Page 15 of Sinful Nights
“Once,” he whispers, he turns to face me, his eyes going from sad to angry in the blink of an eye. “Fuck him, though.”
“Ended badly?” I ask, secretly hoping he gives me more details. I feel no shame in admitting my desire to know more. Being extremely nosy, I can tell a juicy story is behind this. Bash stays silent, and I quietly scoot closer, giving him puppy-dog eyes.
“You could say that. He was my stepbrother. But as I said, fuck him.”
“Oh,” I reply, not knowing what else to say. His stepbrother? Ohshiiit, I can tell he doesn’t like to talk about it, but dammit, I want to know so much more. Like, who is he? How long did it last? Where’s he at now? But instead of saying any of the million things that are running through my head, all I say is, “I’m sorry, that sounds tough.”
“It’s whatever. Fuck him.”
“Yeah, fuck him.”
Damn, what I wouldn’t give to know that story.
8
OAKLEY
“Do you have any plans tonight?”I ask Cole, who’s sitting on the couch, probably not even realizing I’m in the room. He’s wearing blue plaid pajama pants with his sweatshirt over his head. His eyes are staring straight ahead at the TV, and I lean over to see that he’s watching some rom-com. “Cole,” I say again, smiling when his light brown eyes finally reach mine.
“Hmm? My bad, have you ever seen this? It’s so good!”
My eyes drift to the screen, seeing Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway on the screen. “No, but isn’t that the guy from the movie you’re always watching?”
“Yes! He’s in this movie with Anne Hathaway, and I’m obsessed. Don’t be surprised if you see me watching this on repeat for the next few weeks.” He bounces excitedly in his spot, his eyes going straight back to the screen.
Walking over to him, I take a spot on the couch beside him, chuckling. “I love how you always do that. Whenever you find something you like to watch, you have to watch it over and over again. How do you never get bored with it?”
“I don’t know, there’s just something comforting about knowing what’s going to happen, and I love romance moviesbecause they always find their soulmate and their happy ever after.”
“Who knew you were so sentimental?” I joke, pulling Cole closer to me and squeezing him tightly against me.
“It’s the feeling of being safe, of knowing how it ends… I don’t know. Is that weird?”
My hand gives his shoulder another small squeeze. “Never. I love that. It’s way deeper than I think when I’m watching movies, that’s for sure.”
Cole turns in my arms, resting his head on my chest. He fits perfectly against me. “Sorry, I got off topic. What were you asking me before I rambled on and on?”
I gently pull away, wanting to make eye contact. “Oh, do you have any plans tonight? I thought maybe we could go bowling? We haven’t done that in a while.”
Cole jumps up onto his knees, hitting the back of the couch. “Yes! I haven’t taken my bowling ball for a spin in so long. Let’s go now.”
I grab hold of his arms as he flails to hop off the couch. He’s so damn excited, and to be honest, I would give him anything he wanted. Even if that means going bowling at ten in the morning. “You know the bowling alley isn’t open yet, right?”
“Who cares! We can get ready and be waiting outside the doors for it to open. Hell, maybe we can even request a specific lane so that way, we don’t have to be sandwiched in between two lanes. I’m gonna shower.”
He’s up and down the hall before I can even get a word out. Cole loves bowling. I enjoy it, but Cole is obsessed. He has three different bowling balls, his own bowling bag, and a shirt he wears every time we go. I only have my own personal ball because he gifted it to me for my birthday one year. I completely suck at bowling, but Cole is great. He still hasn’t been able tobowl a perfect game, but we still have so much fun even when we’re getting back-to-back gutters.
“Take your time!”
A few hours later, we’re coming back into the apartment, Cole screeching excitedly. “Eight strikes, Oak. I got eight! One day I’ll get a damn perfect score.”
“You still played really well. Compared to my one itty-bitty strike. In only one game.”
“Aw,” Cole pinches my cheek as I pull away. “It’s okay. One day you’ll get more than one strike. Probably not anytime soon, but you will.”
“You are so lucky I love you, or I wouldn’t deal with your teasing. Now, to celebrate your amazing eight strikes, how about a movie night? Maybe a comedy?”
“Hmm,” Cole taps his chin with his finger playfully. “How about we do a rom-com? We can finish our Marvel nights another time.”
