Page 88 of Colt

I don’t want to leave.

Speaking of. I’m hit by a new wave of nerves as Colton and I head back out to the kitchen. He turned off the music, and the snap and pop of the fire in the family room fills the silence.

The windows have gone dark. I watch our reflections move through the space with an ease that I absolutely do not feel.

What I do feel is aroused. Interested. Achy.

Full in all the best ways.

“Would you like another beer or…?” Colton lifts an arm to dig his hand into the hair at his nape. His bicep bulges, his shirt lifting to reveal a sliver of his flat stomach.

Yup. Gonna do something very stupid if I don’t leave very soon.

Last thing I want to do is overstay my welcome. Sure, Colton was kind and very flirty tonight. And yes, he did mention continuing our enemies-with-benefits situation. But are we even enemies anymore? It sure as hell doesn’t feel like it.

If not, what the hell are we now? Because he also asked about my family and my life and my job, and my heart skips all over again at the memory of the look in his eyes when he said that doesn’t sound like you.

But that does not mean Colton wants me to stay. In fact, I imagine he wants to fall face-first into bed. He looks tired.

He always looks tired.

I’m not gonna be the reason he misses out on any sleep.

“Thanks, but I think I’m gonna head out.” I grab my bag from the console table behind the family room couch.

Dropping his arm, Colton looks at me for a beat. I can’t read the expression in his eyes. He’s not squinting at me. He’s not checking me out. He’s more like…

Searching me. For answers. Do I really want to go? Or do I want to stay?

Does he want me to stay?

Please, please ask me to stay.

But what if Dean hears us? What if, I don’t know, it’s not as good as I remember?

What if it’s better?

“All right.” He drops his fist onto the nearby countertop. “Thank you for the LEGO set, Lainey. That was really cool of you to think of Dean. Even cooler of you to spend time with him. Us. I feel like I’m always so busy doing other stuff…” Colton shakes his head. “I don’t know, I worry I don’t sit down and play with him enough. Tonight was fun.”

Be still, my beating heart.

“It was.” I loop my bag over my shoulder. “Kinda shocked by how much fun we had, to be honest.”

He chuckles and starts walking toward the door. “For the record, I still don’t agree with you being here. Not here here but on the ranch.”

I follow him, my body throbbing with an awareness of just how close he is. How good he smells. “And I still don’t agree with you not agreeing with that. Mark my words, cowboy, I’m gonna knock your socks off.”

He cuts me a look over his shoulder. “You were so cool, until you weren’t.”

“Told you I was a nerd.” My face hurts. That’s when I realize it’s from smiling so much all night.

The ache in my core intensifies.

“How’re things?” I lower my voice. “With your sister and Ryder?”

Colton runs a hand over his mouth. “I spoke to my therapist about it today. I’m working on acceptance. Part of that is accepting…well, that I may be jealous.”

My pulse skips several beats. “You’re in therapy?”