Out of the Shadow (23 page)

Cole pushed the door open and sauntered inside, dropping into a chair in front of Nate’s desk. Nate grinned at him and shut the file he’d been perusing. “What’s up, kid?”

“
Not much,” Cole said. He shook a mint flavored toothpick from a plastic case and shoved it in his mouth. “Waiting around for RJ. We’re moving into the new place today.”

“
Oh, yeah,” Nate said as he leaned back in his chair. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes as a smirk toyed with his lips. “You look relaxed. How did your weekend with Ally go?”

A blush crept up the back of his neck as he shifted in his chair. “It was great, Dad. It was nice to spend some alone time with her.”

Nate leaned over the desk and winked at his son. “Just, don’t tell Jay any details, huh?”

Cole snorted out a laugh as he yanked the toothpick from his mouth and pointed it at Nate. “I wouldn’t dream of it – I don’t have a death wish.”

Nate’s grin widened affectionately. “Jay is very happy that you’re the one dating his daughter, you know. He told me that he trusts you to take good care of her like he doesn’t trust anyone else.”

Cole’s eyes widened and a lump formed in his throat as he nodded. He’d always known that Jay considered him another son but he also knew how protective he was of his ‘little girl’ and was deeply touched by his father’s words.

“
I just about screwed things up when I mentioned she was my girlfriend in that
Rock News Weekly
article,” he admitted. “Now half the campus is shadowing her, hoping to become her friend so they can meet us or you guys.”

Nate nodded as he tented his fingers under his chin. “She’s had to deal with that sort of thing her whole life – all of you have.”

“
Yeah, I know,” Cole said. “But she was sort of hoping that college would be different.” Cole sighed and jammed the toothpick back into his mouth.

“
Ally’s tough, Cole,” Nate said. “She’ll manage and you know that. She’s made of strong stuff.”

Cole grinned proudly as he nodded in agreement. Ally was tough and always had been. She had just the right mix of feminine features and tomboy qualities to make her perfect in his eyes. “We talked about it. We worked things out.”

“
Good,” Nate said, smiling. “So, tell me, what are you going to do for the next couple of weeks?”

“
Just move into the new place and hang out, I guess,” Cole said. “Relax. I never realized how tiring touring is.”

Nate chuckled and swiveled his chair. “That it is, my boy. But sometimes I miss it.” His eyes took on a faraway look and Cole figured his father was reliving some of the old days in his mind.

A soft knock caught both of their attention and Nate called out an invitation to enter. Robby Redden walked in, startled to see Cole, and smiled tightly. “Hey, Cole.”

“
Hi, Robby,” Cole said as he stood and shook Robby’s hand. “How’s it going?”

“
Pretty good,” Robby said. He glanced at Nate. “Jay’s in the sound room and he asked me to come get you. But, let me warn you, he’s using some pretty colorful language.”

Nate groaned as he heaved his body out of his chair. “I better go calm him down. Call me later, son, and maybe me and Stacy will swing by the new place and check it out.”

“
Sure,” Cole said frowning at his watch. “Hey, Robby, have you seen RJ wandering around?”

“
No,” Robby said. “But I heard you two were moving into a new place today.”

“
Yeah, and RJ was supposed to meet me here but he’s late,” Cole said, running his fingers through his hair. “The movers are meeting us at the new place soon.”

“
Well, if you need a hand, I’m finished here,” Robby offered. “I could help.”

Cole’s face relaxed into a smile. “That’d be great.”

***

“
This place is very nice,” Robby said as he admired the spacious living room with the bay windows. He ducked into the eat-in kitchen where the movers were stacking boxes against the counter. This room was large, too, though not as large as the living room. It had plenty of cupboards and cabinets.

“
Dude,” RJ said, grasping Robby’s shoulder. “You should check out the bathroom, man. The main one. It’s huge.”

Cole rolled his eyes behind RJ’s back and thanked the movers as they left. He opened the fridge and frowned at the selections. “RJ, I thought you brought some sustenance.”

RJ rolled on the balls of his feet, an impish smirk slowly spreading on his face. “I called James. I told him that we were stuck here with the movers and totally ravenous. You know he’ll come through.”

Cole laughed. “Clever.” He closed the fridge and stared at the boxes, his mind a mile away. “Hey, you hung out with Jamie all weekend, right?”

“
Yeah,” RJ said as he pulled out a chair that matched the table that came with the place. He sat on it backwards and rested his arms on the back. “Me, Ren, and Parker went to the game. We met Ally’s extremely shy roommate. Why?”

Cole leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest. “Did James mention anything about anyone bothering him or Ally about us?”

RJ winced slightly. “He just said some girls bug her sometimes, why?”

Cole shrugged uneasily. “I talked to her about it over the weekend but she made it sound as if she was okay with it – that she overreacted.”

“
I don’t know,” Robby said as he rubbed the back of his neck. Cole and RJ turned to him. “Man, Ally will kill me for telling you this if she hasn’t already, but she called me one Friday night a few weeks ago and she was pretty drunk.”

“
Ally?” RJ asked incredulously. “She never drinks.”

