The bloated wooden step creaks beneath Cole's weight. He holds his hand out again and I reluctantly take it, hoping the blazin' heat that scorched my body earlier doesn't incinerate me now. Now that we're alone.
Sinful. Sinful. Sinful.
I'm still thinkin' sinful thoughts about him.
"What are we doin' here?" I press Cole.
He looks around the dilapidated structure. The stained-glass windows are still intact, splashin' rainbow streaks across the dusty pews. Everything else has slowly broken down over time.Time. Times touched this place and it shows in the strips of peeling paint falling down the walls, and the dirt splattered all over the floor.
"I used to come here when I was younger," he says with his back to me. "I liked the way the light hit the stained-glass windows. It's peaceful."
"I still don't understand why you brought me here," I try again.
He turns to face me, his jaw ripe with tension. "There used to be a sign on the door that saidForbidden Entry. Over the years, the elements destroyed it. But I haven't forgotten that I'm not supposed to be in here."
Cole takes a step closer, the smell of his musky cologne wafting through the air around me. He drowns out every other smell, every other view as my eyes settle on him.
"You're Brock's sister. You're ten years younger than I am. We don't...we don't have anything in common. We don't make sense. But I can't stop thinking about yesterday," he finally gets to the point. "You're forbidden, just like this place. And, like this place, I'm not sure I can stay away from you."
Did I hear him right?
My ears begin ringin'. There's no way this is real right now. No way he's sayin' what I think he's sayin'.
"I don't know what to say for once," I admit. "I'm speechless."
Cole smiles down at me, his fingers grazin' mine again. "I have to leave in a few months for work. I'll be gone for a year."
My heart is poundin' like rain on a tin roof.A few months. I can have him for a few months. Is that...is that long enough?
He frowns as I search his eyes for the answer. The answer to whether I'm willin' to risk my heart for a few short months to be with him before he leaves again.
"What if I fall in love with you?" I furrow my brow.
Cole's hand slides through my hair as I close the distance between us and run my hands along his chest. He's solid and steady.
I'm afraid I might fall a little too fast. What am I sayin'? I think I already am falling. I've known him my whole life. Seen every high and every low. Been on the outskirts. Now, I seem to be right, smack dab in the middle of his Main Street.
"I don't know." The cords of his throat tighten as I peer up at him. "I already signed a contract I can't back out of."
He rests his forehead against mine. A humid breeze drifts through the cracks in the building and wraps itself around us. He can't give me more than a few months. I don't know what this might look like after that. But I think I want to find out.
"I want to kiss you again," I whisper.
I can feel his heart ricochetin' off the hand I have over his chest. "I want to kiss you, too."
My nose slides along his as I close my eyes. My body shivers when he molds his lips to mine like we've done this all our lives.
Flee from sexual immortality.
Pastor Frank and his stupid supernatural powers.
I drown him out.
For the first time in my life, I don't care where my soul goes as long as Cole's lips never stop touchin' mine.
I'm a lost cause when it comes to him. I don't care about the fall out or the repercussions. I just want to kiss Cole.Forever.
Chapter 4 – Kissing You is Addicting