Page 107 of The Heart Breaker

Her lashes flutter and another tear spills as she meets my eyes. “I just want to know if we’d have anything in common. If I’m like him at all. I want to know what it feels like to have a dad.”

A rough breath leaves me and I slide my hand from her face to the small of her back. “Sometimes you’re better off not knowing, Prescott,” I mutter. “Trust me.”

She blinks the last of the tears away, then shifts closer until she’s pressed up against me, tucking herself into me. I wrap my arms around her and just hold her.

“So,” she says a few minutes later, and I can hear the smile in her voice before I even look down at her, “you can only sleep with me, huh?”

A low laugh slips out of me, and I squeeze her ass under the blanket. “Don’t get cocky. You’re still a pain in my ass. That’s never gonna change.”

“Oh good. I’d hate to think I was losing my touch.”

I huff out another laugh and pull her in a little closer, my hand moving slowly over her back while her head rests on my chest.

“Cole.”

My hand stills on her back. “Yeah?”

“What are we doing?”

I stare down at her in the dark, my heart thudding hard against my ribs.

What am I supposed to say to that?

I have no goddamn clue when this thing between us changed. Don’t know when she stopped being the girl I wanted to fight with and started being the one person I keep finding my way back to. Don’t know when this stopped being just sex. Don’t know why having her here, tucked against me, feels like the first thing that’s made sense in a long time.

Even after what she did.

“I don’t know, Prescott,” I say finally, because it’s the only honest thing I’ve got.

She breathes out against my chest, and some of the tension leaves her as she shifts closer. With her pressed against me, the usual noise in my head starts to fade.

Somewhere between all the reasons I should stay away from her and the knowledge that there’s no way in hell I’m going to, my eyes close… and I fall asleep.

29

AURORA

Isabella’s supposed to be at the rink this morning.

I know that because I live with her, have lived with her for two years, and know her schedule, which is exactly why I skipped class and came back to the apartment now. I’ve got a small window to grab enough clothes to get me through a few more days and get back out before?—

“Cole Ellis?”

I freeze at the sound of Isabella’s voice, squeezing my eyes shut.

Busted.

I knew this could happen. That’s exactly why I’ve been avoiding her for the last two days, which is a lot harder than it sounds when we literally live together.

Still, I was doing a pretty decent job of it. Mostly because I’ve been staying at Cole’s.

We haven’t even had sex—thanks, Mother Nature. He leaves for the rink before the sun’s up, I go to class, and then somehow, I end up back at his place after, where he makes me food and puts on Death Note, which we’re both now way too invested in.

I let out a breath, set the bag down by my feet, and turn around slowly. “Heyyy… Izz.”

“Don’t ‘hey’ me,” she says, narrowing her eyes. “You’re sleeping with Cole? Really? The guy you’ve hated since the second you got to Colton?”

My shoulders sag. “Damn it. I was kind of hoping you’d just block out what you saw.”