Cooper clenches his jaw, and silence settles between us at that.
After a few minutes pass, I say, “I didn’t ask you to do that for me. If you don’t want me—”
I stop myself, and he notices.
“If you don’t want tobewith me,” I correct, forcing the words out, “then stop leading me on. Stop making excuses for why you keep pushing me away. I’m not doing this hot-and-cold thing. Just…” I wave my hands around again. “Stay on your own damn side of the line.”
He tosses his shirt behind him, letting it land somewhere on his bed.
I don’t let myself meet his gaze. I can’t because I’m afraid of what I’ll see there when I do, and I’m not doing this back and forth with him.
Whatever his reason is for wanting me to stick around town doesn’t feel like enough anymore—not when he’s the one pushing me away.
I’ve been left out in the cold enough in my life. I’m not doing it again. Not with him.
When he doesn’t say anything, though, I finally give in and let my eyes trail from his chest to his shoulders until I meet his gaze.
His expression shifts when we lock eyes. He steps closer to me until there’s barely any room left between us.
“Is that what you think? You think I’ve stayed away from you because I don’t want you?” he asks, his voice low.
I swallow but hold his gaze. “What else am I supposed to think? You won’t tell me what’s going on.”
His nostrils flare. “I’m trying to keep you out of it.”
“Out of what?”
He shakes his head and drags his hand through his hair, pulling on the strands like he’s already said too much.
“Use your words, Cooper. Out of what?”
His hand comes up, stopping just short of my jaw, like he’s thinking about giving in.
“You think this has been easy for me?” he murmurs.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I have no idea what to think because you won’t tell me anything.”
He closes the distance fully, one hand settling at my hip like it belongs there, while the other cups my face.
“How could you think I don’t want you?” he asks, his voice low. “That I haven’t spent every second of the last couple days wanting you right here in my arms.”
The way he says it makes my stomach flip.
“Why does it feel like you’re trying so hard not to?” I ask.
His thumb brushes along my jaw, dragging lightly over my lower lip. He tracks the movement with his eyes, and my heart feels like it’s beating so hard, it’s going to hammer its way out of my chest.
“I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
His mouth finds mine before I can even ask from who. It isn’t soft or careful.
It’s crushing. Like all his pent-up frustration is released at that moment.
Cooper’s hands slide to my waist, tugging me closer to him. Mine move across his chest, feeling the soft hair there, down to his abs flexing beneath my touch.
I kiss him back just as hard.
He doesn’t release me as he takes a step backward, and then another until his legs hit the edge of his bed. He pulls me with him until I’m straddling his lap.
