Nico’s cock sprung, pressing tight against his wet white briefs, and he swore he could feel the throbbing of Cooper’s cock against his own.
Cooper edged a knee between Nico’s thighs, and yep, they were both definitely hard. “Two guys who like to fuck.”
Come on, Cooper. I thought we were moving forward here.
“Two guys who enjoy each other’s company,” Nico corrected him.
“Two guys stuck in this fucking cage together.”
“Two guys who don’t have to be stuck in this fucking cage forever,” Nico reminded him, not forever.
“Two guys who are going to win championships.”
Cooper’s breath fell over Nico’s lip, the friction between the two pulling them closer and closer like magnets.
So close, that when Nico moved his lips to speak, they brushed over Cooper’s. “But I’m going to win mine first.”
“Keep dreaming, Rook,” Cooper whispered before sinking his teeth over Nico’s bottom lip.
And Nico was a dreamer.
He’d dream at night and then dream all god damn day.
Dream that this could be real, that someday the two of them could break the cage wide open. But Nico also read enough to know fairytales weren’t real. Happy endings were reserved for fictitious stories. The real worldwas cruel and unforgiving, and whatever this was between them, he reckoned it’d shatter him in the end.
But until then, he’d dream.
Dream that Cooper would forever kiss him the way he kissed him in that pool.
Part Three: The Cage
Chapter Twenty-One
december 2023 - columbus
There weremany things Cooper could say about Elsa Callahan, most of which were not kind. As he watched his mother whip a bowl of homemade mashed potatoes, he realized that underneath all the bitchy, vicious layers, the shell of the woman he knew was still there. Buried under a mountain of bullshit he didn’t have the strength or patience to unbury.
The red dress she wore was covered with an old apron printed with apples and fresh pies. Her mother had passed it down to her and she outwardly cherished the memories it brought her.
The simplest of things served as a potent reminder she was human after all. Tied to tradition, Christmas—or often in their case, give or take a week—was the one day out of the year she cooked her own food. Otherwise, if she wasn’t socializing at expensive dinners, she hired a chef for her meals. Born into nothing and married into everything, butCooper couldn’t fault her for that because he was born into it, but his mother was sure to make him earn it.
Cooper leaned against the see-through refrigerator that was filled with fresh fruit and vegetables and pulled out his phone.
NICO
What did you get me for Christmas?
NICO
Hope it’s something nice.
NICO
Please no socks. I’d be so mad that I fear I would need to find another man.
NICO
Fine. Ignore me. I’ll just go diddle myself.
