Till Death(16)

“Are you involved with anyone?” he asked, catching me off guard. “That also came out of nowhere, huh?”

“No,” I answered without thinking. “I mean, I’m not seeing anyone.”

His answering smile was slow, and damn it, it caused my chest to pitch in the most delightful way. “Me neither.”

I’d guessed that earlier when I’d been checking out his ring finger. “Thank you—for the compliment.” My fingers ached from how tightly I was clenching my hands together. “You look amazing too. Better than before.” I winced. “I mean, you looked good then too, but now . . . I’m just going to stop.”

That half grin appeared and his blue eyes warmed. “Don’t stop on my account.”

I needed to stop, so I refocused. “Um, so do you still live around here?”

He nodded. “Yep. In Falling Waters. Have a home there.”

“That’s nice.” And I meant it, but a second later, I stalled out on what to say. Talking to Cole had never been hard, not in the past, but now I found my words stilted and cautious. I just didn’t know what to say or do.

Cole didn’t appear to notice. “Is everything all right with your car? Derek told me your windows were busted out.”

“I called the insurance company and they’re sending someone out. They’re going to cover everything.” I paused, looking down at my hands. My knuckles were bleached white. “It was so strange. They broke out the windows, but didn’t take my laptop, which was right on the backseat.”

“Sounds like a few kids with too much time on their hands,” he replied.

“That’s what your cousin said,” I murmured, lifting my gaze.

His chest rose with a deep breath. Several seconds passed. “Are you okay, Sasha? Really okay?”

Oh God, there it was again. That question. The question everyone who knew who I was always ended up asking, and hearing that question come from Cole was what I had been avoiding for the last ten years. That was obviously why he was here. My spine stiffened. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

Those eyes moved over my face as if he were memorizing every inch. Another stretch of tense silence rolled out between us, and I wondered if he even believed my answer. How could I be okay? I knew that some people couldn’t understand how I could be okay after what had happened and they treated me like I was some kind of broken creature. It was why no one I met outside of this state ever knew about my past.

“I thought about that night.” His voice carried a heavy weight. “A lot.”

“Cole—”

“Should’ve walked you to your car that night,” he continued, gaze unwavering. “Biggest damn regret of my life right there.”

Oh God.

Leaning away, I pressed into the back of the chair. I wanted to run from the room, from what he was saying, but it was too late. His words were burned into my brain, and I didn’t want them there. I didn’t want him to feel that way. “You shouldn’t feel that way,” I said, squeezing my hands together. “What happened wasn’t—”

“It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t do what he did. I know that.” He exhaled heavily. “Doesn’t change the fact that I should’ve walked you to your damn car. We all knew what was going on and—”

“And if he hadn’t gotten me that night, he would’ve gotten me later.” The fine hairs rose along the nape of my neck. It had been so long since I’d talked about it. “And we all knew that he’d been—” My breath hitched in my throat. “He’d been watching me. Like he’d watched all the others. He would’ve gotten me eventually.”

Cole broke eye contact then and his voice was low when he said, “Yeah.”

Uncomfortable, I shifted in my seat. “I’m . . . happy to see that you’re doing well, but it’s late and it’s been a really long day.”

“All right.” Cole’s eyes came to mine. “But I’ve got one more question for you.”

I waited, prepared to take flight as soon as I could.

“Will you have dinner with me?”

My jaw dropped open. Okay, that was not what I was expecting.

“I want to catch up with you, but I get that it’s late and I’ve surprised you. So maybe we could restart this conversation when you’ve had a little time to prepare.”

God, I’d totally forgotten how straight to the point Cole was.

“What do you think?” he persisted when all I did was stare at him.

“I . . . I don’t know about that,” I whispered, almost immediately regretting my answer. I took a deep breath as part of my mind threw its arms up in disagreement while the other clapped its hands in approval. Dinner with Cole was not a good idea. Other than him needing to see that I was of sound mind and body, I didn’t get why he’d want to.

One side of his lips quirked up. “Got to admit, not surprised to hear that.”

I arched a brow. “And why is that?”

He tilted his head to the side and a moment passed. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, but . . .” But that wasn’t an answer, or was it?

Cole studied me in the intense way that was familiar yet different now. “It’s okay.”