Unwanted (bxb)

Chapter 23

Justin's POV

A whole week had passed since the last time I talked with Cole. A whole week of work, a whole week without a single message from Dylan. For that, I was grateful. After what had happened in the parking lot, Cole was avoiding me. It was almost insulting. When I got up, he was already gone, and when I came home from work around ten, Mom would tell me he'd left just a little while before. It was like all of a sudden he didn't want to see me anymore, and the worst part was the distance hurt me in a way I could have never imagined. My body was demanding I kiss him again, crawl into his arms, and I was tormenting myself wondering what I could have done wrong, why he was being so cold to me after we had shared such moments of arousal.

I knew he was spending time at home because
Mom saw him almost every day, but he only came home when I was gone or late at night after doing God knows what. And so one Saturday evening, which my boss told me to take off because they were closing the bar for three days, I thought I would finally catch up with Cole. I didn't know for sure he would be home. For that matter, I wasn't sure I really wanted to have him in front of me.

Escaping from my own mental conflicts, I went to the kitchen. Mom and I had talked about having dinner that night and watching a couple of movies. When we were in Sems, we had done that almost every night, but since we'd moved, we hardly spent time together. Mom was always accompanying Richard on his work trips or shopping or organizing endless events or parties for Williams Enterprises. That night, though, she was free: Richard was going to be at the office late, and she and I had coordinated our schedules so we could see each other.

It was a little after eight, and Mom still wasn't home, so I decided to make a roast with potatoes. I liked cooking. I wasn't a fancy chef, but I could hold my own at the stove. I was cutting the potatoes with one of those knives like they sold on QVC when I heard the front door open. I stiffened. I didn't know it was him, but my heart began to pound as I heard those heavy footsteps getting closer.

When we met eyes, we both froze, him in the doorway, me next to the island where I'd just set down my knife. He looked surprised and then indifferent. I tried to be angry, but too soon I was hypnotized by his outfit, a black suit and a white shirt buttoned low and his intentionally mussed hair framing his handsome eyes.

"I thought you were supposed to be working," he said when we — or at least I — had recovered from the impact of not seeing each other for seven long days. He walked inside and around the island, opening the refrigerator with a distant air.

"They let me off," I said, knocked off guard by the incredible attraction I felt for him. My fingertips were itching with the urge to mess up his hair even more and tear off his carefully ironed shirt.

"Good for you," he said.

"Where have you been?" I asked, slamming the knife down a bit harder than necessary, cutting through the potato and leaving a mark across the wooden cutting board with a dull, almost thudding sound.

"Around," he said from behind me. I couldn't turn. If I did, he'd realize how out of sorts I was. I didn't want Cole to know about that unbearable obsession that had overtaken me in recent days. It made me nervous to know he was watching me, leaning on the counter. After an intense, uncomfortable silence, he said, "Your back's sunburned."

Knowing he was looking at me that way made me even more nervous.

"I fell asleep by the pool," I said, cutting more potatoes, trying to concentrate on my work.

I felt his breath on my neck and stopped moving the knife as he said, "You should be more careful."

I nearly cut myself with the knife, he made me so anxious. But Cole's reflexes were fast enough to catch my hand. I dropped the knife and looked back at him.