“Okay, so I know this sentence is going to sound weird,” Angel began, leaning close so I could hear her over the music, “but I know a balloon animal guy.”
“A balloon animal guy?” I repeated, wanting to make sure I heard her right.
She nodded. “Yeah, my friend Ernie. He lives in Tolson. He’s, like, 80 years old and he’s an expert at balloon animals. He even does parties for free because he loves it so much. I could see if he’s available for Ava’s birthday.”
“Seriously?” I asked, touched by her offer. “She would love that so much. Thank you.”
We exchanged numbers and she said she would text me with Ernie’s info.
Angel was one of the most likable people I’d ever met. She was so open and optimistic, which was amazing considering the tough life she’d had. Colton had filled me in on a little bit of her history and how she’d ended up in Tolson. I admired her ability to be so resilient.
And she didn’t even know me yet here she was, offering to hook me up with balloon animals for a little girl she’d never even met.
I put my phone away, and Angel smiled at me. A real, genuine smile. Completely free of judgment, ulterior motives, or cattiness. I had a feeling that, in time, we would become good friends. Maybe even best friends.
Speaking of good friends, I practically screeched when I caught sight of familiar dark curls.
“Chloe!” Waving excitedly, I flagged her down.
“Hey!” She sat down at our table.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised to see her.
“You think you could tell me you were out tonight and I wouldn’t come?” She shook her head. “There was no way I would miss this.”
I did a quick introduction between Chloe and Angel, then Colton sat down in the chair next to me. Looping his arm around my shoulder, he planted a big kiss on my cheek.
“So you’re the reason she’s so perky these days,” Chloe said to him while pointing at me.
“Hey,” I grumped. “I’ve always been perky.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, Cranky Pants. Can I get you a drink? I’m gonna tell Jerry that Tasha told him to give us free drinks, so it’s on him.” She winked.
I snickered.
“Just a water for me. I think I’m going to have to drive drunkie home tonight,” I said, patting Colton on the shoulder.
“You’re coming home with me?” he asked in disbelief.
Unable to keep myself from grinning, I nodded. “I’m staying the night. The whole night.”
“Oh my God,” he exclaimed and his arms went around me in a bear-hug, squeezing the breath from my body. “This is the best birthday present ever.”
“Dude, it’s not your birthday,” Travis reminded him from across the table as he clumsily pulled Angel onto his lap.
“Doesn’t matter,” Colton replied, his voice muffled because his face was buried in my cleavage. “It’s a Christmas miracle.”
Travis barked out a laugh. “It’s not Christmas either.”
“Don’t care,” Colton grunted, running his nose over the skin on my collarbone, sniffing me like he always did before heading back down to my chest.
“Chloe, this is Colton.” I giggled as he waved in her general direction without bothering to look up. I glanced down at him. “Can you even breathe in there?”
He lifted his head enough to talk. “If I had to choose a way to go, being smothered by your boobs is at the top of my list.”
Selena Gomez’s ‘Good For You’ came on, and Chloe started hopping with excitement. “Let’s go dance!”
Colton perked up, obviously happy with the idea, then dragged me out onto the dance floor.
Colton couldn’t line dance to save his life, but this kind of dancing? The grind-on-my-ass, have-sex-with-our-clothes-on kind of dancing? He definitely knew what he was doing. Even completely hammered, his rhythm never faltered. Just like the very first night, I found myself melting into his hard chest.
In fact, he was hard everywhere.
I started to feel hot and tingly as his hands rubbed up my stomach and grazed my nipples through my shirt. My mouth fell open when his lips landed on my neck, and he sucked at the spot he knew made my knees weak.
“Whew!” Chloe exclaimed, and I opened my eyes to see her fanning herself. “You guys are burning it up out here. I’m going to need a cold drink after that.”
She took off in the direction of the bar, and I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to watch me get it on.
Laughing, I turned around in Colton’s arms. “You know what I really want?”
“Whatever it is, you can have it,” he replied with a grin.
“I want to go back to your place.” I rubbed my front against his. “Now.”
“Dance one more with me?” he asked as a slow song came on. “I promise not to step on your feet.”
Nodding, I put my arms around his neck and we started to sway to ‘H.O.L.Y’ by Florida Georgia Line.
Colton dropped his forehead to mine and ran his thumb over my chin.
“I love you so much,” he said close to my ear. Maybe it would’ve been more correct to say he slurred it, but it was still sweet.
Rubbing my hand over the short hair on his head, I said it back.
We kissed through most of the song and the world around me fell away.
*
Drunk-Colton was extremely entertaining. And very affectionate. After we said our goodbyes to everyone, he practically mauled me in the parking lot. It took some convincing but I finally talked him into getting in the car so we could go back to his place.
“Baby, I’m shameless!” he hollered along with the music on the radio, completely off-key, as he serenaded me with the old Garth Brooks song.
I just smiled as I tried to concentrate on the road. The car-karaoke went on for most of the drive and if he didn’t know the words to a song, he would just make them up.
“Hold me closer, Tony Danzaaaa,” he sang and I laughed.
