“Bails, shit, I’m sorry. Guess I didn’t see you there.” His voice sounded off but closer to me than I’d realized and when he put his arms around my waist, his front to my back, I melted into him. He kissed my head and let go after a moment. I stepped over his smashed phone, my heart hammering in my chest as his room door closed. I didn’t see him for the rest of the weekend. On Monday morning I saw him in the garage as I went into summer school for a few classes for my transcript.
He was cleaning his car and smiled when he glanced up and saw me approach.
“Hey,” he called out as I passed him, heading to my car, “want a lift?” I turned to face him, and he smiled hopefully at me from beside his gleaming car.
“Sure.” I smiled and moved my stuff into his car. We left the house in silence, but it didn’t last long. He was nervous about something, he chattered at me about college, classes, and the weather, but it was clear they weren’t subjects he wanted to talk about and as we approached the school campus, he pulled the car over before we pulled into the parking lot.
As he stopped the car, I glanced at the clock finding I was early like I’d planned to be, but not so early that I had masses of time to spare.
“Bails,” he murmured and my eyes shot to his. He was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as Norah Jones sang out on the car speaker softly. His eyes closed, but when he looked my way, his eyes lit as hunger shot through them.
He leaned over and kissed me softly, breathing hard as his lips gently stroked my own for a few seconds. When he pulled back, I was breathless, and my pulse throbbed all over my body. He turned the car back on and drove the rest of the way to school whistling to Bruno Mars’s Grenade. As we reached the lot, he squeezed my hand. “What time do you finish?” his melodic voice shot across to me, sounding just a little hoarse and I smiled, knowing I’d affected him as much as he’d affected me.
“Just after three,” I spoke in a strange-sounding voice, it was higher than normal and breathy. He cupped my cheek and turned my face towards him, giving me another gentle kiss. As he pulled back, I sat there stunned at his disregard for where we were.
“I’ll be here,” he murmured, and he sat back shielding his eyes from the June sunshine as I clambered out of the car.
The day passed in a blur as I watched the clock anxiously for it to hit three p.m. and all day I was on edge. When he picked me up, he was almost the same, and he kissed me as we drove, entwining his hand with mine as I climbed into the car. We made our way home, and he drove slower than I’d ever seen him.
“Coop?” I spoke tentatively, not wanting to upset him, and he glanced over at me smiling at my face.
“Relax, Bails,” he murmured as his eyes returned to the road, “I’m not gonna tell our parents or anything like that, but I deserve a shot at happiness too.” He didn’t say another word the rest of the way home and when we got in our parents were at home, so it was family dinner night. Zane was out and Coop and I were forced to sit beside each other as our parents told us that they’d be away for the next two weeks.
We ignored each other totally because that was what we’d done over the last few months and as we finally left the dining room, a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. Coop’s phone was sitting on his bed, repaired, and he looked at it like a bomb about to go off when we reached his door. I touched his arm gently and he shrugged me off. He closed the door and I walked to my room feeling dejected, but he came through a short while later. His eyes were bloodshot, and he crawled into bed beside me.
He didn’t say a word to me, and I kept my mouth shut with difficulty, but eventually, his breathing evened out and I sat up reading. Sometime during the night, his phone rang, and he sat bolt upright in the bed, then dived out of my bed and took off for his room. I didn’t see him again until early the next morning when I went downstairs to feed my caffeine monster.
As I walked into the kitchen I was met with the aroma of fresh coffee, bacon, eggs, and hot rolls. Coop stood over the stove and when I walked through the door, he handed me a fresh coffee mug, just how I liked it; a splash of caramel flavoring and some cream. I moaned in pleasure and his eyes widened as a salacious look crossed his face.
He swallowed and it passed, but I watched him with mild amusement. I’d been feeling lighter since I’d shared everything with Jay. Wendy had cut me out, she’d begun avoiding my calls and not answering my texts and when I finally got a hold of her she told me, quite bluntly that I was never around anymore and she needed a more consistent best friend. I spent the night sobbing in my room and since then I hadn’t really had another best friend, but just having someone on my side was incredible. It helped me to realize that there was more to my life than the gorgeous specimen of a boy currently cooking me breakfast.
“Hey.” He walked around the island and kissed me gently on the head, before turning around and going back to the range. I sat at the island staring out at the choppy waters through the windows lining the room as he cooked humming along to the music playing that I didn’t recognize.
“Bails.” His soft voice caressed my neck as he placed a kiss on my neck, making me jump because I’d been miles away thinking about how nice it was to be normal around each other. We weren’t hiding our feelings or hurting each other, and it made me so happy that we’d finally relaxed in each other’s company.
“Mmmm?” I muttered, turning and meeting his eyes. He glanced at my lips and then up at my eyes. His face tightened, and he moved closer to me, bringing his mouth to mine and capturing my lips in a soul-altering kiss. When he pulled back, because I’d never had any willpower where he was concerned, we were both breathing hard. His lips lifted in a glorious smile, and he kissed the top of my head, before sitting down beside me and sliding my plate of food to me.
As we sat eating, his fingers brushed mine constantly and he smiled every time his eyes met mine. When I was full, I pushed my plate away and went to refill our coffees. As I stood at the machine, Coop appeared behind me and pressed his lips to the back of my neck making me shudder and I spilled coffee on the counter, and he burst out laughing. My eyes narrowed on him and he snorted, making me laugh.
He took my hand and led me away from the mess, pushing me gently towards the table where something was sitting on the counter. I moved curiously towards it and smiled as I saw it was a giant cookie. There was writing on the cookie and as I moved closer, I heard him clatter about behind me. He seemed nervous when I glanced at him.
I reached the island and looked down at my cookie to see a heart and a ring on it. On top of the heart were the words “BE MINE?” and I glanced at him, unsure what I was seeing for a moment.
“Coop,” I whispered in a stunned voice as he came back towards me, biting his lip as he watched me standing there, “are you asking me out?” He nodded, a smile touching his lips, and I moved towards him. He placed our coffees on the island before his hand swept around my waist.
“Bails, I know I’ve screwed up, but I am so in love with you and all I want is to try this, really try this? Can we do it? We’d need to keep it on the down-low though until we are sure we can work together?” His voice was muffled against my hair as our hearts hammered in unison. He pressed his lips to my head and spoke against my hair, “I wanna do it right this time, Bails. I know if I mess up again, you won’t give me another chance. I won’t deserve another chance.”