“Coop, what? What is it you think you did?” His eyes widened in surprise, but his tears continued to fall as he stared at the floor. I wiped gently under his eyes and he shuddered. “Cooper, please?” My words were laced with the pain and uncertainty I felt around him. He pressed his lips together and lifted his eyes, staring over my shoulder.
“Bailey, I freaked okay?” He shivered and held me tighter, pressing his lips to my head again before continuing. “That message on your wall, your mom sending you on a date with Phil, when I could do nothing about it, and then you getting hurt because I wasn’t there to save you.”
He broke off again and swallowed as my eyes stung and a tear rolled down my cheek. “We’ve been through so much and I can’t stand it anymore.” He kissed the tears on my cheek and spoke with his lips against my skin, his hair tickling my forehead. “I don’t deserve shit from you, but I’m asking. No, I’m begging you, Bailey, please. Can you forgive me?”
My body started shaking and he kissed my cheek again. His words resonated in my head as he continued speaking. He caressed my palm on my lap and the back of my neck with his deft fingers.
“I haven’t been able to sleep properly since November. I’ve missed you so much and I know how much I hurt you, but you have to believe me. I’m so fucking in love with you I can’t think straight.” Another series of bangs sounded in the house, and he smirked. “Guess the cops found him.”
He pressed his lips to my forehead, and we sat there for a few minutes breathing each other in. “Bails, answer me, please.” The sound of his voice brought me back to myself, and he sat back watching me intently. I moved away to stand, and his sharp intake of breath told me how scared he was; he was terrified that I wouldn’t forgive him.
As I turned and looked into his eyes, his cell chimed, and he grabbed it, half-smiled at it, then nodded. “It’s…” He drew in a jagged breath. “Bails, it’s okay, you don’t need to say anything.” A tear rolled down his cheek and I turned again so I was standing fully in front of him. I moved, placing my knees on either side of him as I sat down on his lap.
“Coop,” I whispered as I leaned above him, and he raised his eyes to me, hope shining through the pain.
He watched me hungrily as I lowered myself over him. “Don’t hurt me like that again.” I pressed my lips to his, and he groaned as I settled myself over his crotch.
“Never again, Bailey, you are my home, my one, and I promise to make you happy if you give me a chance.”
His lips lifted to mine and I bit down gently on his bottom lip, sucking it into my mouth softly. His body responded automatically, and he ground his hips into mine.
“Good,” I mumbled into his open mouth before sliding my tongue between his lips again.
“Are you sure though, Bailey?” he asked, groaning as I ground on his hips.
I nodded once before fusing my lips to his again. His fingers ran up my back and my tank lifted with his touch. He moaned and my confidence rose; I ran my fingers down his back, lifting his shirt up and leaning back to take it off, moaning at the sight of his sculpted abs. I ran my fingers over the ridges in his abdomen, and he sucked in a sharp breath before whispering, “God, Bails, you’re killing me.”
His lips found my neck, and he tugged at my tank, pulling it over my head, before, his gorgeous brown eyes met mine and his pupils were the size of saucers. He returned his lips to my neck and moved me towards him.
As our bare skin touched, fire raced through me and I didn’t care about the consequences. He’d been my first kiss, I wanted my first time to be tonight, with Coop. I kissed him hard and ground on him, feeling a tightening inside me.
“Bailey,” his strangled voice hissed out and I paused glancing down at him. He met my gaze and I nodded at him. That was all it took before he brought his lips back to my neck, kissing and sucking hard. His lips roamed around my throat and collarbone, before dropping down to nibble on my erect nipples after his fingers lifted my breasts from the cups of my bra.
Each light bite caused a shot of desire to shoot downwards and my body shuddered. His breathing increased, and he picked me up, spinning around and laying me down on the couch. Dust particles rose in the air and swirled about in the small light from his cell. He kissed down my stomach and wrapped his hands around my sweats, ready to pull them off when his cell began ringing.
He leaned back breathlessly, lifting his eyes to me guiltily for a second. He stood up and walked towards the cabinets, standing with his back to me as he answered the call. His words carried over to me, and he glanced back again at me as I stared at his toned back. My eyes went to his ass and I couldn’t wait to wrap my hands around it as he thrust into me.
“Sure, babe,” he said into the cell and my visions of our first time shattered. I shuffled to sit up and my face burned as I realized I’d nearly become his dirty little secret. Jagged pains shot through me and his eyes spun to me as he heard my sharp intake of breath.
He moved towards me with his hand outstretched, but he was still on the phone and when he caught my glare, he dropped his hand. I grabbed my bra and pulled it over my breasts, ignoring the pleading looks he was giving me. As I pulled my top on and rushed towards the door, he met me there shaking his head as he ended his call.
“Bails, don’t go. Please, I can explain.” His voice cracked and I spun to face him, slapping him hard across the cheek.
“You almost had me fooled. Don’t speak to me again, Cooper. I mean it. I won’t be the other woman.” He held his cheek watching in dismay as I sprinted from the room and after a few minutes I was back in my room.
As soon as the door closed, my dam broke and I collapsed onto the floor sobbing. He’d done it to me again. I heard him thump against the door.
“Bailey,” he spoke and thumped at the door, “please just let me in. I’m not with her anymore, but she’s going through shit, and she needs me.”
My heart was already broken, and he was stomping on it.
“Go away, Coop,” I called, and he stopped hitting my door. A loud bang sounded and then silence. The tears streamed and I couldn’t feel anything but pain. I hated how I’d let him hurt me again. I had to stay away from him and keep him at arm’s length. It wasn’t fair that he kept using me, and then dropping me.
If I thought going to my room and closing the door would give me respite, I was wrong because every emotion hit me as I sat there alone. I felt dirty and used, unloved and unlovable and unattractive. I forced myself to stop crying and went into the bathroom, washing my face, and drying my eyes. I couldn’t stop the pain from hitting, but I could try to stop myself from reacting to it.
After a few minutes’ silence, there was another knock on my door and I wanted to bury my head under my pillow when I heard Cooper speaking softly through the door.
“Bails, the cops want to speak to us. Can you come out, please?”
I lifted my pillow and screamed into it, before pushing myself up and going to open the door.
Cooper glanced at me once, nodded through hard eyes, and walked ahead of me down the stairs. We spent the rest of the night separated and giving statements to the police. I found out that Cooper had called the cops as soon as he’d heard the crash and that they’d responded because they knew that Phil was stalking me.