Tempted

Chapter 12

Colt

Bria is sitting on the bottom stair in the foyer, waiting for me with her head in her hands. I share her sentiment. It’s entirely too early to be up. But we have a six o’clock flight, and need to be to the airport extra early for the international flight.

“I want to say goodbye to Taylor. Wait here for me?”

She nods, barely looking up.

I jog up the stairs to the third floor dorms and peek inside. It’s dark and silent. I stride over to Taylor’s bed and watch her sleep for a few seconds. I don’t know what she’s dreaming about, but a little line creases her forehead, like she’s worried about something, even in her sleep. I smooth it out with my thumb. She blinks her eyes open at the contact. “Hey,” I whisper down at her.

“Hi,” she murmurs. For just a second she forgets she’s mad at me, and that I’m leaving today and she grins up at me, sleepily, happy. I can see the exact moment it dawns on her. Her happy little smile falls and that line etches in between her brows.

“I just wanted to say goodbye.” I bend down and touch my lips to her forehead, right over the crease. “I hate leaving when you’re mad at me.”

Someone in bed next to her turns over, rousing at my voice. Taylor gestures to the hall. I wait there while she gets up and puts on her robe. Then she joins me in the hall. “You didn’t have to get up.”

She yawns. “I just didn’t want you to wake everyone up with your groveling apology.”

“If that’s what you want, you got it, baby. I am sorry, you know that, honey.”

She stays quiet. I know I won’t get out of this one easy. “You want to walk me out?”

She nods. “Sure.”

We reach the bottom of the stairs and Bria is there, slinging a bag over her shoulder. She’s in bright pink sweatpants with the word sexy printed across her behind and her thong peeks from the waistband. I flick my eyes to Taylor. She noticed it too and her eyebrows pull together in frustration. Shit.

“Bria, wait in the car for me.”

She nods and leaves us alone in the foyer.

I take Taylor in my arms, giving her a squeeze. “Please don’t be mad at me. I know I constantly fuck up, and that my past sucks, and I’m not at all good at being a boyfriend, but I want to be. Give me another chance, baby.”

She steps back from my arms, looking up and studying my face. The words hang heavily between us, charged with the early morning hour and the fact that I’m leaving with Bria. She’s quiet. I don’t know if I expected her to forgive me so easily, but the fact that she doesn’t say anything stings more than I thought it would.

Then she presses a soft kiss to my lips. “We’ll talk when you get back.”

I attempt a smile, but it feels wrong. I hate that I fucked this up. I fish my new cell phone from my pocket. “I’ll call you every day. Okay?”

She nods.

“And we can email.” She offers a small, sad smile. I stuff the phone back in my pocket. And head out after Bria, feeling like a total jackass.