As Bri drove home, the enormity of what had just happened began to dawn on her. Her shock had begun to wear off, and she was slammed by a variety of emotions as she replayed what happened in her head. She was still reeling when she walked into her quiet house.
Cole pulled up a moment later. Bri let him in, and then automatically headed for her bedroom. She sat down on her bed, still a little dazed. Cole closed her door, and leaned against it. He seemed to have calmed down on the way over. His anger was gone, replaced by a nervous hesitancy.
He ran a hand through his hair and asked, “How are you feeling?”
“Um, I’m not sure,” Bri looked down at her hands. “I’m kind of a jumbled mess of emotions right now.” She looked up at him. “How’s your hand? Do you need some ice or anything?”
Cole gave a small laugh. “No, it’s fine. Thanks, though.”
They stared at each other for a minute, an awkward silence filling the room.
“Bri,” he finally spoke, “did you mean what you said earlier? That you forgive me? Because I can’t take you being mad at me anymore. It’s killing me.” He looked at her with desperate eyes.
She thought about it for a moment.
“Yes,” she responded honestly. “I forgive you. I’m not even mad anymore. I’ve been miserable all day, and I’m tired of feeling like this.”
“So, we’re okay, then?” Cole looked like he was too afraid to hope.
“Yes,” Bri smiled genuinely at him. “We’re okay. Just don’t ever do that again.”
Cole gave a relieved laugh and swept over to her, pulling her up into his arms.
“I’m so sorry,” he repeated, his face buried in her hair. “I promise, it’ll never happen again.”
“Okay,” she nodded, squeezing him back.
“And I swear, if Trey comes near you again, if he even looks at you funny, I’ll beat the living hell out of him.”
“Okay,” Bri half laughed. Then she remembered what Trey had said about her, and her stomach turned. “Cole, if I ask you something, will you be honest with me?”
He paused a moment before replying.
“Always,” he promised. He pulled back to look at her. “What is it?”
Bri stepped away from him and sat back on her bed. She stared down at her hands in her lap, feeling tears start to threaten. She took a deep breath.
“Do you think I’m cold?” she asked softly, feeling incredibly vulnerable, and a little afraid of the answer.
“What?”
“Trey said that I was cold, that I was incapable of feeling anything. Jeremy had said something similar to me. I’m starting to wonder if they’re right.”
Cole let out a breath and kneeled in front of her. He forced her chin up to look at him.
“No, you’re not cold.”
Bri opened her mouth to protest.
“No, you listen to me, Ambria,” he cut in intensely. “You are one of the most warm, loving people I know. You are deep, and complicated, and maybe a little hard to get to know, because you keep everything bottled up inside,” he smiled, “but there is nothing cold about you.”
“But...”
“Trey and Jeremy are grade-A assholes who only care about themselves and what they want. They wouldn’t know real emotion if it punched them in the face.” Cole smiled as Bri laughed. “Seriously, they didn’t get what they wanted and tried to make you think there was something wrong with you for not giving it to them. That’s all. They are the ones with the problem, not you. They don’t know anything, and they certainly have no idea what a wonderful, kind person you are. So forget about them, okay?” He held her eyes, and when she didn’t respond, he pressed, “Okay?”
“Okay,” she conceded and smiled.
Cole leaned in and kissed her lips lightly. Bri felt a huge weight leave her chest, and she felt lighter than she had for a while.
“Besides, there’s no way a cold hearted bitch could kiss the way you do!” he teased. She laughed and pushed him.
Cole glanced at the clock and frowned. “Well, I’d better get going.”
“Wait,” Bri started to panic. “What about what happened in the hall?” He looked confused. “We kind of outed ourselves in front of half the school.”
“Oh, yeah.” A huge satisfied grin spread across his face. “So?”
“So...?” she raised her eyebrows.
“So, we’re together and everybody knows it,” he shrugged. “Is that a problem?”
It was Bri’s turn to beam.
“No, not at all!”
“Good! I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” He leaned in and gave her a slow lingering kiss goodbye, leaving her breathless. “Bye, Bri,” he murmured against her lips.