Broken Barriers (Barriers Series Book 4) (17 page)

“Sam, I will not apologize for teaching him that word. Leonardo DiCaprio taught him that word on TV, so blame him. I need your help on something else, and it’s really important.”

“Jesus, Drew. Everything okay? What did you do now? You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that. I met someone, and I have no idea how to cook a really nice dinner for her. You know all about wine and flowers and desserts. Help me, please?”

I heard the faint sound of keys rattling and shuffling in the background. “Josh! I’m taking Dean to your parents’ house and heading to the lake. I’ll be back later.”

My eyes widened with her immediate response. “Sam, you don’t need to rush up here. You can just tell me over the phone what I need to do.”

“Are you friggin’ kidding me?! You finally met someone special. I am not letting you screw this up. I’m bringing you the wine, but you will need to listen to me carefully as I tell you exactly what you need to get while I drive up there.”

While listening to the sounds of her car door shutting, the engine starting, and Dean in the background saying, “Boobies, boobies, boobies,” I tried to muffle my amused laugh.

“See…you see what I’m dealing with right now? You sooooo totally owe me for this one, Little Brother.”

“I love you, Sis.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…remember this when you marry the girl.”

I sat ready to pull all my hair out while watching Sam float about the kitchen showing me exactly what I needed to do tomorrow night. There was a bit of an argument because I agreed to cook for someone before I found out what she liked to eat. Apparently, when I said I knew she liked wine, cheese, coffee, and pastries, I managed to patch things rather quickly with Sam.

That was my sister, the sugar addict and wine bar owner. Put those two items together in front of her and her eyes lit up instantly.

As Sam made her way around the kitchen demonstrating the cooking basics and labeling exactly what I needed to do, I told her more about Cole and how she mysteriously left the sweets on the doorstep and basically made me find Marty to talk to him about my time overseas.

I specifically left out any reference of Katie and her new career choice at Naughty Nick’s. However, I received the scolding eye as I mentioned the morning after the strip club when Josh and Dean showed up to Everett and me hungover.

Sam stirred homemade sauce on the stove and waved the wooden spoon at me while threatening words about sending ‘the girls’ up to kick my ass if I tried to teach Dean any more inappropriate words. And by ‘girls’ she meant her old roller derby roommates.

For the next hour, we reminisced about the fun times we had with the derby girls, summers here at the lake with Mom and Dad, and Sam and Josh’s surprise wedding. My mind flooded with the thoughts of Courtney as I pushed off the barstool at the island. With heavy feet, I walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer from inside.

Sam took note of my melancholy appearance as I stared at the unopened bottle in my hands. Her enthusiastic chatter silenced when she turned to see my head hanging low over my outstretched arms on the island. She pulled the cold beer bottle out of my grasp and rested her hand over mine.

“You still love her?” she asked. I glanced up to see Sam’s pained eyes staring back at me as she bent forward on the island beside me.

“I never wanted to burden anyone with my feelings for Courtney.” I pushed back away from her and made my way to the windows overlooking the water. Suddenly, I felt like the water was sucking me under with a heaviness I couldn’t shake.

“Your feelings.” Sam laughed. “Don’t talk to me about burdening someone with
feelings
, Drew.” She walked closer behind me, and I felt her hand on my shoulder. “I should know what it’s like to burden someone with my harbored feelings.” Sam’s hand dropped before she stood next to me, glancing out over the water.

I focused on the house across the bay and the smell of tomato sauce wafting its way across the house. I remembered Sunday dinners with Sam and the rest of Josh’s family—Courtney included—when that aroma triggered thoughts of nothing but Courtney. But right now, only one person’s face came to mind. Cole. I’d been lost for far too long. My dreams had been shattered more times than I could count. I just needed to finally put one foot in front of the other and gain some momentum. I needed that fresh start, and something told me Cole was the person to help guide me that way.

I angled my head to Sam. “I’ll always love her, but you know just as well as I do that she made her choice. It’s time I finally made mine.”

Turning, I forcefully pushed my way out the screen door and quickly headed down the pathway to the water. I felt my sister’s eyes staring at me from behind. For so long Sam was at the forefront of my life, and I always had the urge to protect her after college. Then Josh entered her life, and everything changed. She never wanted to let herself truly experience what loving someone could do to her. That was why she believed I was just like her, as if my feelings were so bottled up that the minute I released them, everything would come crashing down. I’d be even more of a pile of puzzle pieces than I was now.

As I reached the edge of the dock, I turned back to see Sam walking slowly down the path, the snap of her flip-flops against her heels. When she stopped, I noticed her close her eyes and breathe in the air. The sun shone brightly across her face, and her arms wrapped around her waist before she slowly opened her eyes again.

“You know what Josh said to me right here one day?” I shook my head, silently telling her no. “He said stop hiding
.
He told me to just
feel
and the hell with what was going on in my head. Just feel what my heart told me was right.”

My chest tightened as Sam’s words sank deep within my soul. Nothing had made sense in my head until now. I knew what my sister said was right. I needed to put the past behind me. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. The sun blinded me from the vivid rays beaming across the rippling water, yet somehow I caught sight of movement across the bay, and I raised my hand over my eyes to better my vision. My eyes narrowed, and I saw Cole heading down to her private beach area next to her dock.

