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  “Mom, I’ll go down to the cafeteria and get us some coffees.”

  She nodded. It was weird seeing her in this state of disarray. She rarely left the house without being perfectly put together—a look that required a good, long hour in her luxurious master bath and a vast array of expensive cosmetics. But she stood in the fluorescent lights of the hospital hallway with a bright red nose and lipstick that had smeared to just a few pink streaks on her lips. Mascara darkened the circles beneath her eyes. She looked completely lost. She looked like a woman who was heartbroken with worry over the man who’d been her soul mate for thirty years.

  I hugged her. “I’ll be right back with the coffees.”

  “Kensington,” she said so faintly I could barely hear her over the hospital clamor, “you’re such a good daughter.” We both broke into sobs as we stood in the hallway, hugging each other, scared to death that we might lose the man who’d always been the center of both our lives.

  Chapter 31

  Cole

  Daylight was fading fast, and we’d turned on the lights over the ramp. I’d returned from the coffee shop feeling like shit. Denver hadn’t even bothered to ask me how it had gone. My expression was enough to warn him off asking.

  Rodeo had ended up going out with a couple girls to a local bar for happy hour, so Denver and I put on some gear to practice. I needed to work on getting big air when I came off the kicker, and I’d been wanting to master the no-footed landing.

  Sweat had glued my shirt to me, and my hair was soaked under the helmet as I rode toward the ramp. I’d had a few good jumps, mostly because I’d been working hard at trying to forget how I’d fucked up something good with Kensington. But as I raced across the yard, I had a flashback of the Halloween party when we’d been sitting out there talking and laughing. I’d known then that I wanted to get to know her better.

  I hit the ramp at full speed. My hand grabbed so much throttle, the launch had way more lift than I’d been ready for. The house, the yard and the outside lights blurred as I arced through the air. The dirt ramp for landing passed beneath me, and I braced for a hard impact on solid flat ground. The no-footer landing was out of the question. Now I just needed to hope that I could keep the bike upright. My back was still sore. I held my breath as I bounced hard against the seat. I turned a hard left but managed to keep rubber on the ground.

  I rode back around to where Denver was standing, straddling his bike. I pulled down my goggles and pried the helmet off my head. Sweat dripped from my hair and I flicked my head like a dog. “Not my fucking week.”

  “At least you stuck it. But I’ll bet that didn’t help your sore tailbone. I think you should call it a night, King. You’re off. Happens to all of us.”

  Denver had only been broken off from his girlfriend, Melody, for a month. There were times when it was obvious that it was still eating at him.

  “You’re probably right. Besides, if I get hurt, you’ll be in charge on the site tomorrow,” I reminded him.

  “Shit, hadn’t thought of that. Get off that bike and go pack yourself in fucking cotton for the rest of the night, boss. I hate concrete day.”

  “Shit, you and me both. I’m definitely not feeling it tonight.” I climbed off my bike and rolled it to the wall to sit and watch Denver practice.

  As I hoisted myself onto the bricks, my gaze coasted across the ravine and empty landscape to the vineyard. There were lights on outside the barn, but it was quiet. I wondered just how long it had taken Kensington to change her mind about meeting me. Or maybe she’d never really planned on it at all. Maybe it had just been a way to get me to leave her alone.

  “Here comes dipshit,” Denver said motioning his head toward the house.

  Rodeo was walking out to the jump. He was grinning from side to side, which meant he had either scored or was about to. I needed to get back to that easy, no frills attached attitude about women. It was obvious a steady relationship wasn’t for me. I was fine with that, or at least I would be once I’d finally washed the thought of Kensington from my mind. I just wasn’t sure how long that would take.

  “Why the hell do you look like the Cheshire Cat with that ugly ass smile plastered across your face?” Denver asked.

  Rodeo looked confused. “What the hell is a chester cat?”

  “Never mind.”

  “Anyhow,” Rodeo said, “just came out to tell you guys you should stay out here for awhile cuz I brought Jenny home with me, and we tend to get a little loud—if you catch my drift.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t catch it. Explain it to me.”

  “Well, Jenny has this thing where she likes to—”

  I put up my hand. “Sarcasm, dude. Shit, I wonder just how many times your mom dropped you on your head as a baby.”

  He shrugged. “I heard there were a couple of incidences, supposedly, but fuck off. You’re just pissed because I’m about to get some, and you’re out here hanging with the giant, boring as hell brainy dickwad.”

  “Do you mean the dickwad who whooped your ass at the last freestyle contest?” Denver asked.

  “Yeah, yeah, that’s the dickwad I’m referring to,” Rodeo said. Sometimes we teased the hell out of Rodeo, but he always took it in stride and he never got pissed. He looked toward the vineyard. “So, I guess you heard about what happened over there today?”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Jenny lives on the other side of the Modante Vineyard. She said there were a bunch of emergency vehicles there today. She heard that the old man had a heart attack. Collapsed right outside by the barn.”

  “I didn’t bother to ask because you came home with your ass in a knot this afternoon. Did you see Kensington today?” Denver asked.

