Cole

by Xyla Turner

  “Well, yeah. You and me figure this out. If we need to meet at the butt crack of dawn or steal away to the beach at night, go on weekend excursions or just listen to the other sleep on the phone then that’s what we’ll do,” I answered. “Whatever it takes. I’m all in.”

  A smile spread across her face and she whispered, “You have an answer for everything, huh? You know anything about loose roadies by the name of Spider Keden. No real first name. Wait, what’s your last name?”

  “Magon,” I answered with a laugh.

  “Ah, Cole Magon, that sounds familiar.” Bethany’s eyebrows furrowed in the middle. “That sounds so familiar.”

  “I used to play football.” I gave her a clue.

  “Football?” Her eyes grew wider before she said, “Wait, what kind of football?”

  “Professional,” I said nothing else.

  “Cole Magon,” she repeated. “Professional football.”

  Then Bethany quickly dug in her purse for her phone and tapped a few keys before she held up a picture of me in my uniform and said, “You’re thee Cole Magon?”

  I nodded as I studied her reaction.

  “You’re something else,” she scoffed. “This whole time and you said nothing.”

  “I didn’t—” I started to defend my actions.

  “I get it though,” Bethany interrupted. “Huh, I would never trust anyone if I were you.”

  What? Everything stopped as I studied the woman that was melting my heart, word by word, act by act, and kiss by kiss. Where had she been hiding? What was I just finding her? She was crazy if she thought I’d let her leave. That just was not going to happen.

  I reached for her soft feminine fingers as I interlaced ours together.

  “You understand?” I heard myself ask her but my voice sounded distant.

  Bethany’s eyes met mine, then she smiled and said, “Yes, Mr. Professional Football player, one of the best quarterbacks in the league and I’m sure every money grubbing hussy around trying to get their claws in you. I understand why you aren’t so upfront about who you are.”

  “Well, that’s not why I didn’t tell you,” I clarified. “I didn’t share because that’s who I was. That’s not who I am today. Not who I want you to know. Number 31 is retired for the Colorado Stingrays. So is that life. But, me, Cole Magon, I’m still living, working and hopefully building something with this lady who’s smooth as they come and has captured my attention when no other has held it for more than a few seconds.”

  “Are you really this person?” She squeezed my hands. “Yeah, I need to try this thing with this guy who is hell bent on sweeping me off my feet.”

  Her gaze lowered but the small smile remained on her face.

  “Is it working?” I asked.

  “Yes. Yes, I think he’s on to something.”

  I brought her hand up to my mouth and pressed my lips against the softness of her skin.

  This wasn’t something I could leave alone.

  Chapter 7: Meet the Daughter

  Bethany Wade

  Twenty-three and I felt like I would never reach retirement, if I had to basically raise a new born baby. One of two things would happen, Brittany would finally grow up when she realized the responsibility that came with having her own child. Or, she would defer to Mommy because there’s no way I would sit on the sideline and let a child go without what they needed. I prayed for the first but life had taught me, it would probably be the latter.

  Brittany was all tears and drool when she shared she was pregnant. She caught Spider cheating with another stupid girl, who they picked up in Texas. When she finally told him the truth about her pregnancy, he bolted that night, leaving her to deal with it alone. I was once a girl who had her heart broken, so I understood the pain it caused. I was married to a buffoon and felt the ache of loneliness with a man who promised to love and cherish me.

  The first thing we did, was set up appointments for her to attend. Brittany said she did not need me to go with her but just appreciated I was supporting her. Those words grated my nerves if I had to be honest. It was the same word she used when I was speaking with her at Le One. She wanted me to support her decision of being a foolish girl. She was having my grandchild now, so I couldn’t focus on how she had him.

  That evening, when I came home, Brittany had ordered Italian takeout because she could not cook. I’d rather she waited until I cooked something, since we needed to save for the life she was bringing into the world in eight months or so. The girl had no concept of money. I just said nothing and ate the food.

