Chapter 35 Cole • Now
Chapter thirty-five
Cole · Now
I Caught Fire – The Used
“Do you really need this many boards?” Hendrix teases, trailing her fingertips along the line of skateboard hanging off the wall.
I shove my hands in my pockets and rock back on my heels. “There’s only nineteen, I’ll have you know.”
“Only.”
She twists slowly, a small O forming on her face when she takes in every ramp and rail in the room.
A Day To Remember plays low through the speakers, dim, golden lighting glinting off the metal.
“This place is so cool.” She smiles. “Way better than anything we’ve got back at home.”
I chuckle “Should be. Cost me an arm and a fucking leg to build.”
“You built this?”
“Not with my own hands, obviously. But yeah, it’s mine.”
“Do you still skate a lot?”
“As much as I can.”
She unravels her braid, her gaze darting between the wall of boards and ramps.
Gold glitters around her pupils as she grins. “We’re playing hooky, right? No music. No songs. No Reckless Abandon?”
“Just you, me, and an empty skate park.”
Her freckles deepen in colour as she dips her head.
I’m pretty sure she’s thinking of the last time we were in a position exactly like this.
I shuffle on my feet as my jeans shrink. “Everything else can wait another day.”
She taps a finger against her nose.
“What are you thinking?” I ask slowly.
She circles me with slow, measured steps, her arm grazing mine.
The vanilla and citrus notes of her perfume wrap around me.
She presses into my hand and everything stills.
My chest lifts.
A beat passes, then another, before she looks up at me with a cheeky glint.
“What are you—”
She jumps, snatches the ball cap off my head, twisting it backwards on her own, before she darts to the other side of the room and disappears behind the half-pipe, shouting, “Tag, you’re it.”
Yeah, definitely thinking about it…
I slip around the back of the quarter-pipe, keeping my feet light as I tug my phone out my pocket. I swipe over the screen. The music grows louder and the lights dim.
If Hendrix wants to play, we can play, but we’re gonna do it my way.
“You’re cheating!” she calls into the dark.
I follow the sound of her tinkling laughter.
“I don’t recall you setting any rules,” I quip. Metal clinks to the left of me. I spin around, spying a flicker of light. “You know, stealing my hat was a bad idea. The logo glows in the dark, Rixie.”
She scoffs.
“Who still has glow in the dark things in their thirties?!” My cap sails through the air and lands at my feet. “You’re a goddamn child, Cole Hayes!”
Laughter explodes from me as I pick it up and spin it on my head. “Who’s idea was it to play tag?”
I hoist myself up and over the metal and slide down the ramp, before dashing to the other end of the room.
A choked curse hits me, followed by tapping metal as she sprints over the kicker ramp.
I move swiftly, my hands already outstretched.
She doesn’t get a second to escape. She kicks her legs in the air when I band my arm around her waist and haul her into me.
Giggles spill from her, every note setting my body alight.
Her jumper slides up.
My thumb grazes her soft skin, catching on the dangling metal in her belly button.
Hendrix stills, her breath catching.
I freeze.
My chest expands as the air thickens around us.
I feel every beat of her racing heart as it pulses through her body.
A soft noise spills her lips.
My eyes shutter closed, and I ease her down. Only my foot catches on the edge of the ramp, and I careen backwards.
She squeaks, her hands squeezing my arms tight. I tighten my grip on her as my back slams against the concrete. Air whooshes out of me on a grunt.
“Fuck.” I roll her off me, and lay on my side. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she wheezes. “Think you got the brunt of that one, dude.”
I wince, my back twinging as I push up onto my elbow. “Yeah. I’m definitely getting too old for this kind of thing.”
“You’re only thirty-one.” She tuts. “Practically a spring chicken.”
A strand of hair falls over her face.
I reach out and brush it behind her ear.
Her eyes never stray from mine as she licks her lips.
My thumb skates her cheek, heat pulsing through my veins.
“Rixie…”
A shrill ringtone cuts through the air.
“Oh, shit, that’s Riley’s ringtone.” She hisses, rolling onto her back. “I forgot to text her back this morning.”
My hand falls away when she pushes up to standing.
“I’ll just…” She gestures for the door. “Go take this.”
“Right.” I clear my throat.
She rushes out of the room, the double doors swinging shut behind her with a deafening click.
My lungs deflate as reality smacks me in the face.
I’m so fucked.
I hide my grin behind my water bottle.
“They're not even on the same planet.” Hendrix slaps her palm against the table. Fries escape the red basket and litter the wood, but she doesn’t seem to notice as she continues on her rant. “The Conjuring series beats Insidious every single time. Just for the love story alone.”
