My mom moves from the kitchen and into the dining room, giving Kolter a perfect view of her. She has a wooden spoon in one hand; her other hand is on her hip.
“Oh, now you remember who I am? I was beginning to think you forgot all about me.”
I peek round the corner, just enough to see him. He’s dressed similarly to the other night—dark clothes, leather cut-off jacket and big boots—his black hair messily styled like the wind’s been blowing through it all day.
“Could never forget you,” he says as he moves towards her, arms outstretched.
Mom folds easily for him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding him for several seconds. They both whisper to each other, then he lets out a laugh.
Kolter’s laugh. It’s a sound I almost forgot existed, but when I hear it again, a wave of nostalgia crashes into me. I find myself wanting to search for the nearest jar in the hope I can bottle it up.
“Where did Nay go? Nay! Get in here!” my mom calls out.
Blowing out a slow breath, I square my shoulders and step out of the kitchen. Everyone looks to me, but there’s only one set of eyes I can focus on right now. They take me in slowly, movingover me from head to toe as if it’s the first time they’ve ever looked at me.
When his gaze meets mine, anticipation flutters through me, but I do my best to compose myself. I stop a few feet away, mainly because I know if I get any closer, he’ll see that I’m literally shaking like a leaf. I don’t know why seeing him here is so intimidating to me. I mean, I didn’t react nearly this dramatically in the club and I literally sucked him off through a hole cut out of a wall. I was in shock, though, so maybe that had everything to do with it.
Kolter’s gaze flicks down to my hands, which I’m discreetly trying to steady. Obviously, I’m not discreet enough because amusement twinkles in his eyes before it’s gone altogether.
“Nay, stop being a fucking weirdo and say hi,” Nick scoffs.
I roll my eyes at him then turn to Kolter. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he says in return.
The air is thick between us, so thick I’m certain everyone in this room must be choking on it. Then he does something I don’t expect. He holds out his arms for me. It’s a quiet gesture, a simple one, but it speaks volumes to me.
Slowly, I close the distance between us then slip my arms around his waist as his wrap around my shoulders. It feels like he holds me for hours, though it can only be a few seconds.
My heart’s beating like a drum in my chest, and when he pulls away, I look up at him, all the questions racing through my head perfectly displayed on my face. Or I hope they are. Can he read them? Does he understand? Sometimes I feel like he used to know my thoughts better than I did, like he could read me better than I could ever articulate. He was… like my other half. I know how corny and weird that sounds, but I don’t care. It’s true. Or at least, it was.
Instead of giving me even an inkling of a hint one way or another, he offers me a small smile and says, “It’s been too long, Peaches.”
Peaches.
Just hearing the way his mouth curls around that word has a wave of goosebumps racing across my skin. Then my mom cuts in, telling everyone to take a seat, and I stand there like an idiot for several seconds as Kolter brushes his shoulder against my own.
I turn, watching him and the others take their seats at the table and realize that the only available seat is the one across from him. Not mad about that.
Through dinner, we all lightly catch up as if it was any other dinner. Until it comes time for Kolter to tell us about his week. He pauses, looking around at each of us as if he’s trying to come up with a way out of this, then he shrugs.
“Same old stuff. Work, sleep. Hung out with some friends last weekend,” he says, his eyes hanging on me when he saysweekend.
My stomach flips at the reminder, and I try not to get too excited at his casual mention of our… what do you even call that? Hookup? Maybe.
Does that mean he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it all week either? It isn’t just me?
After dinner, we all help clean up when Mom gets a phone call and steps away to take it. Nick and Anthony make a start on the dishes already piled up in the kitchen while Kolter and I clear the others from the table. We work in silence, though I keep checking to see if he’s watching me, but to my disappointment, his eyes stay busy on his task. Nerves bounce around inside me—then I truly don’t know what takes over me.
Glancing up to make sure we’re out of sight of Nick and Anthony as they laugh and chat in the kitchen, I clear my throat, earning Kolter’s gaze.
“We need to talk,” I say.
Kolter lifts a brow in question but doesn’t respond.
Swallowing roughly, I set the cups in my hand back on the table then walk round to him, still checking to make sure we’re out of sight. I stop a few inches away. He keeps the plates in his hands as he draws himself up to his full height, looking down at me with a blank face as I blow out a heavy breath.
Okay, Nay. Here we go. All our cards on the table.