Heat Up the Fall: New Adult Boxed Set (6 Book Bundle)

by Gennifer Albin

  Dr. Hammond, a young woman who looked barely thirty, covered a cough that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Dean Lewis’s son Finnegan was a freshman here, so maybe I shouldn’t have made a blanket statement about the guys at Whitman, but it didn’t make it less true.

  “I’m happy to take the website down for good, and to issue an apology if that’s what you want. I’m not sorry I did it, though. It made guys at least consider the impression they make on the girls here—whether it’s for one night or in the hopes of something more permanent—and I learned a few things, too.” I held my breath during the silence that ensued.

  “You will work with campus IT to take the site down and put up a single page with a brief apology that will remain in place for one week before the entire thing is disabled. Using Whitman servers for your own personal gain is strictly prohibited, so you will be disciplined.” I said a silent thank you that I’d never gotten back to Sebastian about advertising before the Chancellor continued. “This committee has discussed what we feel is appropriate, and have decided that you will spend your last year here engaged in community service. Dr. Paladino has suggested you put your theatre background to use by volunteering permanently at the Coterie, where she donates time.”

  The “punishment” relieved me. I wanted to go back to the Coterie anyway, which Dr. Paladino probably guessed, and next year Cole would be gone. If things didn’t work out the way I hoped as far as we were concerned, at least I wouldn’t be running into him. “Yes, sir.”

  “That said, college is about more than academics. It’s about growing and learning and finding a place for yourself in the world—and not only the world of your choosing, but the one you were given by your family. I’m happy that the year has been a learning experience for you, Miss Cotton. In the future, please exercise better judgment. You may go.”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. I’d gotten off easy and I knew it.

  I was halfway down the stairs when I heard my name and paused, turning to see Dr. Paladino a flight above me.

  She blew a chunk of hair out of her eyes, huffing from catching up with me. “For the record, Dr. Hammond and I both had a private laugh about your website before the meeting, but you’re lucky Chancellor Lewis has a sense of humor and little inclination to dole out harsher punishment.”

  “I know. I expected worse, honestly. Probation, at least.”

  “You’re great with the kids at the Coterie. I think this will be good for everyone involved, and it seems like you’ve already distanced yourself from your little creation, anyway.”

  I shrugged. “It’s served its purpose.”

  “You’re going to do me a personal favor, for going out on a limb. Since I’ve been dealing with your disciplinary issue all morning, I’m behind on uploading my grades from last semester. I need you to go to the Coterie this afternoon and take my class. We’re starting a segment on musicals, and all of my lesson plans are in the office.” She held out a key. “Don’t steal anything.”

  ***

  It felt good to be back at the Coterie, even if the kids were running around like hell beasts and Dr. Paladino’s notes were a mess. This was the first day, and her lesson plan pretty much consisted of the sentence Show them the power of communicating through song.

  Super helpful.

  She did have an iPod with a playlist of popular musical numbers, some from classics like Les Miserables and others from more recent hits.

  Caroline and Noelle squealed when they saw me come in, and a few of the others seemed pleased at my unexpected return as well. I’d been nervous that Cole might be here, even though I doubted that he came to the theatre all that often and the swim team probably wasn’t even back, yet. Trying to get everyone to shut up and sit down erased him from my mind for the first time in weeks.

  “Okay, you guys. Who has been to see a musical?” Several hands shot up and I called on them one at a time, asking what they’d seen and why they’d liked it, or hadn’t. A few claimed not to like the singing because people didn’t sing to each other in real life. “Right, but why do you like listening to music? Because sometimes those words, when they’re put together perfectly in a song, make you feel a certain way, right?”

  A few heads nodded, but more pairs of eyes stared at me blankly. Poor kids probably listened to British boybands or girls who had been brainwashed by Disney and would grow up to shave their heads or make gross sex tapes.

  Then again, I’d survived similar music tastes at their age.

