Page 38 of Savage Truth

“It could.” He pulled his hands from his pockets and ran them through his hair. “I’ll send the coach an email. I should retain my scholarship, but I have no idea about a starting position. That’s okay, though. I need to prove myself and earn it.”

“You’ll have a spot. You’re the MVP, right?” My lips twitched because I remembered deciding that MVP, in his case, stood for Most Valuable Prick.

He closed the distance between us and took my hand in his. Warmth spread through me. “We agreed on a truce while suspended.”

I nodded. “Where are you going with this?” I wasn’t ready to go back to hating him.

“I don’t want to go back to pushing you away. I’m sorry for how I’ve acted since you got here.”

I bit my bottom lip then released it. “I didn’t know how your mom died. I get it. I probably would have been worse if the situation was reversed.”

That sexy crooked grin curved his lips, and I melted. “And Eliana. I should never have let her in the house.”

Her name sucker punched me. “Did you sleep with her?”

He shook his head. “No. I haven’t been with anyone since the first time we were together.”

Me either. But he already knew that there was no point in admitting the obvious. “So…”

“Things are good between us. Let’s keep it that way.” He released my hand. “Are you going to dive?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” He turned toward the trail. “I’ll meet you at the beach below.”

I stayed where I was, watching him until he disappeared. Cole made me feel lighter than I had in a long time. We weren’t dating, but we were… something. And I liked it—a lot.

I toed the edge again, working to push our conversation and every other heavy thing on my shoulders from my mind. Picturing the complicated twists and turns I wanted to do, I tensed to push off the edge just as my phone rang. I released the images and stepped back immediately. My heart thundered against my chest, and I scrambled for my phone among my discarded clothes, expecting to see Mom’s number. But it wasn’t.

It's him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

COLE

I’m not worried, or so I tried to convince myself as I stood on the beach below where Riley toed the edge of the ledge from an insanely high point on the cliff. She could pull the dive off flawlessly, so I wasn’t too concerned about that.

It was her state of mind that bothered me more than anything.

She looked so tiny up there, and I held my breath without meaning to. Just when I thought she would jump, she stepped back. When she reappeared, her phone was in her hand. My vision tunneled. Her stricken expression said everything. I didn’t think. I took off at a sprint up the trail.

When I got to the top, Riley already had her clothes in her arms as she ran to meet me. “We have to go.”

“Who was that?” I took point on the trail in case someone waited for us at the bottom.

“Nick.”

Her strained voice gave me the impression she was barely holding it together. “What the fuck is he doing, calling you?” I was both furious and unsettled about him contacting her.

“I don’t know. I hung up as soon as I heard his voice.”

We got to the bottom, and she ran to her car. “We should stay together.” I met her wide eyes and saw relief at my suggestion.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Her phone started ringing, and she tossed her clothes into her Charger and the keys at me. “You drive.”

She accepted the call and put it on speaker as I slid behind the wheel. The engine roared as her mom’s frantic voice filled the interior.

I drove, listening with growing panic.

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