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Callen’s head whips around to Mom. “Always say please.” Then he smiles up at our big brother. “Please, Murphy.”
Aiden chuckles, and Mom pinches his ear. “Ow, shit.” He tugs Callen away from me and sits him on his hip. “I think Mom means you’re not supposed to call me Murphy, little man.”
“But Dad calls you Murphy. So do Declan, Nattie, and Cooper.” The kid’s not wrong.
Mom clears her throat. “Time for bed, sweet boy.” She kisses his and Aiden’s cheeks, then cups my face. “I’m so glad you’re home, Carys.”
“Me too, Mom.” Me too.
Standing here, surrounded by the people I love, I realize how much I missed this.
* * *
Hours later, after Aiden’s gone home and Mom and Coach have gone to bed, I pull out my phone and text Cooper.
Carys:Hey. I’m back in Kroydon Hills. And Callen was already talking about you. I told you they wouldn’t forget you.
Cooper:Hey baby. Wanna FT?
Carys:Sure.
We’ve tried to FaceTime a few times since he’s been gone and have been filling in where we can with texts, but I want to see him in person. A minute later, the screen changes to an incoming call. I swipe to answer and am greeted by Cooper’s handsome face with damp hair and a towel around his neck. A swarm of butterflies takes flight in my stomach just from looking at him.
“God, it’s good to see you, Carys.” That seriously sexy tone of his makes me practically purr. “How was your flight?”
I move a pillow behind my back and lean against the white-iron headboard. Relaxed. “The flight was long, but it wasn’t bad. Aiden met me with Tony Luke’s when I got in the car, so that made it better. Are you still planning on surprising everyone this weekend?”
“So far, so good. I should get there sometime Saturday, but I’ve got to get back here late Sunday night.”
I wish I could reach through the screen and just touch him, to remind myself he’s real. “I can’t wait to see you,” I whisper the words, scared to jinx us.
Nervous something will happen and he won’t make it home.
Petrified something will go wrong and someone will find out about us.
But I’m willing to take the risk.
“You sure you don’t want to tell everyone about us?” I guess he’s worried about the same thing.
We need to figure out what this is before we talk to them.
Cooper doesn’t love the idea, but he’s agreed to wait for now.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Maybe we’ll be able to sneak away.” I smile coyly. “Are you going to stay with Mom and Coach?”
“You’re gonna get me in so much trouble, Miss Murphy.” There’s no malice in his words. Just a twinkle in those baby blues, promising all sorts of things we’ve yet to discuss.
“Only if you’re lucky, Coop.”
Coop reaches over and turns off the light, leaving him bathed in darkness and the light of his phone. “Sing something for me, Carys.”
I do the same thing and turn off my lights, crawling back into bed, then sing my take on one of my favorite songs, “Kiss Me,” by Ed Sheeran. I bring it up a few octaves and sing it lighter than the original. Coop closes his eyes, and I wonder if this is love?
The two of us lying here in separate time zones.
Wishing we were together, but making it work however we can.
Will it always be this way?
