I didn’t know why he was stripping, but I liked what I was seeing. His torso was covered in colorful tattoos. I wanted to know the history behind every last one of them.
He balled his shirt up and tossed it into my lap. “Use this.”
I started putting it on.
Cole looked at me like I was completely insane. It was an expression I was used to seeing when he looked at me. “What are you doing?” he asked with a laugh. “I wanted you to clean up with it. Not wear it.”
Oh, right.I wiped it over my chest and chin as Cole put the car into drive. I was relieved to finally be able to pull my dress back up over my breasts. But for some reason it didn’t seem to want to stay up.Damn it!I’d been so happy to finally have a strapless dress that I didn’t have to adjust every 5 seconds. I’d even danced for hours in it without once worrying about flashing the entire dance floor. Had Dr. Lyons torn the fabric when he yanked it down?
I kept playing with it as we drove through the forest.
A few minutes later we pulled up outside a cookie-cutter house on a picturesque suburban street. It felt like we’d been transported back to the 50s. If it hadn’t been 4 o’clock in the morning, I was sure I would have seen at least one housewife gardening in a knee-length checkered dress.
“This is where you grew up?” I asked. “It’s so…cute.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I just can’t picture this house creating…this.” I gestured to the tattoos snaking over his muscular body.
“Like I said. I wasn’t always like this.” He cut the ignition. “Now let’s go see what’s on that flash drive.”
This Is War - Chapter 41 – Tate Abernathy Halifax
Saturday – September 23, 2023
“Are you sure we shouldn’t knock?” I asked as I pulled at the top of my dress for at least the twentieth time.
Cole flipped through the keys on his keychain. “At this hour? No way. Like I said…we’ll just be in and out. They’ll never even know we were here.” He unlocked the door and slowly opened it. I cringed when it creaked a little.
I knew this was his parents’ house, but my heart was still pounding. The closest I’d ever come to sneaking into a house was when I used to help Rosalie sneak in through our bedroom window after a wild night with whichever guy she was dating that week. Me? I’d never even had a boyfriend to sneak out with.
I’d always wondered why Rosalie didn’t just come home on time. But now I kind of understood. There was something thrilling about the adrenaline pumping through my veins. The thought of getting caught and having to meet Cole’s parents was terrifying.
“Where’s the computer?” I whispered.
He pointed down the hall. I tiptoed ahead as he eased the door shut.
Then everything happened all at once.
“Freeze, bitch!” yelled a deep voice.
I screamed bloody murder and threw my hands in the air.
My dress fell down.
The lights flicked on.
I stared down the barrel of a shotgun. And then I looked past it and locked eyes with Cole’s father. Or at least, I would have. But he was staring right at my exposed breasts.
Fuck my life.I wanted to cover myself, but I really didn’t want to get shot.
“Tate?” asked the woman who had hit the lights. “Is that you, honey?”
“Yes, it’s me!” said Cole. Or Tate, apparently. “What the hell is Dad doing with a shotgun?”
“Language!” said his mom.
Cole looked down. “Sorry, Mom.”
