Page 75 of Toxic Wishes

“Do you think we are?” I ask him, giving him a sideways glance. And before he can answer, we are pulling up to Jenna’s venue. The mountains in the background were gorgeous, and I could see the river below them. It was a lodge wedding since Troy was somewhat of a country boy like Colt. I know the beauty of the wedding photos would come from the nature surrounding the lodge. We are smack dab in the middle of the Ozark mountains, so there are many hills and greenery to make her white dress pop.

Speaking of hills, I didn’t think of bringing an extra pair of shoes to walk up to the chapel since that, too, sits on top of a mountain.

“Shit,” I curse to myself.

“What’s wrong?” Colt says, opening his car door

“Nothing. By night's end, I’m sure I’ll have boils all over my feet. No biggie.”

Colt chuckles to himself as he looks at my high heels. I was short, so most of my heels were four inches, sometimes five in height. Colt closes his door, rounding around the front of the car to open my door.

“Hop on.” He says.

“Excuse me?” I raise one eyebrow at him.

“It’s either that or I carry you.” And the image of me hopping on his back didn’t sound so bad, but at the same time, I did not want to wrap my legs around his very muscular body. The dress was loose on the bottom but not so loose that I could spread my legs around a 6’ 2” football player.

“I’m wearing a dress,” is all my brain can say.

And before I know it, Colt is taking me into his arms. I squeal at the fact that he is serious, not to mention the storm of butterflies that start swarming in my chest when he grips my waist in his arms. I catch a whiff of his cologne, and I want to squirm out of his arms before this gets any more awkward.

“Is this necessary?” I asked him.

“You know, instead of complaining, you could be thanking me,” he says as I bounce lightly in his arms with each stride.

He was right. It’s not a big deal. Plenty of platonic friends did this stuff. Right?

“Thank you,” I say lightly.

“Besides your cheerleader size, let a man swoop you up any chance you get. You never know, you may like it. Especially if he tosses you onto a bed.” A sly grin spreads across his lips, and I want to slap him. Not because he’s annoying me. But because he looks so damn sexy.

Warmth swarms inside me, and I hate how his words cover me like warm blankets, so comforting. So sweet.

Remember Blake. Colt is a selfish prick. Colt is a selfish prick.

But I could not ignore that he was flirting with me again. Or maybe I was reading too deep into this. Most men thought about sex, so I shouldn’t think Cotl Killian is any different. I’m just another hole to him—a conquest.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind the next time I have to climb a big hill in heels again when big brooding men are around,” I say, sarcasm slipping from my lips.

He smiles, and I swear my body better stop reacting this way. Like, I’m excited. Like, I can’t help it. Like, I liked it.

“That’s one thing your cousin would refuse.” He says, peering down at me with those dreamy blue eyes. Those eyes alone will be the death of me. His eyes are toxic and hypnotizing. He was sucking me into his Killian trap.

When I stopped swooning over him, I realized this was the first time he had mentioned Naomi.

Is it because I remind him of her?

“What? To be tossed on the bed?” His statement confused me, so I wanted him to clarify. Does he want to open up about their sex life?

“No,” He says with a stifled laugh. “Naomi never let me pick her up. Or carry her, which I found odd because I never knew why. One time, she ran from me and locked the door until I promised never to try and pick her up again.”

That sounded like Namoi. She had a beautiful face but difficulty keeping her weight down. It’s just the way she was made. I thought she was beautiful all the way around, but she always was insecure about her weight. When it came down to it, we all were insecure about something.

“Maybe she didn’t want to fart on you or something,” I say, playing it off as a joke.

“Gross!” he says. “And I don’t think that’s why. She felt insecure about her weight, I think.”

Yup, that’s why. But I won’t say anything that makes me look like I’m trying to down-talk Namoi to him. I have no idea what type of relationship they had nor why they broke up, and I want to keep it that way.

---