Page 68 of Love Me Again

“Shayla,get your sexy butt back here!” I shout, laughing as I chase her to the ice slides.

“No!” She laughs, running up the steps. I catch up with her at the top and pull her back to me before kissing her lovingly.

“Oi, move it, you two.” Aimee pants nudging past us as she and Josh slide down the ice slide together. “Woohoo!” Aimee exclaims as she slides down in Josh’s lap.

“Come on,” I sit and pull Shayla into my lap before we go sliding down together and tumble over once we reach the bottom. I groan when Shayla lands on top of me, laughing hysterically.

“My bum is frozen, but that is so worth it.” She giggles as I look up at her grinning.

“Oh baby, I’ve got a thousand different ways I would love to warm your bum up,” I croon and spank her shapely behind while she gasps and scrambles off me, her cheeks bright pink.

“Cole, there are kids around.” She chuckles, slapping my hands away when I reach for her. “No groping on the first date.” She scolds me playfully and tries to walk off, but I wrap my arms around her waist and lift her into my arms.

“Yo, love birds, let's go get some hot chocolate. My fucking arse is frozen!” Aimee calls out to us as she jumps up on Josh’s back. “Giddy up, baby.”

“You guys go ahead. We’ll catch up,” I call back, looking at Shayla, who frowns a little watching Aimee and Josh go off toward the hot chocolate stand. I set Shay back on her feet before I take her hand into mine and pull her toward the haunted house. I needed some alone time with her, not that I’m not having fun with Aimee and Josh, but it was supposed to be our date to reconnect.

“Oh!” Shayla jumps, startled when a clown jumps out at her. We laugh as we carry on walking through the house, and either a scary object or actor dressed as some scary character jumps out, frightening the shit out of us. I find a dark corner and pull Shayla into it before I press her up against the wall. “What are you doing?” She gasps, looking up at me perplexed.

I grin, pressing my forehead to hers, “Warming up.” I murmur, ghosting my lips over hers, and just as I’m about to kiss her, she ducks away laughing and runs off further into the house. She really wasn’t making this easy at all. I groan and follow her until I come into one of those mirror maze rooms. I see her standing there, biting her lip, looking at me all seductively while she gestures me to her with her finger.

“You want that kiss. You’re going to have to come and get it, stud.” Shayla purrs, smiling teasingly. I walk over to her and stop when I hit a mirror. I place my hand on it, and she laughs. “Turn around.” I spin around and see three of her.

“Oh, come on…” I groan and walk over to the middle and hit a mirror again, and she grins, pressing herself against it, looking into my eyes. “Stop tormenting me, baby.” I moan, looking at her lips as she licks them slowly, and then she disappears.

“Psst.” I turn and see her behind me, her green eyes alight with such love it made me ache deeply. “Come here.”

“You better be real.” I groan as I walk over and hit another mirror, and she shakes her head. “Oh, baby, I’m going to ruin those lips when I get my hands on you,” I warn her playfully, and she grins, shrugging her shoulders.

“You’ll have to catch me first, Lord Hoult.” Shayla hums sensually, unzipping her jacket a little and pressing her breasts against the glass, giving me a clear view of her cleavage.

“You’re a bad, bad girl Shayla Hoult,” I growl, lifting my eyes from her beautiful breasts and staring heatedly into her eyes.

“Come and get it, baby.” I take a step away and look around and see her leaning against a pillar. I walk over to her but hit another mirror. Goddamn it! There were like ten of her, and I couldn’t figure out which one is real and which one wasn’t.

“Shayla, I’m about to start smashing my way through these mirrors.” I chuckle, frustrated, and she laughs again.

“How does it feel, Cole? Just when you think you have something you so desperately want and you’re just a touch away from having it all, it turns out to be nothing but an illusion. Frustrating, isn’t it?” She drawls, smiling, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. I feel like she’s trying to teach me a lesson here. “That frustration you feel right now is how I felt throughout our entire relationship until we got married.” I sigh, licking my lips as I watch her walk around. “I’m constantly living in fear, waiting to hit that metaphorical mirror and discover that this whole thing is just yet another illusion.”

I walk up to her and hit another mirror and sigh, “It’s not an illusion Shayla, I love you, and I’m going to keep loving you today, tomorrow, and every other day after that until I die.”

“You promised me that before, too, and look what happened.”

I place my hand on the glass when she steps closer and look into her eyes. “I found my way back to you, though, didn’t I?” I state, looking into her worry-filled eyes, and, at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to touch her. “I lost my memory, but my heart sill found its way back to you because you’re the one Shayla, you always will be. I know it’s hard right now, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes and go as slow as you want until you trust me again, sweetheart.” I declare, looking at her pleadingly. “Please come out and let me hold you.” I watch as she disappears from the mirror and turn when I see her standing behind me.

I walk over and pull Shayla into my arms before I curl my fingers at the nape of her neck, kissing her slow and deliberately until my lungs ran out of oxygen. We pull back from the kiss, eyes closed and panting, filling our deprived lungs with much-needed air. “I love you, light of my life,” I whisper, and Shayla’s eyes snap open, and she looks up at me astounded.

“How did you…” Shayla whispers, gazing up at me questioningly, her eyes probing mine. I smile, holding her gaze, my fingers tangled in her hair. “You remembered?” I nod slowly, and she smiles, her green eyes glistening with tears. “Oh, Cole…” She whimpers, wrapping her arms around my neck, hugging me. I circle my arms around her waist, hold her tight against me, and bury my face into her neck. “I love you, love of my life.” She whispers, and I grin.

“Come on,” I take her hand, and we walk out of the haunted house and meet up with Aimee and Josh, who already had a table and our drinks waiting for us. Shayla was currently on the phone with our mothers checking up on the baby for the fifth time. I miss Alaia terribly, but it must be even harder for Shayla as a mother to be away from her. Shayla comes back and sits beside me on the table with a sigh. “Alaia, okay?” I ask, and she nods, smiling, rubbing her hands together to warm them up.

“Yeah, she’s fine. Mum just fed her, and she’s sleeping.” She sighs with a smile when I wrap my fingers around hers and blow on them to warm them up, my eyes on hers. “Are you hungry? They have the best fries and wings here?” She suggests smiling beautifully, and I nod.

“Sounds good,” Shayla looks at Josh and Aimee, who also nod before she pulls me to the stand to order the food. While we stand in the queue waiting to order, I notice Shayla is shivering, so I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my arms, and she nestles into me with a moan while I press my nose into her hair.

Once the food was ordered and arrived, we ate with some delicious German beer and walked around for a little while longer. Josh and I won the girls some cute stuffed animals.

“Shay! Look, Michael Bublé tribute act is singing his hits songs!” Aimee shouts excitedly, and the girls drag us over to the huge crowd of people gathered listening and singing along to Michael Bublé's songs. This was by far one of the best dates I have ever been on. I don’t know how she does it, but she just keeps surprising me. I’ve never been to places like these because I never found anything remotely interesting about them until now, until her. Shayla has this beautiful aura that sucks you in, and the things you would typically find mundane suddenly seem like the most exciting things ever. The singer starts to play Sway by Michael Bublé and tells everyone to start dancing. So, we do, in the middle of winter wonderland, in the freezing cold, we dance. I spin Shayla and pull her into me, and she laughs. All the ballroom dancing lessons my mother made me take finally pay off when I guide Shayla through the moves, and she follows my steps.

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