“I like that you made me earn it, Adam.” Cooper’s fingers flexed against him. “I’ve never minded working for it with you.”
“That’s what we fought about.”
“No.” Cooper shook his head. “We fought becauseyoudidn’t want to work for it. Because you didn’t want to admit you actually liked the things we did together and you chose to ignore that they were things that were extremely important to me.”
The truth of Cooper’s statement was like a slap in the face, and Adam bit his tongue between the tips of his teeth to stop himself from saying something else that was untrue. But he didn’t need Cooper to say it to him. Adam had known the truth since their last fight. Every time he’d seen the other man in the ten years that passed, he knew that things had gone wrong because of him and his own fears, his own stubbornness and insecurities.
He blinked, hating and loving the way Cooper studied him so intently. Adam knew what he wanted to say, but the weight of Cooper’s stare wouldn’t allow the words to form.
“I can’t do this with you looking at me,” Adam said.
“I like looking at you.”
“And you say I’m the stubborn one.”
Cooper rolled his eyes, shoulders sagging. “But this sounds like you have something you finally want to say to me.”
“It’s probably gone unsaid long enough. But…”
“Why does it unsettle you when I see you, Adam?” Cooper tilted his head to the side.
The answer to his question wasinthe question itself. Cooper didn’t just look at Adam, hesawhim. Even the parts that Adam wasn’t ready to see. That’s how it had always been between them. The reason Cooper had put Adam on his knees was because he knew Adam would like it. But Adam had spent his whole life with one way and one thing, and it was what he knew, it was where he was comfortable. Making a change, no matter how much he might enjoy it, was an overwhelming prospect. And now, even though he was older and maybe wiser, the threat of change felt more dangerous than it had in the past.
There was more at stake.
He shook his head, not able to find an answer for Cooper’s question.
“I want to talk, Coop. But you’ve got to meet me in the middle for once,” he conceded.
“Will you wait here?” Cooper asked. “I have an idea.”
“Sure. Fine.” He shrugged. “Whatever.”
Cooper patted his chest and left, closing the door behind him with a secure and deafening latch. Adam didn’t know how long Cooper was gone for, but it was enough time for him to second-guess every life choice he had ever made and debate every possible exit route from the house. But before he could pull the trigger on any of them, the door opened and Cooper was there again, something clutched in his fist.
He walked into the room and closed the door behind him, this time taking care to lock it.
“You’re back,” Adam stated, and Cooper looked at him, amused. He unclenched his fist and shook out a thin strip of material Adam easily identified as a blindfold.
“You could have just closed your eyes,” Adam said, rolling his own. “Or like turned around or something.”
“No.” Cooper made a tsking sound with his tongue. “This isn’t for me. This is for you.”
“You’re joking.”
“Do you want to put it on or do you want me to put it on you?” Cooper held out the blindfold.
“I don’t need a blindfold.”
“Then say what you need to say.”
Adam snatched the blindfold out of Cooper’s hand and pulled it around his head, settling the cool leather over his eyes and obscuring his vision entirely. It threw him off balance even though he hadn’t moved, and Cooper’s hands were there in a flash to catch and steady him.
“I’m fine.” He tried to shake out of Cooper’s hold.
“You never liked being blindfolded, did you?”
“You know that.”
