Foul Play (Whithall University Book 1) (22 page)

It’s that kiss and more.

Much more!

It’s Cole.

My fallen angel.

My saviour.

My friend.

My arms tighten around him, pulling him closer and when he breaks the kiss a part of my body’s reaction is to move with him, hating the separation he puts between us.

His husky chuckle has me snapping my eyes too him, hazy and full of lust.

“Are you with me?’’ he asks and his sudden question not only startles me but confuses me. It’s not until I read behind his words that I understand and I melt under him, never knowing anyone who could be as considerate as he is when it comes to people’s feelings, especially mine.

“Always,’’ I whisper and watch as his eyes change once again before my eyes, a soft expression flashing in them.

He doesn’t make me wait another second; his lips bare down on mine, kissing me softly and thoroughly, making all my dreams come true.

A few weeks have passed since I blacked out at the rugby field. I feel more embarrassed than anything, especially knowing who watched me fall.

Today, I finally get to see my munchkin, Mia, and get a break from everyone’s watchful eyes. I know they’re extra worried about me because of my attack and the blackout but I haven’t had one since and I’ve told them countless times to relax. If anything, I just feel on edge, wanting to get everything sorted so we can take them down.

We’re actually one more step towards achieving that goal. We’re meeting at the library in a couple of days to go over everything.

The only thing that is stopping me from breaking and entering to get that damn chest myself, is Cole. He’s become a constant in my life and a welcome one at that. Since we kissed a few weeks ago things have changed dramatically between us, and the heat that was there before is now a furnace, sizzling, bubbling and ready to explode.

His kisses are like magic, a drug, pulling me under his spell that takes me away from the nightmare going on around me. It’s not just that he makes everything disappear that I feel so deeply towards him, it’s the fact he makes me feel, he makes me feel something I didn’t think I’d ever feel again.

Sexy!

He makes me feel sexy, beautiful, worshipped and as cheesy at it sounds he makes me feel like I’m one of a kind, special and loved.

Since the rape I’ve done nothing but see my body as rot. Dirt and fungi at its finest, and I’ve tried my hardest to scrub myself clean from the bacteria rotting my body, but nothing seems to work. I’ve kept these feelings to myself, not wanting to worry anyone when I knew none of them could help; nothing could. Well, nothing worked until I felt what it was like to be in Cole’s arms. To be touched by him and to feel his lips press softly against mine. The way my heart beat goes wild and not with nerves but with anticipation, want, need. It killed me to pull away from him the first time he kissed me, but he didn’t disappoint me when he came back for more. He didn’t look at me with disgust or pity, but with lust, desire and another emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It was as strong as all the other emotions shining back at me in the pool of his deep blue eyes. It made me breathless.

He’s continued to kiss me, to breathe me in and he hasn’t rushed me or tried to push for more since then. In fact, he seems content on keeping the pace slow. I’m happy with the pace he’s set since I don’t know what will happen if he ever does try to take it further.

I’ll never remember the night I was raped, not fully, even if my body does. I just don’t want to push my body towards something it’s not ready for, even if a part of my mind is.

He’s been my rock, along with Allie and CJ at school. The first day I went back after breaking down in class had been hard. My anxiety spiked up to extreme levels and I got so paranoid, especially when someone would look my way. People still stared, some with judgement clouding their eyes, some with sympathy. It helped that when I walked into class Monday morning Becca was sitting in the front row, nice and early. CJ let Becca have his chair so she could sit next to me. He took the chair on the other side of Cole. When the lad who usually occupied the seat showed up, he looked ready to argue, demand that CJ move but the kid took one look at CJ and Cole and rushed off to take Becca’s old seat. He moved so fast it was comical.

It was also then that Professor Moby informed me I could have an extension on my assignment, one I didn’t want or ask for. I wanted to show him and myself that I could work under pressure. But now, sitting in Jackie’s front room I’m beginning to wonder what the hell I was thinking, declining his offer.

“You’re breathing funny again,’’ Mia says, scrunching her eyes at me with worry.

I smile at her where she sits playing on her tablet. Ever since I arrived she’s been really attentive, watching closely as if she’s waiting for me to sprout wings or horns. When I asked what was wrong she told me her mum had told her I had been ill too, that I had a nasty fall. I’m just glad my bruises have gone; the ones that linger are covered by makeup.

