Page 59 of Fight For Her
“Listen, man. What happened the other night, isn’t going to happen again. There’s no drama here.” Coby slung his arm around my shoulders and gave me a warm grin. “We’re just two regular people. We started out rocky, but now…” He paused and I turned to see his eyes blazing. His tongue darted out to moisten his lips, and he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Now we’re two people in love.”
Love?
The word echoed in my mind like he’d shouted it from a mountaintop. Holy shit. Did he really love me? Or was this all an act for the camera?
“Kendahl? Hello? I asked you a question.” Aiden leaned with his forearms on the table to get as close as he could to us. “Oh, there she is. Welcome back to earth.”
I cleared my throat, avoiding Coby’s intense gaze. “Sorry, what did you ask?”
“I sense trouble brewing.” He messed with something on his camera, most likely to zoom in on us. “Coby said ‘you’re two people in love’, but then you looked like you went into cardiac arrest. Do you feel differently?”
I reached for my wineglass and sipped the last drop. My mouth felt like it was glued together. I couldn’t look at Coby. Shit. Why did he have to spring this on me now of all times? And in front of a camera.
“Hey man, is that one of the Kardashian’s over there by the bar?” Shawn said, breaking the tension of the moment. Aiden’s neck practically snapped with how fast he whipped around.
“Where?” he whined. “I only see my great-aunt, Marjorie.”
“Why don’t you guys go find somewhere private to talk. I got him,” Shawn said in a hushed tone. Coby nodded, pulling himself to a stand. I finally looked up at him and instantly wished I hadn’t.
His shoulders drooped, and he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”
Standing and adjusting my dress, I gave Shawn and Mia a quick nod and forced smile before following Coby outside.
Chapter 31
Coby
Iroyallyfuckedup.We’d been back in our room for ten minutes already and neither of us has said much of anything.Why, Coby?Why do you always say and do things and then want to punch yourself in the mouth five seconds later?
The thing was, I meant what I said. Or at least my end of it. I did love Kendahl. I knew that before this trip, but the past few days had only cemented my feelings. I was scared shitless.
“I’m sorry.” Kendahl’s soft voice broke through the silence of the room. Why the hell was she sorry? I was the one who messed up.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Once again, I jumped the gun.” Pacing in front of the bed, I rubbed my chin for concentration. “I shouldn’t have said what I said.”
When she didn’t respond, I looked up, forcing myself to stop studying a small pull in the carpet instead of looking straight at her. She was cross-legged on the bed, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth, and twisting a piece of hair around her finger.The silence grew between us like grains of sand filling an hourglass. Each second that neither of us spoke got me closer and closer to breaking down.
“Do you mean that?” she asked.
I stopped pacing and kneeled on the bed in front of her.
“Mean what?”
“That you shouldn’t have said that you love me?” Her voice cracked on the last word.
Fuck.I’d hurt her. Again.
“Kendahl.” I moved closer and tipped her chin up so we were eye to eye. “I meant that I shouldn’t have said that the way I did.” I forced a breath in through my nose and channeled a bit of the old Coby. The Coby who actually had confidence with women and wasn’t a scared pussy.
“So how should you have said it?” Her blue eyes pierced mine, and I dropped that shitty persona immediately. She saw through my crap in a heartbeat.
I licked my lips and raked a hand through my hair, never breaking eye contact. “I should have told Aiden to go away. I should have taken you by your hand and led you up here, to our bed. I should have held you in my arms and kissed every inch of your gorgeous body. And I should have looked you in the eyes like I’m doing right now and told you that I’m in love with you. That I have been since the moment I saw your smile. That I’m scared to death because I know I’m no good at this. But I want to be good, for you.”
Quiet fell between us again. I couldn’t get a read on what she was thinking and it terrified me.
“I,” she hesitated and my pulse pounded so hard I thought I might pass out. “I love you too, Coby.”
The sweetest smile spread across her lips, and she looked up at me through her dark lashes. I gathered her onto my lap and held her face gently, rubbing my thumb over her cheek. “This is real?” I asked, sounding more desperate than I’d ever sounded in my life.
