Silence (11 page)

I felt a warm tear roll down the side of my face, which Cole wiped away with his thumb.

“I love you. Always have. Always will.” Closing my eyes, I smiled. Hearing that was almost too much. I didn’t deserve him to love me like that.

I felt a gentle pressure on my lips. I kissed him back, showing him how much I loved him too.

Chapter Eleven

Cole

I lay perfectly still so I wouldn’t wake her and watched her sleeping in my arms. She was so beautiful, and so out of my league I couldn’t believe she agreed to be with me. I was the luckiest bastard alive. As soon as I had admitted I loved her it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I had been holding it in for so damn long, scared that it would put her off. It was so good to finally say it out loud.

Oakley didn’t think that much of herself and I had no idea why. To me, she was perfect. It didn’t matter that she wouldn’t talk, or our relationship wouldn’t be ‘normal’ because of that: I was in love with
her
.

When she first stopped talking, everyone thought it was a fish bone that she’d choked on. We waited patiently for a few days, and then it became obvious that something else was wrong.

At one point, Jasper thought she was doing it for attention, but that wasn’t like her at all. I wanted to help her so badly. I wanted to make it better so she could talk. I wanted to hear her say my name and laugh again. Would she still sound similar? I sighed and kissed the top of her head, hoping that one day she would trust me enough to let me help her.

It was almost six in the morning, and I needed to sneak back to my room soon, but I was too comfortable, even with her sprawled out on my chest. I doubted anyone would be up at this time, but I couldn’t risk getting caught and not being able to sleep in her bed again. Waking up next to her was amazing and I only had five more days to do it.

After another ten minutes of just staring at her like a crazy stalker, I gently rolled her over and got out of bed. She sighed deeply as I moved her and settled back into the pillow.
Stop being a creep and leave!
Throwing on my clothes, I took one last look at her and left.

Last night was incredible, without a doubt the best night of my life. I’d had a couple girlfriends before, but nothing serious; it didn’t last long with either of them. Every time I got close to a girl, I would pull back, always comparing them to Oakley. Although there was nothing wrong with them, they were not
her. Now I was so glad that I never had sex with them. Oakley being my first meant so much more than it would have with one of my exes.

I got back to my room and headed for the shower. There was no way I could fall back to sleep now so I might as well just get up properly. As I looked at my reflection in the mirror, I froze. Damn it, should I have left a note for her? She would wake up alone. That was what had been happening the whole time, but it was different now.
Idiot!
Glancing at the ceramic clock on the wall, I saw that it was now six-forty-five. Too late to sneak back.
If you hurry up, she might still be asleep when you go back.

She set her alarm for seven-thirty, so I had to be quick. Rushing around, I had a shower and clumsily got dressed. I was in such a rush I kept stumbling around and shoved my leg through the wrong hole in my shorts. Just calm down, I demanded from myself. I was worse than a pre-teen at a boy band concert!

With just minutes to spare, I was ready. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my phone and wallet and headed to her room. The problem I had now was that her door was locked, and I didn’t have a key. Whatever happened, she would wake up the morning after losing her virginity and be alone.
Nice one, Cole.

Shaking my head at myself, I knocked on the wooden door and waited. As the seconds crept by, I thought a thousand different things. ‘She regrets last night so she’s ignoring you. She’s mad because you left her. You were crap in the sack and put her off men for life!’

The door swung open, and she smiled shyly.

“Hi,” I said, nerves bubbling up so rapidly I felt like a volcano ready to burst. What now? She moved aside for me to come in. I followed her into the room and sat on the bed. I loved that bed. Say something. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Shit, this was awkward. It shouldn’t be awkward!
Seriously say something!

Gulping, I searched for the right words, not knowing what they even were. “Are you okay? You’re not sore or anything?” Biting her lip, she shook her head. “Sure? I mean your first time is meant to hurt, and if you’re sore we can get you something,” I rambled like an idiot.

Oakley shook her head and stood up, busying herself by getting her bag ready.

“Okay. Good.” I frowned. She rarely admitted when she was ill or in pain. I just wanted to look after her though.

When she had finished shoving her camera in her bag, I got up and wrapped my arms around her.

“I love you,” I whispered, running my hands through her soft hair. She stroked my cheek and my heart felt like it had literally stopped beating. Was I going to feel like I was going to explode every time she touched me now?

Reaching up, she pressed her lips against mine. I kissed her back, pulling her tight against my body. I hated that we had to meet our parents for breakfast; I just wanted to take her back to bed for the rest of the day.

Pulling away to catch my breath, I rubbed my nose against hers.

“You ready?” I asked. Her breath seemed to catch in her throat, and it made me feel a thousand feet tall that I had that effect on her. She nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off mine for a second. I kissed her quickly and then we left for the buffet restaurant.

We got into the lift, and she smiled apologetically, pulling her hand out of mine just before we got to the ground floor. Right, so no one saw us together.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I want to be able to spend time alone with you too. We can tell everyone we’re together when we get back, right?”

She nodded eagerly, and practically skipped out of the lift as the door opened. Thank God, she wanted to tell them too. I was a little worried that she would want to keep it secret, and I just wanted to tell everyone.

Both our parents, Jasper and Mia were already sitting at the table waiting for us. Thankfully, her parents had relaxed completely and let her go off with me all the time. I loved that they trusted me with her, but I doubted they would let us have that freedom when they found out we were together.

We went up to get our food from the buffet table and sat down to eat. The buffet was my favourite part of the hotel. Well, second to Oakley’s bed now! Jasper and I literally stuffed ourselves until we felt sick. It had become a contest now. As I watched in shock and awe at the piles of toast, sausages, bacon, beans, and mushrooms on his plate, I sighed. Today, I was going to lose.

