Coley Does Things Novels & Stories

When to stop. I wiped my hands on a rag and finally straightened, rolling my shoulders. The radio crackled low in the corner, some late night rock station fading in and out between static. The guys were scattered around the space, half working, half killing time. No rush. Nights like this were for keeping busy until sleep found you. Adrian’s name found me anyway. “Guy like that thinks he can buy his way into anything,” Cole said, leaning against a tool chest. “Doesn’t matter the place. Doesn’t matter the people.”

I ate some of it. Then: "How was it." "Fine." "Fine like actually fine, or fine like you're going to be staring at the ceiling at two in the morning." I looked at him. He raised both hands slightly. "She tells me things," he said, meaning my mother. "Not everything. Just — she was nervous about tonight." "She didn't seem nervous." "She's better at it than you are." He sat back. "Eli?" I said nothing. "I looked him up properly," Cole said. "Not just the case file. His record. He's been practicing for five years and he hasn't lost a case that mattered. Three of the last four major Omega rights rulings in this region have his name in the brief somewhere. He's—"

I heard him screaming from the living room. "Patience is a virtue Cole, try it!" I screamed back at him. Cole and I were getting ready to go to our first class in Columbia. He was just as excited as I was about Columbia, if not more. Inside my closet, I rummaged through my clothes in the suitcase, and I came across a black hoodie, Ryder's black hoodie.

I worked so hard day and night and that is how I have achieved all I have today. “The rest is history.” “And yeah, Ty was the one who linked me up with some of his business partners.” “He is an amazing man but it is just so sad that I really cannot give him what he wants.” Hailey gulped down the rest of the drink in her cup. Her eyes went wide when she saw Cole kneel before her. “What are you doing?” She mumbled, unsure. He took the now empty glass cup from her hand and placed it on a nearby table after which he took her hands in

The way she looked at him like she wasn’t afraid of what she was noticing. Cole ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. “Tomorrow,” he said quietly. And for the first time, it didn’t sound like routine. It sounded like a consequence. Morning arrived too quickly. Neither of them had prepared for it. Helen stood longer than usual in front of her mirror, adjusting nothing, then adjusting everything, then stopping because she realized she was only pretending to control something she couldn’t. Cole Designs rose into the New York sky like it always did—glass, steel, precision.

Someone dropped something in the kitchen. The entire party continued around us. Yet all I could focus on was the guy standing three feet away. Which was irritating. Deeply irritating. Because this was Cole Ryder. The football captain. The pizza thief. The human embodiment of every bad decision a woman could make. And somehow he kept making me forget basic things. Like breathing. Or forming complete sentences. Or leaving. “I should go.” The words finally escaped. Cole nodded immediately. “Okay.” I narrowed my eyes. “Okay?”

“That’s usually when people get in trouble.” Eli gave a small, humorless smile. “You sound like Damian.” Cole snorted. “Then maybe I’m doing my job right.” He paused, studying Eli’s face. “He told me about the message.” Eli nodded. “Carter Vale. You know him?” “By reputation,” Cole said grimly. “Used to be a handler before he went off-grid. Smart. Cold. Always six steps ahead.” Eli’s pulse quickened. “Then why come back now?”

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Controlled people losing control. But it wasn’t just that. It was Ella. Chloe leaned back against her chair, exhaling slowly, her fingers brushing absentmindedly over her lips. There was something almost… dangerous about how quickly it all shifted. One moment, stress. Pressure. Deadlines. The kind of exhaustion that makes you feel numb. And then suddenly, heat. Tension. Want. No slow build. No careful romance. Just… a snap. And that unsettled her more than she expected.

Cole was parked outside in his black SUV, hiding in plain sight as usual. The moment he saw me, he stepped out, adjusting his cuffs, and he walked up to me. “She’s in there?” I asked, sliding on my shades as I slammed my car door shut. "Yes, she is," Cole replied. "Let's go, then." Cole stared at me with a surprised expression. "Just like that?" He asked, stunned. I cocked a brow. “You want to bring some drums and dancers? Maybe light a fucking bonfire while we’re at it?”