Chapter4
Cooper
Cooper had to admit it was nice to be out again, but the thought disappeared before Devon had even poured him a drink.
“I’m so happy you came,” Devon said, topping off his glass.
“I wish I could say the same,” he muttered, looking away from Adam and Grant, who both stood frozen in place at the other end of the room. Grant tried to pull Adam into the living room, but he didn’t budge, his bright eyes intense and focused on Cooper.
“What?” Devon pouted, following Cooper’s stare across the room. “Oh.”
“Did you know he was coming?”
Devon’s mouth twitched into a smirk.
“You’re an asshole.” Cooper poured a healthy swallow of champagne down his throat, the bubbles doing nothing to ease his nerves. Even though he’d seen Adam—even talked to him—since things had gone south between them years before, he always got skittish when the other man walked into a room.
Adam evoked unexplainable feelings inside of him before, during, and after they’d been intimate, and Cooper had been waiting years for them to wane. Waited years to see Adam from across the room and not feel like he was the one who’d gotten away, like he was the one Cooper would compare every future partner to for the rest of his life. Their incompatibility still kept him up at night. When he wished he could be different than he was. When he wanted to make a concession so he could have Adam in his life and his bed.
If the tangled knot in his chest were any indication, it still hadn’t happened.
“I just like to see my friends happy,” Devon countered.
“Then you shouldn’t have us in the same room.”
“Respectfully disagree, sir.”
Cooper fidgeted with the arm of his glasses, settling them against the bridge of his nose. “It’s been a long time, Devon.”
“All the more reason to put the past aside.”
“You’re not helping.”
“Because you won’t let me.”
Cooper snorted, an unamused sound in the back of his throat. “You have no idea what you’re asking.”
“Sounds like a you problem.” Devon cheers-ed their glasses together and left Cooper alone. Cooper watched Devon snake his way through the crowd to greet Adam and Grant, and only when Devon had reached them did Adam finally look away from him.
He stared at the bubbles in the drink until Grant’s shoes came into focus beneath them.
“It’s good to see you, Cooper,” Grant greeted, voice low.
“Yeah, man. You too.”
“Haven’t seen you around in a while.”
Cooper shrugged. “I’ve been busy.”
He flicked his attention up and over Grant’s shoulder, finding Devon and Adam in a hushed conversation near the front door.
“I’ve missed seeing you around.”
“You can see me any time.” Cooper shifted his attention back to Grant’s face. “You know where I work. Where I live.”
“I get the distinct impression you prefer being alone.”
“I prefer not being reminded about…” Cooper snapped his mouth closed and forced a smile. He cleared his throat and let the smile relax into something that didn’t feel as insincere. He knew Grant meant well with his comment. “Never mind. You’re right. I’ve spent a long time being deliberately antisocial.”
