12. Chapter 12
Cole
Sadie Nicole Levit might not ever be in love with me, but she at least found me attractive. And right now, that was enough. Maybe too much, actually. If we were going to keep things professional, which we absolutely hadn’t so far, it would be easier if she found me revolting. Safer.
I could fight my attraction, but it made things harder when I could see her struggling with the same thing—at least if the way her eyes kept landing on my lips meant anything. And I didn’t want to fight it. I was fighting it for her. Because she wasn’t ready.
Tomorrow was Alyssa’s dance, and then the next day, we were leaving this place. I paced around my apartment. Boxes lined the walls, and the only things not packed were a couple of changes of clothing and food.
Someone knocked on my door. I hoped it was Sadie coming to tell me she’d decided our marriage should be based entirely on making out. I knew I was wrong and stupid, but my thoughts weren’t always well controlled.
I opened the door to see my sister, Nayvee, and her husband, Van. Nayvee had offered to come and help us move. My eyes jumped to her stomach.
“You’re pregnant?”
She glanced down and shrugged. “That or too many donuts. Honestly, it might be both.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. You look like you might drop a baby any second.” I gave her a hug.
“Thanks a lot,” she said. “I didn’t realize you didn’t know. I forget you aren’t in on the Lansing Falls gossip.”
“Hey, Van,” I said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Thanks for coming.”
“Anytime,” he said.
“Come in,” I said, holding the door. They came in and looked around. “Girl or boy?”
Nayvee shrugged. “We want to be surprised.”
“I’m hoping for a girl with red hair,” Van said, picking up a piece of Nayvee’s hair.
She laughed. “I think you kill our chances of having a redhead,” she said.
He ran his hand over his black curls and grinned. “I think you’re right.”
Van and Nayvee had both had crushes on each other in high school. Something had happened that made Nayvee avoid him for years, but they’d still ended up together. I wasn’t sure of the entire story since I hadn’t been around for most of it, but obviously things were going well for them.
“Tell us about Sadie,” Nayvee said, sitting on the couch. “I’m guessing she’s the girl from the gym you wanted to ask out?”
“Yeah, she’s great. You’re going to love her.”
“What’s she like?”
“Gorgeous.”
Nayvee rolled her eyes. “I meant things that aren’t about her looks.”
I grinned. “Right. Well, her middle name is Nicole, and she has a sister she has custody of.” My smile fell. Was that all I had? “Uh, she’s a hard worker, and she likes macaroni.”
Nayvee snorted. “Seriously?”
“I might be wrong,” I said. “But she eats it.” I realized how bad it sounded. Maybe we should have compared more. Or talked more. Or anything.
“You know you sound like Dax right now?”
I laughed. “That awful?” Dax was the last sibling I would want to be compared to.
“And you’re doing this to get your money. That’s why your knowledge about her extends to her middle name?”
I sighed. “It’s fine, don’t tell anyone.”
“How is it fine?” Van asked, sitting by Nayvee. “Do you really want to marry someone you don’t love?”
Nayvee punched him softly in the arm. “There was no mention of love when we decided to get married.”
“No, but it was already there.”
“We have stuff going for us,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“What stuff?” Nayvee asked.
There was a frantic pounding on the door, and Alyssa came bursting in, waving a paper in her hand. “Cole! I totally forgot about this math paper, and it’s due in forty-five minutes! It’s the last one of the term, and I’m not sure it’s in English.”
I laughed. “Come sit at the table.”
Her eyes landed on Nayvee and Van. “Sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”
“It’s fine. We don’t want you failing right at the end. This is my sister Nayvee and her husband Van.”
Alyssa nodded. “Hello.”
I turned to Nayvee. “This is Alyssa. She’s Sadie’s sister.”
Nayvee smiled. “Nice to meet you. Go ahead and math. We can entertain ourselves.”
We went to the kitchen table, and Alyssa tapped her pencil. “I don’t have enough time!”
“Math now, panic later,” I told her.
Sadie
I opened my front door to see a very pregnant woman with long, wavy red hair standing on my doorstep. “Hello?” I said. She didn’t look like a salesperson in her knee-high boots and designer skirt.
“Hi. Sadie?” she said.
“Yes?”
“I’m Nayvee Hart. Cole’s sister.”
“Oh! Come in.”
She entered, and I gestured to the couch. “Sit, please.”
