It sounded ridiculous—we’d been together six—but I couldn’t dispute it. I couldn’t remember ever telling Avery about anything sweet or kind Piotr had done for me. He’d pushed me to be better. Always, alwaysbetter.
I’d never been good enough for him, had I?
Cooper thought I was beautiful. He said so.
Even now, he thought I was beautiful.
The doorbell ringing startled me, making a second strand of hair flop over my forehead.
“That’s him,” I said, grabbing my phone. “Gotta go, bye.”
Eight o’clock on the dot. He wasn’t late.
My heart pounded in my ears as I raced down the stairs, ignoring the jolt to my leg with each step. I should have made a point of finding somewhere that had less of them, but I hadn’t thought of it when I’d agreed to come here.
When I opened the door, all I could see was an enormous bunch of flowers—peonies, huge and fluffy and delicately pink, with little sprigs of tiny white blossoms I couldn’t identify poking out between them.
Flowers. Cooper…
“Are those for me?” I asked.
I’d spent my entire life watching the women in the company coo over enough flowers to start their own florist on opening and final nights without ever getting flowers of my own.
Cooper peered around the bouquet, a sweet, shy little smile tugging at his lips. “Is that okay? I wasn’t sure what you liked, but the peonies kind of reminded me of a tutu. I know you don’t wear a tutu, but?—”
“They’re perfect.”
“Did he bring youflowers?” Avery’s voice asked from my pocket.
Shit.
Cooper looked down at the sound, eyebrow raised. I struggled to fish my phone out, silently cursing Avery for convincing me to wear jeans so tight.
“Don’t hang up on me, I wanna meet Cooper,” Avery insisted.
I glanced at him, brow raised, and he answered me with a shrug that seemed to say something likehow bad could it be?
He couldn’t know, and I couldn’t warn him.
“Hello,” he said. “Who’s this?”
Avery gasped theatrically on the other end of the line. “You haven’t told him about me? Shame on you.”
Cooper looked at me in wide-eyed alarm, lips parted but no words coming out.
“It’s Avery,” I said, coming to his rescue.
“Oh!” Cooper broke into a smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle.Godhe was gorgeous. Every time I saw him hewas handsomer than the last time, somehow. “You, Ihaveheard about.”
“Wait, really?” Avery asked.
Cooper chuckled. “You don’t talk about your friends when they’re not in the room? I know who you are. It’s an honor to get to meet you.”
“Oh, wow,” Avery said. “I think evenyourmother would approve of this one, babe.”
I huffed. Not that Cooper wasn’t incredible, but my mother had never entirely approved of anything I’d done. Even when it was exactly what she’d told me to do. It was never good enough.
… I was beginning to see a pattern, there.
