Page 63 of The Weekend Crashers
“So... end of discussion. We’re both on the same page, so to speak.”
She’s quiet for a minute. “My mother thinks I’m too young to be this serious about someone.”
He shrugs. “Maybe we are. But speaking for myself, I know how I feel when I’m not with her. And I don’t like it. So that’swhat I’m going on—not some vague idea of the ideal time or circumstance to fall in love.”
She smiles. “I get it. And I agree.”
“So... friends?” he says.
“Friends,” she says, relieved. With that cleared up, she’s eager to move on. “So why’d you get into a fight with your dad, anyway?”
Cole extends his arm, clicking the remote to getMad Menrolling again. “Don’t get me started. He forgets that I’m an adult now. My whole family does. No one has any boundaries. And I hate that word—it’s a cliché. But there’s no other way to put it.”
“I get it,” she says, though she doesn’t think Maggie has boundary issues. Not really. Sure, she sometimes gives unsolicited opinions. But it’s never been a real problem. Except maybe for the doubt she’s planted in her mind about prioritizing her relationship with Ethan over mostly anything else.
Cole swings his legs over the side of the bed and walks to the mini fridge, offering her a beer. She shakes her head no. “We’re both burdened with a single parent,” he says. “All the pressure to make them proud. To somehow pay them back for doing it all, and doing it alone.”
Hearing her own most private thoughts come out of Cole’s mouth is shocking. And she realizes it’s the first time she’s discussed this with someone who can relate. “Sometimes I feel guilty for having my own life. Like, I’ll be out with my boyfriend and thinking about my mom home alone.”
“Do they get along? Your mom and your boyfriend?”
She considers that for a moment. “I’ve always thought so. But she thinks we’re too young to be so serious. What about your dad and... Well, I guess he doesn’t know about Kalli?”
Cole shakes his head. “I never discuss my personal life withmy dad. Especially not lately. Sometimes, it’s just better for our parents not to know. You get what I’m saying?”
She thinks so.
They sit with that for a moment, then he restarts the show and they watch until someone knocks on the door. Cole jumps up and goes to the door, opening it just enough to peek his head out into the hallway. She hears whispers, and then he says something like, “Just come in.” Then, more whispers.
Cole steps away from the door, and Kalli walks in.
Piper’s confused. Sure, she saw him helping her with her axe throw. But she didn’t realize they’d hit it off enough to be hanging out.
“Hey, Piper,” she says, giving her a smile.
“Hey,” Piper says, standing up.
And then, silence. The air between Kalli and Cole is electric, like they’re connected by an invisible forcefield. And then, it all clicks: Cole is Kalli’s tragic romance. The man she met while married to someone else.
“Okay...” she says, eyes widening. “Well, it’s late. I’ll leave you two.”
“Wait,” Kalli says, stepping closer. “Please don’t say anything to Laurel about seeing me here tonight.”
Piper shakes her head. “I won’t. But if this is a problem, why did you bring her along for a weekend with Cole?”
“A weekend with Cole? I didn’t know he was going to be here,” Kalli says. “Before this weekend, we hadn’t spoken in two months. This really was supposed to be a girls’ weekend getaway. To forget about him—which I haven’t been able to do. And then I show up and he’s here.”
This really is a small town.
“But why all the secrecy now? I understand it wasn’t ideal to meet while you were still married to someone else. But you’re divorced,” Piper says.
“Gettingdivorced,” Kalli clarifies. “And Laurel thinks I need to deal with that—emotionally and legally—before I get involved with someone else.”
“And my cousin knows the whole story and came down on me for it,” Cole adds. “So no, we’re not in a rush to have anyone see us together.” He sits on the bed and Kalli moves next to him. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and she leans in close. He kisses the top of her head. “But we’re going to prove the haters wrong.”
Piper has a lot of questions. “Does this have anything to do with your fight with your dad?”
Kalli turns to him. “What happened?”
