Page 11 of A Not So Merry Ex-Mas

“Stop it, girl! That man and his problems are not your concern.”

I plop down on the edge of my bed, cover my eyes and let my body fall back. A huge groan escapes me.

Cole. Stinking. Nichols.

It’s none of my business whether everything is okay or not. Nothing about him is my business.

He made that more than evident at Mel and Mike’s wedding.

I roll over on my stomach and bury my head. Trying to stop the flow of memories assaulting me. But I can’t.

“Cole Nichols. I’m tutoring Cole Nichols,” I screech, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.

“I think I’m deaf!” Mel says, her voice muffled. “Could you stop yelling in my ear whenever you tell me about him?”

“I’ll try, but Mel! It’s Cole. So hot. Nichols.”

“I know. You haven’t stopped talking about him since you found out.” Mel laughs.

“Hi.” A deep voice interrupts my conversation. I look up only to slam into the gaze of the man I’m talking about. He’s wearing an amused smile, and his green eyes are twinkling at me. Yes, actually twinkling.

Heat creeps up my neck, and I’m sure my eyes are as round as saucers. “I gotta go.” I don’t wait for a goodbye before hanging up on Mel.

“Hi. Cole, right?” I stick my hand out to shake his. “I’m helping you with chemistry, right?”

The crinkles at the corner of his eyes deepen and my face gets hotter.

Smooth, Noelle, smooth.

“Yes, that's me. Cole,” he takes my hand, pauses, and a tight close lipped smile is on his face as if he’s trying not to laugh, “Nichols.”

Please ground, open up and swallow me now!

“Great.” I smile overly bright, praying that my face will return to a normal shade of red. I pull my hand from his. “Want to take a seat, and we can get started?”

A warmth fills my chest,and I chuckle. That day was something he would tease me mercilessly about. Had he not told me he was just as excited to meet me, I might have been completely humiliated. Turns out, he didn’t know my name, but he knew who I was.

It wasn’t until I met Mike that I found out justhowexcited he was to meet me. Seeing his cheeks turn red was one of the most adorable things I’ve everwitnessed.

My stomach flutters as every particle of me remembers how utterly in love I was with him. Then my body gets heavy, and tears sting the back of my eyes.

This is the reason I never wanted to talk about him to Mel after the wedding. He told me to move on and I did everything in my power to do exactly that.

I even got married to the worst human ever.

The spark we had once may still linger, but that ship had sailed.

Or so I thought.

Now he’s here, and all I can think about is how easily I fell in love with him. How easy it was to be with him.

The first time I met him, something in me came alive that has never truly gone away. No matter how much I tried to push it from my heart and mind.

It doesn’t help that my best friend is married to his best friend or that his name would occasionally come up in conversation. I did my best to shut down any feelings I had where he was concerned, and there is no way I’m traveling that road again.

Pressure builds in my chest and my heart starts to race. I raise my hand to my chest and take a slow, deep breath. I slowly breathe out and repeat the process.

When I start to feel my body relax and my heart rate slow, I push myself up from the bed, walk over to the mirror, and take a hard, long look in my eyes.

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