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in
that now familiar gesture, and left me standing in my living room in surprise.
Coming back for what? I shook my head unable to process anything and headed for
the shower.
    I stood under the blissfully hot water
trying to get a handle on myself. The day had taken a very surprising turn and
had dredged up a lot of emotion that I wasn’t prepared for.
    I heard the front door close and
cocked my head to the side to listen.
    “Scar?” I heard Kat’s voice call.
    “Yeah, come in,” I hollered in
response.
    She opened the bathroom door and
leaned against the counter as I continued my shower, something we did
frequently. Neither one of us was modest in the least.
    “What’s going on?” she asked, sitting
on the closed toilet seat lid.
    “What isn’t going on,” I said, as I proceeded
to fill her in on my bizarre morning.
    “Holy shit!” she exclaimed when I was
done. “I can’t believe you two played together when you were young,” she
marveled, pulling out the one detail that shocked me the most as well.
    “I know,” I replied. “He said he’s
coming back. I’m not sure what for or what to do with any of this. Just trying
to focus on getting my hair clean for now,” I said dryly.
    She laughed. “That’s a good start.
I’ll leave you to it,” she added before leaving the bathroom.
    When I emerged a little while later
feeling slightly refreshed, I was shocked to find Cole squatted in front of our
door installing a new lock.
    “What are you doing?” I asked,
surprised.
    He looked over at me briefly, his eyes
raking over me, reminding me that I was only dressed in my short, terry cloth
robe. I pulled it tighter and continued to stare at him, ignoring his cocky
grin.
    “I’m installing new locks sweetheart.
The last one was shit anyway,” he muttered. “And Sal, my buddy from the club,
will be over in a few to install an alarm,” he added making my eyes bulge.
    “What? That’s not necessary!” I
protested. “And Kat and I don’t have the money for that,” I added.
    “Good thing you’re not paying for it
then,” he mumbled, turning back to his task at hand.
    I scowled and huffed off to my room knowing
I couldn’t say or do anything to detract him. I threw myself on my bed and
stared up at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity, listening to “Sal”
installing a new alarm system. I could hear Kat chatting with him good
naturedly and admired her ability to take almost everything in stride.
    “Come in,” I answered mindlessly when
a soft knock sounded at my door and I assumed it was Kat. Instead, it was Cole
who came in and shut the door behind him. I didn’t have the energy to tell him
to get out, even when he lay down on the bed beside me, throwing an arm
casually underneath his head as though he’d done this a thousand times.
    I absolutely shocked myself when I
rolled toward him, put my head on his chest, and threw an arm over his stomach.
It was an action I completed before I even thought about it. Something about
him exuded comfort, and I needed that so badly that I couldn’t be sorry even
after I came to my senses. His other arm came up to stroke my damp hair and we
lay like that for an immeasurable amount of time without speaking.
    “You should eat something,” he said
after awhile.
    “Later,” I sighed, too content to
move. I finally felt relaxed and wasn’t in any rush to change the feeling.
    “What time do you have to work?” he
asked.
    “Five,” I groaned.
    “Till when?”
    “Closing, around one,” I answered him.
    I felt him stiffen slightly. “You
always work those kinds of hours?”
    “No,” I said. “But the tips are best
with the night crowd so I take it when the opportunity presents itself,” I
explained softly as he continued to stroke my hair.
    “You wanna tell me who you think broke in here last night?” he asked, his voice
deceptively soft.
    I lifted my head and met his serious
gaze, now aware of how close his lips were to mine, how good his body