“Colton, this is ‘Tiny Dancer’,” I informed him. “By Elton John.”
“No, no. Listen to the words, Ellie. He says Tony Danza.” He planted a sloppy kiss on the back of my hand.
Amused, I went back to letting him sing it however he wanted, making a mental note to get Colton drunk more often. He was hilarious.
Once we got to his apartment, he tried to convince me to have sex in the car, but I insisted on going inside where no one would see us.
It wasn’t like Tolson had a ton of traffic, but it wouldn’t have been completely out of left field for Champ to stumble home from the tavern. I didn’t feel like giving Colton’s neighbor a show. It took some bribing, but when I told him I had a surprise for him he gave in.
Steering Colton through his front door, I led him to the bedroom. I dug through his drawers until I found a gray T-shirt and his favorite sweatpants, then I started to unbutton his shirt.
“Oh, you want tickets to the gun show?” he asked while flexing his arms, which made it difficult for me to get his shirt off. It also made him lose his balance and he tipped to the side before leaning against the bed.
“You did not just say that.” Laughing at him, I gave up on trying to change his clothes.
“All you had to do was ask,” he slurred, and fell back on the bed. He reached for me, but I moved out of the way.
“Now for your surprise,” I said while digging through my overnight bag. “But you can’t peek.”
“I’m not peeking,” he promised, flinging an arm over his face.
Quickly, I changed into the new lacy white bra and panty set, then decided to up my game and wear the cowboy boots, too.
“Okay,” I breathed out. Fluffing my hair, I leaned against the wall and tried to strike a sexy pose. “You can look now.”
I was
met with silence.
“Colton?” As I peered closer, I noticed his parted lips and the slow rise and fall of his chest. He was completely passed out.
Suppressing a giggle, I quietly changed into my pink flannel pajama pants and an oversized white T-shirt I got out of Colton’s drawer. Pulling back the covers, I climbed in next to him.
Feeling content I snuggled close, soaking up the warmth of his body. Lifting my hand to his face, I traced his lips and ran a finger down his nose.
A month ago, I never could have predicted this would be my life.
In such a short amount of time, I had fallen head over heels in love with Colton. I had friends and I was happy.
As I closed my eyes, I let out a content sigh.
I felt like I was finally getting everything I’d ever wanted.
CHAPTER 35
BRIELLE
When Colton told me he wanted to take Ava and me on a day-trip, I was really excited. I had to leave his place early in the morning to get back home, but before I left I set a couple Advil and a bottle of water on his nightstand. I had a feeling he was going to be dealing with one hell of a hangover.
Part of me wondered if he would want to reschedule our outing, but he showed up at my house, bright-eyed and ready to go at noon, just as planned.
Ava used to hate riding in the car for long periods of time, so I had never taken her anywhere far from home, but she did great for the two-hour drive. After she got tired of the ‘Frozen’ soundtrack being on repeat, Colton handed her his phone because he’d downloaded a couple coloring book apps.
“Are you sure you want to let her play with that?” I asked, feeling warm and mushy over the fact that he took the time to put kid games on his phone. “She might drop it or something.”
He smirked, looking good behind the wheel of my car. “If she breaks it, I’m pretty sure she’d be doing me a favor.”
Reaching across the middle console, Colton took my hand in his. The last 20-minute stretch of the ride was quiet and peaceful.
After we made it to our destination, the first thing Ava wanted to do was find the indoor park. The play structure at this mall was way better than the one we were used to. It was basically a huge foam pirate ship and the whole area was brightly lit by a high-dome skylight ceiling.
Ava squealed and giggled as Colton tried to grab at her through the netted sides of the bridge connecting the ship to a dock.
Running to the other side of the ship, she hid behind one of the cartoonish pirate statues and Colton pretended to look for her. I smiled, remembering the way he and I used to play just like that.
Thirty minutes later, they started to lose steam. Looking worn out, Ava climbed into my lap and Colton sat down next to me on the bench.
“There’s a cellphone store over there.” He pointed down one of the corridors, then frowned down at his phone. “It’s been acting weird.”
“You mean weirder than usual?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. If they turned off his autocorrect, I was really going to miss his perverted texts.
Shaking his head, he slipped it back into his pocket. “It’s been turning itself off.” He shrugged. “Maybe there’s something wrong with the battery.”
“We might go get a snack while you’re doing that.” I discreetly gestured toward the frozen yogurt store. “I thought I saw a sign for lactose-free I-C-E C-R-E-A-M.” I spelled out the word so I wouldn’t get Ava’s hopes up in case she couldn’t have it.
Colton and I made a plan to meet back at the ship in 30 minutes. With Ava’s hand in mine, we made a pass by the ice cream counter.
We were in luck. The store had soft-serve vanilla frozen yogurt that was, in fact, lactose-free. Put some sprinkles on top, and I had one happy little girl.
Smiling, I watched her devour the dessert. As she shoveled spoonful after spoonful into her mouth, her snack started to dribble down her chin but she didn’t seem to notice.
After finishing up, her face was a hot mess. I wiped at her mouth with a few napkins. When I got too aggressive with it, she started sputtering in protest.
