“Just make sure you’re positive. Don’t get caught up in the fact we’re on this trip and staying in a hotel together. Be with her because you like her. Want her.”
I nod. “You don’t have to worry,” I tell him. “I won’t fuck this up.”
He nods, but his expression doesn’t change. “Good. Don’t because it would fuck up everything between us.”
It’s a warning bell. Loud and clear.
We walk to the lift. Vanessa and Chloe are laughing about the dancing they’d seen at the club, distracted as Cooper trails behind. He’s still tense and brooding over the news, but I have to give him credit. He’s trying to accept this change, and considering it’s been less than an hour, he’s doing one hell of a job.
The queue is long, which has me turning to look for stairs, but before I can, Cooper clears his throat. “Give us a cool space fact, Chloe.”
She grins. “Uranus was originally named Georgian.”
“They should have stuck with Georgian because everyone but space geeks pronounce it your-anus, including our third grade teacher,” Vanessa says.
Chloe laughs. “When William Herschel discovered it, he named it after King George III, and the French—and the rest of the world—weren’t fond of this, so Johann Elert Bode, a German astronomer renamed it Uranus after the Ancient Greek god of the sky.”
“That’s actually kind of a cool way to get named,” Cooper says. “Named after a god.”
Chloe nods. “Uranus was the deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god. Actually, all of the planets in our solar system were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses—all except Earth.”
Cooper laughs. “What was Earth named after?”
Chloe shakes her head. “We don’t know. The name derives from both English and German words that mean ground.”
“Ground?” Coop asks. “That’s not nearly as cool as deity of the heavens.”
Vanessa rubs her hands together, glancing at the queue that has barely moved. “Okay. Give us something else that will help us win a game of trivia.”
“Scientists have confirmed more than four thousand exoplanets and are still waiting to confirm another thousand.”
Vanessa shakes her head. “When you start talking about exoplanets, it feels like a vise is squeezing my head, reminding me how little I know.”
Chloe scoffs. “That’s the whole point of science. We learn we know nothing.”
Vanessa laughs. “Then I’m a great scientist.”
I shake my head. “What’s an exoplanet?”
Chloe licks her lips, her smile growing as her gaze dips to my pocket where her underwear are. I know it’s the second drink she and Vanessa drank too fast that has her eyes coming back to my mouth. “Worlds outside of our solar system that orbit other stars,” she says like she’s telling me the time.
Vanessa belts out a laugh, startling the lady in front of us. “Drunk Chloe is smarter than sober Chloe,” she says. “It’s scary.”
Chloe chuckles, shaking her head. “But think about it. It’s pretty cool and mind-blowing to consider there are another four thousand plus planets out there, most of them within our galaxy.”
“My grandma still insists Pluto’s a planet,” Coop says.
Chloe smiles affectionately. “Information is constantly changing. Plus, it’s hard for people to understand that our solar system is a very tiny fraction of the Milky Way Galaxy. We’re tiny in comparison to the vast expanse of our galaxy. Understanding the distance and vast implications can be really difficult for some.”
Vanessa nods. “Me included.”
Chloe flashes a quick smile and shakes her head.
“Are we sure tomorrow’s our last day here?” Vanessa asks, turning to look around.
“I’m excited for San Diego,” Cooper says. “I’ve only been once, and it was for our bowl game last year, and I was so hungover the next day I only saw the hotel bathroom.”
I grin, recalling the sorry shape I’d found him in.
“I could be a professional traveler. How do I propose this idea to the Travel Channel?” Vanessa asks, turning to Chloe. “Maybe we can sell this to them if we come as a pair?”
“We would have been fired in Arizona,” Chloe says, laughing.
“No. Because we would have had a tour guide.” Vanessa takes Cooper’s hand as we step into the elevator and take it to the ground floor that leads to the street.
Chloe considers this. “They probably would have known way more about snakes and spiders, too.”
Vanessa nods. “Definitely.”
Ahead of us, two guys are stopped, their gazes predatory as they stare too long at Chloe and Vanessa, making every muscle in my shoulders tense. Chloe seems to notice them as well, slowing to walk by my side. I wrap my arm around her waist, and my annoyance with these wankers is fully eclipsed at the reality of this moment and how easy and right everything feels.
Once back at the hotel, Chloe stops to get some water while Vanessa and Cooper head upstairs to get ready for bed.
I lean against the counter, watching her bottom lip wrap around the bottle, the movement of her throat. It’s all so simple, and yet I can’t stop staring because I’ve worked to ignore these details for so long.
“You aren’t really keeping my underwear, are you?”
I push away from the counter, closing the distance between us. “I intend to save an entire collection.”
“Remind me not to wear any cute ones.”
I chuckle, pulling her against me, her quick gasp of surprise falling against my lips. “Stay with me.” I know Vanessa’s been staying in Cooper’s room since Arizona.
Her green eyes shift between mine, a warmth radiating in my chest that has me rubbing small circles over her hips with my thumbs. “Let’s give Coop a little time to adjust. He gave me the courtesy. I feel like it’s important to return it.”
She’s right. I know she’s right, and still, I want to fight her on it. “It’s probably better. I have to be up in a few hours, so I’d wake you up.”
Her eyebrows jump. “A few hours?” Her gaze drops back to my mouth. “We should have come back sooner. You’re going to be exhausted tomorrow.”
I bury my face in her hair and breathe her in. “We should have tried being nice to each other a long time ago. We’re good at this.”
She tips her head back and rolls her eyes. I have to hide my smile. “For the record, I was always nice to you.”
“You wouldn’t have voiced concern about me not getting enough sleep before,” I tease.
“Only because you would have insisted it meant something.”
My smile can’t be concealed. “But it would’ve. Isn’t that what you said? Freshman year?”
Her gaze turns fiery, her lips twisting with a challenge, but before she can respond, I kiss her. Her lips are still parted and firm, assuring me I caught her off guard, but it only takes her a second to catch up, her arms winding around the back of my neck as her body molds to mine. What begins as an intense warring of tongues and wills slows with her back against the refrigerator, our lips languid as we taste each other and memorize each other’s breaths and warmth.