Chapter Text
Cole prepared himself for Ramse’s interrogation. He knew it would be bad as soon as he splintered back. The look on Ramse’s face was a mixture of amusement and curiosity. It terrified Cole. He tried to draw out his debriefing with Jones as long as he could. He kept bringing up his bloody nose. Maybe he could convince Jones that he needed some rest and no visitors. Like that would even work anyway. Cole wouldn’t let anyone stop him from visiting Ramse if he were hurt, so why would it be any different for Ramse.
He was all out of luck. Jones sent him to the mess hall for food. Ramse was waiting just outside the door. He leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, like he had all the time in the world. When he spotted Cole, he sauntered over.
“I’ve gotta hear what this is all about,” Ramse said with a smirk. His hands gestured vaguely at Cole’s outfit.
Cole groaned internally. As they walked toward the mess hall, he started with the basics of what had happened at the museum. Ramse stayed quiet for the most part though his smirk twisted more as the story went on and a few uh-huh’s slipped out of him. Just before they entered the hall, Ramse stopped short.
Ramse paused, thinking over his words. “So… you didn’t kiss her?”
“No,” Cole told him. He rolled his eyes at the question. That would’ve been the first thing out of his mouth if he had.
“And she was in a tight red dress?” Ramse made some movement with his hands that Cole guessed was supposed to mimic the curves of Cassie’s body.
“Yes,” Cole ground out. That dress would haunt his dreams. If he were lucky, it would fall to the floor at the start of each one.
Ramse pinched the bridge of his nose. “And she taught you how to dance?”
Cole tried to move toward the mess hall door, but Ramse grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Yes.”
“And it didn’t bother her that you smelled like meat?” Ramse said every word slowly, emphasizing each one.
Cole wriggled out of Ramse’s grasp. “No.”
Ramse shook his head. “Cole, you stupid son of bitch.”
“What?” Cole huffed angrily. His fingers curled into his palms.
Ramse threw his hands up in the air. “You should have kissed her. You should have KISSSED her.” He raised his voice in exasperation, not anger.
“There wasn’t any time for it.” Cole muttered in aggravation.
Ramse grabbed Cole by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Then you take time for it,” he explained gently.
“Actually, I tried.” Cole said. A smile turned up the corners of his mouth as he thought about Cassie.
“You did?” Ramse asked, clearly intrigued by Cole’s boldness.
Cole laughed softly. “Yeah, and she said, ‘I’m sorry but have we met?’”
“Haha, I like her,” Ramse teased. He slung one arm over Cole’s shoulder and used the other to ruffle his hair. He led them both into the mess hall. “She knows you well, brother.”
Cole shrugged. He thought over the last time he saw Cassie. A pit opened up in his stomach. “But I don’t think she’s free for me to kiss, anyway.”
Ramse arched an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”
Cole kicked the ground and ducked out from under Ramse's shoulder. He walked backward into the mess hall. “Because after we’d gotten back, Aaron showed up and he was more or less over her like a fucking dog in heat. Kissing and hugging her and stuff.” Ramse made a face. “And? Did she kiss him back?”
“No. Actually, she looked kinda embarrassed.” Cole answered thoughtfully as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Ramse clapped Cole on the shoulder. “See? He’s got nothing on you.”
Cole adjusted his sleeves. He chuckled to himself. “Well, this is his suit…”
Ramse stopped walking. “It’s his suit?”
Cole laughed at Ramse's disbelief. “Yeah man, you should have seen the look on his face when he realized Cassie had nicked his suit for me.”
“She nicked his… Cole, you have nothing to worry about," Ramse said with a chuckle.
Cole ran a hand through his hair. “You think so?”
“I know so. You just have to take the shot, man."
The men stopped in front of the food line. A surly guy ladled something vaguely edible onto a plate for each of them. They found an empty table and sat down. Cole removed his tux jacket and hung it over the back of his chair. The corners of Ramse's mouth twitched up like he was trying not to laugh.
"What?" Cole asked. He looked down to make sure he hadn’t spilled anything else on his borrowed clothing.
“Looking good, brother. Especially around here. Better not let Max see you in this.” Ramse pointed at Cole’s outfit.
“Yeah well, it’s coming off soon. Don’t worry, pretty boy, you’ll get your glory back.” Cole huffed. The dig at Ramse’s ego bounced right off. Cole tried to roll up his sleeves but they were still buttoned shut. He carefully prodded at one of the buttons with his other hand. He could yank if off in a single quick movement, but he didn’t want to ruin the shirt further.
Ramse watched on in quiet amusement. “Do you even know how?”
His fingers were clumsy as he tried to unfasten the button. Cole sighed and held his arms out straight. “Haha, very funny. Shut up and help me instead.”
Ramse popped Cole’s arms free in a matter of seconds. “So I guess Cassie helped you get into this, seeing…” His finger pointed at the now open cuffs.
“Yes.”
Cole messily started to roll up his sleeves. He smiled thinking about how close Cassie had been when she helped him. She had bent her head over his hands. Her fingers had delicately brushed his wrists several times, causing Cole to get goosebumps. His face warmed slightly as he thought about how she asked him to zip up the back of her dress. It had been absolute bullshit being that close, but not being allowed to touch her.
Since Cole was devoting most of his brain power to memories of Cassie, each of his sleeves would unroll as soon as he went to work on the other. He finally sighed and held his arms again out to Ramse.
“Cole, I’m getting very worried about your manhood. I think we need to have the talk. She should’ve been helping you out of your clothes instead of into them.” Ramse finished helping Cole with his sleeves. He flicked the skin on the inside of Cole’s forearm when he finished.
Cole glared at him. “Eat your food, asshole.”
Ramse watched his brother for a moment. Cole was moody as he tore into the slop on his plate. He was never this grumpy around meal time. Cassandra Railly must be one hell of a woman to have Cole this wound up.