Page 66 of Beautiful Mess

Downing the rest of his coffee like it’s a shot of whiskey, he wipes his mouth with his hand. “Nah, it’s over.”

“Wow, you seem to be handling all this quite well.” Curiosity is getting the best of me. I know I shouldn’t ask, but I can’t help it. “What happened between you two anyway?”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Cole murmurs. Catching me off guard, he leans forward and drops his hand down on mine on top of the table. My body physically recoils as I rip my hand out from under his, letting it fall into my lap. I don’t miss the look of confusion in his gaze. Arching an eyebrow, he asks, “You okay?”

Not wanting to be rude, I smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Holding my gaze for a moment, he eventually nods before steering the conversation in a completely different direction. “Tell me about this guy you’re seeing.”

I somehow manage to choke on my own spit, causing tears to spring to my eyes as I cough loud enough for everybody in the lobby to turn and stare at me. My cheeks flame, and I suck down a large gulp of my iced coffee. “Sorry, swallowed wrong,” I croak, smacking my chest with my palm.

Cole’s watching me with humor. “You’re good. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks again, handing me a napkin to clean up the spit that dribbled down my chin. “You’re acting a little… I don’t know, jumpy and weird.”

Wiping my chin, I nod. “No, yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just got a lot on my mind lately. But I’m good.”

“So…” Cole implores, a small grin ticked up on his lip. “Who’s this guy? Anybody I know?”

Yeah, actually, it’s your fucking dad. Cool, right? Totally not weird for you, I’m sure.

Good god. I should’ve never told him that.What was I thinking?If my sisters and Charley could see me, they’d be howling at the mess I’ve gotten myself into.

My cheeks heat some more, and I breathe out a small laugh. “We’re not really talking about it yet,” I offer, which, technically, isn’t a lie. “It’s kind of new.”

Please, drop it, Cole.

Nodding slowly, Cole takes a sip from his drink while he watches me for a moment. “But you’re happy?”

Oh, thank god.

“I am.” The answer comes easily, and the smile that follows is genuine and wide. Conway makes me happy. Even if I’m still not convinced it’s going to work out in the end, given the situation stacked up against us, at least for now, he makes me happy.

Thankfully, Cole changes the subject, and my heart rate can drop back down to a normal pace. We finish up our drinks shortly after that, and as we’re climbing into his car, Cole asks, “Did you have to get a sitter for this?”

“No, they’re with their dad this weekend,” I explain as I buckle my seatbelt.

“Oh, cool.” Starting the ignition, Cole’s phone hooks up to the speakers, some hip-hop song I’ve never heard of filling the air. “Well, since you’re not having to rush home to relieve anybody, want to head back to my dad’s house?”

My heart thuds painfully against my ribs, my head snapping to the side to meet his gaze. “What?”

“We could watch a movie or something.” Cole shrugs, putting the car in reverse. “He just installed a new surround sound in the living room that sounds fucking epic, and he mentioned grilling later.”

“Oh, we don’t have to do that.” A small laugh that sounds awkward to my own ears spills out of me. “I’m sure Conway has better things to do than hang out with us.”

Chuckling, Cole says, “Doubt it. I really think he needs to get laid or something.”

My stomach bottoms out as I practically swallow my own tongue. “Why, uh…why do you say that?”

“He’s been in such a piss-poor mood lately.” Cole glances over at me briefly. “Do you ever see him with anybody? He wouldn’t talk about it when I asked.”

Oh, for Christ’s sake.

“Well, probably because discussing your sex life with your child is kind of weird, Cole.” Laughing, I shift my gaze out the passenger side window, and hope he drops it.

Buuuut of course, he doesn’t.

“It’s not that weird,” he says. “I’m an adult, and it’s not like I’ve never talked about my sex life with him.”

Turning my head toward him, my eyebrows raise. “What? You do?”

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