My shoulders sagged as I managed to completely bum myself out. Glancing at Cole, a small part of me came to wonder whether I was wrong. Maybe there was some guy worth starting a family with but they had to be like finding a needle in a haystack. What were the odds that I would find that one good guy that might spare me the heartache? Honestly, I wasn’t about to go chasing fairytales.
Chapter 5 (Cole)
“I’m not going to lie. It sounds like you work with some real pricks. I’m also not going to argue with you that most men are nothing more than horny bastards looking for a quick score. I’ve seen plenty of guys treat girls like trash. I know it happens and it probably happens way too often, but I don’t think it's fair of you to judge all men the same way when some of us are out there looking for meaningful relationships.” I ran my fingers through my hair and stood a little taller. “All I can do is speak for myself and tell you that I’m not one of those guys just looking for a good time. I’ve always wanted a real relationship – one where I would love and cherish my partner with every fiber of my being.”
I felt tense. My lips were pressed into a thin line like they have every intention of staying fused together but Skylar had been open with me. It would only be fair if I returned the same courtesy even though I hadn’t touched this story in years. I had buried it away almost as soon as I could. But this girl had me digging it back up for the world to see.
“There was a time when I was engaged to my high school sweetheart. We lived together and I thought everything was perfect but she pulled the wool right over my eyes.” I kept my hands in my pockets, fiddling with whatever I could find there because even after all these years, I could still feel the rage bubbling through my veins. “So, as you expect, I was completely blindsided when she ran off with my best friend.”
Skylar drew her hands to her mouth.
“I couldn’t believe it either,” I said, a harsh chuckle bursting from my thinned lips. “They were the two people I spent all my time with. I should have seen the signs, but even if I had, the results would have been the same. I would have found myself completely alone. I lived with that loneliness for a while but there came a point where I couldn’t stand living in that apartment for another day because everything reminded me of her and the future that would never be. So, I packed up my things, moved to the mountain, and never looked back.”
She was looking at me like I was some sort of puzzle that had suddenly come together. “You really are different, aren’t you?” she whispered.
I didn’t have time to respond before I felt the weight of her hand on her chest. I grabbed her by the wrist, intending to pull her hand away, but I found that I liked her touch – that I brought a certain surge of adrenaline that made me feel alive. My instincts were telling me to pull her close – to have her hips pressed against mine as I savored the sweetness of her lips. But, of course, I didn’t kiss her. I wasn’t about to dive into a relationship that wouldn’t last. I’d barely recovered from one failed relationship. I didn’t need another. It was better just to deal with the company of the mountain. At least the mountain was always reliable. It wasn’t about to go anywhere.
Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t notice her saddling up to me with a pair of near irresistible bedroom eyes. This girl was sending out some definite mixed signals. She hated the fact that guys wanted her for sex and yet, her body was telling me that she wanted it – that she’d jump me right then and there. And to be honest, it was looking more and more like she might because the rec room had emptied, leaving just the two of us.
“Cole,” she whispered, her voice huskier than before. “I don’t mean to be too upfront but hearing your story and being here with you has made me realize something. You’re not like other guys. You’re genuine. You’re not in it for the money or the gains.” Now, her other hand was on my chest too and she had gotten so close that she was looking at me underneath the veil of her eyelashes. “I thought myself crazy when I felt this instant attraction to you. It was practically from the moment I laid eyes on you.” She moved an inch closer. Our bodies were on the verge of coming together. “No word of a lie, you’re the most gorgeous man that I’ve ever seen. Back in the helicopter, there was a part of me that wanted nothing more than to have you take me right then and there. Can you imagine?” she asked with the grin of a vixen.
It would have been easy to accept her advances – to have myself a bit of fun after such a long time of being alone. And there was a definite urge to grab her by the hips and slam her into the nearby wall. My brain taunted me with the possibilities. There was denying that I wanted her. The tightness in my pants was enough evidence of that. “Sorry,” I said. “I like you, I’m not going to deny that fact. I think you’re lovely to look at and lovely to talk to but I just can’t give you what you’re asking for. I’m not some man-whore who’s going to throw himself on a woman just because she asks me to.” And with that, I walked away because if I didn’t, I was sure I was going to do something I would regret.
Chapter 6 (Skylar)
What was I thinking? Why had I said those things? Cole had proven himself a decent guy and yet, I had still tempted him like I wanted him to fail – to justify my suspicion that all guys were, in fact, sex-driven assholes. I just couldn’t accept the fact that Cole could actually be different. And there was no telling what he thought of me now. It probably seemed to him that I had suddenly flipped a switch. One second, I was preaching the pig-like behaviors and in the next, I was ready to throw myself at a man I had only just met that afternoon.
I tossed and turned in my cot wishing I could turn back the clock and unsay those things but of course, I couldn’t. I would just have to live with the consequences of my actions.
***
The following day, I anticipated a sea of awkwardness to have formed between us but Cole was just as sweet as he had been the night before. He had whipped up a batch of crepes, filling them with a strawberry jam. There were two plates of them on the table.
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked, not wanting to just assume that the crepes were for me, but when Cole came over with another cup of hot chocolate, complete with those mini marshmallows, and placed it next to the plate closest to where I stood, I found myself smiling like an idiot.
“Because of the incoming storm, we can’t use the helicopter. Things change quickly when you’re in the air and you have to be selective about when you choose to fly. Searching by foot is slower but much safer. Ranger and Kai went out with the other two to try and find the rest of the group.”
“Why did no one wake me?”
“I told them not to,” he said. “You’ve been through a lot and the fact that you slept this late just meant that you needed the rest. Besides, on-foot searches are rarely successful. I didn’t think we would be jeopardizing much by sticking around HQ a little while longer.”
“So, you don’t think the odds of finding the other girls –”
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” interrupted Cole quickly. “But sometimes it is better to go into these things with realistic expectations. Sometimes, things just happen.”