That seemed a little more pointed, but Ronan didn’t press anymore, just presented his fist to Finn again. “Hope to see you around, little dude.”
Finn dutifully bumped. “Bye, Ronan,” he said and watched as the big American rugby player strode away. “C’mon, Cole.” Finn tugged on his hand. “Let’s go back to Mommy.”
Cole resisted the pull, and not just because he wasn’t sure if Mommy wanted him to go back at all. “You go on.” He smiled reassuringly at the boy. “I need to make a call.”
“Okay,” Finn agreed readily, skipping away with as much passion and commitment to it as he employed to his running.
Cole watched until he reached his mother, then dragged his eyes off Jane’s hand sliding around Finn’s little shoulders, forcing himself to concentrate on his phone. He hit the top number in his recent calls list and waited for it to pick up. He doubted it would take long and was unsurprised when it only rang twice.
“Well?” the gruff voice of Griffin King demanded.
“He’s the real deal.”
…
The next morning at just after nine, Cole was standing outside an airport bookshop while Jane took Finn to the restroom opposite and Tad browsed the shelves for something to read. Last night, they’d all dined at Olive Garden and gone back to Wade’s luxury apartment with its amazing view of the Rockies and Mile High Stadium, where once, a long time ago, Cole had actually walked and played on the hallowed turf.
It’d been a strange night, and Cole had hit the sack early, tired of feeling like a stranger now that the trio had become a quartet. Like he was suddenly on the outside looking in and something he’d never had himself and never really thought he’d wanted for himself was utterly out of reach. Which was irrational and exhausting, so it was better to be away from it.
But he’d tossed and turned all night on the couch in the third bedroom, which was done up as an office. The couch was like a fucking cloud compared to some he’d slept on in his life, but he still hadn’t been able to sleep for thinking about Jane. Knowing she was under the same roof and that she wasn’t coming to him was an utterly miserable feeling.
And it wasn’t about missing her physically and the sex he wasn’t getting, but about how much he’d just wanted to hold her. How much he missed listening to her talk about his damn stamped tin ceiling or common tile patterns in nineteenth-century fireplaces. He missed the sound of her voice and her snuggling into him, playing with his chest hair.
He’d wished she was beside him so he could…ground himself. Could ask her what he should do and why he was feeling so damn confused. Should he take the job, and if so, what did that mean for them?
Except there wasn’t a them, was there? There was Jane and Finn. And Jane and Finn and Tad. There wasn’t a Jane and Finn and Cole. He was…god, what was he?
Much appreciated?
“Are you in love with her?”
Cole had been so deep in thought he hadn’t heard Tad approaching, and the question hit him like a grappling hook to the face. His jaw clenched as he glanced at the other man, the latest Rolling Stone magazine in his hand. “It’s been two weeks,” he said, even as a pressure started in his chest.
Tad gave him an almost sympathetic smile. “I knew after two hours.”
Cole was well aware he wasn’t the only man to have been in Jane’s life, but this douche had cheated on her. Hurt her. He didn’t want to reminisce with Tad. He sure as hell didn’t want to confide in him. “And how long did it take her to fall for you?”
He gave a half laugh. “She’s a little more…measured them I am.”
Yeah. No shit. And then, fuck it, he asked the question he really wanted to ask. “Are you still in love with her?”
He didn’t think Jane was still in love with her ex. In fact, she’d sounded pretty fucking exasperated with him. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t still some of the old feelings left, and if Tad felt the same way, then maybe, given the right circumstances, that love could be rekindled.
Or so he’d read, anyway.
And if Jane was still holding a flame for Tad, then what was he even doing? Why would he get in the middle of that, when Finn could have his mum and dad back together?