“
That’s what she said,” Robby responded. “I think it was the day the article came out and she went to some frat party with Jamie. She drank a little too much and told Jamie that her roommate was picking her up but after Jamie left, she realized she didn’t have her roommate’s number. She didn’t want to walk so she called me.”

“
What happened?” Cole asked, his mind whirring, playing possible scenarios in his head. He’d never known Ally to drink except for an occasional glass of champagne on special occasions or something like that.”

“
She was pretty bad,” Robby admitted. “When I got to the frat house, she’d already thrown up in the flower beds.”

“
Jeez,” RJ said, half amused. “She didn’t hurl in your car, did she? Because man, that’s a nice ride and I doubt if you’d ever get that smell out of there.”

Cole shot RJ a dirty look which RJ studiously ignored.

“
No, she waited until she got to my place,” Robby said.

Cole froze briefly before his jaw fell. “Your place?” he asked, his brow furrowed.

“
Yeah,” Robby said, rubbing the back of his neck again. “She didn’t want to go to her dorm so I offered to take her home but she mentioned that Jay and Liz were out of town and I wasn’t comfortable with leaving her alone so I took her to my place. After she threw up, she sort of passed out on my couch.”

Cole relaxed and experienced a dab of guilt. Robby was a good guy – a gentleman. He’d taken care of Ally where others might have taken advantage of her. He needed to get rid of the jealousy and show a little gratitude. “Thanks, man. I appreciate you taking care of her.”

“
Yeah,” RJ said. “She’s not a good drunk.”

“
I noticed,” Robby said with a wry smile. “Anyway, she was pretty upset. She rambled a little bit about the article and the girls that swarmed to her room. And she, um, cried a bit about the argument you two had.”

Cole could see the discomfort in Robby’s posture and knew he didn’t like telling them these things – especially since Ally had failed to mention it yet. A bit of anger rose up inside of Cole as he wondered why Ally hadn’t mentioned it to him at all the entire weekend. He’d have to ask her next time he spoke to her.

“
Thanks, again,” Cole said. “She told me the day the article came out that girls were in her room, wanting to know about us, but she’s kind of played it off since then.”

“
Jamie is, too,” RJ said. “When we met him near the locker rooms after the game, I could see people watching him – especially when he was walking with us to the parking lot. And he was tense, even though he played a great game and they won. He wouldn’t talk about it, though, kept asking us questions about the tour and stuff when I’d mention the article.”

“
Did you ask Ally’s roommate about this while you were watching the game?” Cole asked.

RJ shook his head. “Nah, because I didn’t realize at that time. I mean, we spoke to Jamie briefly before the game and I wasn’t paying much attention to the people around us.”

“
Damn,” Cole cursed.

Someone pounded on the door causing RJ to jump up and run off to answer it, upsetting his chair in the process. Cole and Robby shared a grin as they heard RJ enthusiastically greet Jamie.

“
Thanks, bro! Food!” RJ exclaimed. “Ally!”

Something tugged at Cole’s heart at the mention of her name. He couldn’t identify it any more than he could stop the smile that slid over his lips.

RJ bounced into the room carrying four pizza boxes while Jamie trailed behind, exclaiming over the house, Ally in his wake hauling a case of soda.

“
Hey, princess,” Cole said as he relieved her of the soda and kissed her cheek.

“
Don’t call me that,” she said and kissed him back.

“
Come here, girl,” RJ said once he deposited the pizzas on the table. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground, kissing her cheeks. “I missed you, you pain in the ass.”

“
I missed you, too, you jerk,” she smiled, hugging him tightly. “Now, let’s eat.”

RJ set her on her feet with a wink. “I always knew Cole was a smart man for hooking up with you, Ally.”

She laughed and noticed, for the first time, Robby standing quietly near the wall. “Hi, Robby,” she said as she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, causing a blush to flood his cheeks. “I haven’t talked to you in awhile. Is my father working you to death?”

“
Nah,” he said with a dimpled smile. “I like to keep busy.”

“
Where are the plates?” Jamie asked, reading the tops of the boxes. “And where did you get all this stuff?”

“
My mom and Stacy,” RJ said with a mouth full of pizza. Ally glared at him, shaking her head in disgust. He swallowed and grinned at her.

“
I’ll dig some plates out,” Cole said, turning a cool shoulder on Ally. For some reason, he couldn’t stand to see her kiss Robby‘s cheek, yet it hadn’t bothered him in the least to see her greet RJ just as warmly, if not warmer. He lifted a box and set it aside as he located the one with the plates.

“
Hand them to me, Cole, and I’ll wash them,” Ally offered. “I think I found the box with all the cleaning supplies.”

“
Cleaning supplies?” RJ asked. “Do you mean we have to clean?”

“
Yes,” Ally said. “Jeez, RJ, I know your mother taught you how to pick up after yourself.”

“
Yeah, but I kind of hoped you’d come around and do that for us,” RJ said, flashing a brilliant smile.

She rolled her eyes as Cole piled plates near the sink. He closed up the box and turned on the hot water, ignoring Ally’s offer to help. She tried to nudge him out of the way, a bottle of dish soap in her hands, but he didn’t move. He merely plucked the soap out of her hand and squirted some in the water.