“I’m sorry,’’ I smile.

“Do you need a doctor?’’ she asks standing up, her hand on her hip. She’s so freaking adorable standing there, her cute little button nose all scrunched up and her bow shaped lips in a full pout.

Wanting a break from my assignment and the headache from trying to find a story, I indulge her, putting my paper and laptop to one side.

“I think I do,’’ I fake cough. “We don’t have one in the house, though do we?’’ I ask, with wide eyes, fake coughing.

“I’m a doctor,’’ she states proudly, standing up a little taller.

“Really?’’ I ask, scrunching my eyes up at her, eyeing her up and down.

She nods her head furiously, a solemn expression on her face. “Yes. Let me get my equipment, I’ll be five minutes,’’ she says, holding up her five fingers at me, her face stern and serious.

She runs from the room and five minutes later she’s running back down the stairs, sounding like an elephant. She rushes into the front room wearing a doctor’s costume and I have to bite back a giggle. In her hand is a doctors bag and she tips the contents of it all over the sofa.

The first thing she grabs is the plastic thermometer, holding it up to my mouth. “Open wide for me, please,’’ she says sweetly and I have to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep myself from smiling at how cute and professional she is being.

I nod my head, pretending to feel ill, a small pout on my lips. My mouth opens and I nearly gag when she forcefully pushes the instrument into my mouth, nearly hitting my tonsils.

“Sorry,’’ she mumbles and counts to three, pulling it back out. “You’re really hot,’’ she tells me, shoving the toy in my face. I only get a glimpse of the arrow pointing to red before she’s throwing it back in her bag.

Next she picks up a stethoscope and I bite my lip. “Where did you get that from?’’ I ask her, noting it’s real.

“Mommy said if I wanted to become a doctor I needed to practice,’’ she giggles, and places them in her ears. “I’m going to listen to your heart.’’

“Okay,’’ I tell her, but her head snaps up, her eyes narrowed.

“Shush, I can’t hear your heart,’’ she scolds me and I zip my lips, gesturing to her that I’ve locked it and thrown away the key.

She nods her head before placing the stethoscope over my heart, moving it until she finds what she’s looking for. She listens for a few minutes, obviously lost in the sound of my heart thumping.

“It’s really, really fast,’’ she notes shaking her head. “Oh, no! I need to write this all down,’’ she tells me with a pout, looking around the room. Once she finds what she wants she crosses the room, picking up her crayons and a piece of paper. I can’t help but watch on with amusement.

“Okay, so my temperature was red and my heart rate was fast,’’ I remind her, not liking the thought of having the thermometer stuck down my throat again.

She nods her head and I chuckle when I see her drawing pictures, not actual words. For my temperature she’s drawn the thermometer with a red crayon next to it. And as you can guess, for my heart she has drawn a heart and then wrote the words fast next to it.

“What’s next?’’ I ask her and she taps her chin, her little tongue sticking out of her mouth.

“We need to check your ears,’’ she says after a minute of looking through her toys.

I let her go on, checking my ears and taking my blood pressure. I even went as far as to let her bandage my arm. When she finishes all her checks she gives me a spoon of medicine and an injection or three. I stay sitting still, wanting to be a good patient and I’m rewarded with a sticker for it at the end.

“You’re a brave girl,’’ she tells me, her voice sweet and serious.

“Thank you. You’ve been a great doctor, I feel all better,’’ I tell her, smiling wide.

“So no more heavy breathing?’’ she asks, referring to my heavy sighs earlier.

“Nope, none.’’

“Then you’re all better,’’ she grins, jumping up and down whilst clapping her hands.

“Who’s all better?’’ Jackie asks, making me jump.

“Oh my Gosh, you scared me,’’ I breathe out, holding my hand over my heart.

“Sorry,’’ she grins but doesn’t have time to say anything else as Mia runs into her legs, knocking her back a step.

“I’ve been looking after Willow and making her all better,’’ Mia informs her mum.

“I can see,’’ Jackie notes amused, looking at the sofa. “What a good girl.’’