  Afterward, we sat around the television and I decided to share with her about Cole.

  “Brittany, baby,” I called and put the television on mute. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Yeah, Mom.” She turned to me. “Thanks again for letting me come back home.”

  “It’s fine, honey.” I smiled. “I wanted to talk to you about something that is happening with me. Uh, I met someone, and he’s really nice. Funny, smart and pretty talented. I like him a lot. I just wanted to give you a heads up that he might come around, and he’ll be in my life.”

  Her gaze went from appreciative to guarded.

  “You met someone?” she snarled.

  “Yes, I’ve met someone,” I repeated. “Why are you making that face?”

  “Well, because you’re old and thinking about retiring. Who did you meet? Is he old too?” she asked.

  Good Lord.

  “Brittany, can you not be so dramatic? I’m forty-eight, not a dinosaur.” My eyes leveled on hers. “I met him and I like him. Okay. That’s all you really need to know.”

  “Is he going to be coming to the house and will I have to call him Uncle or Daddy?” Her upper lip turned up in absolute disgust.

  My face mirrored the same look when I exclaimed, “Hell, no. You can call him Cole.”

  “Oh, cool. I like that name, it’s like Cole from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” She calmed down. “He was hot.”

  What have I done to deserve this?

  “Great. I’ll let you know when he comes over for dinner.” I unmuted the television and let the noise drown out any more ridiculous chatter from the peanut gallery.

  After getting ready for bed, I called Cole. He was running through my mind on a non-stop loop.

  “Hey, Wade,” he greeted me.

  “Cole,” I replied.

  “Everything alright?” he asked.

  “Everything is good.” I slipped under the covers and turned off my light. “Just thinking about what you said.”

  It had been on my mind and even though I felt it was not fair, I failed to see how I deserved to be on duty all the time with no reprieve for myself. Retirement wouldn’t even be restful if I had a new born to look after. Well, two kids, including my daughter. Maybe that was selfish of me, but I’d worked my ass off, helped to raise an ungrateful child and now, because of her inability to make smart choices, I was going to have to pay for her mistakes.

  It felt selfish.

  I knew it was but damn, if I had to do this, I wanted Cole with me.

  “I want to do this with you, Cole,” I rushed out. “I want us to try. I know it’s going to be weird because we’re so new. I know I’m being selfish right now, but I got to try. I’m forty-eight. I thought my turn to live and travel the world would come but it’s not, so if you’re game, then I want to try.”

  “Fuck,” Cole hissed, and I heard a bed creak. “Yeah, Beth. That’s what I was saying earlier. I’m game, honey. I’m in.”

  A laughed escaped before I said, “Okay, then. I told Brittany about you. I will not go into everything she had to say but tomorrow, if you’re free, I want you to come for dinner and meet her.”

  I paused and then I asked, “Wait, is that too fast?”

  “Hell, no. I’ll be there. What do you need me to bring?” he said with a quick reply.

  “Just yourself.” I found myself smiling. “Just you.”

  “You g
ot me, honey,” he answered.

  “Okay, have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow.” I didn’t want to keep him since it sounded like he was in bed.

  “Night. Sweet dreams,” he said before the phone clicked off.

  It was now or never.

  I had lived with enough regrets.

  ***

  The next evening could not have come fast enough. I had prepped my food in the morning, told Brittany Cole was coming and counted down the minutes until I ran out of the office. He was expected to be there by six o’clock and most of my meal was done by five-thirty. Brittany was upstairs running her mouth on the phone with only God knew who and I was trying to still look good, cook and make sure everything looked great.

  By the time the doorbell rang, Cole was outside my door, dressed in a pair of newer jeans, loafers and a button down, light blue shirt to match those pale blue eyes. His beard had been manicured and there was purpose to the flow of his hair. He wanted to impress my daughter.

  “Hey,” I greeted him but he took one step inside and wrapped both arms around me pulling me into a kiss.

  When he finally released me, he said, “Hey, yourself.”

