So...when?

Tomorrow. Yes. And he would forgive me. He would understand. Because of what we’d just shared, we would work things out easier now, each more willing to compromise.

In a desperate bid to change the subject, I said the first thing that popped into my head. “Have you ever been with someone like me before?” And then wanted to slink away and hide.

The thought of him with another girl—even girls who’d come pre-Ali—did something to me. Something it hadn’t done before. I wanted to put each one in the hospital. Just for a few days. Just as long as blood flowed.

“Someone like you? There is no one else like you.”

“Inexperienced.”

A sigh. “One,” he hedged.

“Did you love her? How did she act afterward?”

He sighed. “Do you really want to talk about this?”

“Yes.”

Tracing his fingers down my spine, caressing, he said, “No, I didn’t love her. That was my do-anyone-who-agrees stage. And I don’t know how she acted. Her parents came home and I had to sneak out the window.”

I still wanted to make her bleed, but maybe I’d also bring her flowers. I didn’t like the thought of her all alone, vulnerable, like I was now. “How did you feel?”

“Do you care, or are you really asking how I feel about us?”

I gulped. “Us.”

He held me tighter. “I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day.”

Um. “Did you just quote Nicholas Sparks? Or rather, Ryan Gosling from The Notebook?”

A pause, a chuckle. “Was hoping you wouldn’t catch that.”

Too bad. “And you’re not dying of shame for memorizing something from a chick flick?”

“Baby, that movie isn’t a chick flick. It’s the best wingman of all time. Any guy can get laid afterward. Besides, the thought of Ryan Gosling made you go all dreamy and crap.”

It had. It so had. Well played, Cole Holland. Well played. “Have you ever had a one-night stand?” But I was back on track now.

He kissed my temple. “Where is this coming from?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I feel so out of control right now, like I could pull out my hair, and then pull out yours, and then hug you and kiss you, and maybe eat a big stack of chocolate-chip cookies.”

“That’s... Okay, wow. You are weird in the most perfect way.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

A pause. A sigh. “Yes. I’ve had a one-night stand.”

“With who?” I asked, already jealous of the faceless girl. Or girls.

“To be honest, I don’t even know their names.”

Names. Plural. Just how many girls did I need to hospitalize?

“So...what do you want to be when you grow up?” he asked. “Assuming all zombies have been wiped out by then.”

I grabbed on to the distraction this time. It was a lifeline. “Seriously? That’s how you phrase it?”

“Why not?”

“When I get older,” I said with emphasis, “I want to... Don’t you dare laugh! I want to be a counselor or something.”

“Why would I laugh? You’ll make a great counselor, helping people blubber about their—”

I twisted his nipple ring.

“Ow!” He pried my fingers loose. “You’ve been through so much,” he said, serious now. “You can understand people and pain in a way so many others cannot.”

“What about you? What do you want to do?”

“I’ve got it all figured out. On my downtime, I’ll be a survivalist, taking people out in the woods and teaching them how to thrive.”

“And telling them what to do.”

“That’s just a bonus.”

“Well, it’s perfect for you. But what about your up time?”

“Law enforcement.”

Even more perfect. “You’ll get to deal with punk kids with secrets.”

He flashed a dazzling grin. “Karma.”

“The cow.” I yawned, a wave of fatigue sneaking up on me.

“Sleep.”

“No. Talk.” But his warmth was lulling me deeper and deeper into a sea of darkness, and I soon drifted off....

I’m not sure how much time passed before he woke me up with a kiss.

“We’ve got to head back to River’s, love. I need to find out if anything new was learned.”

“Mmm, ’kay,” I said and rolled to my side to sleep some more.

Chuckling, he gave my butt a light tap. “Up or I start tickling.”

“And I start punching.”

“Let’s hold off on the foreplay until we’re where we need to be.”

* * *

Cole met with River, and I went back to bed. When I awoke, however long later, Cole was sitting at the side of the bed, watching me, his expression soft and tender.

“Good morning,” he said with a grin.

I sat up, mumbled, “Yeah, yeah.” I was sore and my mind was screaming one word over and over—sex, sex, sex.

“Hope you’re hungry.” He placed a tray piled high with pancakes over my lap. “They aren’t chocolate-chip cookies, but I thought you’d enjoy them anyway.”

I’m not sure how he’d managed to climb in and out of bed without waking me, but he had, and now he was encompassed by the bright light of a new day, looking sexier than ever while I probably sported a major case of bedhead.