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Cooper’s fingertips find my chin and guide me to look at him. His brown eyes move over my face while he slips the washcloth between my legs. I wince, and he nods with a hum.
“I read that you can be sore after the first time. Come here.” He lifts me again, not letting me get to my feet. We step into the shower sauna and he puts me in his lap once the steam setting starts. “This will help, then we can take a soak in the tub.”
“You read about it?” I tilt my head curiously.
“Mm.” Cooper undoes my braids, carding his fingers through my hair until it’s loose. “I told you before, I’ve never been someone’s first time. I wanted to make it good for you.”
My cheeks fill with heat. It’s not from the steam. Ignoring the swell in my chest, I lean against him, closing my eyes.
We spend a few minutes in the sauna before Cooper runs a bath. He sits behind me and draws me back so I’m laying against his chest, cradled in his embrace. He doesn’t stop touching me once, caressing my skin anywhere he can reach.
I didn’t need my first time to be something special or perfect, but he made it exactly what I needed. Part of me—a worryingly large part—wishes this was real, because he and I fit so well together.
Cooper’s words from earlier burn into my brain:this piece of you is always going to be mine, baby.
TWENTY
COOPER
Ever since Tatum gave me her virginity, I’ve had this phantom feeling of holding her in my arms like I did for an hour in the tub afterwards. I wanted nothing more than to sink my cock back into the divine wet heat of her body, but I also was seriously worried about hurting her. The most I allowed myself was fingering her in the tub, which led to me propping her on the edge of it while I lapped at her pussy until she couldn’t form coherent sentences.
It’s only been a couple of days, but I’ve been weirdly anxious since she left my house late that night. A girl has never stuck in my head so much, not before I fucked her, and definitely not after. But with Tatum, all I can think about is the next time I’ll see her, the next time she’ll be in my arms.
I’m getting in over my head with this deal shit, yet I can’t bring myself to call it off.
The way I think about her, look at her—it’s not how I should look at my best friend’s sister. My gaze slides to Jackson. He balances on his board next to mine in the water, unaware of how little I’m beginning to care if he found out. It should scare me that I’d risk our lifelong friendship when he’ll kill me when he finds out I took his sister’s virginity.
“Dude.” He splashes me, snapping me out of my thoughts. “You’ve slept on the last three good waves. That’s enough saltwater for you today. You zone out any longer and the next wave will knock your ass right off that board, even if it’s a little one.”
“Yeah,” I agree because it’s easier than admitting why my head isn’t in surfing today. I watch the calm horizon line. “The waves seem dead today, anyway.”
It’s weird to find something that occupies my mind more than the thing that I love doing the most. I scrub a hand over my face, raking wet strands of my hair back as I glance at the strip of shoreline.
“You hungry?”
Jackson shrugs. “I could eat.”
I grin. “When are you not hungry?”
“I’m a growing boy.” Laughing, he ducks the splash of water I send his way.
We swing the noses of our boards toward the beach and begin lazy strokes to take us in. “Who’s on shift today?”
Jackson twists to look back at me and I keep my face blank, hoping my question was casual enough. There isn’t any question of where we’re going to fuel up after surfing. We always go to the Tiki Taco Shack when we’re at the beach.
“Tatum said she had work today. I don’t know who else. I didn’t look at the schedule last night.”
Warmth unfurls in my chest at the mention of her name. If my arms cut through the water a little harder to take me to her faster, that’s between me and the ocean.
When we make it to the beachfront restaurant, it’s popping with customers. Two swing seats are open at the bar and we grab them. Tatum spots us and gives us a nod in greeting from the opposite end of the bar while delivering a basket of tacos and topping off a drink. Her hair bounces in the high ponytail and the cut-off shorts she wears hug her ass, drawing my eye. I tear my attention away before her brother catches me checking her out.
I fold my arms over the rough hewn wooden bar top, watching her work while joking with Jackson. By the time she checks in with all of her customers, I’ve shaken off the strange anxiety that has clung to me since I last saw her.
“Don’t you guys ever go anywhere else?” Tatum says as a greeting. She makes a face at her brother, then winks at me. “If the shrimp tacos weren’t so good, I might think you’re stalking me.”
“I think it’s called keeping an eye out for you.” Jackson strokes his chin, mimicking deep thought. “Besides, if we went anywhere else, Marco would give us an earful about not eating here.”
She shakes her head with a wry eye roll.“Two orders of al pastor and fish?”