  I climbed onto the stage, scrolling through the iPod until I found a song I knew well enough to perform in an attempt to show them the emotion behind the words, and how that could be communicated on stage. I wanted to do “Popular,” from Wicked, but didn’t think the boys would relate to the very female bent.

  The door at the back of the theatre eased open, letting a beam of sunlight inside, and I knew it was Cole before Noelle shrieked and threw herself down the aisle. He caught her and they had a quiet discussion at the back of the room. Her pouty stance said he was about to make a quick exit, and he studiously refused to look up and meet my gaze. I knew he felt me staring—we had perfected that months ago.

  My heart pounded as an idea sprung to mind. It was cheesy and dumb, and if it didn’t work I would look like a complete idiot in front of a room full of kids who would never let me forget it. But I had hurt Cole. I had walked away, had doubted everything he’d told me and shown me, and even though the last six weeks had taught me things about myself that guided my whole headspace into a much better direction, I owed him an apology.

  And what good was being a drama queen if I couldn’t deliver the grand gesture—which, by definition, almost always included embarrassing yourself. Anyone who watched enough Nicholas Sparks movies knew that.

  Before he could run off, I cleared my throat and addressed my students. “Sometimes it’s easier to grasp how the words in the song can be better than talking when you see how it feels between two characters, instead of just one and the audience. Do you think if we all asked nicely, Mr. Cole would come up here and let me sing to him so you could see?”

  It was underhanded and evil, but no way would Cole say no to these little pleading faces, no matter how badly he wanted out of here and away from the discomfort between us. It took less than three minutes for them to cajole him down the aisle and up onto the stage, and I moved quickly, plugging the iPod into the sound system and pressing play on a different song from Wicked. “For Good” was a song about friendship, in the context of the play. But in the context of Cole and I, it was about acknowledging that I was sorry, and that I’d never be the same girl again since we’d shared those months together.

  And that it was a good thing.

  He met my eyes as I started to sing Glinda’s part, about how people enter our lives for a reason, and that he changed me, and hopefully I’d helped him, too.

  Everything that had happened over the past weeks melted away. The kids and the theatre went dark at the edges of my vision, and the moment was about Cole and me—nothing had changed as far as the pull between our bodies, or the way every inch of my skin reacted with heat and tingles to the touch of my hand against his.

  Cole didn’t pull away. He didn’t look away, his desperate, hungry, raw gaze devouring my face as I poured out my heart through someone else’s beautiful words. Tears filled my eyes and dripped onto my cheeks as I reached the song’s bridge—about apology and blame, and how none of it mattered in the grand scheme of life—and stepped closer to him, reveling in the heat of his body and the electricity passing between us.

  The final bars faded in the silent theatre. For a moment, no one moved, and Cole’s eyes slid to my mouth. My heart sped into a gallop, and I couldn’t wait another moment. I reached my arms around his neck and pulled his lips to mine, stars exploding and relief sweeter than anything I’d ever known coursing through my blood.

  He responded immediately, moving his mouth gently against mine as we promised more to come with
the briefest slip of our tongues before breaking apart as the kids clapped and shrieked, laughed and hollered around us.

  I grinned, unable to stop even though my cheeks felt as though they were going to split in two, and happiness pooled in his eyes. His dimples creased and he pulled me into a hug. I wanted to stay in his arms forever.

  “I’m sorry for being stupid. I miss you so fucking much,” I confessed quietly.

  “Oh, hen. I’ve missed you, too.” He glanced around, as though he suddenly remembered we had an audience. “I’m dying to really do this reunion right, although being sung to by a braw lass in front of a bunch of kids rates pretty high on the groveling scale.”

  “I don’t want to speak out of turn, here, but I’m pretty sure you could be cast in the role of Ruby Cotton’s sexy, sweet, amazing Scottish boyfriend, if you’re interested.”

