Into the Fading Twilight (Starlight Grove, #2) (76)

She saluted. “Anytime.”

“You want us to drop you back at the front door?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’m going home, and my truck’s right there.” She pointed. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Kol watched as Aster made her way to her vehicle and climbed in, but he didn’t move until she was backing up and on her way. A gentleman. His gaze flicked to me. “Ready?”

I squeezed my fingers together. “Ready.”

He helped me into the truck, then got inside himself. I tried not to think about the fact that the last time we’d been in this vehicle had been a breaking of sorts. Letting out a long breath, I reframed it. Not a breaking, a breakthrough. Because it had led us to the honesty of tonight.

The darkness wove in around us as we drove. Starlight Grove wasn’t one for many streetlights outside of downtown. You could see it as ominous, where the monsters hid, or you could see it as breathtaking, where the stars shone.

In reality, it was both. But without the dark, you couldn’t see those stars. And I didn’t want to live without them. Which meant one thing. I had to face my monsters—the real ones and the ones I’d created.

Kol hit the button on a remote, and the gate to Twisted Oak Ranch swung open. A wave of nerves hit me as we drove over the cattle guard. And then I felt something else … anticipation, the good kind.

Neither of us said a word as Kol guided his truck toward the house we now both called home. I tugged my lip between my teeth, a cascade of doubts tumbling over me. What if I messed this up and Kol didn’t want me to live here anymore? What if I freaked out in the middle of sex? What if I couldn’t feel any of it anymore?

Kol slowed to a stop in his garage and turned off the engine. I was out before he could say anything, trying to buy myself more time to escape all the doubts. I rounded the front of the truck and slid into the house.

The lights were out, and it was quiet, which had me frowning. I turned at the sound of Kol’s footsteps. “Where’s Sky?”

“Sleepover with Owen.” He stopped a few steps from me, giving me plenty of space.

He looked so damn good in a flannel shirt I wanted to skim my cheek across it to feel the softness, dark jeans that hugged his thick thighs, and boots that had seen their share of work.

“Phoenix.”

My gaze lifted. The nickname carried a sting because I’d missed it so damn much. Only two weeks without it, yet hearing it again made me feel like I could breathe.

Kol ran his dark gaze over my face, reading every curve and line. “You can go up to your apartment right now or at any time, right?”

I nodded like one of those bobblehead dolls.

“You’re in control.” A muscle fluttered along his jaw as he spoke the words.

I couldn’t tell what that tension was about. My discomfort? His dislike of someone else holding the reins?

“Talk to me.” Kol’s eyes bore into me, pleading.

“What if I mess it up?” I croaked.

Kol took a step closer. “Yes?”

It took me a second to realize what he was asking. To approach. If it was okay for him to be in my space. “Yes.”

He took another two steps, and his hand lifted, just shy of my face. “Yes?”

I swallowed hard. “Yes.”

Kol’s knuckles skimmed my cheek. “Impossible for you to mess anything up. Because whatever we share, it’s going to be you and me.”

My eyes stung, and my throat tightened, but I kept breathing. “Okay.”

“Tell me what you want next.”

I could feel the restraint pulsing through Kol. The strength it took for him not to dominate the situation. And something about that eased my nerves slightly.

“I want to see your bedroom,” I whispered.

One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Why do I suddenly feel like I’m a freshman in high school?”

A soft laugh bubbled out of me, easing the tension a little more. “Height of hormones and breaking all the rules.”

Those knuckles slid over my jaw and down my neck. “I’m down for some dry humping.”

My lips twitched. “Lead the way, Boss.”

Kol’s eyes flashed, that mix of dark and light. He took my hand and led the way up the stairs. I’d been up here to play with Skylar but never to Kol’s bedroom. He turned right and headed to the opposite end of the hallway from Sky’s room.

I tried to focus on the details. The rugs with their intricate patterns that lined the deep reddish-brown floors. The detailed woodwork. The clock I knew must have been a gift from Waylon.

At the end of the hall was an open door. As we stepped inside, I could see that everything was shades of gray. The bedding, the bed frame, the dresser. Hanging over it was a stunning, black-and-white photo of Mount Lupine. It looked staggering. Intimidating.

But then I caught a flash of color. A drawing that had been framed and set on the dresser. Flowers in every color under the sun. Ones I knew had to be drawn by Skylar.

Because she softened him. Maybe even saved him. When he was pushing everyone away, she wouldn’t let him.

“I love this.” My fingers ghosted over the frame.

“Saving it for when the artist hits it big. Going to sell it for millions.”

My gaze flicked up to Kol. “You wouldn’t sell for a billion.”