“Pizza, I hope that’s okay. I don’t have a lot left in the fridge.”
“I’m probably the least picky person on the planet,” he says.
I smile and step out of his arms, dropping the frozen sausage in the microwave.
“What can I do?” he asks.
“Make the dough?” I suggest.
“Okay, tell me how to do that.”
I laugh and grab a bowl with the ingredients we need. After walking him through what to measure, he kneads the dough with his large hands. His thick fingers dig into the dough, and in the background the microwave dings, but I don’t fully register it, too focused on his hands.
“You’ve got that look on your face again, stubborn.”
I roll my eyes and break the trance with his hands, to cook up the sausage in the skillet.
Cooper gets the dough rising and starts on shredding the cheese while I finish browning the sausage.
“What’s next?” he asks.
I glance at the clock. “We need to wait at least another thirty for the dough to rise.”
He leans against the counter, hands at either side of his hips, gripping the sides.
“Do you want a beer?”
He shakes his head. “I’ll take more of that lemonade, though,” he says.
I refill his glass, feeling his eyes all over me. My stomach flutters with nervous anticipation, and I fight the shiver that envelopes my chest.
“Come on, stubborn, talk to me.”
“What’s there to say?” I ask him.
“It looks like a lot based on that look on your face.”
I school my expression. “What face?” I ask him.
“That’s not for me to assume,” he says with a lifted brow.
I smile, but it doesn’t feel genuine. “You know what assuming does,” I mutter.
Cooper snorts and shakes his head.
I hate that he has such a way of pulling the unsaid out of me. When he pushes me, those cracks get biggerand bigger.
“I know it may seem like I’m super emotionally smart, but it comes with having a kid, and doing it on your own kind of forces you to recognize things as they are.”
“So then why don’t you tell me how you’re feeling?” I ask him.
He inhales sharply.
I lean against the opposite counter, waiting for him to answer my question.
“I’m not saying you’re withholding from me, partially because we are getting to know each other. But you also haven’t told me a lot about yourself,” I tell him. I think it’s partially what has made me hold back, and I’m only now putting it together.
Cooper grins and runs his tongue along his teeth. “Respectfully, stubborn, I know what your ass feels like in my hands. I think we’re a little past getting to know each other.”
