There Is No Light in Darkness (10 page)

While I’m in the shower, I hear my phone ring at least three times. I rinse the shampoo out of my hair quickly and dry myself on my way over to it. Cole. Jesus Christ, what the heck does he want now?

“Aubry!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I wrap the towel tightly around myself.

I open the door and take a startled step back when I find him standing in front of me with his phone to his ear and a smug look on his face.

“She’s standing right in front of me, dripping wet with nothing but a tiny white towel on. I’m pretty sure I can see her nipples. Let me take a closer look,” he says into the phone. I hear Cole screaming at him that he’s going to kill him before he hands the phone over to me, snickering. I laugh and take it before I glare at him and close my door.

“Hey,” I say as I rest the phone on my shoulder.

“Are you really dripping wet and wearing a tiny white towel?” he asks in a raspy low voice.

“Yes, I just got out of the shower.”

“Good,” he exhales into the line. “At least I don’t have this raging hard-on for no reason.”

My mouth dries and my insides flip as I feel my body reacting to his words. My nipples are hardening and the insides of my legs are pooling with warm anticipation. I let out a low moan and curse myself when I realize he can hear it.

“Jesus, baby. Don’t make that sound. I’m going to come in my pants,” he groans. I hold in a breath and clench my hands around my towel with my left hand to keep it from falling.

“Cole,” I warn hastily.

“Undo your towel,” he orders hoarsely. I don’t know why I am even considering this, but I play along and do as I’m told.

“Cole, where are you?” I ask breathily.

“I just got home. I’m about to run up stairs to my room. Hold on,” he says nearly panting.

As I wait for him to go upstairs, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I can’t believe I’m actually considering this after all this time. Then I remember him picking up the phone the other night, and suddenly I feel like a bucket of ice has been thrown on my libido.

“Does Erin live with you?” I ask with my eyes screwed shut, as if it’ll make a difference once I hear the answer.

He exhales harshly. “No. Can we please not talk about her?”

I stay silent unsure of what to say. I know if we continue what we’re doing, everything between us will change, and the more I think about it, the more I want it to. I don’t want Erin in his life anymore.

“Baby,” he says hoarsely. “When I stroke myself, like I’m doing now, you’re the one I think about. I see your stormy gray eyes looking into mine, wanting me. I feel your small delicate hands wrap around my dick. I feel your plush pink lips wrap around me and your sweet tongue circle around it.”

His silky voice makes my eyes flutter closed and my lips part slightly. I’m lying in bed, chest heaving, heart stammering against my chest, thinking about all the reasons I shouldn’t do this.

“Cole,” I moan. “We shouldn’t do this. This is wrong.”

“It’s not wrong. It’s you and me, baby,” he whispers. “Touch yourself. Please. Close your eyes and picture me looking down at you.” And I do. I picture his hooded green eyes looking at me as he positions his body over mine. “I’m cupping your breasts with my hands and flicking your nipples with my thumbs as I lick the shell of your ear. I’m nibbling on your earlobe the way you like.” His words make me throw my head back and let out a low moan. “I’m running my tongue down your neck to your nipples. I pull one into my mouth and nip it the way you like—”

“Cole, Oh God,” I pant as I follow my body with his words, replicating the beautiful torture he’s describing.

“That’s right, baby,” he husks.

Suddenly there’s loud pounding on my door.

I let out a frustrated groan. “I’m on Aubry’s phone. He’s knocking on my door. He might need it.”

“Fucking fuck,” he shouts. “Fucking Aubry and his ability to cock block even when I’m miles away from you,” he says, his breathing heavy.

I let out a strangled laugh as I get up and wrap the towel around myself again.

“What’d you need to talk to me about?” I ask, remembering that he called to ask me something.

“Aubry says you’re not staying in my house when you come this weekend. I can assure you, especially after this conversation, that you’re not staying anywhere else.”