I watched as she set up a lounge chair and then sat down with her tablet. She relaxed back while pushing her earbuds into each ear and pulled her sunglasses down off her head. Her fingers slid across the screen and her feet beat along to probably some song she was listening to.

Sam told me she was heading back inside to pack up everything in the kitchen so I’d be ready for tomorrow night. For whatever reason, I didn’t tell her that the girl across the bay was the one who had me trying to change my ways. Something in my mind forced me to keep Cole a secret for a little while longer.

Cole was still a mystery. I needed to know more about her before I revealed anything to anyone in my family, even Sam. Watching her, I wondered what made her tick. Thinking back on the night at the bonfire and the connection I felt with her, my heart began to swell. How could someone hurt such a beautiful, kindhearted woman who offered so much to strangers? I’d only known her a short amount of time, but she had already embedded herself into my life, and I could not stop wondering what her story was.

How did one person make such a difference in my life after just meeting her?

My sweaty palms stuck to the leather of my steering wheel. Why was I so nervous? My heart felt as though it was going to burst out of my chest. The
thump, thump, thump
pounded within my ears. It was not as if I hadn’t been out with girls before. I had to keep reminding myself that this was just dinner at her house. Friends hanging out. That was all. You would have thought I was back in high school heading to prom, unsure if I was going to actually get laid or just get to third base before the end of the night. It was really fucking annoying the shit out of me was what it was doing, and I’d like nothing better than for it to stop.

The sun was setting over the lake as I drove along the edge of the bay. Bayside Drive hovered along the banks of the water. One side was lined with evergreen; the other was scattered with large fences that blocked the views of some old money homes. As I drove slowly down the winding road, the mailbox with Cole’s house number came into view quickly. My foot hit the brakes, and I turned into her U-shaped driveway. I slowly crept up the drive and parked my car behind the open top Jeep Wrangler with a stand-up paddleboard strapped to the roof. From the other side of the bay, I had never really gotten a good look at her house, but I finally saw it for what it truly was. Tall, white, and yellow rosebushes surrounded the front covered deck, while shorter red lilies added a darker contrast along the edges of the walkway to her front porch. The light from her front porch illuminated the driveway and reminded me that I needed to get my shit together, and fast. She was just a friend; I kept repeating. Although I wasn’t quite sure how convincing that line was at the moment. I didn’t think I could feel this way for someone so fast. Until now, only one person had ever taken hold of me like this. I shook those thoughts from my head and turned the car off before taking a deep breath.

Showtime.

As I pulled the bags from the backseat of my car, I heard the front door creak open. Looking over the hood of my car, I saw Cole standing in the doorway. If the pounding in my ears was annoying before, it just became ten times worse at the sight of her. God, she looked amazing. With the light at her back, it was almost as though she wasn’t real. Just a vision I’d imagined being there waiting for me.

“You need any help?” she asked from the porch, and I knew she was really there and not my imagination.

My mind stalled for a minute before I realized I hadn’t answered her. I took the last bag from my car and kicked the door shut with my foot. With both hands full of bags, I walked in her direction. “Nope. I should be able to manage this,” I said as I struggled to not drop one of the many items in my hands.

She chuckled as she leaned against the doorframe with her arms folded across her chest. “You sure about that? You don’t look like you have a good handle on any of that, and I’d hate to have to order a pizza or something because the dinner I was promised ends up all over my front yard.” A slight grin spread across her lips, and the closer I got, the more I needed her help.

With a forced sigh, I dropped the bags at the bottom step before grabbing one and handing it to her. She pushed off the door and took a couple of steps in my direction. Her brown hair flowed along with her seafoam green sundress. Simple beige wedge sandals completed her outfit and gave her an added couple of inches to her long tanned legs.

Cole bent down to grab one of the bags, and I found myself looking down the haltered “V” of her dress. The small swell between her breasts had me hypnotized at the moment. I instantly pulled my eyes away and up to see her face smirking at me. She rolled her eyes, and I heard her softly sputter the words, “typical guy” before she turned and walked into the house.

Well, that was just how I wanted to start the night off.
Dammit, Drew!
I thought about all the warnings Morgan gave me the day before and how much guys had taken advantage of Cole. I refused to let myself be one of those guys. She was more than another notch on my bedpost. I believed she had the gift to heal and mend what was broken inside me.

I had to remember that. I had to keep telling myself that.

I was attracted to her.
Friends. Just friends having dinner. I just had to keep telling myself that.

Even if I was attracted to her natural beauty and the subtlety of her smart-ass humor, there was something there that was just too much like…

“You coming in here tonight, or are you just going to stand out there and make me starve to death in here?” Cole’s voice bellowed from inside the house. Only then did I realize that I hadn’t moved an inch since she caught me staring at her breasts.

As I stepped into the foyer of her ample-sized 1920s style bungalow, everything that was Cole hit me all at once. The rich, dark-brown wooden floors stretched across the open area. The L-shaped staircase to my right with cream-colored walls was lined with framed photographs Cole most likely took at some point in time. Images, some color and some black and white, were a mixture of landscapes and architecture. My eyes perused images of the Eiffel Tower, a gondola on the canals in Venice, and the Golden Gate Bridge set behind the fog of the bay.