“Pretty sure it’s not meant to be a love story, Rixie.”
She scoffs around her straw as she greedily sucks down her milkshake.
“If you can watch those films and not find them romantic, you’re completely…” She trails off as a server drops wings onto the table. She gives them a thanks with a sweet smile before turning back to me and narrowing her expression. “Dead inside.”
I chortle as I snatch up some fries and lean back in the booth. “I’ve only watched the first one, and it was definitely not romantic.”
She gasps. “Then why are we even arguing about this? You have no leg to stand on if you haven’t watched the whole series.”
“Pretty sure we aren’t arguing. You just decided to go on a…” I flick my phone over, glancing at the time. “Seven-minute rant about how it’s the most beautiful love story of all time.”
“I do not sound like that.” Her lips twist into a grimace, eyes crinkling and nose creasing. “And it definitely wasn’t seven minutes. You’re making that up.”
“Am not.” I smirk, shoving the fries in my mouth.
She goes to say something, but churlish giggles sound from the neighbouring table, followed by chatter that includes my name.
I blow air into my cheeks and rap the table.
“I think you’ve been caught.” Hendrix winces and pushes her chair back. “We should probably get out of here. Just wait there, and hunker down.”
“Hunker down?” My gaze slants as I discreetly tap on my phone under the table.
“You know what I meant.” She waves me off. “I’ll go see if we can get this wrapped up.”
“No bother, I’ve already sorted it.” I stand up, toss some cash on the table for a tip, and pull my cap lower on my head.
Hendrix shuffles beside me. “What do you mean you’ve already sorted it?”
“Dean’s on it.” I place a hand on her lower back, fire licking my fingers as they slip under her sweatshirt.
“Who’s Dean?” She peeks up at me.
I flick her nose lightly. “Our security.”
“You have security with you right now?” She scans the room, her face slackening. “Where? How did I not realise? Has he followed us all day?”
I chuckle at her naivety as I steer her towards the doors. “Since we left the skatepark, yes.”
“But—”
“He’s discreet. It’s kinda in the job description.” I nudge her out of the way when she reaches for the door handle. I tug it open. “I don’t get to go many places these days without someone tailing me.”
She hums as if the thought had never crossed her mind.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Justin Bieber, but me and the guys can’t really go out without being recognised. And there’s always that one person who takes it to the extreme, so it’s just not worth the risk.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I laugh. “There was this one dude who broke into my hotel room a couple years ago because his girlfriend had my poster on her bedroom wall and he was feeling a little jealous.”
Hendrix’s mouth drops open. “What happened?”
“Nothing exciting. Saint was crashing with me that night, so he just tossed the guy a joint, told him to chill the fuck out, and locked him in the bathroom until security came up to clear him out.”
“That’s…” She blinks. “Holy fuck.”
“It doesn’t happen a lot, but better safe than sorry, you know.”
“Yeah.” Her voice softens, and she exhales a short breath as I unlock my car and shuffle her inside. “It’s still so hard to reconcile with that side of you. I’ve seen your career, I know how big you are. Hell, I have a bank account to prove it, but I just can’t see you as anyone other than Cole.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I lean over the door, metal digging into my arm. “I’m still Cole. Just a lot richer and a little more known.”
“It’s not bad. Just different.” She fingers the edge of her jumper. “I always knew you were headed here. You know that, right?”
She looks up then, her expression the most open I’ve seen it since she came back. “The thought of you making it never scared me, Rock Star.”
I swallow.
When she left, she never gave me a real reason. Just that things weren’t working anymore. That she couldn’t do the girlfriend of a rock star thing. I thought it was bullshit back then and she just confirmed it now.
I lean in closer, my breath blending with hers.
Gold flickers as her eyes caress my face. My left eye, my right, my lips. She dampens her lower lip, the silver ball glittering.
My arm trembles against the metal hood.
She pushes up, chasing away the final inches between us. I can taste the chocolate milkshake lingering on her lips as they ghost over mine.
Every muscle in my body begs to reach out for her—to pull her into me and never let her go. But the moment is gone as quick as it comes when she presses a warm hand to my chest and pushes me back.
She tips her head toward the windshield, her face blanking. A gaggle of teenage girls watch us, their phones in their hands, their eyes brimming with excitement.
“We should go,” Hendrix says, hand curling around the door handle. “Don’t want to cause a commotion.”
She tugs the door shut and ducks her head, leaving me with a single questioning lingering on my lips…
What did scare you, Rixie?