Page 56 of Coty

He lays the blanket over my lap and sits next to me, really close. “You said last night you wanted to see me today.”

“I’ve seen you for the last eight hours.” I grab the remote and flip to reruns of Friends. It’s just background noise. Something I can pretend to be interested in. I couldn't care less what the episode is about.

“Don’t do that,” he says softly.

“Give the man the chance he deserves.”Nana’s words almost shout in my head.

“I didn’t handle things well Monday morning.”

“That’s very true.” He set his beer on the end table. “Would you really have shot me?”

“No.” I set my beer on the table next to me. I’ve no desire to drink tonight, especially with him in the house. “The safety was on.”

He glances at me from the corner of his eye. “Is that the only reason?”

I lightly laugh. “No, Coty. It’s not.” I turn my head to meet his eyes. “I could never shoot you.”

“Good to know.”

His hazel eyes reach into my soul and tie a cord. This happened a lot when I was a love-struck teenage girl while he gave me riding lessons. Lessons my parents regret letting me take. I was thirteen when my dad took me to Coty’s grandfather’s ranch for riding lessons. Coty was seventeen. I was too young for him back then—just a speck of dust in his eye.

“You wanna tell me why you hate me? Why you run?”

“Wow. No buildup. No easing into it, huh?”

“Why waste time?” His eyes drop to my lips. “Foreplay is saved for far better things.”

I swallow hard. “I don’t hate you.”

“Then why are you mad at me?” His voice remains low and calm.

“You left.”

“Yeah. I had to. My best friend was drowning in pain, grief, and losing his mind. I couldn’t let him go out there alone.”

“You were gone for two years.”

“We were. It was freeing. I watched Jack regain himself. I promised his family I’d stay by his side.” His eyes drift away for a moment. “Didn’t really have a reason to come home.”

Nana was right. I didn’t give him any hope that we could be together someday. I didn’t call or text Coty after he left. I let him go.

“There’s more.” It’s not a question. He knows there’s more.

“Yeah, but can we talk about those on another day?”

“If you promise not to push me away, sure.”

Time to be brave. “I promise,” I whisper.

His eyes drop to my lips again. “You really don’t remember?”

“Bits and pieces.” Flashes of the night we spent together started coming while I was in Knoxville. Each one made me feel like an even bigger fool for how I acted. “And you? Do you remember?” He said that morning that he was drunk too.

He leans close. His lips almost touch mine. “Every glorious moment of it.”

My lips slightly part. I gasp against his lips when they touch mine. Thoughts of pulling away are lost, too, so I don’t. I happily lean into the kiss. Finally, after all these years, I kiss the man who was once the boy I fell in love with. It’s perfect. Wonderful. I savor every movement of our lips together. The slide of his tongue across my bottom lip steals the last of my reserve. I moan, and his arms tighten around me.

I pull away ever so slightly. “Can we go to bed now?”

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