Page 28 of This December

I boggled. “Wow. Okay.” It wasn’t okay, but I’d literally just met the man. I wasn’t about to call him out.

“No.” He laughed. “I’m just fucking with you. Sorry.”

I turned back to the espresso machine with a weak laugh. Between my phone, social media, and Jace the wise guy, I felt like I was in a fever dream.

Although, come to think of it, that would explain how and why I was suddenly sleeping with Cole Jackson. I might’ve pinched my arm to make sure I was really awake. I wasn’t sure if the flash of pain I felt was comforting or not. This was all so surreal.

How was this my life?

“So I see you met Jace,” Cole said as he came into the kitchen. “I reset the router. Give it a minute before you try again.” He came up behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed my temple.

I closed my eyes and sank into his embrace for a moment. Then remembering we had an audience, I tipped my face up at him and asked, “Do you want one of my famous brews?”

“Always.” He pressed a kiss on my lips then stepped away to dig out a mug in the cupboard.

I fiddled with the buttons then sighed and faced him. “I should mention my phone was blowing up this morning. I think it’s safe to say my cover is blown.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, December.” Cole set his mug down near the machine and crossed his arms over his chest. “I, uh, was hoping to give you some more time to sleep before the hammer of my insane life came down on us both. So I turned your ringer off this morning.”

That at least explained why I hadn’t heard any of my dozens of missed calls or hundreds of messages. “I think my phone almost vibrated the whole room at one point. It was so loud.”

“Shit. Sorry.” Cole grimaced then headed for the fridge and the cream.

It almost felt like he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—face me.

Oh.

“Right, well.” I gulped then poured myself a cup, then set Cole’s to brew. “I turned off commenting on my socials. But I think I might need to get a new phone number potentially.”

“That’s probably not a bad idea,” Jace chimed in from the island, reminding me of his presence.

And taking my mind off Cole’s sudden avoidance of me. A sense of doom hung heavily over me.

“After our meeting, you should call your provider and arrange a new phone number for yourself,” Jace said while tapping away at his phone.

“Meeting?” I asked in confusion, but Jace was still busy tapping at his phone, and Cole was weirdly very into making his coffee. “I, uh, I guess I’ll let you two talk, and I’ll go get ready for work.”

I didn’t even take two steps away when Jace’s head popped up. “This is about you, so you might want to hang around.”

And suddenly I knew why Cole was avoiding me. He wanted to end things sooner than we’d discussed. Right. I know I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. And hurt. He couldn’t have had this conversation with mebeforeJace was posted up at the counter watching?

Shame crawled across my skin even though I didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. I know I didn’t. And yet…

I swallowed hard. “All right. But uh, maybe Cole and I should talk first? Alone?”

“If you want.” Cole sounded like it was the furthest thing from whathewanted, but he still followed me out of the room.

He closed the bedroom door and leaned against it with his hands behind him. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Seriously? Do you think I can’t read the room?” I laughed incredulously. “What I can’t understand is why you couldn’t have a conversation with me first. Just tell me it’s over. I mean, it was supposed to end in a few days anyhow, right?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up a second. You think we’re breaking up? Why?”

“Uh, because this was only supposed to be for a few weeks? Because we talked about it ending before we even began? Because suddenly you can’t look at me when I walk into the room? And then to have Jace sitting there watching it all go down…” I had to stop and wipe the tears currently blurring my vision.

“December.” Cole must’ve crossed the room because suddenly his arms were around me and he rocked me gently. “That’s not, I don’t—”

“I mean, I get it.” I cut him off, so fucking embarrassed at my meltdown. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let me go. “We were only supposed to be short term or whatever. I just, I didn’t want to have this talk with Jace watching because ofthis. I knew I’d lose it. I’m sorry. I’ll just grab my stuff.”

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