Page 123 of Broken Silence
I gasped and leapt to my feet.
He opened his arms as I ran at him. I flew into his chest, slamming against him and burying my head in his neck, breathing him in to make sure he was real.
“You’re here,” I sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
He held me tightly, his hand curling in my hair, the other one gripping my back and pinning me against him as if he was afraid I’d disappear.
“I’m so—”
“Don’t,” he said into my hair. “It’s not your fault. Everything’s okay, baby, I promise.”
I closed my eyes, drinking the moment in for a second.
Then I needed to know everything, so I pulled away. “Are you okay? No one called to tell us you were on your way home. They’re not making any charges, right?”
He wiped a tear from under my eye, his finger like heaven against my skin. “I’m fine. It’s over. I promise. They asked me a lot of personal questions, but we hadn’t done anything wrong.”
“You’re sure it’s over?”
Cole smiled and pressed his forehead against mine.
“Definitely. Your statement matched mine, baby. They know the truth. The cops who took me in were apologetic after they’d finished the questioning. Not their fault, they were only doing their job. Nothing will go on my record or anything like that.”
“Thank God.”
“Think we can maybe keep our private life private from now on?” he asked, smirking.
I grimaced. “Erm, that sounds good but…”
“What?”
“I kind of spoke to the press. They were outside the house and knew you’d been taken to the station. I was scared they would speculate, and people would think you’d done something wrong. Stuff like that sticks and–”
“Hey.” He covered my mouth with his finger and laughed. “Take a breath. I get it, and I love you for it. You didn’t want to talk to the press.”
“You’re more important. Thananything.”
Cole leant in ready to kiss me when Jasper slapped him on the back. “Cole, man, good to have you back.” Jasper ripped Cole away from me and gave him a man hug before pushing him my way again. “You can go back to feeling up my little sister now.”
I rolled my eyes.
Smiling, I turned to Cole. Everyone else had cleared out of the way, giving us some privacy. “You’re allowed to feel me up again.”
Laughing, he linked his fingers into the belt hoops on my jeans and pulled me closer. “Is that right?”
“I wouldn’t object.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“You’re not alone in the house. Save the flirting until later,” Mia called.
Dropping my gaze, I stepped back and laughed.
“Wine?” Mia said, giving Cole a sideways hug. “I could drink some wine. I mean, we can celebrate now, right?”
“Get the glasses, Mia!” Jenna called from the kitchen.
Cole nudged her. “Go. I’ve got something to do.”