  “Nope. We were supposed to meet at the coffee shop, but she didn’t show. Just figured it was her way of saying bug off.”

  I looked out at the vineyard. The night sky cast wavering shadows over the perfectly spaced rows of grapes. I couldn’t see much of the house, but the grounds looked quiet and dark.

  Rodeo was staring at his phone. “The news says that John Modante of Modante Winery has entered Pacific Care Hospital for emergency bypass surgery.”

  “At least he’s alive.” I said.

  “And maybe it’s time for you to show this girl that you really care about her,” Denver suggested. “You know, instead of a quick, pathetic ‘please forgive me’ plea at a coffee shop.”

  I smiled at Denver. “Guess the worst that can happen is she can tell me to fuck off.”

  “That or a slap across the face and she humiliates you in front of all the doctors and nurses at the hospital,” Rodeo suggested helpfully.

  I hopped off the wall. “I’m willing to chance a little humiliation.”

  Chapter 32

  Kensington

  The walls of the waiting room, with their cheaply framed beach landscape paintings, were closing in on me. That coupled with the odd mixture of smells drifting through the hospital along with the loud, terrified cries of a toddler who had stumbled into a cactus and was having the needles removed, I had to get out for a breath of fresh air. Mom had settled into her magazine and a long article about the risks and benefits of plastic surgery.

  “I’m just going to step outside for a few minutes, Mom.” I lifted my phone. “Call if you hear something.”

  She looked up bleary eyed from the magazine. The constant flow of tears had made her give up on the idea of contacts for the rest of the night. She’d put on her wire-rimmed reading glasses. I liked that they made her look more mom-like. “All right, dear. Don’t talk to any strangers.”

  I smiled. It was the first light moment we’d had since the paramedics had arrived at the vineyard with their scary looking black box of monitors and gurney. “Are you sure? What if a handsome doctor is just
arriving at the hospital for his shift?”

  “Well, don’t talk to strangers, within reason. I think you can make an exception for a handsome doctor.” Her grin quickly faded. She looked more weary than I’d ever seen her. I kissed her forehead.

  “I won’t be long.” The glass door slid open. The cool night air instantly washed away some of the stress of the wait. My head hurt from crying and from worry. A warm breeze caused the row of palm trees lining the street in front of the hospital to shake their fronds in perfect unison.

  I headed down the sidewalk, just needing to stretch my legs and fill my lungs with something other than hospital smells. As I turned the corner, I stopped. My heart raced ahead, even as I tried to convince myself that I was imagining the tall, broad shouldered figure walking toward me.

  Cole stopped a few feet from me and the look of genuine concern on his face melted the strong exterior I’d been wearing to keep Mom assured that everything would be fine.

  “I heard about your dad and just came by to see if you needed anything.”

  That was all it took. My feet flew forward. I was crying uncontrollably by the time his strong arms went around me.

  “I’m sorry for the meltdown,” I sobbed. “I promise I’ve been holding it together very well until just now. Then I saw you and the rush of emotions . . . ” I took a deep, shuddering breath. “He’s in surgery right now.” I pressed my face against him.

  “I’d be just as much of a basket case if it was my dad, Kensie. You don’t need to apologize. And I have no tissue, so feel free to use my shirt.”

  A laugh spurted from my mouth. I lifted my face and wiped clumsily at my eyes. “I must look scary.”

  He pushed my chin so that my face was turned up toward him. “Nope, you look like a distraught princess.”

  There wasn’t any light or angle where he wasn’t incredible to look at, but what stunned me the most was how right it felt to be in his arms right now, when I was feeling so scared and vulnerable.

  “The bet, Kensie, it was just a stupid thing between Rodeo and me. We do a lot of stupid things, I’m sorry to admit.”

  I shook my head. “It’s all right. I was overreacting and overthinking and possibly even giving myself an easy out.”

  His mouth turned down in disappointment.

  I stepped back and took hold of his hand. “Not because of you but because of me. I was getting a little uneasy with just how much I liked you. You were checking all my boxes and then some. You never take yourself too seriously.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  I laughed again, and at the same time, I was wiping off a tear. “See, you even made me laugh through my tears. Twice, just standing here. And you’re a good, sympathetic listener.”

  He brushed a long strand of hair off my face. “You’re easy to listen to and I don’t say that to many people. You mentioned ‘and then some’?”

  Even beneath my tear stained cheeks, I could feel a warm blush rising. “I think I’ll let you figure out the ‘then some’.”

  “Well, aside from the obvious, your amazing legs, you checked off my one box almost instantly. I haven’t stopped thinking about you for a minute.” His arm went around my waist, and he pulled me against him for a kiss.

  With the events of the day and Cole showing up, my head felt as if it were filled with air. “I need to go back inside to be with my mom.”

  “I can stay or if you’d rather I didn’t—”

  “Stay with me, Cole. I’d like that.”

  He took my hand, and we walked back through the big doors of the hospital. My dad’s doctor was pulling off his surgery cap as he was stepping out of the elevator. I stopped and the room swayed a little. Cole pressed his arm behind my back to steady me. It was just the support I needed. He was just what I needed.

