Page 73 of My Best Bet

My heart warmed at the sincerity of his words. I struggled to hide my grin as I trailed after him.

In the living room, Kappy and JP were sprawled out on the side couches, Lucy laid on her stomach on the ottoman, which left the large couch at the back of the room facing the TV for us.

Colt flipped the lights off before plopping down in the middle of the couch and propping his legs up on the ottoman next to Lucy. I gingerly sat at the corner of the couch.

At some point in the movie, we were all starting to nod asleep. Colt reached over and grabbed my calf to pull my foot into his lap. He started massaging it for me, and it felt so nice that I couldn’t bring myself to pull away.

When the credits rolled, I felt torn. I didn’t want to leave because this was the most comfortable I’d felt in a long time. But at the same time, I had to be careful. I couldn’t let myself get used to this.

“I better head out,” I said, reluctantly pushing the knit blanket off me.

“What?” His eyebrows shot up. “Stay here. I mean, no pressure, but…” He craned his neck to look out the window. “It's late.”

“Yes pressure.” Kappy frowned. “Stay, Mer Bear. We need to watch the sequel.”

“Yeah, you should stay. What if we need a real adult again?” JP groaned.

“Yeah, stay! It’s a slumber party!” Lucy yelled, clapping her hands.

Colt arched an eyebrow at me and whispered, “You’re going to turn all of them down?”

“Okay,” I relented, “If that’s okay, I guess–”

“Yay!” Lucy cheered.

Colt flipped on the next movie and left for a second to make a couple bowls of popcorn.

Being all together made it feel like we were kids again, when our biggest problems were choosing which mixed CD we should blast in the rink and making sure Hans didn’t catch us running through the locker room hallway. Back when we’d fall and get up without any pain. Before we felt the weight of the real-worldproblems, before anything went wrong for any of us. In the comfort of his living room, with all three of them around, it felt like I could finally let my guard down for the first time in years.

It felt like home.

But that made my heart wobble nervously in my chest because I had no business getting this close to Colt again.

Then again, if this was all I ever got, if this was the only night I’d be invited here, I needed to appreciate this moment and cherish this rare feeling of belonging.

While the movie played on, I peacefully drifted to sleep, feeling like he was mine.

But I should’ve known I couldn't have a full night of rest.

18.Colt - Mine

I sat awake in the living room while Mer, my best friends, and my daughter all slept soundly, and I couldn’t get over how perfect it felt.

Thiswas how things were supposed to be.

Thiswas where Mer belonged.

I wasn’t sure where her head was at, but I still wanted everything with her. I still wanted all of our teenage dreams. Sosobadly. I wanted the awkward wall between us decimated. I wanted to be able to freely comfort her and hold her without her questioning it– because I could see those wheels turning in her head, wondering if she should pull away from me. Honestly, I just wanted her to be mine again.

But if she didn’t want me in that way, if she couldn’t do this again, I’d take whatever she’d give me, even if that meant just friendship and being Lucy’s coach. I just knew that I’d never lose her again.

She was mine to protect all those years ago and I failed. But maybe… Maybe we still had a lot of good ahead of us.

But it’s almost like my subconscious wouldn’t let me move forward just yet, because in my sleep, it dragged me back to the past.

19.Colt - Keep an Eye on Him – 11 years ago - summer

She was sleeping right next to me, but it felt like I was losing her. And it wasn’t because of anything I did or she did, it was because of Andy the Asshole– as Kappy dubbed him– and the way he was influencing her.

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