“I can manage,” I insist.
“Jade, you can’t even scratch your ass without howling in pain. Just let me help you in. Once there are people around, then I’ll let you pretend that you’re a badass bitch, but until then, I’m helping, and that’s non-negotiable.”
I groan but as he takes hold of me and helps me to my feet, I’ve never been so grateful. Doing that on my own would have hurt like a bitch. Sometimes I really hate that stubborn part of me that screams to always be in charge. I mean, why is it always so hard to accept help?
Colton slips his arm around my waist and helps me into the house, only to find it nearly dead inside. “Where is everyone?” I murmur.
He shrugs his shoulders. “How am I supposed to know? I’ve been with your stubborn ass all day.”
I resist rolling my eyes as he leads me through the mansion. “Good point.”
We take all the shortcuts on our way to the pool house, and as we go, I can’t help but look up at Colton. “Hey, on Saturday night before all of this happened … you said something about wanting to talk.”
“Yeah …”
“Well?” I ask. “Spit it out. What better time than the present?”
“Trust me, any other time is better than now. You have too much going on, and honestly, it might not even be an issue anymore.”
“You know, I really hate when you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Give me little hints about what it is but keep it so freaking vague that it’s nearly impossible to figure out.”
“Exactly, that way you won’t have anything to go by and won’t be able to work yourself into a panic over nothing.” He laughs, reaching out and opening the back door of his home before helping me out. We stand under a shelter, and he cringes as he looks out at the rain, knowing damn well that to get to the pool house, we’re going to have to cut through the weather. “Are you going to hate me if I was to just toss you over my shoulder and run?”
“Considering the fact that if you were to toss me over your shoulder, I’d probably scream in pain, then yeah, I can’t see that being a very good idea.”
“It was worth a shot,” he grumbles, tightening his arm around my waist so that I don’t slip on the wet floors before stepping out into the rain. We pick up our pace, and within two seconds, we’re completely drenched from head to toe. What was I thinking? I should have just let him set me up in the living room, but no, I had to insist on staying in the pool house so I can be a pig, living in my own filth. Okay, I probably won’t be that bad, but the point is there.
The rush toward the pool house door seems to take forever, and I’ve never felt like such a drowned rat before, but the fact that Colton is right there with me, equally as wet, makes it all so much better.
I hook my fingers around the door handle, and with the speed of light, I swing the door open and get myself inside before I end up with a cold on top of everything else that’s been going on.
The pool house is in darkness and in the blink of an eye, it floods with light, revealing a room full of people with the cheesiest grins stretched across their beautiful faces.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” they all yell, scaring the absolute shit out of me.
I gape in surprise at Mom, Harrison, the twins, Jess and Drix, and of course Milo, Charlie, and Spencer. Hell, even Roman is here, standing by my mom’s side with his arm curled lovingly around her waist.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask, my eyes wide as Milo sends streamers shooting up into the sky, only to get caught on the ceiling fan.
Colton steps into my side with an arrogant smirk. “What’s going on is that you forgot to mention that it was your birthday.”
I cringe. “Whoops. Did I forget about that?” He raises a brow, knowing damn well that I didn’t just ‘forget’ to mention it. I didn't tell him or anyone else on purpose. “Sorry,” I say when he won’t stop glaring. “There’s just a lot going on and celebrating just kinda felt … wrong.”
He leans into me and presses a kiss to my temple. “I don’t care. It’s your birthday. You only turn eighteen once, and you deserve to celebrate. Who cares about all the other shit? It’s still going to be there tomorrow, so there’s no point hiding out today.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, now go and see your mom. She’s annoyed that you tried to keep it quiet.”
“And what about you?”
“You don’t want to go there,” he warns me. “I wouldn’t have minded a little heads up so that I could have gotten you something.”