Page 20 of Slick Trip

There was pressure in my chest, coiling tighter. He was alarmingly close to the truth, but admitting it would mean exposing every messy, ugly feeling I kept buried, and I couldn’t do that to him. He thought I was worth wanting, but I knew better.

I sat on the edge of the bed, trying to keep the distance he was trying so hard to close. I could feel the rhythm of his breathing, that’s how close he was. Something was about to break—me, my sanity, and the last of my self-control.

“Why are you always watching me?” Cooper asked. He’d asked it before and he’d keep asking as long as I continued giving him the cowardly answers he didn’t deserve. His voice was quieter now. He sounded genuinely confused.

“Stop.” I was trying so hard.

“No. I want to know. If it’s not jealousy, what is it?”

“You’re my best friend’s little brother. I feel responsible for you.”

“I’m an adult!”

“Start acting like it.”

He drew a breath. “I was acting like it! Downstairs. With Luke. Until you dragged me up here. For no reason whatsoever, if I’m to believe a word coming out of your mouth.”

I was out of excuses, so I stayed silent.

“I could feel how turned on he was,” Cooper continued, watching me carefully. He stepped between my knees. There was no space left.

“Cooper—”

He was merciless. He had found a crack and he was clawing.

“I could feel how hard he was under me,” he whispered.

I grabbed his wrist, making him gasp. His pulse was fast and wild under my fingers.

“Don’t push me,” I warned. He looked down at my hand, at where I was holding him. Then—slowly—he lifted his eyes up, and my gut twisted. I was so lost, and I didn’t know if I wanted to find my way back or stay here and risk it all.

“What if I keep pushing?” His voice trembled slightly, but he let his lips brush mine. It wasn’t a kiss—it was something worse. A temptation, or a test. “What are you going to do to me, Jon?”

“I warned you.”

His eyes were pleading, but for what? What if I got this wrong? This was Cooper. No one was allowed to hurt him. I shook my head, trying to get my bearings.

Was he asking what I thought he was asking? Was I going to give it to him?

“Are you going to punish me?” Again, his lips almost touched mine. He needed to back the fuck off because I was barely holding on. “Or are you going to keep pretending?”

“I’m not—”

“You are.”

I was. But then I stopped. I moved before I could think, yanking him down onto my lap. A startled sound escaped him.

“Do you think you should be punished for being such a brat?” I waited for him to laugh. I needed him to laugh and break the spell. To give me—us—an out. But Cooper didn’t laugh, no, he turned his head and watched me, expression dark and hungry, like he was choosing to take whatever I decided to give. He didn’t look embarrassed or like this was a joke to him.

His fingers tightened in my shirt.

“Yes.”

It was just one fucking word, but the quiet certainty behind it ruined me.

“Do it,” he added, the words cracking with a need that altered me for good. I shifted him over my knees, carefully. He went without resistance, letting me arrange him like I wanted. Pliant, willing, and completely mine to take care of.

He hadn’t hesitated in following me upstairs, and he wasn’t hesitating now. I should’ve hesitated for him.