Chapter 24 #3
“It’s going to be amazing.” Colton’s soft words brush the tip of my ear, silencing the naysayers inside of me. “In fact, I think I’ll be your first client.”
I let out a small chuckle. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yep.”
“You’re about seven years too old for the program, but I’ll let it slip this once.”
A moment of silence follows my words, and I wonder what he’s thinking.
“What would you tell me?” he finally says.
I lift my face off his chest to look straight at him.
“What would you tell me if I walked into Something to Glow About? How would you recommend I improve my life?” he amends.
I take in a deep breath and find a spot on the roof to stare at as I gather my thoughts, thinking of the Colton I’ve known for years and the one beside me now, both the boy and the man.
“I’d tell you to believe in yourself. I’d tell you that whether you become a lawyer or a senator or a garbage man, you’ll be extraordinary.
But right now, you can’t see it when you look at yourself because your dad is standing in front of you.
I think you’ll find that if you stop living life just to please him and start living your life in a way that makes you feel fulfilled, a life where you can give back to others using your talents in a way that brings you joy, you’ll truly see the person you can become. And you’ll be all the happier for it.”
Colton swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
And then he’s got my hand in his. Gently, he pulls the inside of my wrist to his lips, pressing a warm kiss against my skin.
“Missy, I hope you know the profound effect you have on people. It’s why I’ve watched so many gravitate toward you over the years.
You’re truly an advocate for others, often seeing more in them than they ever have in themselves. ”
“That’s sweet of you to say,” I breathe out, feeling unworthy of the praise. How could he possibly think that about me after all my years of tearing him down?
Colton must see right through my doubts. “I don’t think you ever knew this, but before you came to our school, I was pretty shy.”
I straighten. “What? Colton Downing, you’re not being serious.”
“Completely.” He brushes his hand down my arm, and I lean into him, relishing the way his fingers trace patterns on my skin. “You gave me confidence. It may have been the result of intense competition between us …”
We both chuckle, knowing full well how competitive we’ve been over the years.
“But you’ve always driven me to step up, to be better, and to not settle. And now is no different.” Colton pauses, seeming to mull something over in his mind. “I want to lead my own life, Missy. A life that’s out of my dad’s shadow.”
I look up at him at the same time he tilts his head down at me; our faces are just inches apart.
“I want to be the person you see in me,” he says.
“Then do it,” I whisper. I reach up and brush the soft hair on his jawline. “Be that person. I’ve seen him on the island. You don’t worry as much about how you’ll come off to others. You smile more. You laugh more. And there is happiness in your eyes.”
Just then, Colton shifts, looking uneasy, and my hand falls to the blanket. He presses his thumb and forefinger to his eyes, covering the stress lurking beneath.
“What is it?” I ask.
He takes a deep breath, and I feel the sharp rise and fall of his chest. “It’s just—I want to keep the peace with my family.
I don’t want things to go down like they did with my brother.
If I ever did what Will did, if I tried to forge my own way without my dad’s consent, it would tear my family apart.
” He rubs a hand over his beard, then leans back.
“That’s why I have to win this. My dad will stay true to his word, and he’ll let me choose my own path with his stamp of approval.
I’ll keep my family happy and live my own life, not my dad’s. ”
“Okay.” I nod. “Then we’ll win this.”
Colton’s eyes find mine, their intensity building a fire inside me.
His burning gaze, his soft smirk, and his ruggedly handsome features make me feel strangely vulnerable, so much so that I resort to old measures, finding the mole above his left eyebrow.
Hairy. Though now, it’s less of a distraction from Colton’s good looks and more like a part of them.
Hairy’s become Handsome. Handsome Hairy.
Colton’s hand cups the side of my face, the light brushes of his thumb across my cheek sending heat across my skin.
I close my eyes and lean into his touch.
Finally, I give myself permission to look at him, despite how defenseless I feel.
I’m instantly pulled into his gravity, so lost in his endless gaze that something shifts deep in my core.
Colton leans into me. “The funny thing is, Missy Jean, right now, I feel like I’ve already won.”
Colton’s lips press lightly against my cheek, then slowly he trails kiss after blessed kiss along my jaw and toward my mouth, turning my heart into a puddle.
I wrap my arms around his neck, and that’s when I hear it. The low hum of a drone.
How long has it been there?
I collapse my face into Colton’s chest, and he wraps both his arms around my back with a soft chuckle.
“I’m starting to think they’re programmed with a PDA sensor,” Colton says.
My laughter gets drowned in the fabric of his shirt. “I think I understand what Katniss and Peeta must have felt like.”
Just then, Colton pulls away from me with a daring smile on his face. “Have I ever told you that I’d make a pretty good Peeta?” he teases.
I bite my lip. “Oh yeah? Prove it.”
In an instant, Colton’s lips are on mine, his kiss tugging at my heartstrings, while his arms bring me closer into him. He surrounds me in a way that makes me wonder if I’ve ever really known what it feels like to be needed, to truly be the one at someone’s center.
Without hesitation, I kiss him back, a thrilling truth winding through me—I want this relationship. I want him.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I register the drone buzzing ever closer and how Colton kissing me on television will no doubt horrify his dad, if not his whole family line.
And yet, Colton doesn’t seem to care. His hands cup my face, and his kiss consumes my senses until I don’t know what is up or down or lurking underneath the bed. It’s just me and him.
I can’t help the feeling that washes over me. A feeling that I am in deep. A feeling that digs out that four-letter word that is terrifying, because with it comes pain. But there is no pain in this feeling now. It’s just Colton Downing and the fact that I’ve gone and fallen for him.