  In front of me was a dozen of red roses wrapped in chiffon cloth and embedded between the roses was a green vine that morphed into leaves in various shaped. It was absolutely exquisite and probably insanely expensive but because Cole had it, it was just right.

  “Wow, thanks so much Cole,” I said before I grabbed them from his arms. “Come on in.”

  I led him to the kitchen where I put the flowers in a vase, and placed them on the dining room table. When I turned, Cole was looking around and taking everything in with my three-story house.

  “I love your place.” He smiled at me. “It looks like a home. Not sterile.”

  I laughed and said, “Well, thanks. I’m glad to call it home.”

  “It smells delicious.” Cole looked around. “You’re the total package, huh?”

  The way the man was looking at me, one could think I just discovered the cure to a terminal disease. It was just food but those intense eyes on me had something loosening within me. The thing that had taken root a long time ago and threatened to expose all of me. It would make me vulnerable but that look, it vowed protection. It vowed devotion.

  I blinked and smiled at him, “Cole Magon, you’re hungry, huh?”

  Cole took a predatory step toward me with pure and raw hunger in his eyes, but it was not the type of need that could be quenched by food. It was lust in its barest form and I already had a taste what the man could do with that body of his. My center pulsed with anticipation and my mind began the calculations of when I could get a taste of him again. He must have read my mind, because the next words to leave his mouth were, “You’re sleeping at my place tonight.”

  “Cole—” I started to say, but he cut me off with a shake of his head.

  “You can’t spend the night out?” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question and more of a challenge.

  “I…” I wasn’t sure what to say.

  There had been no dating in my life with children, so this was foreign territory. I spent the night out with Cole last week because Brittany wasn’t at the house. Now, it seemed almost foreign to leave her, but I had no real reason. She was twenty-three years old, despite how old she acted.

  “I’m not accustomed to leaving my daughter home alone to spend the night out,” I shared. “I’ve not dated in the past seven years. Even though we spent the night last week, she wasn’t here. I, well… This is unchartered territory for me.”

  Cole nodded his head and moved a strand of hair out of my face.

  “Then we’ll take it one day at a time,” he said with a smile. “Tonight, is still not off the table though.”

  “Mom,” Brittany called. “Is dinner ready yet?”

  “Yes, Brittany. Please come down so you can meet Mr. Magon,” I yelled back.

  She came tumbling down the steps like a herd of cattle, causing my heart to jump.

  “Brittany,” I called. “You can’t run down the steps like that anymore with your situation.”

  She turned, and eyed both me and Cole, before she said, “Yeah, uh. Sorry.”

  “Brittany, this is Mr. Magon, and this is my daughter, Brittany,” I introduced the two of them.

  Her gaze ran the length of him before she walked to him like a sullen teen, held out her defiant hand and said, “Hi, nice to meet you.”

  “You as well, Brittany,” Cole said with a firm shake.

  She continued to eye him and said to me, “Well, at least he’s hot.”

  Holy shit.

  “Brittany!” I gasped as I begin to follow her into the kitchen.

  Ignoring the chuckles from behind me, I went to put the food out on the table so we could get this dinner started.

  Surprisingly, Brittany only said a few inappropriate things Cole easily batted away, then she decided to be a brat and complain about the dry Cornish hens. Which resulted in her leaving the table. That was fine by me because only God knew how many more inappropriate things she would have said if she stayed. The looming concern, at the forefront of my mind, was throughout the course of this dinner Cole would look at me and realize, this was not worth it at all.

  The man simply ate his food, discussed our favorite music, bands, tv shows, childhood memories and then he held my hand as we ate my homemade oatmeal cookies. His second bite into the soft dessert, he moaned and said, “I think I’m in love.”

  We burst into laughter and fell back against the kitchen counter. Brittany chose that moment to come down and say, “Y’all are really loud. I need to get some beauty sleep.”

  “My apologies, Brittany,” Cole responded before I could remind her this was my house. “Then you won’t mind if I take your mom to my place for the evening? So, we won’t disturb your sleep anymore.”

