“I’m still grounded, guys,” I said, pulling in front of my house. “Sorry, but you guys are on your own.” I jumped out of Jen’s BMW and held the door for her while she walked around to the driver’s side. Surprisingly, Cooper got out as well.
“Shotgun!” Hastings yelled.
“I’m going home too,” Coop stated. “So you can have shotgun.”
“Leaving me all alone with your lady, Hill?” Hastings asked, grinning like an idiot.
I noticed the pained look on Coop’s face. He was embarrassed and I hated to see him sad.
“I trust you, Hastings,” I replied, trying a different tactic for now. “But I trust Jennifer more,” I added, covering all of my bases.
“That’s your first mistake, bro,” he said, sliding into the passenger seat without a goodbye hug or any words for Coop.
“You still owe me, Michael Hill,” Jen said when she stood in front of me and crossed her arms. “And I’m not completely done being upset either.” She kissed her fingertips then touched my nose. “See ya tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” I answered, preparing to close her door after she adjusted her seatbelt.
Before I could get the door closed, Hastings had one more snarky comment. “Don’t you two boys do anything that we wouldn’t do.”
Jennifer gasped and spun around to face him. “As if,” she shrieked, sounding exactly like the chick from the movieClueless, her all-time fave. She fancied herself the latest edition of the movie’s character Cher.
Cooper and I stepped back when they pulled away from the curb and watched them drive down the street. “That was awful,” Coop said. “They totally know.”
“No, they don’t,” I insisted. “Webarely know.”
I stood with my hands in my pockets as I was prone to do when nervous or pissed. A behavior Jennifer had pointed out more than a few times when we were married. I hadn’t grown out of that move even as an adult laterin life. And then I realized something important. I now had the chance to work on improving what I felt were my shortcomings or bad traits I had developed at this age.Why not?Something told me I’d have the time.
“Even though I tease you about it, I think you look cute when you do that, Mikey,” Coop stated, smiling at me.
“This?” I asked, wriggling my hands in my pockets.
“Yes. You look so boyish and mischievous. I like it.”
So much for change.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: Cooper
We stood staring at one another on the sidewalk after Jennifer and Hastings drove off. Mikey doing his best to keep his cool with his hands buried in his pockets.
“You comin’ in?” he asked, kicking at the curb nervously.
“Should I?” I asked, realizing that everything had changed between us, and for the first time in our lives, we felt like strangers.
“Feels odd, don’t it?”
“Sort of,” I admitted. “I finally got my wish and now I’m not sure I know what to do,” I added. “I’m kinda nervous now.”
“Me too,” he confessed. “But I still want you to come in.”
“Are we really going to do this, Mikey?” I asked, looking across the street at my house and feeling a strong pull to run to my room.
“I’d like to, Coop,” he answered. “And if it helps, I’m scared shitless too,” he acknowledged.
“Really?” I felt a bit better at his admission.
“I’m just as new to this as you. Heck, I’d say even more so,” he said. “At least you’ve been gay longer.”
“Are you gay now?” I asked, truthfully wondering what happened in a day and a half, and how that was even possible.
