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“I learned from the best.”
I gasp when he captures my mouth with his again, his fingers sinking into my damp hair. We kiss for a long time. Our bodies move together with familiarity. It starts off sensual until it becomes an act of simply remaining connected.
There’s no pressing urge to go any further. He’s hard and my body is warm, but he smiles at me when he breaks away and continues tracing patterns on my jaw affectionately. We don’t need words. Our bodies do the talking, angled close together, lips meeting without any purpose other than the pleasure of kissing.
I’m not cold from the rain anymore. Neither is he. We’re warming each other up as we remain entangled beneath the sheets, his mouth slanted over mine. The euphoric kiss drifts from one into the next for so long I lose track of time.
When we eventually stop kissing, I roll over. My lips are puffy and tender. His arms slide around my waist and tug me back against his body where I fit. Where I belong. His heartbeat echoes against my skin and mine matches his. Our two hearts beat as one.
“Goodnight, beautiful.” His rasp is followed by the brush of his lips against my bare shoulder.
“Night,” I murmur.
Cooper’s fingers thread with mine and he moves our joined hands to rest over my heart. It feels like he’s mouthing something else against me, but I can’t be sure.
I’ve made plans and goals for everything in my life. It’s a strategy I’ve clung to for so long, not only for my academic dreams, but anything I’ve ever wanted to do. The structure helped me deal with crippling anxiety of what to do next. By having the steps to visualize how to get from ideas and goals to reality, I didn’t feel like that anymore.
I’ve always been afraid to let go of my planning crutch. If I don’t have a guided path to reach my goals, they seem unattainable. My brother’s best friend is the one who helped me see it doesn’t have to be like that all the time. Not planning doesn’t mean failure.
Cooper taught me to be confident in myself. To let the waves of life take me where I’m going instead of planning out every second. It feels amazing to let go and just be, to not know what’s coming next or after that.
This summer might have started with one of my craziest plans ever, but somehow it’s brought me so much more than my original goal that’s been met countless times over. And the thing is, this was all to ditch my V-card before college and catch up with everyone else’s experience level, but I haven’t thought about seeing anyone else. Not once.
I no longer fear I’m not fitting in because I spent so long focused on my studies. New people come up to me all the time on campus and I don’t freeze up while wondering how I’m supposed to act. I go to parties and have time to study for everything I’m working toward to achieve my five year plan.
I’m living the college life I wanted thanks to Cooper. He didn’t only become my tutor in the bedroom. We’re far beyond that. He’s become so much more; taught me so much about myself.
A drowsy, content sigh from him ghosts across my skin, piercing my thoughts. He holds me closer, his arms locking tight around me. It always feels like he doesn’t want to let me go when I’m in his arms. The way his lips automatically graze my shoulder and he inhales as if he’s trying to commit me to memory makes me smile. I squeeze the hand he has tucked against my fluttering heart.
This feels so right.
We haven’t had an audience to play this up for all night, yet we’ve still been like this. I don’t want to lose this. I like who I am when I’m with him.
Could we make this work? Instead of posing as a couple…could we become a real one? I bite my lip. A few months ago, I would’ve shot down that thought immediately. I never believed I was the kind of girl he wanted.
Except people’s types don’t matter. With billions of people in the world, we connect with who we fit with. Our hearts don’t care about whether we make sense on paper or based on our social media followings.
Love isn’t something that can be planned, it’s a rogue wave that defies logic to crash with all its might over us.
Tomorrow. I grin to myself in the darkness, surrounded by Cooper’s comforting masculine scent. I’m going to tell him the truth tomorrow.
There’s a thrill in what kind of possibilities awaits me in the next moments and I’m embracing it. I have no plan. No fallback if the wave I’m riding overtakes me.
All I have is this feeling in my heart when I’m around him. I don’t want to lose it. I don’t want any of this to be fake anymore.
I’m done pretending that I’m not in love with Cooper Vale.
THIRTY-EIGHT
COOPER
Tatum is still asleep. I gently brush her hair away from her face, then trace the plump curve of her lips. The dream I had lingers, my chest expanding with a warm glow as I picture the white dress she wore on her way down an aisle marked by flower petals in the sand until she reached me.
Last night I mouthedI love youagainst her skin while we warmed each other up from the rain storm we were caught in. I meant every word.
She makes a soft sound, her lips pulling into a sleepy smile. “I can feel you staring.”
The corner of my mouth kicks up. “Yeah. And? The view is spectacular.”