  “I’d like to change that pretty sure to a firm offer. Emphasis on the firm.” He waggled his eyebrows, making me giggle and also soaked with lust.

  “You might have to wear a kilt and nothing else.”

  “Done.”

  “Give me ten minutes to finish up with them.”

  I rushed through the rest of the lesson, finishing before their parents arrived but sure that our demonstration had done more for their understanding of the power of a musical than anything else I could have taught them.

  Cole’s Town Car idled at the curb and he pulled me into his arms before the driver shut the door behind me, his lips crushed against mine, tongue demanding in a way that would have been completely inappropriate in front of the kids.

  I clung to him, returning the desperate kiss and climbing into his lap, gasping at the intensity of the feeling of puzzle pieces locking back into place. We belonged like this—pressed against each other, lost in heat and desire, smiling against each other’s lips. Just together.

  He pulled back what had to be at least five full minutes later, cheeks pink and chest heaving as hard as my own. The seriousness in his gaze twisted my heart.

  This had been too easy. “What?”

  “You feel so good.” Cole ran his hands up my back, sprinkling shivers down my spine as his fingers weaved into my hair. “I don’t want to lose you again. Can you forgive me?”

  “Forgive you for what?” I felt my eyebrows knit together and made an effort to stop.

  “What I did to Poppy. For not telling you about it.”

  “Cole, what happened to Poppy wasn’t your fault. You were a kid and you handled it badly, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life paying for her tragedy. And yeah, I wish you had told me about it, but my reaction probably would have been the same. It took me all this time to finally pull my head out of my ass and realize that you’ve been right all along—that my issues with where I come from are more mine than anyone else’s. I don’t care what anyone thinks except me, and now you. I’m proud of who I am. I belong here. This is my world.”

  “I never wanted anything but for you to realize how amazing you are.” He kissed me gently on the lips. “And to deserve you.”

  “We all make our own decisions, and pay our own consequences. You can love someone, but you can’t fix them. You deserve me because I say you do, not because other people think so or don’t.” I kissed him back as the car pulled into his driveway. “Also, your sister is my new favorite person.”

  “I want to go back to this thing about loving someone.”

  Heat filled my face and my heart rose into my throat, pounding painfully. I hadn’t meant to say that; it had just slipped out. All this time apart from Cole had been spent wondering whether I deserved him or whether I could trust him to be careful with my heart.

  I never acknowledged I’d fallen in love with him until it came out of my mouth, but it was true. I loved him. I loved the easy way he had about him, the way he adored his family, how he took his responsibilities seriously. I loved the way we could make love, or have sex, or fuck like crazy people and I always felt safe afterward. I loved that somehow, in his arms I’d managed to find the peace that had eluded me for years.

  “I fucking love you, Cole Stuart. Now, take me to bed or lose me forever.”

  “Show me the way home, honey.”

  I laughed at his immediate recognition of the Top Gun quote, and pulled him out of the car and into the house. Lawren and Lennox were in the kitchen, but they both stopped talking at the sight of Cole and me and stared, their mouths hanging open.

  “Welcome back, Ruby,” Nox said, face morphing into a grin.

  “It’s about goddamn time,” Law added. “Maybe dumbass here will quit moping and listening to chick music.”

  “Thank you, gentlemen. Now, you might want to go out or grab your noise-canceling headphones, because your brother and I are about to wake up the neighbor’s dogs.”

  “Oh, lovely picture.” Law snorted.

  “But thanks for the warning!” One of them shouted as Cole pushed me out of the kitchen and into the hallway leading to the bedroom.

  He had our clothes off and me on my back in a matter of seconds, not wasting any time on foreplay this time, no complaints from me. I almost came when he pushed inside me in one thrust, digging my nails into his back as he rocked against me, his mouth hot on mine as he held our shifting bodies together.