“Sorry, Bug,” I apologized, sneaking in a couple more swipes. “There. All done.”
“That’s okay. I yuv you forty-five point six cents.”
Leaning down, I kissed her slightly sticky cheek. “I love you, too.”
Our hands swung between us as we passed a few clothing stores. This mall had most of the same stores we were used to back home. Express. Victoria’s Secret. The place with the cinnamon rolls. That didn’t stop Ava from marveling at them like they were brand new, though.
“I kind of have to pee,” she said, her footsteps staggering because she was trying to walk with her legs crossed.
“We’d better go to the bathroom then,” I told her while searching for signs to point the way.
“No, that’s okay,” she said. “I can just swallow it back into my body.”
I laughed. “It still doesn’t work that way.”
Spotting the restrooms, I pulled Ava along at a quick pace. Since getting rid of pull-ups completely eight months ago she’d only had one nighttime accident, but I didn’t want to take the chance of that happening here. Lately, Ava had been waiting until the last minute to tell me she needed to go.
Luckily, we made it in time.
After washing our hands and having way too much fun with the automatic hand dryers, we were headed back out.
Ava tugged on my hand. “Can we go on the expalator?”
I glanced down at her to tell her we needed to meet back up with Colton first, but we almost ran straight into someone in the hallway.
“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was—” My apology was cut short, the breath leaving my body as I looked into familiar blue eyes.
They were the same eyes I had looked into every day for the past four years. Only these eyes didn’t look back at me with love—his shock mirrored my own.
“Josh,” I gasped, an array of unpleasant emotions hitting me all at once.
What the hell was he doing here? Honestly, I thought I would never see him again—and that was the way I preferred it. Then I recalled the college he ended up going to was in Indiana, so I could only assume it was close by.
“Bree,” he said, seeming just as surprised as I was.
He looked a lot different than I remembered. No longer was he the gangly boy with curly brown hair and a sweet smile.
Cocky and entitled were the words that came to mind as I took in his attire and the smug expression that seemed to be permanently etched onto his face. His pants were some kind of pastel plaid and the pink polo shirt he was wearing had the collar popped.
He actually had the collar popped. That alone screamed douchebag.
“How are you?” I said cordially, still in shock. I really didn’t care about how he was doing, but it seemed like the polite thing to say.
“I’m great. So great. Got accepted into law school,” he boasted, rocking back on his heels and adjusting the brand-new suit he had slung over his shoulder. “I’ve got big things ahead.”
Got big things ahead?
Inwardly, I scoffed. What a douche-y thing to say. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. This was Josh. The man who turned his back on the most special person in the world.
“Good for you,” I said, trying to keep the bite out of my voice but I didn’t do a very good job.
“It is good. I’m very happy with my life, Bree,” he insisted, his eyes flaring with anger. “The best thing I ever did was leave that white-trash town and everyone in it behind.”
“Tell me how you really feel,” I said sarcastically, trying to hide how much his statement hurt my feelings.
When he said everyone, that included the little girl at my side who was currently clinging to my leg.
As if my thoughts brought attention to Ava, he glanced
down at her. His eyes widened a bit like it was the first time he was noticing her presence. I didn’t like the way he was looking at her. Instead of love or affection, I only saw disinterest and possibly a hint of disgust on his face.
“People back home have been calling me a deadbeat,” he scoffed, as if the very idea of it was ridiculous. “I don’t appreciate that kind of slander, you know. I never even took a paternity test, so I don’t even know if she’s mine.”
Judging by the venom in his voice, I could assume these were things he’d wanted to say to me for a long time. I put my palms over Ava’s ears so she wouldn’t hear what I was about to tell him.
“You wouldn’t even have to, Josh. All you have to do is look at her,” I hissed. “Plus, it would be impossible for her to belong to anyone else. You were the only person I was with.”
“You were just trying to trap me,” he insisted, as though he didn’t hear me. “But you just would’ve been holding me back. I never wanted to be saddled down with a kid that isn’t even mine.”
Appalled, I couldn’t believe Josh had convinced himself he wasn’t Ava’s biological father. People always said she looked just like me, but that was only because they hadn’t seen him. There was no denying that he contributed to 50% of Ava’s DNA.
“If people are calling you a deadbeat, that’s their own opinion,” I said. “Anyway, I wouldn’t know what people are saying in Hemswell. I haven’t lived there for years.”
Swatting at my hands, it was obvious Ava didn’t like being left out of the conversation. I picked her up, feeling the need to protect her from his scrutiny. Ava leaned her head onto my shoulder and started sucking on her thumb—a sure sign that she was uncomfortable. She’d kicked that habit six months ago.
I wasn’t kidding when I’d told Colton that she was a good judge of character. Somehow she sensed that Josh wasn’t a good guy and my heart broke for her. She had no idea that he was the reason she was created, and I wasn’t about to tell her either. Not yet, anyway. Maybe someday I would explain the situation when she was old enough to understand that some people just suck.
Dancer (The Good Guys Book 2) Page 18