“Cole,” I start as I open the door and find Aubry with an eyebrow raised. I’m sure my flushed face has “guilty” written all over it. “I’d rather stay at a hotel. I really don’t want to see Erin after what happened the other day.” I really don’t want to see her at all, but I’ll keep that to myself.

“We’ll see about that,” Cole says and I hand the phone over to Aubry.

Aubry gets it and greets Cole again. As he walks away, I hear him say, “Don’t worry, Cole. I’ll pick up where you left off.”

I laugh and close my door. That night, I fall asleep smiling and dream about Cole’s body over mine.

Chapter Eight

Present

“It feels so good to be getting out of here,” Aubry says as we wait in the security line at O’Hare International Airport.

I was able to get out of staying in Cole’s house. Luckily, he didn’t argue when I told him I would prefer to stay in the city. His house is a thirty-five minute drive to the city, so I told him I’d rather stay with Becky and shop while he’s at work.

“Sure does,” I say, smiling.

I still haven’t checked out the safety deposit box at the bank. I’ve gone and chickened out three times. I haven’t even been able to step inside the iron doors. I contemplated telling Mark about it, but I still don’t know how much I can trust him. Shelley did tell me to question everything, and even though she said he has my best intentions, she doesn’t know what happened that night. Since I can’t rely on the memory of my four-year-old self, I’ll just have to question his motives.

We arrive in New York at noon and take a cab to the Waldorf Astoria, which is where Greg’s team is staying. He was assigned to room with a teammate so that he would be less distracted, so Becky, Aubry, and I will be sharing a two-bedroom suite. I’m sure Greg will find a way to sneak in there as well, though. When we pull up in front of the stunning hotel, Aubry gets our suitcases out and tips the cabbie, who did not say one welcoming word to us during the ride. He did, however, make sure to tell us three times that the credit card machine was broken. Somehow, I doubt the machine was broken, but thankfully we had cash.

As soon as we step into the luxurious lobby, we are greeted by a shrieking fiery redhead. We hug, kiss, and examine each other’s outfits and faces a hundred times. The last time I saw Becky was during Christmas, so I’m glad for this weekend with her. She informs us that Greg’s coach is still being lenient and not enforcing rules yet since the real season hasn’t started. The Chargers are playing the Jets in a scrimmage game tomorrow night. So while Greg is in a team meeting, Becky is ready to shop.

After checking out our glamorous suite, we leave to the stores. Becky and Aubry talk about work for the better part of the afternoon. When they’re not talking, Becky and I are trying on outfits while Aubry text messages furiously. Cole calls us around six o’clock, when he gets out of work, and lets us know that he’s meeting us for dinner.

When we get back to the hotel, we spot Greg and a few teammates in the lobby bar. When he sees us, he stops talking and stands up to greet us.

“Cowboy!” he booms as he sprints toward us, smiling with his arms open wide.

I skip over to him and throw my arms around him while his teammates make dumb remarks to Becky. Becky laughs it off and introduces us all. Aubry and I meet Trevor and Donovan, two very big guys, and small talk for a little while before we head upstairs to get ready for dinner.

“Blake, you must wear this dress,” Becky says as she hands me a ridiculously short black sequenced dress.

“Becks, aren’t we going to eat dinner downstairs? Why do you want to dress up so much?” I ask.

“Umm ... hello? Where have you been? We’re at the Waldorf, not Motel 6. You have to dress up here,” she says with a puzzled look.

“True,” I laugh. “I just don’t think I’ll be able to sit in this dress, let alone bend down for anything.”

“Eh, whatever, you have Aubry and Greg to bend down for you if you need anything. When you sit, cross your legs—problem solved,” she shrugs.

I know better than to argue with Becky about clothing, so I grab the dress and put it on.

“Becky,” I shout from the bathroom. “I can’t even wear a bra with this!”

“It’s fine. It’s too tight anyway. Your boobs won’t have anywhere to move,” she shouts back.

Aubry laughs loudly and says something about girls being weird.

“Yeah, or breathe,” I mutter under my breath as I struggle to pull up the tank top. I really hope my boobs don’t pop out of this dress tonight.

