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“Oh, Miss Parker, hi,” Jane says in surprise as she stands at the hostess stand. “I wasn’t expecting you till tomorrow.”
It feels weird to be here on a Sunday when we come here every Monday. But a bowl of pasta with homemade arrabbiata sauce sounds absolutely amazing.
“Just thought I’d change it up.” I shrug with a playful smirk.
Jane’s eyes bounce over my shoulder and notice I’m with Cooper instead of Austin. “I see that.” She smiles widely. “If you give me a minute, I can have your usual table cleared off and get you guys seated.”
I nod as she heads off to the back corner.
I follow her with my gaze, and that’s when I see everyone dining is looking at us.
Cooper leans down. “You wanna go somewhere else…a little more private?” He’s clearly catching on that we have a vast audience.
I spin in his arms and shake my head. “No. They’re going to talk and gossip either way. In fact, by sundown, I expect a call from my family having gotten wind of it. Maybe there will be another tumbleweed showdown.” His brows furrow, and I wave him off. “Sorry, I’ll tell you later.”
I place my hand on his chest and look up at him with adoration. “I don’t want to hide us ever. It’s you and me, right?”
“You and me, baby.” He smiles down at me, and I feel my knees go weak. “You know…” He purses his lips together and looks up at our audience. “If they’re gonna stare, we might as well give them a show.”
Before I can ask what he’s talking about, Cooper is dipping me back and fusing his mouth to mine, like one of those famous return-from-overseas military kisses. In my shock at his quick movements, I gasp, allowing him instant access to slip his tongue inside my mouth. I run my fingers through the strands of hair at the nape of his neck under his ball cap. I let out adefinitely louder than should be allowed in publicmoan against his lips as he deepens the kiss.
A throat clears, and Cooper brings me upright. “Sorry to interrupt, but your table is ready.”
My head is spinning, and I’m not sure if it’s from the kiss alone or from the whiplash. I’m at a complete loss for words right now and can feel how flushed my skin is.Damn you, Cooper.
“Sorry—” Cooper leans forward. “—Jane,” he says, reading her name tag. “Riley here seems to have lost her manners. Lead the way.”
Chapter 28
Cooper
PullinguptotheHayeses’ house, a place where I spent many years as a second home, slept over on school nights and spent long weekends, ate meals, and grew up in, has my stomach swirling with nerves, and my hands are even sweating on the steering wheel. This is the first time I will have been here since Tanner’s funeral. After his mother screamed at me at the funeral, I decided it was best to stay away. Whenever my mother took food over or my father went to help Foster do work, I stayed home like a coward.
It’s Thanksgiving—a day to be thankful for all we have. And I am extremely thankful for the beautiful woman beside me. It’s been a few weeks since we opened up to each other and got back together. We are falling back into a new rhythm together, reminiscing about the past but, more importantly, focusing on the future and getting to know the new things about each other.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I ask Riley, who is sitting beside me, unbuckling her seat belt.
“It’ll be fine, babe.” She gives me a reassuring smile. “Now, come on. We’re already late.” She winks.
As I hop out of my truck, I see my parents’ vehicle parked beside Austin’s, showing that we are the last to arrive. I walk around to the passenger door and open the door for Riley. Her lap is full of dishes. I take the tray of food from her and help her down.
“Hmm.” She laughs for a second as we walk up the path.
“What was that for?”
She covers her lips, trying to hide her laugh. “I just think this is a little funny that you aren’t sure this is going to be a good idea, but could you imagine how awkward this dinner would be if you and I had not gotten back together?”
I blow out a breath and shake my head. When she puts it that way, yep, that would have been worse, I think. But even thinking of the worst-case scenario that could’ve been, I’m still nervous as we stand at the door and Riley knocks.
It feels weird as fuck, standing here waiting for someone to open it. I had a key to the front door growing up and always just walked in, usually shouting, “Honey, I’m home,” in a terrible Ricky Ricardo impression.
The door swings open and Austin stands there, shaking his head with a smirk on his face. “Jeez, nice of you two to show up. Y’all better not have dove into the desserts early.”
Oh, I did, only it was a different dessert.
I run my thumb over my bottom lip, and I notice from the corner of my eye that Riley dips her head, her brown hair falling in her face. I would bet she’s trying to hide a blush on her cheeks.
Austin’s eyes bounce back and forth between the two of us, and I know the moment he connects the dots. He lets out a groan, running his hand over his face. “Thanks a lot, guys. I was kidding about that being why you were late. I didn’t need the visual. Pretty sure there went my appetite.”
