Page 55 of Mine For The Winter

When he wasn’t around.

“Don’t you want to know why our friendship was ruined?” she asked, because the silence was deafening.

“I figure you’ll tell me when you’re ready. I wasn’t planning on forcing it out of you.”

Kelly let out a sigh, pulling the last clean plate out of the dishwasher and glancing at the kitchen door. It was closed. No chance of Cole overhearing. “I almost kissed him last night.”

“What?”

And that was the reaction she was expecting. She wasn’t sure if she felt better or worse after saying it out loud. All she knew was the present was so much easier to talk about than the past. “He didn’t kiss me back. Not properly. But I was crying and he was holding me…”

“Hold up. Why was he holding you?”

“To comfort me, I suppose.” Though she didn’t feel very comforted now. Thinking about it was like touching an electric wire. Sending pulses right through her. “He was holding me and stroking my back and telling me that I didn’t have to talk to him until I was ready. He was being so… nice. I guess I’m a sucker for when people are nice to me.” She frowned at the truth of that thought.

“Because you’ve had a lot of experience with people not being nice.” Amber sounded sad. “Do you wish he’d kissed you back?”

“Yes. No.” She hated how indecisive she was. Every time she got close to him it felt like her world was inside out. “Definitely no. I don’t need that kind of complication.” Kelly stood, holding the phone to her ear as she rolled her shoulders. She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. Her body ached from tossing and turning while she thought about the way he felt. Strong. Protective.

The Kris Winter she’d once known.

And he was making her feel like the Kelly who’d loved him so much as a kid. Before he broke her heart and walked away.

“Mom, where’s my gym bag?” Cole asked, rushing into the kitchen. Kelly looked up, alarmed, worried that he’d overheard the conversation.

But the easy expression on his face told her otherwise, thank goodness.

“I gotta go,” Kelly told Amber. And maybe that was a relief. Because she didn’t want to think about last night any more.

“Okay, honey. Talk later. Call me any time.”

“Thank you,” Kelly said softly. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

* * *

This was such a bad idea. He knew it as he drove over to Kelly’s house. He knew it when he climbed out of the car and knocked on the door.

Hell, he even knew it when Cole opened the door and a grin split his lips when he saw Kris standing there.

“Is your grandpa in?”

“Yeah.” Cole nodded. “Come in.”

He still needed to have that stranger danger talk with the kid. Though maybe he wasn’t a stranger anymore. Kris had spent more time with Cole than he had with his own nieces and nephews since he’d been back in town.

“Hey,” Cole said, before he opened the door to the living room. “Do you know what OnlyFans is?”

Kris blinked. How the heck did Cole know about OnlyFans? “Why?”

“Because Mom was talking about joining it. I wondered if it was a sports fan thing.”

Kris tipped his head to the side. “Your mom wants to join OnlyFans?” he said slowly.

“Yeah. I heard her on the phone with Amber. Said she’s setting up an account. And I’d heard some kids at school talking about it a while ago, too. I just wondered.” Cole shrugged.

“Ah… it’s probably something you should ask your mom about.”

---