AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Especially when I’m still so confused, trying to understand if he means anything at all.
That kiss sure felt like it meant something.
It felt a whole lot like…more.
“Sure, he’s not.” Cooper scoffs, thankfully pulling my focus away from my guilty thoughts. “Don’t think I don’t see what’s happening here, Charlotte! Somehow, you got it into your head that he’s into you or that he’s better than me, but newsflash, babe, he’s not! That Neanderthal doesn’t know the difference between a spoon and a fork, let alone carry any kind of stimulating conversation with you. Not that he would hang out long enough for that even to happen. He’d be done with you before he even took his condom off his junk.”
“Don’t be crude, Cooper. That’s not you.” I press my lips into a fine line, aggravated by how rude and disrespectful he’s being.
“A second ago, you said you didn’t even know who I was anymore?! But now you do? You can’t have it both ways, babe. And FYI, thanks a lot for the ego boost. It’s always great to hear that your girlfriend is losing interest in you, preferring the company of men who beat each other to a pulp for a stupid hockey puck!”
“Is that really how you see me? No, you know what? Scratch that. Answer me this instead. Is that all I am to you? Just someone you like having at your beck and call so you know there is always someone available to stroke your already large and inflated ego?”
“I never said that,” he scolds.
“No, but you did imply it,” I counter back with the same vehemence in my tone.
“Stop putting words in my mouth, Charlotte. You know as well as I do that’s not what I meant!” he shouts, tugging at the strands of his hair.
“Well, that’s what I heard!”
“Not my fucking fault that you only hear what you want to hear. That’syourproblem. Not mine,” he spits out aggressively.
“You know what, Cooper? Maybe we should take a breather and cool down. Shouting at each other will get us nowhere, and we really should think about how we should go from here.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he balks.
“I mean that maybe we should think long and hard if we want to continue with this relationship or not,” I finally muster the courage to say, knowing that is exactly where this conversation is leading us. “We’ve postponed this conversation far too long as it is. Tonight seems as good as any to finally see if there’s even a future for us.”
“Babe, you’re talking nonsense.” Cooper shakes his head incredulously, almost as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “You and I are endgame. That’s just who we are.”
“I thought so, too, but it no longer feels that way to me. Maybe when we were younger, but not anymore. I think that somewhere along the line, something changed between us, and we didn’t even stop to pay attention to it. I think we just grew up to be very different people who see life differently. No one’s at fault here. It happens all the time with people who stay in long-distance relationships for too long. It’s only natural that we’ve grown apart.”
“You know what?” he snarls, picking his coat up from the couch. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to this bullshit. You’re not making any sense, and before you say something that we will both regret, I think it’s best that I stay the night over at a hotel and give us time to cool off.”
“Cooper, you can’t leave. We’re right in the middle of a serious discussion that affects both our lives. Are you really going to walk out in the middle of such an important conversation?” I ask, hurt that he would do that to me.
“I don’t know what you want from me, Charlotte, but asking me to stay and listen to you rant about how we no longer make sense is just plain cruel. Even for you. Nah, babe. Best I leave now and let you sleep on it. Tomorrow, you’ll feel differently.”
“Coop,” I insist when he starts rushing towards the door.
“We had a bad night, babe. That’s all this is. And yeah, maybe I fucked up by calling you my fiancée at Piper’s party, but I honestly thought that’s where we were headed anyway. I guess I’m more invested in our ten-year relationship than you are. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up.”
“Coop—”
“Nah, Lottie. I don’t want to talk about this shit anymore. Like I said before, you and I are endgame. Been like that since we were sixteen. If you somehow lost track of that, that’s on you. Not me. Call me when you finally come to your senses and realize that there’s no other guy that would put up with shit like this if he didn’t love you with his whole heart.”
Coop picks up the overnight bag he left right by the front door, and I say, “Coop, don’t go.”
“Give me one good reason why I should stay. One, babe.”
“Please, just stop and talk to me. We can’t leave it like this. Just stay so we can hash things out. Please,” I beg, needing us to come to a final resolution since living in this continuous limbo has stolen enough years of my life as it is.
“You want me to stay?” he asks menacingly, dropping his bag with a loud thud to the floor. “Fine. I’ll stay. With one condition. We fuck first and talk second.”
I’m stunned and speechless at his coarse offer.
“Well, Charlotte? If I stay and we make up, we’re going to fuck anyway, so I’m just anticipating things. The ball is in your court, babe. What will it be?”
