Page 36 of Sneak Attack

Had I never stepped foot in this town, had my dad never gotten a job teaching in Nashville, things would have been different.

I would have been different—perhaps I would have ended up happy.

I definitely wouldn’t have been standing next to Cole, all those years later, listening to him tell me it was time to talk.

“Maybe too much time has gone by to make any talking worth it.”

“Maybe,” he agreed. His hands settled at his hips, before falling to his sides and ended up crossed over his chest similar to mine. “Maybe not. Worth it to try, though, isn’t it?”

“What’s the point?” He had his life here, and I was leaving as soon as my favor to Marley was fulfilled.

“What are you so afraid of?” he shot back. He turned to me, just his head, dipping his chin down. My gaze glued on Bongo, even though I could see Cole out of the corner of my eye. Staring at me with a steely look of determination.

Only I had no idea what he was so determined to get.

“I’m not afraid, Cole—”

“Bullshit.”

“Fuck you.”

“There she is.” He spun then, stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Bongo until the only thing I saw was his chest. His hands at his hips and the corded muscular arms that disappeared beneath his black T-shirt with his team’s red emblem emblazoned over his left pectoral. His throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“There’s the girl with fire who ignited everyone around her.”

That fire he implied I had burned in my veins, forcing my hands to curl into fists to keep calm. He was wrong. The only thing I set on fire was the town’s beloved Marysville princess. And I burned her well and good.

I stepped back and he followed, not touching, but close enough he could grab me if he wanted, and I knew his reflexes were quick enough he’d be on me before I saw him move.

“Why are you doing this?” That fire in me sparked and burned out, turned to ice.

He had no right. There was no purpose. His timing was suspect with Marley’s earlier warning.

Were they working together?

Heal the poor broken girl…?

I shook the thought away. Marley wouldn’t do that to me. She wouldn’t break my trust or my confidence like that.

“Because you’re hurting, and there’s something missing from you. The light in your eyes and the snark you always had that left everyone in tears with laughter.”

“And why is it any of your concern? Oh wait—it’s not. Leave it, Cole. I’m here for Marley and when her time comes, I’m gone, too.”

My chin wobbled at that. Just the thought of the world being without Marley was enough to send me to my knees these days, especially with her easy acceptance of it.

“And I’ll call bullshit again. You might have come back for Marley, but you had to know you’d see me. Had to know we’d run into each other. You can’t tell me I didn’t come back to your mind at all.”

“You did. Because I kept trying to figure out how to avoid you.”

“Liar.”

He lunged forward a step, so close his chest brushed against mine as his eyes lit with that gaze I knew he’d saved for his most ferocious opponents. Pinned on me, it was enough to have me shaking in my Birkenstock sandals. And yet still, he didn’t reach for me.

“Keep lying to yourself. You’ve gotten awfully good at it, but don’t think I’m going away. Or that I’ll back down. We both might have grown, Eden, but I’m still that same man who will fight for what I want. And win at any costs.”

“And what is it you want? To drudge up the past for no reason? We’ve grown, moved on. You have Jasper now…and Selma.” I fought back a choke as I said her name. Defeat rang in my voice when I spoke again, shaking my head. “There’s no point to this.”

“You’re wrong.” He whistled and Bongo jumped out of the lake, rushing toward us. He shoved his head between our legs and shook, springing water everywhere.

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