Cooper stood, pulling me to my feet. “Well, I guess I’ll feed you.”
That night we had Chinese, watched a movie, and fell asleep on the sofa in each other’s arms. And it was perfect.Hewas perfect
* * *
I awakened the next morning,wrapped in Cooper’s arms. It had been years since I’d slept in someone’s arms. It had been too long since I’d felt safe, free enough to let myselfbewith someone. Ineededmore. And even though I’d put the brakes on going further yesterday, I wasreadytoday. But this wasn’t a movie, morning breath was a real thing, and I needed a shower. Placing a kiss on his cheek, I slipped off the couch.
After my shower, I spent more than a normal amount of time trying to find something to wear that didn’t consist of frumpy shirts or motherly shorts. When I realized I didn’t own anything sexy. I said fuck it and pulled out a pair of yoga capris and a tank.
Several minutes later, I was in the kitchen cooking. The bacon was in the oven and the pancakes were bubbling on the griddle when I heard him stir.
“Good morning,” he said, his voice raspy.
I flipped the pancakes. “Morning.” Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye as he approached, I said, “Hungry?”
“I could eat. Especially if you’re making pancakes.”
I smirked. “I figured I’d blow your mind with my buttermilk batter.”
He chuckled. “Sounds like my kind of morning.” He slid onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar. “Do you have any plans today?”
I slid the pancakes onto the platter and poured another round of mix onto the griddle. “No. I’m all—” I stopped myself from sayingyours, because I realized I had no idea if he even wanted to spend the entire day with me. “I’m going to chill around here today.”
“Do you want to give me your time today?”
I closed my eyes relieved that he said what I’d hoped he would say. “Sure. What do you want to do?”
I hope he wants to do me. He’d been such a gentleman, letting me control the pace. And maybe this made me a little wishy washy, but now I wanted him to take the lead.
“First… do you have an extra toothbrush?” he asked.
I pulled the bacon from the oven, smiling to myself. “I already laid a towel and a toothbrush out for you. If you want to take a shower, you can use the master bathroom.”
“Thanks, baby.” He disappeared down the hallway, leaving me to my wayward thoughts.
I took a deep breath, pressing my palm against my stomach. My body seemed to have a mind of its own, already jumping ahead to the main event. I sensed, though, that he wanted to take his time with me, so I had to resolve myself to not getting some this morning. Maybe later.Hopefullylater.
When he returned, before he could take his seat again, I whirled around. “Can I be honest?”
His brows drew close together. “Haven’t you always?”
“I have,” I said, nodding rapidly. “But… I haven’t done this in really long time.”
“What? Cook pancakes?”
I slid his plate over to him. “I do that all of the time. Mehki loves them.”
He picked up a piece of bacon. “So he told me.”
“I want you,” I blurted out.
He paused, mouth open, bacon in the air. He set it back down on his plate. “Um… I know?”
Bracing my elbows against the counter, I peered up at him. “This is probably going to sound weird, but I guess I’ve never actuallydatedanyone? I mean, Malachi and I… Things just pretty much happened between us. One minute we were playing basketball outside and the next minute we were going to Homecoming. Then, we were together.”
I never had any doubts that Malachi loved me, because he’d cherished me, took care of me. As spontaneous as he tried to be, he wasn’tthatguy. He was reserved, he liked order, routine. I knew what to expect with him, because we were alike in that way. And Cooper was so different, so free, so…unreserved.
At the same time, there were many things they had in common with each other. They both worked in construction, they both owned a business, they both loved kids, they both had large families. But Cooper… I didn’t know anyone like him. He made me laugh until I cried and he didn’t take himself too seriously. He wasn’t afraid to admit that he’d fucked up a lot. He didn’t bother to hide the shadows behind his eyes. And that only made me want him even more.
