Page 83 of Muddy Messy Love

Jen starts the engine and hits reverse. Slade stands there, blocking our exit, but Jen refuses to stop. He steps aside at the last second, and we peel out of the car park, my heart sprinting.

“What a wanker,” Jen says, checking her rear-view mirror as she stops at the traffic lights. She glances at me when I don’t reply. “Are you okay?”

I slowly shake my head. “What did I ever see in him?”

“Trouble and tats?” She shrugs.

A revelation hardens in my mind. “I was completely delusional. Next time, tell me.”

Jen’s eyebrows twist like pretzels as puzzlement fills her face, and I hear the words she’s too kind to say. She did try to tell me. Repeatedly. But I didn’t want to hear. And what’s worse, I dragged her into my mess. I’m lucky she’s still here. I’m luckyI’mstill here. I could be showering with thirty naked women right now, praying I don’t look at one the wrong way. With a mental facepalm, I groan. “I’m so sorry.”

“I forgive you,” Jen says as the light turns green. “I just hope Cole’s way better for you.”

“He is,” I say, and despite all my lingering fears, deep inside I know that’s true.

Betsy’s rear bumper hovers low to the ground on Beth’s driveway but rises an inch when I hoist our garbage bag of clothes out of the boot and over one shoulder. I waddle my way to the laundry like I’m Santa. As expected, the vases look chic on my dresser, but I’ll leave the painting unmounted to spare Beth’s pristine wall.

“I’ll have a six-pack in no time,” Jen says when I return out front, patting her flat tummy as she admires her ab roller.

“My money’s on you using it for a week, then never again.”

“Ye of so little faith,” she says, tilting her head to consider me. “You know, you have the pessimism of an old woman. I really don’t think you need to worry about the age gap thing.”

I shake my head with a laugh. I’m starting to learn that age is relative to the body with little bearing on the soul.

Up the street, Cole’s car appears at the corner, then turns towards us. Butterflies dance in my stomach, and Jen follows my gaze. “That’s him, isn’t it? An Audi, seriously?” She whistles from high to low. “I can’t believe you get the guy with the Audi, and I get the one with a hard-on for a rusty tin can.”

My smile grows commensurate with Cole’s proximity, and Jen sidles up next to me near the lollipop trees, linking our arms and bouncing up and down. “If he’s real, I owe Liam twenty bucks, but I don’t even care. This is so exciting.”

I roll my eyes and elbow her. She’s seen a G-rated headshot of Cole. She knows he’s real. “Behave yourself, and please don’t drool.”

“I can’t promise that,” she says.

I don’t blame her.

Cole’s black coupe glides up to the kerb. He climbs out of the driver’s seat and saunters towards us. The sun’s golden rays halo his hair, his stubble glistens, and his dimple shines at full beam. Dark-grey jeans skim his strong legs, and the vivid jungle ink decorating his arm glows as if it can breathe. I swallow.

Jen tugs on my arm. “Are you freaking serious?” she asks through clenched teeth while smiling.

“Yup,” I reply in the same manner.

“Lucky bitch.”

That I am.

I detangle from Jen and move towards Cole. His grin widens as I near, quickening my steps. I throw my arms around his neck, and he sweeps me into a hug, then spins me around, eliciting a ridiculous squeal.

With a deep chuckle, he stills, then tenderly swipes the hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear. His pale forest eyes sparkle. “Hey, you,” he says in that low husky voice reserved just for me.

“Hey, yourself.”

His full lips tilt into a crooked smile. My favourite one of all. It comes soaked in humility with a dash of sarcasm and humour, a spark of intellect, and the promise of later.

God, that smile.

I press my lips to his. Sweet spearmint tinges his tongue, but the rest is all him. Warm and woodsy—soft and soothing. Like a new kind of cosy home.

A minute later, Jen coughs. Sheepishly, I wriggle back to my feet. “Sorry.” But I’m not sorry at all. The number of times I’ve had to watch her sucky face with Liam is enough to make any girl weep.

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