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“How have you been?” Alan asks her.
“Good,” says Bailey. When she finally looks my way, her eyes widen. It’s almost funny how awkward this is. Except if Alan finds out, he’d go ballistic.
“Good,” says Alan absently. “Did you get your invitation? I know Mom is looking forward to seeing you.”
“I sent my RSVP last week,” says Bailey. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
Another long beat passes. I can practically hear the clock ticking.
“This has been fun, Alan,” I say dryly. “But we’ve really got to go.”
“Yeah, okay,” he says. “I won’t keep you much longer. Seriously though, about your girlfriend—”
Bailey’s gasp is audible. Cooper and I rush to cover it at the same time.
“It’s not—” I stammer, cutting off with a huff as Cooper elbows me hard.
“That’s what happens when you listen to gossip,” says Cooper coolly. He waits until Alan looks at him. “I’m not a girl.”
“Excuse me?” Alan asks, clearly confused.
You took the words right out of my mouth, big brother.
Cooper steps close and slides an arm around my waist, pulling until our hips bump together. My brain stutters to a halt.
“Unless you’ve got a girlfriend you forgot to tell me about,” Cooper says to me with a teasing grin. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but I lose the thread completely when he leans up and touches his mouth to mine.
His mouth is softer than it looks, and sweeter than anyone so bitter has a right to be.
Cooper Lawson is kissing me.
The rest of the world just stops. The only feedback coming through is all him—the hint of his breath on my cheek, the scratch of stubble on his chin, the absolute, deafening silence around us.
The kiss is infuriatingly, mercifully brief. Before he lets me go, he catches my lip between his teeth and nips there. The sudden small shock of pain is enough to bring back the rest of the world in a rush.
I catch his arm before he can pull away.
“Uh,” says Bailey. Alan rolls his eyes.
“You could have just said so,” he says. “Nobody cares if you’ve got a boyfriend, Andy, you know that.”
“Right,” I say. Cooper tries to step away but I can’t let him. Not until the situation in my jeans resolves itself. Alan shakes his head at me.
“Mom and Dad just want to know if you’re getting serious, that’s all,” says Alan. It’s the same “when are you going to settle down” routine I get from everybody in my family the last few years. “We all do. We worry about you, Andy.”
“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” I say, barely hearing him at all. It takes all my concentration to get the words out.
Cooper Lawson kissed me and made me hard. My brain is trying to implode.
“Be that as it may,” says Alan, condescending in a way only an older brother can be. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“You didn’t ask a question.”
“Is it serious?” Alan asks. I feel my face heat. Cooper takes the lead before I can come up with a response.
“Of course it’s serious,” he tells Alan. “Drew’s been after me for months.”
Bailey’s eyes can’t get any wider and her face is at least as flushed as mine must be. She bites her lip, and I can’t tell if she’s trying not to laugh or trying not to cry.
