“Okay, Dani. Sure.” He rolled his eyes as he slipped on his boxers and grabbed a pair of black trousers. Watching him get dressed did something to me. It felt more intimate than sleeping together.
This required a certain level of trust. Well, it did for me. He probably banged chicks all the time and yanked on his clothes afterwards, so what did I know?
I cleared my throat and got myself back in the game. How could I rile him up? Make him experience even a bit of the madness I’d felt all these years around him?
“Man, my dick really has gotten you quiet. You’re glaring at my crotch right now.” He looked pleased about it too. “Should’ve shown you the goods years ago.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as the bastard laughed and laughed. This was unacceptable. An idea formed, making me almost giddy. As he buttoned up his dress shirt, I stood up and frowned.
“Why the face?” he asked, playing right into my hands.
“I’m uncomfortable.” I made a real show of shifting my weight back and forth. “I think… yes. This’ll help.” I lifted one leg up and slid my red lace thong off my one leg, then the other leg, and stepped out of them completely. It felt scandalous and thrilling to be doing this in front of him, the guy I’d dreamed about for years. My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at his shocked face, and I hoped I looked as badass as I felt.
I strode over, swaying my hips and taking my time running my free hand over his chest and down his stomach. He sucked in a breath when I got to the bulge in his pants, and I squeezed, getting a high from knowing he was turned on. Then, I tucked them in his pocket. “There. I feel much better.”
Cooper’s mouth parted, and he muttered a bunch of unintelligible things from a slack jaw. I patted his cheek, rubbed my thumb over his bottom lip, and walked my ass right out the door.
Chapter Five
Cooper joined Sam, Juliet, and I ten minutes later, and he would not stop staring at me. Not through appetizers or pre-dinner drinks, and not when our meal arrived. I chose to sit by Juliet so the only way he could touch me was with a casual brush of his foot on mine. But even that was risky because the table was small enough for all our feet to pile together.
Sam got done telling a story about the three of us getting into shit when we were in junior high, and I smiled at the memory--we thought it would be fun to teepee our assistant principal’s house. We got caught and had to clean it up, but the prank was worth it.
“You all have such a fun past. It’s wonderful to see how close you three have been all this time.” Juliet beamed at us.
“Notalways,” I corrected. It had to be the endless amount of drinks that I said anything at all. My go-to attitude was to pretend the past didn’t hurt me, but the flirt-hate game had me off-balance. Plus, Cooper’s heated stare needed to be knocked back a notch.
“What do you mean?” Sam asked, a line appearing between his brows. “You two are my people. Well now Jules is in. So, the three of you. We’re a team of four now.”
“Wow, good math, bud. Have another beer,” Cooper teased, getting a laugh from everyone but me. “Are you talking about high school, Baby D?”
“Ihatethat name.”
“Aw really? I think it’s cute,” Juliet said, her tipsy smile too large for her face. “It’s so endearing. Jules is nice and all, but it’s not cute.”
“You want another nickname? Baby J? J-babe? J-Bird?” Sam said.
“Okay, no. No. Stop it,” she said, everyone laughing again.
“You’re right. Dumb idea.” Sam shook his head and smiled at his fiancé with so much warmth, it felt weird to watch. “Jules is perfect.”
“Settle down, you two. I can only handle so much cute shit.” Cooper said it with a smile, and no one took offense. For that, I was thankful. “Daniella, what do you mean by your statement?”
“Freshman year, you and Sam decided I wasn’t your friend anymore. You cut me out of your circle.”
“You mean when we were sophomores and all our friends were trying to get with you? Yeah. Fuck that.” Sam made a face and took a long drink. “There were bets going on about who you’d go out with, and I refused to deal with that shit. We stopped inviting you to things because our friends were horny assholes.”
“I had no idea,” I said, my thoughts blurring. “It wasn’t… Cooper didn’t tell you to you stop hanging out with me?”
“What?” Sam snapped his gaze to his friend. “No.”
“I made you think that,” Cooper said, his expression void of any emotion. “The guy you were crushing on was in that group, and I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“Oh my god, this is so damn sweet. You guys… I’m so glad I’m joining your little family.” Juliet sniffed and leaned over to me for a long hug. I patted her back, even though I could feel the burn of Cooper’s gaze on my face.
This changed a lot of things.
Like the fact my hate for him started that year and every interaction we had after was tainted. If he did that to protect me… did henothate me then?
