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Me: Is this your attempt at a “u up” text?
Cooper: No.
I pull my lip between my teeth and gently bite down as I text back.
Me: What’s up?
Cooper: I can’t sleep. I’m too used to having you in the same room.
Is that what it is for me too?Fuck. I’m not surprised.
Me: I can’t either. It’s too quiet without your snoring
Cooper: I don’t snore
Cooper: Can I come over?
Me: That’s not a good idea.
I delete the message before sending it and hover my fingers over the screen.
Me: Bring the gelato or I won’t let you in
Cooper: Be there in fifteen.
24
ADALYN
With leaden muscles,I open the door and let Cooper inside. Dark bags heavy beneath his eyes, he looks as tired as I feel.
He steps inside and lifts a container of gelato between us. “As requested.”
“Thank you.”
I take it from him and grab two spoons from the kitchen while he takes his shoes off. We reconvene on the couch, and I flop down on the cushion beside him. I hand him his spoon before digging mine into the red gelato and slipping it into my mouth. The cold does little to wake me up.
“I’m surprised you could keep your eyes open long enough to drive here,” I mumble.
“Me too.” He scoops up some gelato. “It was worth it.”
“Was it? To sit in silence on my couch at three in the morning?”
He clinks his teeth on the spoon before resting his hands in his lap. “If it means I get to be with you, then yes, it was.”
“Don’t start with all of this sweet talk. I refuse to be teased by it again.”
“I didn’t mean to tease you last time.”
I jab my spoon into the gelato and leave it there. Setting the container on the coffee table, I shift to face him.
“If I overstepped, you should have told me. I’m not some sensitive little lamb that can’t handle the truth. I want to know when I’ve pushed too hard so I don’t do it again.”
His eyes soften, his body heat wrapping around me in a warm hug. I want to lean into it, embrace it, but as stubborn as I am, I refuse to just yet.
“You didn’t overstep. And I don’t view you that way. You’re the thing that eats lambs for breakfast, Adalyn.”
My heart soars at the compliment. It’s the kind of compliment only someone who knows the real me would say.