She sat and glanced at me. “Cole is helping your sister, so I thought I would come meet you. And before you panic, I know you two are getting married for the money.”
I blinked and sat in Grandma’s rocker. “Cole told you?”
“After I guessed. We talk on the phone all the time, so I knew you couldn’t have been dating long. I knew he wanted to ask you out before the whole thing with the gym and football job came up, but it still hadn’t been enough time to date and fall in love.”
I just nodded, but my pulse had gone double time. Cole had wanted to ask me out? I hadn’t known that. Something about knowing he’d chosen me—before all this—made my heart flip. I wondered how that would have turned out. Probably poorly, because I would have said no.
“My sister doesn’t know. Can you keep it quiet?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“I’m doing this for her. We’ve been in a… hard situation the last while.”
“So none of it’s about Cole?” she asked gently.
I squirmed. I didn’t like how quickly my mind jumped to his smile. Or his hands. Or the way he’d backed off when I asked him to. “I might have said yes to someone else. I was desperate. But I did have a slight crush on him. That made it easier. Don’t tell him that.”
Why was I confessing to someone I didn’t know? And Cole’s sister of all people?
She blinked. “You had a crush on him? And he had a crush on you. Is it bad to tell?”
“I don’t want you to think I’m a terrible person by answering that.”
She smiled. “You won’t know unless you tell.”
“I didn’t have a crush on his personality.” I wanted to disappear as soon as the words left my mouth.
I wanted to hide when she laughed.
“Cole is a good-looking guy,” she said.
I put my hands on my cheeks. “He’s nice. He’s helping my sister. I like being around him so far, but yes. His looks caught my eye first, and that’s totally shallow.”
“All relationships start somewhere. And I have to tell you. Marrying for the money is almost expected in our family at this point. At least you and Cole like each other. Or am I assuming?”
“We get along.”
“My sister Brynlee married her boss, and they hated each other, so you’re ahead of them.”
“I’d still prefer people didn’t know. The more people know, the more chance Alyssa finds out, and I don’t want her to think that’s a normal way to get out of problems. I sound like such a mess.”
Nayvee smiled. “I think the two of you have potential, or I’d protest.”
I looked at my hands. I wasn’t sure what we had. Potential? Maybe. Chemistry? Definitely. But that wasn’t anything to rely on. Especially when I was running from it.
“I’m a little nervous to meet all the family.”
“I want to say not to worry, but I’m the introvert of the family. It might feel a little overwhelming at first, but once you get used to us, you’ll be fine. Oh, and ignore my mom. She hates most people. Take anything she says with a grain of salt.”
I nodded. That wasn’t very reassuring. If Cole’s mom didn’t like me, that would be awkward.
“Great, now I’ve made you panic.”
“No, it’s fine. Better to know what I’m in for.”
Alyssa came tearing into the apartment. “Cole is awesome!” she said, grabbing her backpack and shoving a paper into it. “See you!” And she was gone again.
I wasn’t sure what would have happened with Alyssa’s math grade without Cole.
A loud thump sounded above us. I looked up. Three more thumps. I smiled and shook my head.
“Cole told me he irritated you by making too much noise. It sounds like an elephant’s up there.”
“He was so annoying,” I said. “Every time I tried to help Alyssa with her homework, he would start jump roping.”
More thumping.
“Now he’s doing it on purpose.”
“Should we go up?” Nayvee asked.
“Sure.”
I didn’t really want to. Meeting new people wasn’t on my list of things I liked to do anymore. Once upon a time, but not now. Nayvee seemed nice, so her husband probably was as well.
We went up, and Cole smiled at me. “I found a new way to tell you to come up.”
“Jumping?”
“Yep.”
“I have a phone.”
He introduced me to Nayvee’s husband, then we all sat around making awkward conversation.
Cole sat on the loveseat next to me and draped his arm lightly over my shoulders. I glared at him. “You don’t have to act since they know.”
He grinned. “I’m building good habits.”
“Knock it off, Cole,” Nayvee said. “You’re making her twitch.”
I agreed. I couldn’t handle practicing.
He moved his arm, and I wanted to frown. Did I even know what I wanted? Apparently not.
“Trust me. If I practiced what I wanted to practice, none of you would know where to look.”
I punched him in the shoulder, and it wasn’t soft.
“Wow, I didn’t know you had that in you,” he said, rubbing his arm. He winked at me. “But I stand by what I said.”