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“I swear. The poor girl broke down in the middle of class today crying because she’s so in love with you.”
Cooper leans forward on his elbows on top of the table. “Sloane, I’m serious. It’s not me she has a crush on. It’s Ethan.”
That makes me sit back in my seat. Could he be right? Did I get the object of her affection wrong? I play reruns in my head of their interactions, looking for clues to support Cooper’s theory. She does seem to hang on to Ethan’s every word, but I just thought they were friends. I see now it’s much more than that.
“Holy shit. You’re right. It is Ethan.”
“Think about the lyrics in the song she’s writing. It’s all him.” He takes a smug sip of his coffee.
I mentally run through the lyrics we’ve been working on, and while at first, sure, they could have applied to Cooper, it makes complete sense they’re about her feelings for him.
“Oh my gosh. How could I have missed it?” Something still nags at the back of my mind, however. “Well, I hope he realizes it soon and puts her out of her misery.”
His smirk deepens, and he gets a devious gleam in his eye. “Not likely…Because she’s not the only one with a crush.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ethan has a crush on you.”
“No. Really? How did I completely miss that?”
He shrugs with a laugh. “Well, obviously, you’ve been too busy ogling me to pay attention to anyone else. The poor kid can’t catch a break.”
“Did he say something to you about it?”
“Not in so many words, but it doesn’t take a detective to figure out he’s got it bad for you.”
I drop my face into my hands. What a freaking mess. “Oh my god. This is all so crazy.”
He raises his hands. “Hey, at least I’m free from the weird Bermuda Triangle you all got going on, thank god.”
In that, he’s wrong, but I bite my tongue before I say something stupid and get myself hurt again. I learned my lesson the other day, making myself vulnerable to him just to get shot down. I know better now.
But it’s still hard to ignore my attraction to him now that I’m getting to know him. He’s almost impossible not to like.
“True, true. So what will you do with all of your freedom this weekend? Should I shut off my internet access just to be safe?” The question comes out before I can filter my words. I shouldn’t care what Cooper does with his free time. I have nothing to do with it, after all.
The crooked smile on his lips is like a bullet straight to my heart.
“Honestly, I was going to ask what you’re doing this weekend.” He starts playing with his coffee cup.
“Oh? Why’s that? If you haven’t noticed, I’m not too keen to have my name in the media. The other day was a one-off breach of protocol.”
He nods solemnly. “Ah, I see. Well, I was going to invite you to our show tomorrow night at the Roxy. We’re testing out new material. I thought you might like to come. If you want. If you’re not busy, that is. You don’t have to, obviously.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes me at his charming nervousness. It’s so out of character for him to be awkward. That’s one word I would never associate with ‘Rock God’ Cooper Davies of Murderous Crows, but here we are. Downright awkward. And as I think about it, he’s been like this with me a few times now.
I can’t lie. I love it.
I almost jump at the invitation but stop myself. I need to be careful. And I need to remember what happened between us earlier in the week. And on top of that, what Cooper did last weekend to get into the press again. Do I want to be in proximity to that? Especially after the suggestive article that we’re a couple? Wouldn’t my being there only fuel that flame?
“Oh,” I say slowly, trying to come up with an answer that’s true and not too evasive, but why I care about hurting his feelings is beyond me. “I don’t know, Cooper. I’ll have to see. I have a lot going on this weekend.” A whole lot of nothing but laundry, more like.
He deflates slightly but nods his understanding. “It’s cool. No worries. I just thought I’d ask since it’s new songs. Would’ve liked the opinion of a songwriting expert, you know.” He manages a slight smile that grabs my heart and crushes it right then and there. “If you find yourself free like I said, it’s at the Roxy Theatre tomorrow night at eight o’clock. I’ll leave your name on the list just in case you can make it. And, plus one…if you want to bring someone. But no pressure. Cool?”
He gets up to leave, and I want to jump across the table and pull him back to his chair so we can talk more. I’m not ready to part yet. It’s been almost an hour, but I’d swear it was only a heartbeat, and it’s not enough. I want more.
“Okay,” is all I can get out before he gives me a slight salute, lowers his sunglasses over his beautiful eyes, and heads out the door of the café.
