Page 27 of Under Pressure

“What makes you think you’re going to lose me, or that you’ve wrecked things?”

“I told you to go away. That I didn’t need you here.”

“Yeah, and that’s why we can’t be friends anymore, Reese.”

My heart misses a beat, and I try hard not to lose it in front of Cole. I nod like I totally understand and pull my face from his chest, doing my best not to cry.

He cups my chin and lifts it until we’re eye to eye. “Reese,” he says, “I thought I’d fucked everything up between us, but then I realized something very important.”

“You did? What?”

“Come with me, and I’ll show you.” He guides me to the cab, and I slide in. He gives the cabbie directions to a place in Queens, and I just give him a strange look.

“You want to show me something in Queens?”

“You’ll see,” he says.

I mainly sit in quiet. We both do, as the driver takes us all the way to Queens. I want to open up to Cole, tell him everything, but I don’t want to do it in front of the cabbie. A long while later, the cab stops in front of an older home—cute, but very run down.

“What are we doing here?” I ask.

Cole slides from the cab, and I follow him out. I glance up and down the street and see kids and dogs at a nearby park. “Do you know someone who lives here?”

“Yes.”

Who?”

“Me,” he answers.

My eyes go wide. “What are you talking about?”

“I bought this.” He shrugs one shoulder. “Thought I could fix it up. Working construction with my uncle hasn’t been so bad after all. I learned a few things.”

I shake my head. This is all coming at me so fast. “Cole, that’s amazing. But Colorado… I…”

He puts his hands on my shoulders and turns me. “See the garage?”

I nod.

“That would make a great clinic for you.” I blink at him and try to process what he’s saying. “There’s lots of space in the backyard, too. We could build that shelter, Bed and Barkfest.” He glances up and down the street. “Outside the city, across from a park. Perfect location, don’t you think? Took me all week to find it.”

With my thoughts still two pages behind, I shake my head and ask, “Cole what are you saying?”

“Remember I said I realized something?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, what I realized was that you love me.”

“I do love you,” I blurt out, unable to hold it in for one more second. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I was so worried about losing you as a friend.”

“I’ve loved you for a long time, but I didn’t realize our friendship went so much deeper until our trip to Africa,” he says, his voice low and soft. “I guess that’s why I was so miserable when you were with Jared that I couldn’t stay here, couldn’t watch you two together.”

“You…you love me?”

He laughs. “Fuck yeah, I love you. And that’s why we can’t go back to being just friends. When you told me to go away, it nearly killed me. But after making love to you that last night in the hotel, I realized what you were doing.”

He loves me.

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