  We finished together more quickly than usual. I wanted to cry from the perfect feeling of my legs wrapped around his waist, Cole still hard inside of me, our panted breath mingling in shared space. He moved a minute later, rolling onto his side so that we faced each other. He trailed a finger from my cheek down to my hip, the gentle brush breaking gooseflesh out on my skin.

  “I missed you, but I missed your body at least half as much.”

  “Trust me, the feeling is mutual,” I replied, giving him a playful squeeze. His response said we’d be going again before either of us fell asleep.

  “Voodoo,” he accused, glancing down at my hand wrapped around him.

  He tugged me closer, so that our bodies touched from chin to toe. His arms went around my waist and I let go and hugged his neck. We held each other for a long time in the quiet. I don’t know what he was thinking, but for once, my thoughts were silent as I reveled in the easy contentment of being with Cole.

  “I forgot to tell you something,” he whispered into my neck.

  Shivers spun down my spine and I pulled back far enough to look into his green eyes, growing darker with emotion by the second. “Oh?”

  “I fucking love you, too.”

  Epilogue

  Cole had been home in Elgin for three days before my flight landed. I’d had to finish up my run in Our Town, and his brother Gavin had asked for his help with a charity auction, so he’d returned earlier than originally planned.

  Three days represented the longest we’d gone without seeing each other since February, and even though I hadn’t liked it, there was something exciting about the anticipation I felt stepping off the plane. I was staying in Elgin for a week—classes had ended and I had eight days before Shakespeare in the Park rehearsals began in earnest.

  The sight of a driver holding a card with my name on it washed disappointment through me, even though Cole had said he might not be able to make it to the airport.

  “Let me take your bag, Miss.” The chauffer picked up my suitcase and led me outside, settling me in the backseat of the limo. “Mr. Stuart will be waiting for you on the family grounds.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, distracted by the gorgeous scenery as we pulled away from the private airport and away from town. It was quaint but not particularly small.

  The establishments gave way to lush countryside, filled with every shade of green in late May. Ruins dotted the landscape, reminding me this world was so very different from the one I’d grown up in. New Orleans, to be fair, was one of the oldest and best preserved cities in the United States, but here the difference between hundreds of years of history and a thousand rang clear.

  The car pulled onto a long,
winding drive that ended at an honest-to-God castle. The grounds were beautiful; giant trees lined the drive and beds of thistles grew everywhere, still missing their purple buds, interspersed with yellow and red flowers I couldn’t identify.

  Cole waited by the front door with his parents and Audra. Nerves set in then, along with sorrow that I wouldn’t be able to give him a proper greeting. He lunged for the door, not waiting for the driver to come around, and his hands found mine.

  My head almost whacked the doorframe when he pulled me out and into his arms so fast. I stumbled against him, catching myself on his waist. The solid feel of him, his particular scent of mint and sugar, went straight to my head and I decided to say fuck propriety for not the first time.

  I pushed onto my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him hard on the mouth. I expected him to break it off, to keep it chaste, but he lifted me against him and kissed me back, his tongue sweeping my lower lip while Audra let out a wolf whistle and we both broke into silly grins.

  “I missed you.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the airport. Business.”

  “You can make it up to me later,” I whispered, winking as he set me back on my feet.

  I peered around him and smiled at his parents, then stuck out my hand. “I guess we’ve never been properly introduced. I’m Ruby Cotton.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, darling.” His mother beamed, looking so like Audra that it didn’t seem possible she was her mother and not a sister. “We’ve been dying to get to know you better, and Audra’s thrilled you’re spending the week.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Stuart.”

  “Callum and Hannah, please,” Cole’s dad corrected. “We have tea set up in the garden. Shall we?”

  The five of us spent the next two hours chatting under some impressively useful heat lamps, and I fell in love with their parents as easily as I’d fallen for both Cole and Audra, and their brothers. They were quick to laugh and give their children a hard time, and said over and over again how good it felt to see Cole so happy. I wanted to stay and talk more, but jetlag attacked me and my eyelids drooped, even though it was early afternoon.