Coming Up for Air (cole caufield x oc)

Forty-Three

𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕪𝕒

"This is the worst idea you guys have ever had," Tate exclaims as Freya and Riley set the cups down on the wooden dining room table. "Pong?" she presses. "I already told you—we don't need a competition! I'll just choose someone random!"

Freya pauses to put a hand on her hip. "Oh, so you can just pick your boyfriend, Alex Turcotte?" she counters with a smirk. "If you wanna sleep with him, all you have to do is admit you guys are a thing."

Riley hums in agreement. "Then all of this goes away," she coos, raising her brows at Tate, who stands at the counter with her head in her hands.

"Alex Turcotte and I are not a thing," Tate groans.

"After this game, we might be, baby," Alex hollers as the door to the porch slides open. The others are close behind, prompting another moan of annoyance from Tate. "We doing singles for this tourney?"

As Riley answers their questions, Cole moves to stand beside Freya. He laces one arm around her back, resting it on her waist. His lips graze her temple as he whispers, "I found a place for us to get dinner tonight."

"Oh, yeah?" Freya retorts, spinning to face him. He grins, which sends a flood of excitement through Freya's body.

"Private place," he adds, "on the beach."

Freya wraps her hands around his neck to pull him closer. "I like the sound of that," she replies. "Is it a special occasion?"

She means it as a joke, but the faintest hint of a smile tugs at the corners of Cole's lips. "I don't know," he teases, "maybe."

Freya doesn't get a chance to respond, because the rest of the group erupts in screams as Alex sinks his first shot at the table. Cole takes Freya's hand in his, and the two start towards the others. Even after staying at his place for several weeks and spending almost every second of the team's home stretches together, Freya can't seem to read Cole's expression now. As the pong game continues in front of them, she does her best to steal little glances over at him, but he gives nothing away.

Across from them, on the other long side of the table, Tate is shaking her head in disdain. The current match is between Alex and Key, though Alex's lead widens with every shot he takes.

"All they had to do was admit it," Riley sighs beside Freya, quiet enough so that only she and Cole can hear. "Then they could've taken the room together with no games."

Freya shakes her head. "I really thought this would do the trick," she murmurs, "you know—call their bluff."

Cole, whose eyes are still on the table, clicks his tongue. "I'm telling you guys," he starts with a shrug, "they aren't a thing. I know Turc."

"Yeah, but I know Tate, " Freya responds in turn. "And I know she's hiding him from us."

Within the next minute, Alex has defeated Key handedly, and he blows a kiss to Tate in celebration. She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. Quinn, ever the gentleman, opts out of the competition, which evens things out when, to Freya's surprise, Josh agrees to take part.

"The guy doesn't even drink," Cole remarks to Freya as the cups are reset. "It's why there's water in these. I didn't think there was any shot he would actually go for this shit." He shakes his head.

"Ready?" Brady challenges from one end of the table.

Josh takes a deep breath before replying in a quiet tone, "Ready as I'll ever be."

Brady takes the first shot, but it goes way wide. Josh sinks one, which is followed by another miss from Brady.

"You gotta get it together, Chucky," Quinn tells him.

Josh is smiling when he throws his next shot, but it goes just an inch beyond the edge of the table, wrenching a cry of disappointment from the group.

"Come on!" Alex shouts from the fridge, where he's getting another drink. "You guys aren't supposed to be cheering for anyone!"

"It's Norris," Key calls over in response, "the guy is impossible not  to root for."

Freya has to admit that he's right: Josh, sweet and quiet, apparently has a knack for beer pong. Either that or Brady is just really, really bad. When the game is over, Brady has only managed to make two shots, which he celebrates by shotgunning a beer on the front porch.

It leaves Alex against Josh for the final round, and it seems to Freya that Alex is out for blood.

"This is for all the balls," Jess exclaims before the first shot, and the others turn to look at her.

"What?" Key laughs. "That's not an expression."

She glances around the rest of the group, as if she expects one of them to validate her, but they all look back with the same confusion. For a moment, she reconsiders it, and then concludes, "Maybe that's not the right translation."

"Marbles?" Riley suggests, and Jess snaps her fingers.

"Yes!" she agrees. "All of the marbles!"

As Alex sinks his first shot, Freya leans her head against Cole's chest. There, she feels the gentle pounding of his heart, and she can't help but sink into him a little more. He holds her tight, planting a kiss on her forehead and then another on her temple as she returns her attention to the game.

It's impossible to describe—but she just feels home with him. No matter where they are—even if Cole is on a roadtrip a thousand miles away—all Freya wants is to be with him.

I want to date him, Freya snaps to herself, and the realization catches her so much by surprise that her head jerks away from Cole.

"You okay?" he asks with a confused smile.

Freya, shaking it off, meets his gaze. "Yeah," she hurries. "Yeah, I'm totally fine."

Cole's expression suggests he doesn't buy it, but he doesn't press her when Freya returns her head to his chest, releasing a heavy sigh.

The pong game comes down to the wire: both Josh and Alex are left with one cup to get rid of. It's Josh's shot, and the group is silent as he lines up for it. With precision, he releases the ball just above his elbow, and it looks like it's going to soar straight into its target, but somehow it goes just an inch too long.

Everyone cries in exasperation—even Josh, who has otherwise not been rattled.

Rolling his shoulders back, Alex closes one eye and takes aim. His release is quick, and the ball bangs off the inside of the cup before sinking all the way in. Allegiance shifts quickly, and soon the whole group is celebrating Alex's win.

Tate, after offering Josh a consolatory pat on the arm, joins them, too.