We didn’t speak for a moment, but as he pulled out of me it burned and my hands tightened on his ass.
“Did I hurt you, Bails?” His voice sounded tight and hurt, but when I leaned up and kissed him, he relaxed.
“No, Coop. That was incredible.” He kissed me back slowly and tangled his fingers in my hair.
“God, I fucking love you, Bails,” his low voice mumbled asking my lips as he kissed me.
“Coop,” I murmured, and he breathed,
“Yes,” kissing my lips, neck, and sucking on my tongue.
“I love you too.”
His body shuddered at my words, and he pressed his forehead to mine, gazing into my eyes.
“There’s no one else for me, babe. I’ll love you forever.”
His gentle kiss made me shiver all over and the love shining from him made my body pulse with desire again. He leaned down beside me and muttered, “Sleep with me?” I gave him a sardonic look and he laughed. After a second, I joined in, and he pressed his lips to meet mine. “I just mean sleep, nothing else.”
He moved away from me, taking the condom off and knotting it before he pulled his briefs and top on. I watched him with tired fascination as his muscles rippled, and he met my gaze with a cheeky smirk.
“Stop perving on me.”
I giggled and his answering smile dazzled me. As I sucked in a breath, he moved back towards me. “Bails, get dressed or I’m gonna come down there and make you come again.”
I smirked up at him, and he moved closer to me. The smile on his lips was incredible and relaxed as he threw me my sweats. I pulled them on, leaving my thong on the floor. His eyes widened as I pulled them up, and he moved towards me kissing me hard as his hand pressed against my back. After a second, he pulled back and handed me my tank, his fingers grazing my breasts.
My eyes widened, and he met my heated gaze with one of his own. We needed to get out of this closet before we combusted. I stepped back and grabbed my tank pulling it down, before slipping my fingers into his and heading out into my room. He led me over to my bed and kissed my head. “I’ll be right back, and Bails.” I lifted my eyes to his.
“I love you so much.”
He leaned down and licked my lip gently with his tongue before slipping his tongue into my mouth.
He walked to the door with a swagger and I laughed at how relaxed he was. I was feeling pretty sleepy myself and I relaxed back onto my pillows when Coop’s voice echoed along the hall. “What the actual fuck?” he shouted out, and I knew I needed to go to him, but I was cozy in my warm cocoon of covers and blankets. Footsteps sounded on the landing and I turned my head to see what was going on when Coop appeared at my door. His face was tight, and his anger was barely contained. He shook as he stood in my doorway and my eyes narrowed in confusion.
“Coop, what is it?” He shrugged and closed the door, leaving me even more confused than ever. I scooted to the edge of the bed and slipped my feet into my slippers. I moved towards the door and opened it slowly. Coop was standing outside the door and staring hard at Jan. She was facing away from me, but Coop’s eyes met mine and a defeated look crossed his eyes.
I heard what she was showing him and my stomach rolled. “Bails, I FUCKING LOVE YOU” played loudly and I heard our gasps and moans as we made love. My face fell and I knew what was going on. She was threatening to share our most intimate moment with our parents, unless… Unless what? My eyes lifted to Coop’s as a tear rolled down his cheek. He nodded once at me and turned his head to look at her.
“Jan,” he whispered seductively, “I needed to fuck her so I could fuck with her mind. I don’t love her; I was just using her to make you jealous because since you dumped my ass, I’ve been a mess. I wanted you back, but I didn’t know how to tell you.” His shoulders were stiff, and he slipped his arm around her, leading her away from me as my world crashed around my ears.
He turned back to face me at his room door and at that moment, I knew he’d lied to her to protect me, but then his eyes hardened, and he moved into his room, closing the door. My stomach rolled and I retched, running to the bathroom just in time. As the contents of my stomach poured out, my sobs began.
Later that night, he appeared at my door. I was a puffy mess. I knew what he was doing and why, but it hurt so badly that he’d had to choose her; she didn’t give him a choice. His face was pale and his eyes dark as he opened my door and let himself into my room.
“Bails,” he whispered when my eyes fell from his, “please believe me, I had no idea.”
He moved towards the bed and I stiffened watching as he froze. “I know what you did and why, but I can’t be around you right now. Please leave.” My throat stung as the words ripped from me. Tears dripped from his nose, and he backed up towards the door.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered as he opened the door.
As the door closed a dark cloud swam over me and swallowed me whole. I didn’t surface for days and when the snow cleared enough for Zane to come home from Clara’s, I spent time sitting with him, watching TV, and avoiding Coop and Jan. Zane knew something had happened with Coop and me during the snow day, but he didn’t ask and I didn’t say.
The next few months were tough; I’d cut myself off from my friends and hid out in the library during lunchtime. I studied hard; it was the only thing that distracted me from the constant ache in my chest. An ache that got worse every time I saw Coop and Jan together. She looked smugly at me whenever she saw me, and I did my best to ignore her completely.
One day at the end of May, I was hanging lights in the gymnasium for the senior prom when Jan arrived. She moved towards me and my stomach rolled. I really hated her and I wouldn’t even look at her.
“That one’s uneven,” she spoke to me, pointing at the light I was working on. It wasn’t, she was just trying to mess with me, but I ignored her doing my best to concentrate on hanging the lights. She followed me around the gymnasium and criticized me at every opportunity. Just as I was about at my wit’s end, Coop came in. His eyes widened as he saw her speaking to me, and he walked over. She didn’t see him and as I jumped down from the stage, she opened her mouth to speak to me.
“Bitchy Bails, it must really sting you to not be able to have Cooper. I mean when he chose me over you, that had to have hurt.” Her eyes narrowed maliciously, and I glared at Coop over her shoulder, losing my temper for the first time, even though she’d been saying that kind of shit to me for a while.
“No, Jan, it doesn’t sting. You two deserve each other but think about it this way. I’ve never had to blackmail a guy to want to date me.” I barged by them and saw the raw agony in Coop’s eyes as I moved away from them. As the door swung closed, my hands shook, and I marched away from the gymnasium. It took a few minutes for me to realize that I had headed in the wrong direction and I had to turn around and walk back down the hall.
The lights were all out and the school looked eerie in the darkness, but I knew I was going the right way when I heard voices coming from the parking lot. Jan was standing facing Coop who had his back to me.
“My dad’s been offered a job in DC. We’re leaving at the end of the week.” Jan told him and Coop just stared at her for a moment before he glanced around. I hid behind one of the bushes and listened as they spoke.