Page 9

Shit happened.

But shit hadn’t happened to Colton. Or at least shit hadn’t happened to stop him from looking good. The uniform could not contain his muscles. He’d always been built in high school, but he was also lean, having a growth spurt at the end of junior year. Now he filled out to meet his height. Well over six feet. His skin was tan, smooth. His jaw was square, clean-shaven. There was a slight bump in his nose where he’d broken it in a scrimmage with a bunch of his buddies. I’d been there when he’d cracked it back into place, blood pouring down his face.

I’d cried over the sight, almost fainted.

What a fucking pussy I’d been back then.

His eyes were the same clear, azure blue. Arresting, attractive and fit with his whole thing. The whole Ken Doll, All-American quarterback-turned-cop kind of thing.

He looked like he was filming for the Hallmark channel or some shit. A lot of other women might’ve been creaming their panties at the sight of such a man, but not me. I liked them a little more rugged, a little more dangerous, and a fuck of a lot less familiar.

He also looked shocked to see me.

Shocked might’ve been an understatement.

His eyes ran up and down my body once, twice, three times. I didn’t miss the way they settled on the ink visible from beneath the baggy sleeves of my tee.

Nor did I miss the way his nose wrinkled.

Figures that Colton wouldn’t like women with full sleeves and a head full of bottle dye. He was more into the sun-kissed, bronzed bimbos who looked wholesome and virginal. That’s who I’d been the last time he saw me. Well, apart from the virginal part. He’d taken care of that. But I looked like a virgin, which was the important thing. I looked like a good girl. Even if I wasn’t exactly the good girl in the bedroom… After he popped my cherry, that was.

I currently looked like I was there to corrupt the whole town, and I also looked like I was a freak in the sheets. Which I was. He’d only gotten a taste of it and wouldn’t be able to handle me now. So the shock was to be expected.

But I didn’t expect the small dagger of pain that speared into my abdomen, imagining what I looked like through his eyes.

I really didn’t like it.

So I jutted my chin upward, not smiling. I wasn’t afraid in front of a seven-foot Ghoul dripping blood and snarling at me. I sure as shit wasn’t going to back down to an old boyfriend. “It’s been a long time,” I said, voice flat.

He blinked. Once. Slowly. “It’s been a long time,” he repeated, sounding robotic.

I nodded. “You look good. Glad to see you’re keeping this place safe. I bet your dad’s proud.” My words were icy, but I didn’t exactly mean them to wound.

Oh, fuck it, I totally did. I was a cold-hearted bitch now, what of it?

Finally, the dipshit in front of me got his coffee.

“It’s good to see you.” Dismissal clear in my voice, I turned in the direction of the counter, desperate for respite from Colton’s clear, golden-boy gaze.

It made me feel dirty.

However, a firm grip on my upper arms stopped me from turning my back on him.

I sighed. Not exactly surprising but disappointing.

“You disappeared without a fucking trace almost thirteen years ago. You show up looking completely fucking different, and you’re gonna try to act like you’ve just been gone for summer break or some shit?” His grip tightened as he spoke, bordering on painful.

Hmmm, okay, so Colton wasn’t as clean-cut or as much of a good boy as I’d thought. He had a temper.

And yes, he was pissed at me for disappearing on him. Which I guessed was kind of understandable.

I gritted my teeth against his grip. People didn’t touch me without permission. And those who did usually ended up bleeding.

But I couldn’t exactly do shit in a crowded coffee shop. Not to a cop. And my ex-high school sweetheart.

“This is not the place.” My response was brief, sharp, and final.

“Yeah, this is certainly the fucking place,” Colton snarled, not letting me go. “Explain.”