Chapter 17 #3
I did my best to relax my face, but based on his quick laugh, I didn’t do a very good job at it.
I sighed and looked through the window into the store.
Ainsley still hadn’t appeared at the front of the store to buy her dress and Hilary, thank goodness, was nowhere to be seen.
If there was ever a moment to talk about what was going on, it was now.
“My dad’s girlfriend works in there,” I said. “And I didn’t realize until she came up to talk to me.”
He pulled back a little to look through the window. I took the chance while he wasn’t pressed against me to take a deep breath, one that didn’t smell just like him.
“Let me guess,” he said, looking at me again. “She said you were too young to wear the dress you wanted and you left instead of fighting back.”
I groaned, covering my face with my hands as I remembered the coffee shop on Friday, and then in that mess of a date last night.
I hated that Cole had seen me like that and I hated even more that it might be his lasting impression of me.
You don’t defend yourself even when you should.
I could only imagine what he thought of me after this weekend.
“Actually,” I said, “I decided on my own that I didn’t like any of the dresses that I tried on and left. That was when I ran into her.”
I chose to leave out the part about giving in to her picking out a dress for me and just sending it to my house. I’d needed to get out of there and that was the only way I could. I still had the opportunity to buy another one and not wear it. It wasn’t like she would be coming to the party, anyway.
But what if… It was a stupid idea. A hopelessly stupid one.
But maybe the dress could be my way of talking about this with my dad.
Maybe I could invite him after all. Ainsley wouldn’t be happy, but surely I could tell her he’d come of his own volition, knowing what day our birthday was and where we were having it since we’d been planning our sweet sixteen for months.
I’d make sure he didn’t bring Hilary, of course, and tell him to be on his best behaviour, and use this as my chance to finally get Mum and Dad talking again.
She missed him, I knew she did. She tried to hide it from us, but I saw the sadness on her face every day.
I saw the way she always automatically grabbed one extra plate for dinner every day and the way she still avoided his spot on the couch in the living room like she was saving it for him.
All she needed was to be in the same room with him again to realize what a mistake they’d both made.
And all he needed was to see her again to know that Hilary wasn’t his soulmate.
Cole glanced back toward the store window. “So let me guess. Fancy dress. Fancy party. Fancy people who don’t know how to mind their business.”
I laughed. “I guess you could say that. It’s mine and Ainsley’s sweet sixteen.”
He studied me for a few seconds longer than necessary. “Sweet sixteen,” he repeated like it was a foreign concept to him.
“I have to look my best,” I said. To my surprise, that made Cole’s jaw tick.
“Why?” he asked. “Mitch coming?”
My brows furrowed. “Mitch? Heck no.”
He hesitated, running his gaze up and down me, so quick that I almost didn’t notice it. When Mitch did that, it made me want to pull my jacket tighter and not let him see me. But when Cole did it, it made a strange warmth pass through me.
“Then who’s it for?” he asked. His voice was lower than it had been a moment ago and softer too. He lifted his free hand, brushing hair out of my face, leaving a burning trail in its wake. “Who are you trying to impress, Princess?”
My breath caught. “No one,” I said, my voice embarrassingly raspy. I cleared my throat. Was I imagining it or had he leaned closer? It seemed to me his mouth was almost brushing mine. If he just leaned that one inch closer…
“Imogen!”
And just like that, reality came back in.
Just like last night, Cole backed off without touching me, as if that had been his plan all along.
I took a second to breathe—when had I gotten so breathless?
—then turned to my twin who was stepping out of the store, a shopping bag hanging from her wrist. Her eyes flicked between Cole and me, an indecipherable look on her face as her steps slowed.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You didn’t!” I said immediately. Then I winced, wondering how that might have sounded to Cole. But when I looked at him, he seemed unbothered. “I was just waiting here for you when I ran into Cole. Funny coincidence, right?”
Ainsley looked suspicious, of what I wasn’t sure, but she repeated softly, “Funny.”
“I better go.” Cole backed off, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Schools to vandalize and all that.”
I barely even registered the joke as he disappeared back into the crowd, leaving as quickly as he’d come. If I didn’t know better, I would think I imagined him completely, but my cheek was still tingling where he had touched it.