I didn’t have time to back away because Colton sealed his lips to mine for a tender, delicate, stomach-in-knots kind of kiss. His hand coasted up my back to cup my neck, his thumb guiding my jaw to better align with his. Colt kissed me like he neededme. Not my friendship. Not my body. He kissed me like I was a drug that could soothe his every ache.
And he was mine too.
Breathless, pulling me tighter and tighter to his body, a sweet, brief moment of losing myself in this man who was such a grounding force in my life.
We may not have kissed before he left, but something had shifted. This wasdifferent.
“Feel a little better?”
Colt blinked a few times and cracked a smile.
“Yeah,” he rasped. “Streak has to end sometime.”
I rose on my toes to deliver another peck to that adorable, smiling mouth. “That’s the spirit.”
My phone buzzed multiple times in succession in my pocket. “Probably a call back upstairs.”
“Yeah, don’t let me keep you. Just, uh, wanted to say hey.”Colt’s hands drifted from my waist to my hips before he stepped back from me. He went to sift through his hair, but only found his beanie, which he pulled off. Then he looked at it in his hand like it was some alien creation.
I reached for his hand. “I’m glad you stopped by.”
His eyes finally met mine again. “Anytime.”
“Thanks again for lunch.”
“You’re welcome.”
As I walked away from him, I leaned out, letting our hands stay joined until the moment when they had to break apart, lest I drag him with me. Just like old times. “Good luck tonight. I’ll be cheering for you from here.”
“Thanks.” Colt’s voice cracked when I couldn’t keep looking at him and walking forward. “Bye, Violet.”
“Bye.”
When I turned back at the elevators this time, he stood with a goofy grin on his face.
VIOLET
(pic of lunch)
Colt brought this for me
KITTY GATTO
y’all are so annoying
“fake” my ass
THIRTY-SEVEN
COLTON
OCTOBER | COLUMBUS, OHIO
“We’regonna pick it up. We’re gonna help Royce out. We’re not gonna let fucking St. Louis keep us down!”
My words were met with half-hearted cheers from everyone but Sorrento, who acted as my professional hype guy in the locker room. His response was a hearty, “That’s fuckin’ right!”
“It would help if Gav-o would get on the fucking forecheck,” Dottie grumbled.
