He laughed out loud. “Good point. I guess you weren’t,” he agreed. “I sorta wished I’d known though. Think of the blue balls I coulda saved myself from.”
“How about I prevent you from suffering such a horrible plight in the future?” I teased.
Mikey pulled me into his arms and held me tight. “I love you so much, Coop. I hope you know that.”
“I’m beginning to,” I whispered, his hug straining my ability to breathe. “Unless of course you smother me to death.”
He released me and held me back, his hands on my biceps, studying me as his eyes welled up. “I need you to believe me,” he said. “I’m sorry I took so long.”
“I believe you,” I whispered, struggling not to burst into tears. His words of affirmation were exactly what I craved every single day since he told me he wanted to be with me. “Doesn’t mean that I’m not afraid sometimes though,” I confessed.
He lifted my chin so he could look into my eyes. “I’m afraid too, Coop.”
“You are?” I asked, wondering how that could be possible. “But you know I’ve been crazy about you our whole lives, Mikey. I’ve always wanted to be with you.”
He grabbed my hand and led me to the bathroom, positioning me in front of him and in front of the mirror above the sink. “See that?” he asked.
I nodded, holding his hands that were locked around my waist.
“I want this forever, Coop. I can’t lose you.”
We locked eyes in the mirror and I felt something significant in his words. Mikey was intense and purposeful in his words. “I can do that,” I stated.
“And you’re sure?”
“As sure as I possibly can be,” I answered. “I’ve loved you all of my life. How could I stop now?”
Mikey smiled and rested his chin on my shoulder, gazing at my reflection. “There are so many things I want for us, Coop, and I don’t want to waste a single day.”
I spun around and met his gaze. “I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, Mikey, but you are so different lately.”
The corner of his mouth turned down.
“Hold on. Hear me out,” I advised. “I was going to tell you that I like the change. I like the confidence that you have in us too. You make me feel that even though we’re still young that we can do anything as a couple.”
“Because we can, Coop, and I want to experience everything with you by my side,” he said. “I’ll never be able to explain to you what you mean to me, but I plan on spending my entire life trying to prove it to you.”
“You just did,” I said, kissing him on the cheek and stepping around him then heading toward his dresser.
“Boys?” Kathleen yelled from downstairs. “Breakfast is getting cold.”
“I’m digging Sundays,” Mikey said, following right behind me. “I’m beginning to see why you like ‘em so much.”
“Just you wait,” I stated, flinging a pair of clean boxers at him and helping myself to one of his pairs. “You’ll see. Every day is like Sunday.”
“I’m counting on it,” he said while adjusting the waistband of my boxers. “You are so fucking sexy.”
I held my hand up to his face. “Don’t start,” I warned, already feeling my boxers expanding. “I mean it,” I added as I squirmed away, fighting off his advance and running for the door.
He grabbed me and spun me around, smothering my mouth with his. He kissed me with such longing that I swear I felt it in my toes. “Hang onto that until after breakfast,” he said.
“Boys. Breakf . . .” Kathleen began.
“Coming!” we yelled in unison, cutting her off.
We hurried down the stairs to breakfast, like so many times before over our lifetime of friendship. A friendship that had evolved into a dream come true for me. I couldn’t remember ever being happier.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT: Mike