  Oh shit.

  “Whatever.” she shrugged, grabbed five cookies and went back upstairs.

  Cole turned to me with one eyebrow raised and said, “Let’s go, honey and bring the cookies.”

  Holy shit.

  I tiptoed upstairs, nabbed some toiletries, underwear, and clothes for tomorrow and we were out the door. We took Cole’s car, but I wanted to take my own so I wouldn’t disturb him when I left.

  “You’re up, then I’m up, Beth.” We drove the twenty minutes to his place with no traffic.

  As soon as we were through the door, Cole had me up against the back of the door, his hands on my ass with my legs wrapped around his waist. He was everywhere I wanted him to be. In my face, chest, his hard length rubbing against my sensitive center.

  “Cooollle,” I moaned. “Take me to bed, honey.”

  Without a pause in his movement, he carried me up the steps, to the bed, where he ripped off my clothes and I his. It was frenzied and greedy but it felt so damn good.

  “Beth,” he moaned at the valley of my stomach.

  My panties disappeared down my legs and his mouth had my taut clit, in its vices. The moans would have definitely disturbed a sleeping Brittany. We were loud and free. It was what I wanted to be and dammit if I would stop that for anyone.

  “More,” I cried with my fingers laced through Cole’s thick mane. “Please.”

  “Angel, you never have to beg me,” he murmured before his fingers joined the party and I came hard on his tongue.

  Goddamn, the man was talented with that mouth of his.

  “Oh, honey.” I fell back on the bed as the ache from straining my back subsided.

  I could hear foil ripping and then a looming shadow over me.

  “Beth?” Cole whispered against my lips, allowing me to taste my own essence. “You alright?”

  “Oh, I’m fantastic,” I replied with my eyes closed and a big goofy smile.

  “Good. Ride me home, Angel.” he nipped my neck. “I’m addicted to what this woman over forty can do with those hips.”

  I burst out laughing, but flipped Cole ove
r on the gigantic bed so I could straddle him.

  “Perfect, it’s not just me who’s addicted,” I said before lowering myself on his hard cock.

  “Fuuucck,” Cole groaned. “You’re so goddamn tight.”

  Once I was fully seated in his lap, with his hard cock filling me to the brim, I began to move and use those belly dancing techniques on the man. It drove him absolutely crazy as he slapped my ass, my breasts and even bit my neck. I came twice while riding Cole and once I started to really bring it home, the man flipped me over and fucked me hard until he roared his release in the mini-apartment, he called a bedroom.

  Sweat dripped down on top of me from his forehead. Our bodies were slick with perspirations and Cole was flushed red from the exhaustion that had nothing to do with the tan he sported. Over forty, my ass, we were fucking like twenty-year-old bunnies.

  And doing it well.

  After he disposed of the condom, Cole pulled up from the bed and we took a rather sensual shower. Consisting of him running the soap along every crack and crevice of my body, then washing it free with his hand. I did the same, but it ended with him kissing me slowly against the shower wall and getting me off with his fingers. Once we dried off, he put us in bed and Cole pulled me into him with no intensions of letting me go. His grip was firm and unmoving, which made me feel safe and wanted.

  Also, resulting in me passing out moments later.

  Chapter 8: Hang up

  Cole Magon

  It killed me to let Bethany go this morning. It also felt great waking up to her body sprawled all over me. Her hand in my mouth, leg flipped over mine and those sexy moans she makes in her sleep. It was 5:30 a.m. and an angel was in my bed. I was hard as hell.

  I woke her up with my head between her legs, and one of them propped over my shoulder. Her moan of “Cole” was my undoing, and I entered her and brought us both home again. Another shower was needed, but she had her clothes for work to save time. We stopped by the Beans & Things and ate breakfast.

  Before she got out of my car to enter her job, she kissed me on the lips and said, “Next time, we need to go grocery shopping, so I can cook us breakfast and we can spend more time getting ready.”