“I will be. Eventually,” I say, exhaling softly. “Not much I can do about it now, right?”
He nods once. “That’s enough for tonight.”
No matter how much it hurt to learn the truth, I can’t regret coming here.
Not when it led me to him.
***
My alarm goes off the following morning, and I don’t move right away. I blindly pat around on the air mattress next to me, searching for the source of the sound. I smile when I see a text from Cooper waiting for me after I shut off the alarm.
Cooper: Good morning, beautiful.
I stare at it longer than I should, warmth spreading through my chest before I can stop it.
Me: Good morning to you. You sleep well?
Cooper: Not nearly as good as I would have if you were next to me.
I can picture him lying in his hotel bed, half awake, with his hair a mess. The hotel sheets twisted around his legs, and that smirk that makes me weak curling the edge of his mouth.
I set my phone down and sit up slowly. It’s quiet in a way that only happens this early in the morning, before the bar is alive with the sound of music and cars driving by.
A yawn escapes before I can stop it as I push myself to stand, pausing for a second to stretch.
I can’t explain it, but something sits low in my chest, like a warning I don’t understand yet.
I walk over to the window and pull the curtain to the side. Everything looks normal. A couple of cars are parked in the lot across from my apartment. The alley stretching alongside the next-door building looks the same. Nothing appears out of place.
I stand there for a few minutes, watching as cars pass by, unable to shake the thought of what people are saying after those articles. Then I let the curtain fall, telling myself to let it go. It’s not like I can change it now.
Steam fills the bathroom when I turn on the shower. I let the water run longer than I should before I climb in. The heat makes it harder to think about anything when it beats against my skin.
When I wipe the fog off the mirror afterward, I look at myself for a second, like I’m checking to see if I look different now. Like my world crashed in some way the night before.
I don’t, which I guess is a relief.
I dry my hair and swipe on some mascara. I take a little more time than usual even though I don’t have any reason to. It’s just easier to focus on this than letting the thoughts I’ve been keeping at bay sweep back in.
After I pack up my stuff for class, I push open the door and head outside.
Dave is on a ladder near the corner of the building, tightening something small and black against the siding.
“What are you doing here so early?” I ask.
He glances down at me. “Morning,” he says. “Didn’t your boyfriend tell you?”
I blink.Cooper?“Tell me what?”
He slowly climbs down, setting the drill on the ground.
“He stopped by the bar the other day,” Dave says. “Told me what’s been going on.”
I adjust my backpack on my shoulders. “What’s been going on?”
He gestures toward the corner of the building, and that’s when I notice it. The camera is already mounted, angled toward the back steps.
“I have one up here,” he says. “There’s another over the front door already. And I mounted one across the lot on that pole yesterday to face the stairwell.”