  We reached the waiting room at the same time as the doctor. I hurried to my mom’s side as she stood tottering and frail from her chair.

  “He did just fine. He’s in recovery right now. Soon he’ll be moved to ICU where you can have a quick visit tonight. Then you should both go home and get some rest.”

  Mom and I threw our arms around each other. Cole stepped back out while Mom and I had a good long cry session.

  Chapter 33

  Kensington

  Throughout the entire long freeway drive to Beverly Hills, Dad had cautioned Mom not to get to starry-eyed and overwhelmed about meeting Nicky King. He also reminded her several times that Nicky King was a billionaire and that the Modante Winery was never going to provide her with his mega-star, lavish lifestyle. Mom, who’d sat in the backseat giving me a clear view of her in the rearview mirror, had rolled her eyes at every warning and reminder.

  But in the end, when the outgoing and larger-than-life rock star swung open his front door and ushered us into his mansion, it had been my dad who had wilted into a simpering, star struck teenager.

  It had been my first time meeting Cole’s dad as well, and my nerves were more due to wanting to make a nice impression on my boyfriend’s dad. The fact that he was famous only added to the waves of nausea I’d been experiencing.

  But all of our nervousness and trepidation at knowing how to behave in front of a rock legend was quickly tamped down by the natural charm and easy going manner of the man, himself.

  By the time dinner had been served, Nicky and my dad were talking and laughing like old friends. And my mom had finally managed to snap shut her mouth after being awestruck by the incredible house and furnishings. I suddenly understood why Dad had kept reminding her about the difference in wealth status. She’d no doubt lament over her shabby, little five thousand square foot house on the vineyard for weeks after our trip to Beverly Hills. The one good thing was that since my dad had gotten home from the hospital, she’d spent a lot more time coddling and fawning over him than nagging him. They both seemed in an even better place since Dad’s health scare, and Dad looked way happier not having to deal with the constant pain. It had been wearing him down, and we hadn’t even realized it.

  After dinner, Cole and Rett had settled down for a round of video games, while Finley and Some Pig gave my parents a tour of the grounds. Some Pig had been genuinely happy to see me when I’d first arrived, but the second Finley stepped into the house, no one else existed but her. He’d stayed by her side the rest of the night.

  I’d been left alone at the outside table sipping wine with Cole’s dad. He was still just as striking as ever, even with the age lines and graying hair. He poured me another glass of wine. The twinkle in his eyes lent a mischievous and laidback quality to his character. And at the same time, the creases around his eyes and mouth showed he’d pretty much seen it all.

  “Kensington,” he said in that incredibly engaging British accent. “That’s such a great name. It reminds me of Kingston, my real surname.”

  “It was my grandmother’s maiden name. I think my mom thought it sounded royal and important. I never minded it except when I had to learn to write my name in kindergarten. Took me an embarrassing amount of time to master it as compared to my best friend, Amy.”

  His laugh sounded a lot like Cole’s.

  Nicky took a sip of wine and then leaned back in the chair. “Let me tell you a bit about Cole. He’ll be mad, of course, but that’s all right.” His diamond ring sparkled in the patio lights as he waved his hand. “Cole is the middle child and that has shaped who he is. Jude and Finley always seemed to need my attention more. But Cole was independent from the start. Never saw him unhappy or moody like his two siblings. He has a big heart. He just doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve like Jude and Fin.”

  The door to the patio opened, and Cole walked out. He saw his dad and me sitting alone sipping wine. “Holy hell, Dad, are you out here telling Kensie embarrassing shit about me?”

  “Now what embarrassing
shit would that be? Of course there was that time—”

  “Dad, stop. I’m sure Finley will be pulling out the Easter egg hunt pictures soon enough.” Cole looked at me. “My mom thought it would be cute to dress me like a fuzzy, yellow duck. I was only five, but those pictures still haunt me.”

  “You loved that costume,” Nicky said. “You flapped those little wings and quacked all over the yard in it.”

  Cole reached his hand out to me. “And now I will whisk my girlfriend away while I still have a shred of dignity.”

  “I’ll tell you fun stories later.” Nicky winked at me over the rim of his glass.

  “Looking forward.”

  Cole’s hand wrapped tightly around mine. He led me along the rose garden to the back lawns.

  “I love your dad. He’s so—so regular.”

  “Told you.” He looked around the grounds. “Speaking of dads, where did your parents run off to?”

  “Finley is giving them a tour of the grounds.”

  “Great.” His pace quickened as he led me across the lawn to a giant maple tree at the far side of the property.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, having to work to keep up with his long legs.

  “Nowhere in particular.” We reached the tree, and he walked me around the back side of it. “Just needed a few minutes away from prying eyes.”

  I leaned against him and rubbed my finger over the stubble on his chin. “For what?”

  “For this.” His arms wrapped around me and he kissed me.

  Wa

  nt to read more about the characters in Cole (FMX Bros #1)?

  Check out the Custom Culture series and Strangely Normal.

  (Continue to read Strangely Normal as a free bonus book in this edition of Cole!)