Devotion (Club Destiny #5)(58)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Once he made it to the third floor, he glanced up and down the long corridor, trying to figure out which end Cole’s room was on. Finally noticing the sign with the numbers, Luke went to the left. Before knocking, he took a deep breath, acknowledging the fact that his temper wasn’t going to fix this situation. No matter what happened next, he knew he couldn’t blow up at Cole the way he was known to.

No matter what Cole’s reason for leaving, Luke fully intended to figure out what was going on with him. Sierra might’ve made the suggestion for him to come down to Austin to find Cole, but Luke had been thinking about it already. Before he walked out the door that morning, he and Sierra had a long conversation, one that involved him telling her this wasn’t a temporary thing for him, and he wasn’t about to allow Cole to walk away. Luke was pretty sure Sierra needed that assurance and it pained him to realize that they still hadn’t managed to cement their relationship to the point that the three of them weren’t still wondering what might happen.

Luke was tired of the what might be’s. He wanted a fucking guarantee. He wanted to know that Cole loved him as much as he loved Cole. He wanted to know this was forever. Now he just had to figure out how they were going to seal this deal once and for all.

Lifting his hand, Luke stared at the ugly almond door before rapping his knuckles firmly. He thought he heard movement on the other side of the door, but he began to question himself as long seconds passed. Just when he was about to knock again, the door opened. He had to take a step inside to keep it from slamming in his face as Cole immediately turned and walked the other direction.

Remembering he had to handle this with at least a little bit of patience, Luke swallowed hard and moved inside the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.

The tension radiating from Cole was nearly enough to keep Luke a safe distance away. The only problem with that would be that Luke didn’t want to be a safe distance away. He wanted to be right up in Cole’s face, forcing him to understand how he felt. God only knew it was time. Based on what he understood from Sierra that morning, they both still had some insecurities, although she’d learned to listen to her heart, knowing that, in the end, it would all work out the way it was supposed to.

God he loved that woman. He had vowed right then and there as they sat side by side on his couch that he would make sure she knew just how much. Each and every day.

“Why’d you come? Don’t you have a club to run?” Cole’s words were laced with venom, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize what part of his problem was.

“You’re more important to me than my club,” Luke told him, keeping his voice low and steady.

“Am I?”

Luke wanted to retaliate, to snap at Cole the way he was snapping at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He knew what he’d put Cole through for the longest time. He didn’t need to be told that he wasn’t the easiest man to get close to. He knew that about himself. Except when it came to Cole and Sierra, but even that hadn’t been an easy point to get to for him. Only now, Luke wanted them to be as close as he could get them.

“Yes, you are,” he responded, taking a few steps closer to where Cole was now staring out the window at the little bowl of water that the hotel proclaimed to be a pool.

When he was standing less than an inch away, he reached around Cole and closed the curtains on the window, the blackout panels sending the room into darkness, with the exception of the pale yellow glow from a lamp on the desk.

His body suddenly realized that the two of them were alone. They were alone, and there wasn’t anything that could interrupt them. This was an opportunity they’d never had before, and it was his chance to show Cole exactly what he meant to him.

They would hash out their differences verbally, but Luke knew that before it was over, he would have Cole naked beneath him.

Chapter Twenty

Cole didn’t react when Luke closed the curtains, obscuring his ability to escape the reason he was here. Little did Luke know, but the fact that he came after him meant more than any words they might say between them in the next few minutes.

As much as he wanted to tell Luke to leave him alone, Cole didn’t want to be alone. He wanted to handle this like men, to discuss whatever the issues were between them, even if he had only conjured them up in his head. There were things he needed to say, things Luke needed to hear. And he knew there were things Luke had to say as well. He just wasn’t sure the man was going to be able to say them.

Cole dropped his head, staring down at the floor as he tried to figure out what the best way to handle Luke was going to be. His own anger was set on rapid boil, but that’s because he’d let all of his emotions fester for far too long, and it was time he finally got some things off of his chest. He just didn’t know how to start.