I moved my leg, so it was brushing against Oakley’s. A smile crept on my face as I saw her blush.

“
You two going to the water park today?” Jasper asked, stuffing his face with scrambled eggs.

“Yeah, she wants to go back,” I replied, nodding my head towards my girlfriend. Damn, I loved calling her that!

“Cool, I might come with you.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Oakley frown. I couldn’t help smile at her wanting it just be us too. If he came then it meant that I couldn’t touch or kiss her all day, and after last night that would be torture. I just nodded my head in response. I didn’t trust myself to talk in case I shouted out ‘no’ or something.

“Right. Well, you four have a lovely day. Oakley, you stay with Cole. Us old four have a boat to catch so we’ll see you for dinner,” Max said as he stood up. “Take care of her,” he told me and kissed Oakley’s forehead.

“I will.” He nodded and held his hand out for Sarah.

I wanted to grab Oakley and run somewhere else so we could spend the day alone, but she was so excited about going back to that damn water park. Suddenly I was regretting making her go in the first place.

“Meet in the lobby in an hour,” Jasper requested and abruptly left the table.
Alright.

Oakley and I went back to her room to spend the hour together. I was seriously sulking that I had to pretend to just be friends all day. We had only just gotten together, and I wanted to be able to show her off.

Complaining loudly, I flopped down on the bed. “Why do they have to come?”

She smiled in amusement and jumped on the bed. I rolled on to my back, and she crept on top of me. My heart started beating faster at the feel of her body pressed against mine. I ran my hands up her back and fisted her hair as I kissed her.

She pulled away too soon and sat up, smiling at me. I squeezed her thighs and willed myself to calm down. I didn’t want to put any pressure on her, and I didn’t want her to think that I just wanted her for sex.

“You sure you’re okay?” I asked, running my hands up her thighs and gripping her hips. She smiled, nodding her head, and rolled off me. I knew she wouldn’t tell me if she still hurt, and it was driving me crazy. Maybe I should have run her a bath this morning or something? It was all fairly new to me, but I felt like I was messing up all the time.

“So, are you wearing that blue bikini?” I asked, innocently.
Please say yes, please, please
, I begged in my head. A blush swept across her cheeks, and she nodded. This was going to be a good day! I kissed down her neck, gently biting her soft skin.

“I love you,” I murmured against her neck. She kissed the side of my head, letting me know she felt the same.

A knock on the door made me flop back onto the bed, and Oakley laugh. She hopped off the bed and pulled the door open.

“Let’s go,” Jasper said, with a wide smile, practically bouncing on the spot. He was like a three-year-old. I thought we were meeting in the lobby. He was probably eager to stalk some poor, innocent girls. I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for him. Abby, his
ex, had really screwed him up.

When Mia arrived, her mood had changed completely from an hour ago. She was no longer smiling and excited. Her face looked like someone had slapped her. No doubt, she had just spoken to Chris-the-dick.

“I booked a taxi, let’s go,” she said as cheerfully as she could.

We changed at the water park. Jasper and I were first out of the changing rooms, and he immediately ran off towards a group of girls. We probably wouldn’t see him again until we were ready to leave. At least he would be preoccupied, so all we had to do was lose Mia, and we could have some time alone.
Why do women take so long to get changed?
I looked like a pervert waiting outside the ladies changing room.

Finally
, I thought as they walked out of the door. I did a double take. My jaw dropped as Oakley emerged. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

“Swim and then slides?” Mia suggested.
No, go away!

I forced a smile.

“Sure.”

Mia led the way to the largest pool with the rapids, and I followed with Oakley. She did look a little uncomfortable; her arms were folded over her chest. I knew she didn’t like much attention, but I didn’t want her to not wear what she liked because of that. I wouldn’t let anyone touch her. She stepped closer, her arm pressing against mine as we walked. There were a few guys that looked at her. I couldn’t blame them, but it did give me a twinge of jealousy.

I jumped into the warm water after Oakley. As soon as she was in the pool, she seemed to relax a little. We messed around in the pool and on the slides for a while, and I finally managed to convince her to go on the slides. She made me go down it with her but hell, I wasn’t complaining, it was the perfect excuse to touch her! Every time she looked at me it made my heart hammer against my chest.

“Wanna get some food?” I murmured against her skin as I kissed along her jaw. Mia had gone to the toilet, and god knows what or who Jasper was off doing, so we had a few minutes. Oakley let out a startled breath, and nodded her head.

“Okay, let’s go.” My voice was embarrassingly urgent. I probably sounded like a dirty old man on one of those sex phone lines. Oakley’s skin broke out in goose bumps as we walked back to the changing rooms to get dressed and go to the restaurant.

“Hey,” I called out to her. She looked up at me immediately. “Love you.”

I watched as a huge smile crept across her perfect face, lighting up her eyes. Yep, definitely the luckiest bastard alive.

The rest of the week passed too quickly, and it was soon time to go home. I stood in the airport feeling like crap and just wanting to go back to the hotel. The holiday had been the best of my life, and every day I became closer to Oakley.

We had decided to wait until after her birthday to tell everyone. She would be sixteen, and they were more likely to be okay with it then. Not that I thought they would hate us being together, but I didn’t want to risk it, in case.

As our plane took off, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach.
This sucks!
As soon as we were able to leave our seats, Jasper was off chatting to some girls he’d met on the holiday who were on the same flight, so I grabbed Oakley’s hand.

“This has been the best two weeks of my life,” I said honestly, squeezing her hand. She nodded and gazed directly into my eyes.

“I love you,” I whispered in her ear. She smiled, biting her lip and snuggled into my side. I sighed happily and laid my head on hers. I wondered if I would ever hear her actually say those three little words? Not that it really mattered though, I knew she felt them, and that was more than enough for me.