Bri was out watching Cole and her brothers playing football one Tuesday evening. She laughed as Cole dramatically missed tackling Logan and landed face first in the lawn.
“You know,” she laughed from the front steps, “if you keep encouraging them, they’re never going to leave you alone!”
Cole lifted his face out of the grass and grinned.
“Are you kidding? They’re great! I’ve always wanted little brothers!”
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
“Bri!” Liam yelled as he rushed towards her. “Come play with us!” He grabbed her hand and she let him pull her over to where Logan was body slamming Cole on the grass.
“You guys are in trouble now,” she grinned as she picked up Liam and twirled him around. As she set the slightly dizzy Liam down, Logan raced over and tackled her to the ground. She burst out laughing, and Liam jumped on the dog pile. She glanced up to see Cole laughing with her. The pure joy on his face, and his deliciously tousled hair, caused her heart to start pounding. His eyes met hers, and Bri felt herself blushing under his gaze. She had a sudden, almost irresistible urge to run over and tackle him. She quickly dropped her eyes, uneasy at her reaction.
As hard as she tried, Bri found it was practically impossible not to be affected by Cole. One look sent her pulse racing. A smile would set butterflies loose in her stomach. And even a small touch would cause goose bumps to break out on her skin. No, it was futile to deny it any longer. He had been affecting her this way from the beginning, and as much as she tried to fight it, her body just responded to him.
And it seemed her mind was starting to follow suit. She couldn’t get him off her mind. She spent hours trying to puzzle him out, but could never come to any definitive conclusions. With Cole, there were always more questions than answers. She decided that if she was going to find the truth, she’d have to get it from him.
It was a cool Tuesday evening, a week before Thanksgiving. Cole and Bri were sitting at her dining room table reviewing Cole’s chapter for his math test that Friday. Summer had taken the boys out to run errands, so they had the house to themselves for a change. Bri wasn’t going to get a better chance to talk to Cole, but she was having trouble gathering up the courage to do it. She decided to start by giving Cole some news she knew he’d be excited about.
“So,” she grinned mischievously at him. “I have some news for you.”
“Oh, yeah?” he looked up at her.
“I just found out last night that your favorite stalker, Carly, is coming out here for Thanksgiving!”
“Psycho Chick? She’s coming here?” Cole looked almost scared.
“Unfortunately,” she gave him a sympathetic smile. “And I’m pretty sure she still wants to pound you into the ground. So you might want to lay low next week.”
“Lay low? I’m thinking about fleeing the country! Is there any way you could pretend you don’t know me, or more importantly, where I live, while she’s here?” he pleaded.
“Well, I suppose I could,” she considered playfully. “I mean that is what friends do. They protect each other from their crazy, psychotic stalkers!”
Cole reached over and took Bri’s hand. She was too surprised to do anything but let him.
“You see, Bri, that’s what I like about you. You don’t get squeamish with the nastier aspects of friendship,” he smiled, looking down at her hand in his. His thumb began rubbing circles on the top of her hand. She drew in a sharp breath, and he glanced up at her through his lashes. As she gazed into his gray eyes, thanks to his black t-shirt, something stirred inside her. She suddenly wished that things between her and Cole didn’t have to be so complicated. That they could just go back to the way things were before school started, and forget about everything else. But she knew that things were never that easy.
She dropped her eyes, and pulled her hand away.
“Cole, if I ask you something, will you give me an honest answer?”
“If I can,” he replied hesitantly. “What is it you want to ask?”
“How is it possible that there are so many different versions of you?” she asked quietly, finally looking up at him. “I mean, there’s the version of you at school and with your friends. Then there’s a totally different version of you when you’re with your dad. And you’re even more different when you’re with me. How do you possibly keep up so many different personas? And more importantly, why? Why do you feel the need to hide yourself from everyone?”
This time it was Cole who dropped his eyes. He let out a long breath. He seemed to be debating something internally, so Bri kept quiet and gave him some time. Finally, he spoke.