As the pain meds kicked in, I lay back again, and he lay on my shoulder, giving my neck a small kiss. We stayed like that long into the afternoon and when we woke up it was with stiff necks and sore backs.
“Cooper, can we be friends?” I asked him sleepily as I woke up, and he smiled and nodded at me.
“Sure, we can,” he spoke kissing my head and moving away from me.
He left me in the family room and walked to his temporary room closing the door behind him. Friends. Okay, how could I be friends with Coop? I didn’t know how to be his friend, but we had to try the friendship thing, and we did while we both recuperated. We hung out, watched the shows about monsters and the guys in the family business of saving people, hunting things. He liked it as much as me and it soon became our thing.
In the days that followed we began to play twenty questions with each other, laughing and joking around and trying to find a way to be comfortable around each other, and every day it got a little easier.
Every day of the next four months we hung out together after school, through snow days and storms, careful not to touch too much, but we hugged a lot and held hands as we sat together watching TV or playing games of twenty questions. My mom didn’t mind us hanging out, but her eyes narrowed whenever she caught us holding hands.
On the weekend of Thanksgiving, she asked to speak to me privately.
“Bailey, I know how close you and Coop are, but you need to see other people too. Cooper’s been out on a few dates.” She sipped her coffee and her eyes narrowed as my eyes widened at the news that he’d been dating. My pulse thumped jaggedly, and I swallowed, nodding at her, not sure exactly what I was agreeing too. “So, you’ll do it, then?” she asked excitedly, and I nodded again.
“Sure, Mom,” I said thinking she was speaking about me dating.
“Great, Friday night okay? Bails, you’re gonna love Phil. He’s a lovely boy and his mom is my friend.” My stomach dropped. What the hell? I’d somehow just agreed to let my mom plan a date for me. I’d zoned out as soon as she talked about Cooper dating. He walked into the kitchen and moved towards us. I shook my head at him, and his dad walked in after him.
Shawn had been home for three weeks, and he was trying. He didn’t get so worked up about Cooper and me spending time together, but his eyes narrowed whenever he saw us. I lifted my cup and sipped my “coffee” and gagged.
“Mom, what the hell is this?” I narrowed my eyes at her, and she smiled. “Isn’t it divine, it’s lemongrass tea and it’s full of antioxidants.” I shuddered at the taste lingering in my mouth and glared at Cooper as he smirked.
He ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at me and mouthed, “See you upstairs.” I nodded at him and my stomach dropped. I needed to tell him about my “date”, and he was gonna freak, but he didn’t have any right to freak out when he’d been dating the whole time.
As I tried to make my feet move upstairs, it felt like they were stuck to the floor, as though I was wading through molasses. I knew it was just my apprehension weighing me down, but when Zane asked to speak to me as I passed the first floor, I went willingly. His room was a mess with empty beer bottles and fast-food wrappers. He patted the bed and I gingerly crossed the room to sit beside him.
He ran his fingers over his face and looked at me, he strummed his fingers on his denim-clad thighs.
“Bailey,” he spoke softly and sucked in a breath, “I know how you and Coop feel about each other, but you both need to tone it back a little. A friend of mine asked if you guys were seeing each other because there’s a rumor floating around school that you are. If it reaches your mom or my dad, then there will be hell to pay.” I nodded at his words and stood to leave when he spoke again, “I know you aren’t our sister, but we both care about you and your reputation would be tanked if people thought you were sleeping with your stepbrother.”
My eyes stung as I left the room and I walked upstairs, ignoring Coop as I closed my door and collapsed fully dressed on my bed. He knocked at the door within a moment and walked in like he normally did. As he moved towards me, I caught a glimpse of his feet under my arm. I hated feet normally, but there was something about his bare feet moving towards me that thrilled me.
“Bails, what’s wrong?” he asked, running his finger along the ridge of my back. His touch electrified me and burned all the way through me. I shook my head and screamed into my duvet. He leaned over and kissed the back of my neck, and a moan escaped me. Over the past week he’d been more affectionate than ever and every time he stepped into the same room, my chest tightened, and my body thrummed as though his touch would set me on fire.
I scurried up the bed, pulling away from him, and he groaned softly as he ran his fingers over my calves.
“Bailey,” he whispered hoarsely, my eyes shooting up to see he was staring down at the very visible firmness in his pants. My eyes widened, and he stood up and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
I sat with a pillow in my lap trying to control my breathing as someone knocked on my door. I moved towards it and opened it slowly, finding my mom standing there with a smile on her face.
“That’s it, all arranged now. Your date will be on Friday at seven.” Her eyes lingered on my flushed cheeks, and she grimaced before glancing around my room, but since Coop was in the bathroom, there was nothing to see. “You’ll need to dress nicely. He’s a little older than you, but he’s such a lovely boy.”
I nodded at her and went to close the door with shaking hands when she put her foot in it. “I know you and Cooper are close, but, Bailey, he’s your stepbrother. You need other guys in your life and if you don’t date, then you’ll never find love.” My glare turned glacial as I took her meaning in.
“Mom, I’m sixteen, there is plenty of time for me to find it. Coop makes me feel safe, and he’s my best friend. You know how shy I am, so dating is hard for me.” She nodded and smiled sadly at me, fiddling with her wedding ring as my hand shook on the door. I used my shyness as a crux, but Cooper made me more confident and I liked that in my new school I could be who I wanted without people judging me.
“Yeah, but, Bailey, at least with other guys there is a possibility of more. Cooper has been out on three dates this past month, how many have you been on? How many of your other friends have you been out with outside school? Cooper’s going to college next fall and you need to make sure your circle is wider than just him.”
I nodded and kissed her cheek. “Okay, Mom, I get it.” I stepped away from her and she turned heading down the hall, pausing at Cooper’s door.
“You know where Coop is?” I shrugged and she smiled moving towards the stairs. As I closed my door softly, I heard the bathroom door open and I turned to face Coop with apprehension because I knew he’d heard my mom and me talking.
As I turned to face Coop, my heart hammered in my chest and my palms were clammy.
“Is it true, Bailey? You’re gonna let your mom manipulate you into a date.” I stared at his chest while he spoke, his black T-shirt clinging to his sculpted abs, but I slowly dragged my eyes to meet his and his gaze narrowed at me. I opened my mouth to speak, and he moved away from me. “I can’t believe this. I don’t fucking believe this. You are, aren’t you?” I cringed at his words, and he stopped pacing.