adores the most, his sister, went through the hardest time of her life.
”Zale, you need to speak to someone about that,” I murmur, reaching over and taking his hand. “A real professional, someone that can help you work through your fears and break down those walls.”
He nods, but I don’t miss the slight tremble of his lip. “Yeah,” he whispers, squeezing my hand back. “I think you’re right.”
I squeeze his hand back and give him a small smile. “Let this be your healing era, bestie.”
He winces then laughs before gently shoving my shoulder. “Okay, I’m taking you home before your boyfriend drives back here and kills me.”
”He’s not my boyfriend,” I say quickly.
Zale looks at me with disbelief as he starts the engine. “Right,” he scoffs. “And I’m not the most attractive surfer in town.”
I give him a sideways look and he gasps, pretending to be offended. We both burst out into laughter and he begins the short drive back to The Shredder House. It feels like I’ve got my friend back, and it feels good to finally just call him a friend without wanting for more.