I remove my hand from her mouth. “Austin?” I cup her face. “You okay?” My fingers go to her neck and feel her rapid pulse. “Austin?” I tap her face.
“Cole …” She mumbles my name and tilts her head the other way, not bothering to open her eyes. “It’s late.” She yawns. “I’m tired.”
And just like that, she falls back asleep.
I sit up and run my hands through my hair. Then get off the bed, grab my towel, and wipe between her legs before I fall down beside her, not even bothering to put any boxers on.
CHAPTER TWO
COLE
I OPEN MY eyes and reach out my right hand, feeling around the empty space. Clarifying what I already know.
I’m alone.
Rolling onto my back, I pick up my phone off the nightstand. It’s eight o’clock, and my battery life reads forty-five percent. I forgot to charge it last night. I turn off my alarm since it’s scheduled to go off in thirty minutes anyway before throwing off the covers. I make my way to our en suite bathroom. Turning on the shower, I step inside and stand under the sprayer, needing another shower since I didn’t take one after we had sex. Closing my eyes, I throw my head back and let it soak my face.
I’m tired.
Exhausted.
I haven’t gotten much sleep lately. After we returned from Collins, things slowed down, and we fell into a routine. I never thought I’d like the whole boring marriage life as much as I do. But something is off. My nightmare proved that.
I have this feeling like the other shoe is about to drop. And I can’t figure out what it is.
I turn around, place my hands on the tile, and bow my head. Fisting my hands, I hit the wall gently a few times, closing my eyes and letting out a long breath.
So much has happened. I wanted Texas to be a fresh start and a new beginning, but it’s not. Everything seems to follow us, no matter where we go, and I have to be one step ahead of it at all times.
Finishing up in the shower, I exit and dry off. I shave my face and brush my teeth before walking into the closet and getting dressed in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, then head downstairs.
“Good morning, Cole,” Lilly says as she passes me in the hall with a piece of bacon in one hand and her cell in the other.
“Morning,” I call out just before I hear her bedroom door shut.
I enter the kitchen and see Austin standing in front of the stove. She’s moving bacon from the skillet to a plate. “Lilly, you have ten minutes!” she yells.
I drop my bag to the floor and walk up behind her. “Can I have five of those?”
“Cole, I don’t have time …”
I pull my wife from the stove, spin her around, and lift her, planting her ass on the kitchen island. I shove her legs apart and stand between them. Why was she wearing her wedding dress in the dream? We’ve been married for a while now. Does it mean marrying me was a death sentence for her? I hate that I’m too selfish to let her go. I need her for my sanity and my survival. Austin Lowes brought life to my dead world. I’d hate to cut her life short for my own. But as I look into her green eyes, I wonder where she’d be if I hadn’t forced her to be with me. Probably with that motherfucker Martin. And that just pisses me off.
“Cole—”
“I need five minutes.” I’ve always been a needy person. But what used to be a need for violence has now turned into needing her.
“You had me last night.” She arches a brow. “I remember.”
“It was like twenty minutes.” Not nearly enough.
Her green eyes narrow in the sexiest way. “It was like four in the morning. You woke me up. Sorry I wasn’t in the mood for foreplay.”
I reach up and gently push her long, dark hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck to me. I bury my face in it. “You still got off,” I remind her. “Twice.”
She slaps my chest playfully.
“I need more,” I admit. We had to be quiet. I can’t remember the last time we weren’t careful about our sex life because of Lilly. I want to fuck my wife! I want to make her scream. I want to feel the split of my skin from her nails. Shove her up against the wall. Slap her ass. Wrap my hand around her throat. Make the bed bang against the wall. Like I said, I need more. “And I can’t remember the last time I fucked you anywhere other than our bed.” I nip at her neck. I want to fuck her on the kitchen counter or in a bathroom. Fuck, I’d do her in the back seat of my car.
“Cole …” She sighs, and my cock hardens.
“Getting warmer,” I mumble before running my free hand up her back and tangling it in her thick hair. I’m madly in love with Austin Reynolds, but I never forget why I fell in love with her—she’s fearless. A force to be reckoned with.
Challenge me, sweetheart.
She places her hands on my chest and pushes me back. I go willingly, looking down into her heavy eyes. “I was going to surprise you, but Lilly is staying with a friend this weekend.”
“Really?”
“Yep. We’ll have the house to ourselves. And I ordered some things online. They arrived yesterday.”
I arch a brow, running my hand over her jean-clad thighs. “What kind of things?”
She shoves me back and jumps off the island. “That’s a surprise.” She walks out of the kitchen, and I hear her talking to Lilly down the hall.
My phone starts ringing in my pocket, and I pull it out to see it’s Deke. “Hello?”
“Where you at?” he asks in greeting.
“About to walk out of the house. You?”
“Same.” He lets out a long breath. “I’ve got some news. And you’re not going to like it.”
I grab my keys off the counter and head toward the garage. “What is it?” I ask, knowing this is that motherfucking shoe, and it’s about to drop.
AUSTIN
I’m going to kill him! Cole has been ignoring me all day. I’ve sent him naughty pictures, along with things that I plan to do to him tonight, and I haven’t received a single fucking thing!
“Where the hell is he?” I growl to myself.
I spent most of the day getting ready for this weekend with him. I wanted it to be special. I got my hair done and had everything waxed. Things haven’t been the same since Thanksgiving in Collins last year. They’ve been better. At least that’s what I thought. But he seems on edge. I can read him like a book, and something is up.
I grip my cell and call his once again. “You’ve reached Cole …” Straight to voicemail. Just like it’s done the other fifty times I’ve called.
Looking at the clock, I see he’s almost two hours late. Two hours. That’s not like him. Sometimes practice runs later than usual, but he calls and tells me.
Is it another woman? Doubt fills my mind. Becky said he’d get bored with me. Could that be true? And don’t forget the fact we’re so young. I don’t go to a big college. I don’t have any friends other than Demi and Brynn. But Cole? He’s around people all the time in class and practice. I never thought he’d be capable of cheating, but isn’t that what every woman thinks? Right up until she sees it with her own eyes? How would I find out, though? He doesn’t use his social media page that I know of. And he takes his laptop to his classes with him. Think, Austin …