“Doctor. What a good doctor,’’ Mia corrects, looking proud.

“Why don’t you get washed up and we can get a start on dinner?’’

“Okay mummy,’’ Mia agrees, running up the stairs.

“What’s all of this?’’ Jackie asks, coming to sit next to me.

I sigh, leaning back on the sofa and dropping my head back. It’s exhausting me. More than I thought this assignment would.

“It’s an assignment for my journalism class and my application to get onto the university’s newspaper. I’m doing a real life story, though, I’ve been having problems finding something to report and write about. I’ve asked around on social networking sites but its people coming back with stories on how they lost weight or how their holiday was ruined. I know I could pick anyone of them and it would be a good story but I want it to be spectacular, blow people away. I need something that means something; something people don’t often question others about because their too scared to or it’s impolite,’’ I breathe out then look up to Jackie who is deep in thought, a bored expression on her face. “Sorry. I got carried away,’’ I explain.

“No. No, it’s not that. I was just thinking, if it’s okay with Liam you could write one on us.’’

“What do you mean?’’ I ask, my eyes pulled together, my interest piqued.

“I don’t know if it’s interesting enough to write a story about but Liam is adopted,’’ she tells me.

“Uh, what?’’ I breathe out, completely speechless.

“It’s not something we talk about. Not because it’s off limits but because it doesn’t feel like an adoption, not anymore. He’s ours, you know?’’

I nod my head and a thought occurs to me. “Is Mia?’’ I ask, my thoughts trailing off.

“Mia isn’t, no,’’ she tells me, seeming to be relaxed talking about this. Then a story comes to mind and I wonder if she’ll be okay with it.

“Okay, hear me out,’’ I tell her, grabbing my pen and pad with enthusiasm. “You might not like the stuff I’ll ask but it’s the reporter in me,’’ I shrug, feeling apologetic. “But I need to ask questions others around you will want to ask but are too scared to, or consider it rude. It’s deep in the back of their minds or on the tip of their tongue but it’s there, yet they’re too scared to ask.’’

“Go ahead. You’ll be surprised by what I’ve been asked,’’ she smiles.

“Are you okay to do this now or shall we wait?’’ I ask, my eyes shifting to the ceiling where Mia is, obviously playing and not washing up like her mum asked.

“It’s fine. She won’t come back down here until I shout her. She gets distracted easily,’’ Jackie laughs, easing back onto the couch.

“Okay, I’ll start from the beginning. What made you adopt?’’

“I don’t feel like I was
made
as such but I guess, it was the only decision we had,’’ she tells me and at my confused expression she continues. “I was told I couldn’t conceive, that the chances were so low that when the third round of IVF failed, Frank and I decided to give up and adopt. Knowing we were lucky enough to even be accepted, we chose to adopt a child who needed a loving family, one that would normally have trouble being adopted. We were blessed with Liam.’’

My eyes fill with tears thinking about the life Cole could of had if he wasn’t given to the Cole’s.

“What was it like, adopting?’’ I ask, writing notes as I go.

“The same as any mother being given a child. My parents were smitten just as much as we were, everyone in our family was happy for us and the second they laid eyes on the little boy we had been blessed with, they fell in love. There were a few people who had a hard time adapting and we actually parted ways with a couple we were friends with.’’

“How come?’’ I ask and strangely, I’m not just asking for the story but for my own interest.

“Well, they would correct Liam when he started calling us Mummy and Daddy. It had taken us so long to get him to trust me and Frank. We were devastated when we overheard what they were saying to him. It ended up in a massive argument, one that got a little out of hand,’’ she chuckles slyly. “But for us it just meant we knew who our real friends were. They didn’t understand how we could raise someone else’s child. But we never saw Liam as someone else’s child, he was ours from day one. Even to this day I still look at him and see
my
little boy. We’ve never really acknowledged the fact that he is adopted, it doesn’t feel right.’’

“He’s lucky,’’ I smile at her. “My mum’s friend was having trouble getting pregnant and I remember her telling my mum that they both had tests done and it was impossible for either of them to conceive. When my mum mentioned adoption to them they recoiled at the thought and looked at my mum like she had just told them she was a foreign creature. I never understood her reaction, I still don’t.’’