Coop was not one to mince words, but his certainty took Rafe a little bysurprise.
“He’s just verysarcastic.”
“Nope. He’s anasshole.”
“He’s a little full of himself. He’s an actor. He’s worked with HughGrant.”
“LovedAbout a Boy. Still makes him anasshole.”
Rafe slumped back in his desk chair. “How are you so sure of this? Maybe I’m not describing him right. I mean, Heath and Louisa are still friends withhim.”
Rafe knew that if Coop were here, he’d keep Nathan away from Eamonn at alltimes.
“Why are you defending him?” Coopasked.
Rafe shrugged. He knew that assholes existed in this world, and he knew that they attended Browerton and Stroude, and that there would be many more assholes throughout his life. But he’d never come face-to-face with one who was intent on being an asshole to him. He prided himself on not having anyenemies.
Everyone likedRafe!
“Rafe,” Coop motioned him to come closer to the screen. “This iswar.”
“War?”
“This asshole is trying to make you look like an idiot and steal yourguy.”
“But is Eamonn even mine to be stolen?” Nathan was a reminder that Eamonn had a life in England well before Rafe ever dropped in, and he would continue to have that life after heleft.
“The guy likesyou.”
“How do you know any of this? You’re an ocean away. You’ve never met any of thesepeople!”
“And you like him, too, Rafe. Maybe you can’t see it because you’re in it, but you do. So now you have tofight.”
“If I fight, I’ll lose. I always lose in these situations. I’m always someone’s second choice.” Rafe wouldn’t be able to take losing him. He couldn’t be Eamonn’sBaxter.
“You don’t know that. Eamonn seems intoyou.”
Rafe dragged his hands desperately through his hair. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wanted to sex myself across England. Remember what we talked about lastspring?”
He was most definitely not slutting it up with Eamonn. The sex they had was not just for fun. He hit it, and he did not want to quitit.
“I really like him,Coop.”
“I can tell. I’ve never seen you thisway.”
Rafe perked up, curious to hear the assessment that camenext.
“Usually, you’d be into a guy for some random, superficial reason, like he has a cute name or has nice hair. You’d obsess for a week, nothing would happen, and then you’d move onto the next one. But this feels different. You seemdifferent.”
“Howso?”
“Well, it’s been a lot more than a week. But…you have this added weight in your voice. And you have that same ‘oh shit’ look that I had when I realized I was in love withMatty.”
Am I in love?Rafe wasn’t sure about that, but he knew he cared for Eamonn. It would only make things harder when he got on that plane nextmonth.
