Page 161 of Waiting Game

It’s more of a wail than I like.

I sigh. “I mean, it’s hard being perfect?—”

“Cole!” When she slaps me on the chest, I grin at her. “Be serious.”

“I am serious,” I argue. “You don’t know how tough it is going through life being this awesome, but you’re lucky you get to sit on the sidelines and be a witness to it.”

“Man, you’re really selling the idea of a relationship,” she complains, but her lips are curving into a smile.

I chuck her under the chin. “There’s what I like to see,” I rasp, smoothing my thumb along the curve of her bottom lip. “Does it terrify you so much? Us being together?”

“It terrifies me how much I like you.”

“Why would that terrify you?”

“Because what if Iamlike my dad? What if?—”

My brows lift as her words wane but I ask, “What if you’re not?” She processes that in silence, though I softly tease, “I’m not averse to waking up to balloons filling the hallway when it’s my birthday though.”

She peeps up at me. “I loved it when I was a kid.”

“I’m not a kid and I’m pretty damn sure I’d love it too.”

Her bottom lip gets sucked in between her teeth to nibble on. “Stop being perfect.”

“Again with the impossible missions, Mia. Who do you think I am? Hercules?”

“Let me guess, you were reading a book about that last night?”

“Yup. But his twelve trials were dates. It turned into an orgy. The minotaur’s dick would have scared even you.”

Though she laughs, she cuddles into me, tucking her knees against her chest then leaning them on me too. “I’m sorry for ruining this?—”

“For ruining what?” I’m not about to let her keep on thinking that. “You haven’t ruined anything.”

“It’s been a while since I had an episode,” she admits. “It happened a fair bit after Chuck died, but I developed a plan of action and once the will was executed, it helped me cope.”

“So, what triggered that?”

“You’re starting to become someone I don’t want to lose, Cole. But I have things that I need to do that don’t align with your life. I’m not sure how to make it work.”

Her tone might be weak, but the words hit me as if they’re bullets. “Wemakeit work,” I rasp, my voice guttural. Loaded with my sudden desperation that this might not last.

Suddenly, I get why she lost her ability to breathe.

The prospect of her not being in my life…

I swallow down the sudden blast of terror. “No matter what, I’ll always be here. I’m not going anywhere. Didn’t this summer prove that?”

“It proved you’re a creeper.”

My heartbeat settles down at her teasing.

This is us.

This works.

We can make it last.

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