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“There he is,” Joey boasts. “Good season, my man.”
“Thanks,” Cooper says, taking another drink of his beer.
“Reese, save me a dance.” Joey points at me as he stands.
“That won’t be happening,” Cooper says coolly.
“So, what? Are the two of you together?” Janie asks as if she can’t believe it.
Cooper looks over at me and smiles. “If you call Reese being the love of my life us being together, then yeah. We’re together.”
I should be mad at him, but it’s not a lie. We are dating, just a little unconventionally. He lives in another state, and things just sort of progressed from that first night when I agreed he could stay with me. He’s still there, and I’m not the least bit mad about it. In fact, I can’t imagine my apartment without him now. We’re still keeping it low key, or at least we were. No doubt these two will spread that little nugget of information to the entire town.
“Oh, so you told him that you pined for him all through high school?”
“She didn’t have to,” Cooper answers before I can. “I told her first.”
I pick up my bottle of beer and tilt it back. I drain it before setting it back on the table. I give Cooper a look that screams “save me,” which he understands. Without touching the rest of his beer, he stands and offers me his hand. “Ready, baby?”
“Yes.” I take his offered hand and let him pull me to my feet and into his arms.
“We’ve had a long day. We’re going to head home. It was good seeing you both,” Cooper says, even though we both know it was anything but.
I feel his lips press against the top of my head, and together, with his arm around my waist, we make our way out of the bar. “Well, that was a bust.”
“Oh, the night’s not over. We’re just going to have our own party.” Instead of guiding me to his truck, we walk next door to the gas station, and he buys a twelve-pack of beer.
“Where is this party taking place?” I ask him once we’re back in his truck.
“The backyard, yours or mine, doesn’t matter to me as long as you’re there.”
“Where was this idea earlier?” I inquire, loving this new development of our evening.
“You were right, dear,” he says, teasing.
“Wait.” I grab my phone from my purse and pull up the camera. “Okay. Now, say that again.”
He chuckles and leans over the console, kissing me softly. “You were right, babe.”
He’s been touching me more since our night in the kitchen, pushing the boundaries. It’s definitely not a hardship to have his hands on me. “Well, you better put this thing in gear. We have a party to get to.”
Reaching over the console, he rests his hand on my thigh as we head toward home. Much like him, I don’t care if we end up in my parents’ backyard or his. As long as I get to spend time with him, that’s all that matters.
Fifteen minutes later, we’re pulling into his parents’ driveway. “Where we headed, beautiful? Left or right?” he asks, removing his keys from the ignition.
I glance between the two houses and see all the lights off in my parents’, where a soft glow still shines through the living room window of his. “Right,” I answer, choosing my parents’ place. “I’m going to run in and change,” I say, looking down at my jeans. “Meet you out back?”
“Yeah, I’m going to do the same. I’ll bring the beer.” He grins, and we both climb out of the truck, heading our separate ways.
As quietly as I can, I enter the house. It’s dark, but that’s okay. I have this place memorized. I slowly make my way upstairs to my old room and change into a pair of sweats and toss a hoodie over my T-shirt. It still gets cool at night this time of year, and tonight is no exception. Making my way back downstairs, I grab a quilt from the hall closet and quietly open the patio door and slip outside.
“I thought maybe you changed your mind.” Cooper’s deep voice greets me.
“Not a chance. I did stop and grab a blanket though.” I hold it up so he can see.
“I got the fire started.”
“It’s a gas fireplace, Coop.” I chuckle softly.
“But there’s fire,” he counters. He takes a seat on one of the lounge chairs and pats his lap. “Come sit with me.”
I hesitate for a fraction of a second before giving in and doing as he asks. At this point, I’m tired of fighting it. It’s what we both want. I settle on his lap, and he drapes the blanket over both of us, wrapping his arms around me.
“This is so much better than Bill’s,” he says, his lips next to my ear.
