Chapter 3 1,178 days before the breakup #2
By the time most of the boxes were inside, I was sweaty, starving, and debating if my friendship with pizza delivery apps had gone too far.
Cole had pulled his hat backward, hair damp at his temples, and for some reason, I found myself wondering what sport he used to play.
He gave off the vibe of someone who’d been captain of something.
“You’re quieter than I thought you’d be,” I said as we climbed the stairs together, me balancing a laundry basket on my hip while he carried a box marked FRAGILE.
He shot me a sideways look. “Quieter?”
“Yeah. Drew and Tucker both made it sound like you never shut up.”
That smirk of his tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Maybe I’m pacing myself.”
“Oh, so I should be worried.”
“Terrified.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled despite myself.
Once everything was stacked in the right rooms, I started unpacking the essentials, a.k.a. organizing my books by color (because obviously). I had just finished sorting a row of paperbacks when Cole walked in with my last box.
He set it down, glanced around the room, and his eyes landed on the shelves.
“So about these precious books,” he said, leaning against the doorframe. “Were you an English major or something?”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Close. Education major, English minor. In two weeks, I’ll be officially responsible for shaping the minds of ninth graders.”
Cole raised his brows like he was impressed. “That’s a lot of pressure.”
“Tell me about it. One bad lesson, and suddenly I’m the reason a whole generation thinks Shakespeare is boring.”
“Bold of you to assume they don’t already.”
I gasped in mock outrage. “Wow, way to crush my dreams.”
He grinned, but his expression softened as he crossed into the room. “So you’re more of a reader than a writer?”
“Did you prep interview questions for this?” I teased, slotting another hardcover into its place.
“Just a curious guy.”
I hesitated, feeling a little exposed but answering anyway.
“I read more than I write, but only because reading doesn’t require nearly as much emotional energy.
Still, after watching Bridget Jones’s Diary in eighth grade, I decided I wanted to write in some sort of capacity for the rest of my life.
I have no idea what that’ll look like though. ”
Cole trailed his fingers across the spines like he was mapping the shelves. “So why teaching, then? Not writing?”
I smoothed my hand over a book cover. “Teaching felt safer, I guess. Writing as a full-time job? People don’t exactly take it seriously. Not to mention it’s tough to break into that world. Teaching made sense. Plus, my mom was a teacher.”
His nod was slower this time, like he was really listening. “Yeah, I get that. That’s kind of why I majored in business. Because of my dad. It’s what he always pushed for, and well, you know how that goes.”
“Gotta love family expectations.”
A silence stretched, not uncomfortable exactly, just heavier. I turned back to the shelves, but when the mattress creaked behind me, I spun to find him sprawled across it, making himself at home.
“Business, huh?” I asked, trying not to sound as intrigued or as charmed as I felt. “So what do you do now?”
“Sales. It’s not glamorous, but it pays the bills.” His eyes flicked toward the ceiling.
“Sounds riveting,” I said lightly before the moment could tilt too serious.
“Oh, it’s thrilling,” he said before adding, “But at least I’m not convincing high schoolers that a dead guy’s still relevant.”
I was still smiling when my phone buzzed with Incoming call: Lucas, pulling me out of the world we’d made for ourselves and straight back into reality.
“Sorry, one sec.” I picked it up. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said. “I know I’m probably too late, but do you still need help moving stuff? I got tied up with my mom earlier.”
I glanced around the room. The boxes were mostly unpacked, Cole still comfortably perched on my bed.
“We’re actually pretty much done. Tucker brought backup, so you’re off the hook this time.”
Lucas laughed. “Lucky me. All right, well, text me if anything changes.”
“Will do,” I said, then hung up.
Cole tilted his head. “Boyfriend?”
The question caught me off guard—not the question itself but how direct it was.
“Oh god, no,” I said quickly. “Lucas is my best friend. Has been since freshman year. The guys are just kind of obsessed with him because he never comes around. He’s usually with his girlfriend and her friends.”
Cole nodded slowly, like that was the answer he’d been hoping for. “Good,” he said simply.
It wasn’t flirty or cocky. Just confident.
Heat crept up my neck. The casual way he admitted his interest left me momentarily speechless, and I wasn’t used to that.
“You don’t seem to be wasting any time,” I managed, laughing a little to cut the tension.
Cole leaned back on his hands, the mattress dipping slightly beneath his weight. His gaze dragged around the room before settling back on me. “Life’s too short for assumptions,” he said. “Figured I’d just ask.”
“Fair enough,” I said, sliding another book into place, trying not to focus on how clammy my hands suddenly felt. “Well, in that case, yes. I’m single. It’s just me and these books.”
He let out a laugh. “So do you organize them alphabetically, or is there some sort of system I’d need a degree to understand?”
“Oh, it’s a system. A very secret one.” I smirked, running my hand along the shelf.
He raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly. “I’m intrigued. Maybe you’ll tell me one day?”
I paused, meeting his gaze. There was something magnetic about the way he was watching me.
Even though we were the only two people here, his focus made me feel like I was being studied.
It wasn’t a bad feeling, but it made me sit up a little straighter and feel more aware of how I looked from his point of view.
“Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
Cole exhaled, shaking his head. “Guess I will.”
He lingered a second longer before standing, his knee brushing deliberately against my shoulder as he stepped past me—slow enough that I knew he could’ve moved another way. It was subtle, fleeting, but lit up my entire body anyway.
It was nothing, technically. Just a brush of his knee, a quiet look, a laugh, but I already knew this moment was going to live rent-free in my head for a while.