Page 10 of Breathe Again

“Peyton, that’s sweet, but not necessary. He’s here now, and I have nothing against him. It’s time we settled things; made amends and all that.”

“You certain about that, sis? Because I thought for a minute there that I was going to have to drag out my winter coat again,” Ruby chimed in.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. It wasn’t that bad.”

“It was bad,” Peyton said.

I sighed and waved Milly over. “Beer, please, whatever you have on tap.”

Milly stared at me awkwardly for a moment, then shook her head and went to fetch my drink. Cole had reeked of her when I walked in, and neither my wolf nor I were exactly happy about it.Milly? She couldn’t possibly be his type.

By the time I’d finished my first beer, the early dinner crowd was starting to appear. I already knew Mom was cooking dinner and we were all expected to be there. I also knew he’d be there too, so I excused myself and told my sisters I’d see them later.

I ran home and drew a hot bubble bath. While waiting for the tub to fill, I grabbed another beer from the fridge and took a long swig to calm my nerves. A little liquid courage wasn’t a bad thing, but too much and I’d end up like Lily the night she found out my baby brother was her true mate. Needless to say, she wasn’t exactly happy with that discovery, at least not at first. It gave me hope that if she could come around and love my brother so much, then maybe there was still hope that Cole would come around, too.

I was already certain his wolf was on board with a reunion. I knew it was the man that was holding back, and if he felt half as terrible as he made me feel today, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Soaking in the tub, I sighed and tried to relax. My hand instinctively went to the small tattoo just to the left of my right hip bone. I wondered if the larger matching one still donned Cole’s right shoulder.

Funny how he’d freaked out at the thought of that tattoo, but had gone through it anyway for me. Now he was covered in them, and I had heard he even owned his own tattoo shop. That couldn’t just be a coincidence, could it? It had to mean something. I just hoped he hadn’t destroyed the beautiful twin to my tattoo.

Rubbing my finger over the spot and thinking of Cole made my body light up. I hadn’t felt like this in a very long time, to the point that I had even discussed with a doctor about the possibility of there being something wrong with me. It seemed like it was just a missing mate that had stalled my sex drive at the ripe old age of eighteen, the last time I’d seen Cole Anderson.

It made me sad that I was pressed for time and couldn’t explore the new feelings on my own.Perhaps later,I thought,though I’d rather explore them with him.

I jumped out of the tub and quickly dressed. I couldn’t wear the killer cocktail dress I had that I knew would knock his socks off. It was a casual family dinner, and I didn’t want to stand out and have everyone make a big fuss about it.

Still, I chose a nice pair of black slacks and a lower-cut than usual shirt in a shade of blue that I knew made my eyes pop. I carefully applied my makeup to perfection. At the last second, I took off the cute strappy heels and decided to go with my usual black flats that no one would question, even if they were far from sexy, and boy did I feel sexy.

When I got back to Mom’s and let myself into the house, Lily was the only one around. She took one look at me and smiled. “Decided to fight for him, huh?”

“Wh-what? What are you talking about?” I asked her. I knew we’d had a bit of an awkward moment earlier when I’d walked in on her and Cole talking, but there was no way he would have told her, would he?

Lily gave me a smirk and crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t play games with me. I’m on your side here,” she told me.

“Huh? Seriously, what are you talking about?”

She looked around and listened closely for noise in the mostly quiet house, then grabbed my hands and pulled me down the hall into Thomas’s office. I watched her check to confirm the dampener was on and close the door.

“We probably only have a few minutes until people start to arrive, but I just want you to know that if there’s anything I can do to help, girl, I’m on it. You just say the word. Girl power all the way.”

I laughed. “Lily, what are we talking about here, really?” I asked, still refusing to accept that she could conceivably know. For all these years, no one had ever even suspected I had a true mate; how could she possibly know now?

“You know what we’re talking about, and if you don’t want my advice or help, then that’s fine. I’m okay with that, but I’m also here if you need me. Look, he’s a wonderful man. Trust me, I’d know. I idolized him for most of my life. Always thought I’d be Mrs. Cole Anderson someday, so I’m a bit of an expert in this department.”

Anger raged through me, and I growled loudly before I even realized it was happening. My hands flew to my mouth, but Lily just smirked and gave me this all-knowing look I wanted to smack off her face.

“I hated that look when Syd gave it to me, too,” she confessed, like she was reading my mind.

“What do you want from me, Lily?” I snapped.

She looked a little taken aback. “I just want you to be happy, Lizzy, and I want to see Cole happy too, and if there’s anything I can do help you, then I’m all in. Whatever you need. I know how stubborn he can be when he sets his mind to something, and I know how much he’s been hurting all these years without you.”

The anger left me, and my shoulders sagged in defeat of the pain and emptiness. I knew what a lonely life it was. I’d lived it too.

“How do you know all this?” I asked her.

Lily shrugged. “He told me.”

---