Page 39 of Truly, Madly, Deeply

She didn’t know what she was looking for. The same person cropping up in multiple photos? Heart emojis in a caption? Colin looking at them all gooey-eyed? His hand a little too low on their waist to be friendly?

Caitlin made several appearances in his feed, and so did a guy with piercing green eyes and a birthmark over his left eye who was almost as pretty as Colin. His handle was @cillianmccrory so she was willing to bet they were related. Hence, pretty.

Otherwise, it was all awkwardly framed selfies and group shots with girls seated atop Colin’s lap. Gorgeous girls. Lots and lots of gorgeous girls with their hands in his hair or their lips pressed to his cheek, and it was never the same girl, either. Which didn’t rule out the possibility that he was seeing someone, but it didn’t confirm it, either.

Seven weeks back and Truly had learned nothing.

... other than the fact that Colin looked ridiculously hot in a three-piece suit. Big surprise there.

She clicked on the photo, a group shot taken at some fancy shindig. A wedding, maybe. Even though all the guys in the photo were dressed similarly, her eye was drawn to Colin, left of center. His smile was just a little brighter; he was just a little bit more.

She scrolled to read the caption.

It was an honor to be named the recipient of the Emerald City Family Defense Fund’s Volunteer of the Year Award at last night’s Santa Claus for a Cause Toy Drive and Auction benefiting children and families in King County.

Unreal.

Against her better judgment, she scrolled to the next picture on Colin’s profile and—

Hello, sailor. That was a lot of skin on display.

His pale blue swim trunks revealed more of him than she’d had the pleasure of seeing before.

And what a pleasure it was.

Dark hair trailed down from Colin’s belly button—an innie—and disappeared down into those swim trunks that looked about a size too small, as if he’d borrowed them from someone else. His thighs, paler than his calves by a shade, were on full display, sprinkled with downy brown hair, flattened against his dripping wet skin and—

Truly choked on air.

She didn’t have to guess anymore. The rest of Colin was just as mole-splattered as his face, his neck. There were two beauty marks resting just above each collarbone. Like a matched set. Truly wanted to draw a line between them. With her tongue. Fuck, she wanted to wrap her hand around his throat, gentle, and measure the distance between those two spots with her thumb and pointer finger.

Oh, she was so screwed.

She needed to talk to Lulu, stat.

Truly squinted down the hall. A line had formed outside the bathroom and considering how long it was? Chances were, Lulu was caught up in it.

Screw waiting. She took a screenshot and sent it to Lulu, needing to get this off her chest.

Truly (11:04 p.m.): He’s so pretty it pisses me off.

She hit send and slumped against the wall. Save for the pushpin digging into her shoulder blade, she felt so much better. Lighter.

Her phone buzzed and she took her time reaching for it.

Colin (11:10 p.m.): I don’t think you meant to send this to me?

Her brain snagged like it was caught on blackberry brambles.

Didn’t mean to send what to him?

She scrolled back through their messages and—

Oh shit.

Her stomach went into free fall.

Fuck.

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