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“You’re one of the good ones, Reese Latham.”
“Ready?” I ask, ignoring his statement. I know he’s being nice, but I’m not ready to go there. To talk about being a good one and what that means to him. We’re not there yet. I don’t know that we will ever be. I know that he’s nice, and I enjoy my time with him. For now, that’s the best that I can do.
When we pull up to the house, Cooper steps outside onto the front porch. I wave through the window, and he waves back, wearing a grin. I know he’s both excited and nervous about tomorrow. I turn to Hunter. “Thank you for the ride. I’ll text you when we get there.”
He reaches over and cradles my cheek in the palm of his hand. “I’m going to miss you, Reese.”
I want to say I’ll miss him too, but to be honest, I’m just not so sure that I will. That makes me sound like a horrible person, but I refuse to lie to him. This thing between us, whatever it is, is still new. I don’t know that I’m at the “I’m going to miss you” stage. Luckily, Trey pulls in behind us and taps on the window. I lower it to talk to him. “Hi.”
“Hey, you got bags? I’ll carry them in.” He bends down to peer into the car and waves at Hunter. “What’s up, man?” he says in greeting.
“Yes. Thanks. Trey.” I reach the handle and push open the door. Looking over my shoulder, I say, “Thanks again, Hunter, for tonight and the ride. I’ll text you,” before climbing out of his car and grabbing my purse and small tote, while Trey removes my suitcase from the trunk. I wave at Hunter and follow Trey up onto the porch.
As soon as I’m within reaching distance, Cooper lifts me from my feet and spins me in the air, causing me to laugh. “Woo!” he cheers. “Combine, baby.” He puts me back on my feet, and his brown eyes are filled with excitement when he looks at me. “I can’t believe it’s here, Reese. This is… everything I’ve been working for. I can’t believe it’s finally here.”
I wrap my arms around him and hug him tight. “You deserve this, Coop. You’re going to be great.”
The sound of a horn beeping pulls our attention to the driveway. Hunter sticks his hand out the window and waves as he slowly drives away.
“Let’s get you inside. It’s too damn cold out here.” With his hand wrapped around mine, Cooper pulls me into the house. My suitcase joins the bevy of others in the living room. Everyone is packed and ready to go on this adventure. I’m so excited for all three of them and what the future might hold.
Cooper pulls me behind him into the kitchen and lifts me onto the counter. Grabbing a paper plate, he adds a slice of pizza and pulls a bottle of water from the fridge before handing it to me.
“Thanks.” He nods. “How are the nerves?”
“Okay. I think. I’m sure once we get there, it will be way worse. Then again, maybe not. I’m just going to go out there and do what I do. I’m in shape, and these hands—” He holds them up to show me. “—are on fire.”
“Modest as always,” I tease.
He flashes me a grin. “Thanks for coming. I wasn’t sure you were going to.”
“Of course I was going to come. No way am I missing this. I feel like it’s been me on this journey with you. All the way.”
“You and me,” he says as Tessa comes into the room.
“Road trip,” Tessa sings, hopping up on the counter next to me. “How was your date?”
“Fine. We had pizza and went to see a movie.”
“Fine,” she mocks.
“What? It was fine. Hunter’s a nice guy.”
“The train’s rolling out at seven in the morning,” Nixon says, joining us. He walks over to stand in front of Tessa, giving her his back. She doesn’t hesitate to wrap her arms and legs around him, climbing onto his back.
“We better get to bed. You guys especially.”
“Nah, that’s why we’re going down a day early. That way, we can get there, chill, and get a good night’s sleep.”
“Night!” Tessa calls as Nixon carries her out of the room.
“I guess we better get to bed,” I say, jumping off the counter and tossing my plate. I keep my water to take with me to bed.
“You coming to my room?” Cooper asks.
This will be the first time I’ve stayed over since that night. “The couch is fine.”
“Reese.” He reaches for my hand. “Please.” His voice is soft yet pleading. “I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself. This is big, and every time I’ve ever thought of this moment, you were there every step of the way.”
