Chapter 66
Chapter sixty-six
Cole · Now
Hallelujah – No Resolve
“I’m asking now.”
The world collapses under my feet at the pitched, broken voice. I hug my board like a lifeline, my gaze straying to the wrist. I slam my eyes shut. My heart batters against my rib cage and every breath I drag stings.
I've been waiting years for Hendrix to choose me.
Turns out, she’s been choosing me all along.
To hear the words she said to her dad, that she left for me—to make sure I got everything I wanted—was like a knife straight to my fucking gut. Because how does she not know that the only thing I’ve ever really wanted is her?
“Don’t ask because you think it’s what I need to hear.” I keep my voice flat, despite the raging storm inside me. “You can’t choose me for me. You have to choose for yourself.”
I hear her step closer, a breath puffing from her lungs. “Do you know I fell in love with you at this skatepark?”
The board slips in the crook of my arm.
“It was the first time I came here. My mum and dad had a screaming match that night and I just needed to breathe.”
I don’t turn. I can’t.
If I see her, I’ll crack.
“And there you were.” Rain splashes on the concrete as she steps closer. “Do you remember what you told me that day?”
That you were the prettiest girl I’d ever seen…
“‘It’ll take more than a pretty girl to put me down for long.’” I don’t need to see her to know there’s a soft smile sitting on her face. “Fucking butterflies, Rock Star. Pretty sure that was the exact moment you stole my heart.”
“I remember.”
“Just before that, Saint had been trying to make me jealous,” she continues, as if I didn’t say anything. “I nearly fell for it too. Elaine the pain has that effect on people. Just look at Theo. She’s still not gotten over that day Saint sat with her on the bus.”
My chest flutters.
“But then you strolled over with this bright, boyish grin, that was just for me, and it was like…” She draws in a slow breath. “I was the only girl in the world.”
“You are.”
"I'd never felt seen before you. You were the first person who looked at me and just saw me.”
I loosen my grip, the board sliding through my fingertips. It crashes to the concrete. Holding my breath, I twist.
My pulse thrums.
She stands a breath’s width away from me. Her hair is sopping, mascara smudged under wide, glittering eyes as they dance over my face.
“I’ve only ever seen you.” I curl my fingers at my sides. “You know why I call you Rixie?”
“Because everyone needs a good nickname?” She chuckles.
My mouth twitches at the reminder of the words I said that very first day. “No. That’s not it.”
“Then why?”
“Because you told me your friends called you Hendrix.” I inch forward as her mouth drops open. “I knew from the second I saw you I could never be just your friend.”
I stop when our shoes touch.
“How could I, when you traipsed into that classroom with all those fucking piercings, named a metal guitarist as the greatest of all time, and stole my breath away with a single look?”
She reaches her hand out, pinching the sleeve of my jumper between her finger and thumb.
“I’ve been in love with you since I was fourteen years old,” she says, pushing up onto her tiptoes and tugging me down until we’re eye to eye. “You’re not one of many choices for me, Cole.” Gold flickers in her misty irises. “You are the only choice.”
I wrap my hand around her hip.
Water seeps into my already icy skin, but I don’t pull away. “Rixie—”
“I love you.” She breathes, her mouth slanting over mine. “I’ve loved you for half of my life. I tried not to. God knows, I fucking tried. But there’s no escaping you. You’re a part of me.”
I cup her rosy, wind-whipped cheek.
“If we do this, you can’t walk away, Rixie.” I slip a hand through her hair, my fingers grazing her nape. “When it gets hard, and it will get hard at times. You can’t just disappear. We can’t live in a cycle.”
“I know. There’s a lot of things I need to deal with and face if we’re going to figure this out properly.” She presses a feather-light kiss to my lips. “Probably need a fuck ton of therapy, if we’re being honest.”
I chuckle at her dry tone, my forehead brushing hers. “Yeah, probably.”
“You’re not supposed to agree.” She grins.
I squeeze her hip, and she shivers.
My eyes slide shut as she runs her palm along my cheek. Her breath heats my skin, her eyes wet as they search the depths of mine.
I drag her closer. “What the fuck am I gonna do with you, Rixie Moore?”
“Love me,” she whispers, kissing the corner of my mouth. “Always.” The other corner. “Forever.” My lower lip. “And even after.”
She steals my breath as she claims my lips.
Her fingers sink into my hair, nails skating over my scalp, and I fucking tremble. I snake my arm around her back and lift her into me. Her legs lock around my waist.
I move without thought.
She gasps when I prop her on the edge of the half-pipe.
I slide my tongue in her mouth and tangle it with hers.
She trails her hand down my jumper before pushing it under and over my thumping heart. Her fingers are like ice.
I nip her lips, she moans, and I shift.
My hips buck against her.
I press open-mouthed kisses along her jaw, up her cheek, and over her earlobe.
“Do you remember when we were eighteen, and we were here? It was the middle of the night…” My lashes shutter closed as her nails dip beneath my waistband. “I didn’t know you had an exhibitionist kink until that day.”
She sucks in a greedy breath, sliding into my boxers. “That’s not my kink, dude.”
“No?” I skate my fingers up her back, sink them into her hair, and tilt her head until our gazes are locked.
“No.” She finds my aching erection. “I just have a Cole Hayes kink.”
“Fuck.”
She eases my button free with her other hand and curls her fingers around me.
Water splashes around her when I slap my hand to the metal.
Hendrix doesn’t stop. She drags her hand up and down, searing heat zipping through me with every stroke.
“But to answer your question.” She trails her lips over my jaw, down to my pulse point, and sinks her teeth into my skin. My dick pulses, chasing the high that only she can give. “I remember everything.”
I lose it.
My muscles tense, body vibrating.
Cum coats her palm.
She pulls her hand free, licking her lips as she stares down at her stained fingers. She pulls one into her mouth.
I swallow.
Releasing the button on her jeans, I push her back with my free hand. Rain continues to fall around us, the clouds dark, and dreary but I don’t fucking care.
I drag the denim down her legs, shove my own to my thighs, and sink inside her with a single thrust.
Her back arches, her mouth falling open on the most glorious gasp. I grip her hip, my fingers digging into her. She scratches my skin, leaving her mark, as I ease out, before slamming back down.
I slip a hand between us when she pulses around me. My thumb rolls over her clit. Once, twice, before I tug at the metal ring. She pulls me into her, sealing our mouths as she falls right over the edge. Her tongue twists with mine, our breaths becoming one.
I rock faster.
Keeping my thumb steady on her heated bud, I pour every single thing I’ve ever felt into her.
Sixteen years of love, loss, and longing.
All for her.
My breaths quicken as the universe fucking explodes around me. Sparks flicker over every inch of me, stars dancing the edges of my vision.
Hendrix flutters around me.
I swallow my name as it tears from her lips.
Her legs quiver, her nails sinking into my back as she clings to me.
I cup her jaw, my thumb brushing her pink, puffy lips.
Sweat beads on my neck. I exhale a slow, ragged breath and pull her upright before wrapping my arms around her.
A breathless chuckle spills my lips.
“We should probably get out of the rain,” she whispers, shivering as she loops her arms around my neck. “I’m freezing my tits off.”
“Worth it.” I ease her down to the floor, reposition my clothes, and steal a kiss. “So, Rixie Moore. Where do we go next?”
She tugs her jeans up and hooks her fingers into the sleeves of the hoodie she stole from me. “You go home, get your arse in the studio, and record some songs for me.”
“And you?”
“I’ve got some things to do around here.”
“You gonna come back to me this time?” I pinch her chin between my thumb and forefinger.
A devastating grin brightens her face. “Try and stop me, Rock Star.”