Page 101 of Muddy Messy Love

Cole’s chopsticks re-emerge, loaded with a tidy mouthful of Singapore noodles. “I do.” They find his mouth with ease. No slops on the chin. No splats on his shirt. God, I really need to at least master a fork.

My phone buzzes again, and it’s Hannahagain. Cole and I only have an hour before he returns to work, at which time Mum will be home from her new divorce support group full of rich lonely men. I wanted to wait, but it’s time to put poor Hannah out of her misery. “Can you give me a minute? I need to make a call for your sister real quick.”

“What for?” Cole asks, tilting his noodle box to catch the scraps.

With a smile, I climb to my feet, rubbish and phone in hand. “Secret girls’ business.”

“Is that right?” He looks amused, and his face shines with that extra glimmer of joy he gets whenever he watches me and Hannah mess around. Anyone would love Hannah, but I can tell it means something more to him that I do.

I peck his cheek as I saunter past to the corner bin. “Mm-hmm.”

“You can’t tell me anything?”

I consider his question and figure the bare basics will do no harm. Pretty sure it’s the sex in the toilet part Hannah doesn’t want him to know. Without that tidbit, forgetting someone’s name is no big deal. I turn back around with a shrug. “She can’t remember sexy man’s name. I offered to fake a wrong number and find out.”

Cole glances skyward. “Christ almighty. Why doesn’t that surprise me?” He stands up, throws his empty box and chopsticks into the bin, then collects our empty glasses. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

I nod, then look at my phone. Here goes nothing, I guess. Plonking down, I steal Cole’s stool, scroll up to Hannah’s first message, and press sexy man’s phone number. It rings, and my hands tingle. With a shaky smile, I glance up as Cole returns with two bottles of spring water and leans against thedoor frame. He is an exceptionally attractive leaner. Especially against door frames.

“Hello?” a raspy, half-asleep male voice answers.

Crap. I’ve woken sexy man up. He’s probably a shift worker, and I’ve probably ruined his day. I clear my throat, formalise my tone, then launch into my over-rehearsed dribble. “Hello, can I please speak with Adam?” It’s a relatively common name. I might even get lucky and have it right. In that case, I’ll add a random surname to throw him off, then apologise for having the wrong number and hang up. Simple.

There’s a beat of silence before sexy man clears his throat. “Aves, is that you?”

My stomach free-falls as the familiar voice turns my bones to ice. I rip the phone away from my ear and glare at the screen. No. It’s not even his number. I slam the phone back to my ear. “Who is this?”

A dark, husky chuckle rattles through the line. “Thought you never wanted to speak to me again?”

Wooziness crashes over me, and the room wobbles. I stare up at Cole.ThisI wasn’t prepared for. “I’m sorry. I think I have the wrong number.” Immediately, I end the call and drop the phone like it burnt my hand. It thuds to the workbench, then dims.

Cole’s shoulders stiffen as he takes me in. “What just happened?”

My heartbeat thumps in my ears, fuelling the chaos circling between them, and my lips move, but no words form. Cole crosses the room to squat in front of me, gripping my thighs. “Aves, what’s going on?”

I meet his eyes and swallow the melon in my throat. “It was Slade,” I whisper, and it sounds as unbelievable out loud as it did in my head.

Cole tightens his grip. “What?”

“It was Slade.”

His face pales. He shoots to his feet, fisting one hand at his side, carving the other through his hair.

Hannah andSlade. Holy shit. “What do I say to her?”

Cole stops pacing and turns to face me. “Tell her it was an old lady. Pretend the arsehole duped her.” His voice comes low and choked—pained.

I stare at my lap. “But she’ll be devastated,” I say, more to myself than him. How the hell is this even happening?

I glance up to witness an eerie composure settle over Cole’s face. His nostrils flare, and he tilts his chin ever so slightly to the left. “Devastated. Why will she be devastated?” His shrewd eyes narrow, but his voice remains calm—calm but tight, like a rubber band about to snap. “What exactly happened between them?”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Goddamn lawyers. Forever reading every word unsaid. I can’t lie to him, but I don’t want to betray Hannah either. I lower my chin and stay silent.

“Don’t make me ask again,” he says.

With a deep breath, I look up to find Cole warring with rage. My vision turns watery. “Please don’t ask me that. I promised Hannah.”

The band snaps, and his eyes grow wild. “I’ll bloody kill him.” He charges out of the studio towards the kitchen.

---