I put on a pair of tall black Louboutin peep-toe shoes that Becky lent me and pray that my feet survive the night. I towel dry my hair and apply anti-frizz serum. After I put on some light makeup, I make my way out to the living room area where Aubry is sitting.

“Becky’s still getting dressed?” I ask.

“That girl takes for-fucking-ever to get dressed. Every single time,” Aubry replies, looking up from his newspaper and whistles. “Damn, you look hot!”

“Thanks, Aub, you don’t look so bad yourself.” I wink.

He’s wearing black dress pants, a blue long sleeve button down, and suspenders. Only Aubry could pull off suspenders. Instead of making him look dorky, they add a sexy appeal to his boy-next-door look.

Becky comes out of her room wearing a short gold dress and killer heels.

“I don’t know how you walk in these heels, Becks. I already feel like I need a foot massage,” I groan as I practice my walking. I really don’t want to eat pavement in these. Or in this case, marble floor.

“Blakey,” Becky says rolling her eyes. “Stop whining. Let’s go.”

When we get downstairs, Greg is waiting for us with Trevor and a different big guy. Where do they breed these guys? They’re so freaking big. Greg’s brown eyes light up at the sight of Becky, and my heart swells for them. Maybe someday. My thoughts are interrupted by a whistle.

“Blake, you look stunning,” Trevor says, eyeing me from head to toe. “You can be my date tonight.”

I laugh. “That depends. Do you have a wife, fiancee, girlfriend, or anybody you’re casually dating?”

He raises his eyebrows. “Damn, that’s a hell of a list. No, no, no, and sort of,” he replies with a smirk.

“Sort of casually dating someone?” I ask, pursing my lips.

“Well, I went on two dates with the same girl, so I guess that counts,” he chuckles.

“You get an A for honesty. I’ll be your date tonight,” I reply, sticking my arm through his.

Aubry laughs behind us and coughs out, “Russell.”

I turn on my heels and playfully slap his arm. Russell and I are on a break. Really, we’re broken up, even if he refuses to accept it. Either way, I’m not planning on doing anything with Trevor; he’s just my pretend date for the night, no big deal.

We’re all sitting down, laughing over drinks, when I feel the hairs on the back of my neck spike up. I instantly know he’s here and can feel his eyes on me before I look up to meet them. I’m surprised to see him here by himself. I smile warmly at him, but instead of returning my smile, he glares at me. He fixes his eyes on the arm that Trevor has draped over my shoulder. I roll my eyes dramatically and shake my head in disbelief. Cole greets everyone and extends his arm out to Trevor, successfully getting him to remove his arm away from me.

“Mind if I scoot in between you two?” Cole asks. “I haven’t seen my friend in a while, and we need to catch up.”

“No, that’s fine,” Trevor replies, shooting me an apologetic look. I give him a small smile as he gets up and moves over a seat.

“You look beautiful, baby,” Cole says in a low whisper, stirring the butterflies in my stomach. My breath falters when he leans into me and kisses the spot just below my ear.

I let out a low gasp. “Cole, we’re in a public restaurant. People will most likely recognize you. You need to think,” I reprimand through gritted teeth, but he just shoots me a devilish smile, showing me his dimple.

The rest of our meal flows smoothly. Greg, Aubry, and Cole tell stories about their teenage years as Greg’s teammates egg them on. From the corner of my eye, I see Trevor lean forward to look at me when Cole is recalling a prank he pulled on Aubry once. I lean forward as well, careful to not let my boobs spill out of my dress and all over the table.

“So, Blake, what room are you guys in?” Trevor asks in a hushed provocative tone.

Cole, who is talking to Greg, grabs the hand I had resting on my lap and squeezes it tightly.

“One of the suites,” I respond coyly.

“Oh, it’s like that?” Trevor jokes. “I’m staying here too. I could just follow you up, you know?”

“You need a key to stalk,” I flirt with a wink.

Cole lets go of my hand and squeezes my thigh. Trevor’s eyes travel down and notices.