AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I could tell him anything without fear of judgment or repercussion. There’s a safety to being around him I’ve not felt with anyone else before. And it’s not just his six foot whatever mass of tattooed muscles making me feel safe. His life experience living deep within him has seen it all, and nothing would surprise or phase him. Not only that, but there’s a sense he would somehow know how to deal with anything and everything. But even if he didn’t, I’d still feel protected by him as we figured it out.
“Bed or couch?”
I snap out of my reverie again and stare at him.
“Excuse me?”
He chuckles, taking my beer from me and setting it on the coffee table. “You’re clearly tired and zoning out, so there is no way I’m putting you in a car alone and sending you home.”
“Cooper, really…”
“Nope.” He stands up, pulls me off the couch, and into a tight hug so all-encompassing I never want to leave his arms. It’s surprising but entirely natural at the same time. We fit together well. “You’re stuck here.”
I reluctantly pull away and look down at my outfit. A mini skirt and knee-high heeled boots. Not exactly comfy pajamas.
“I’m not prepared for a sleepover.”
“Come with me,” he says, kissing the back of my hand again and leading me toward the bedrooms. I’m about to protest, but he stops in front of what I assume is his room. “Wait here.”
As he disappears behind the door, thuds and crashes sound from his bedroom, accented with muffled curses. I bite my lip, picturing him shirtless, muscles flexing as he searches for a clean shirt or something else for me. Heat blooms in my cheeks at the mental image.
“You okay in there?” I call, stifling a laugh.
Then the door flies open, and he shoves a T-shirt at me that I barely catch before it falls to the floor. “Here. You can wear this. If you want. It’s a T-shirt. It’ll probably be too big, but it’s the best I could do. On short notice. If you want. Or, you know, wear whatever. Or nothing. If that’s your thing. You do you.” He leans inside the doorway, first on an arm draped semi-casually on the frame, and then with his arms folded across his chest.
I have never seen a man be as awkward as Cooper Davies, and I’m unsure how to react. He is known as the group’s wild child, so seeing him act like a nervous schoolboy really throws me off. He’s been doing this a lot lately.
“Are you feeling okay?” I ask, tempted to feel his forehead for a fever. Maybe he’s got a concussion from the fight earlier.
Something shifts in him then, and it’s as if a switch is flipped, and all of his pieces line up again after briefly being thrown off kilter.
He takes a step toward me with a smolder in his eyes that could melt my underwear on the spot, and I instinctively take a step back, my shoulder blades pressing into the wall behind me. After another step, my breath catches in my throat, and he’s only inches from me as he rests a forearm on the wall above my head. The heady mixture of his sweat and cologne makes me lightheaded as I lift my face to look at him, but focusing is difficult now.
“I think I’m more than okay now that you’re here,” he whispers in my ear, the warm breath tickling the tiny hairs on my neck and causing goosebumps to erupt along every inch of my skin.
Holy shit. I could turn my head and kiss him right now. Why don’t I?
Why the hell don’t I?
“Um…” I’m literally speechless. Again.
I am never speechless.
This gets a full-blown laugh from Cooper, and he throws his head back as he steps away. “The bathroom is right behind you. You can change in there. I will take the couch, and you can have my bed. The sheets are clean.” He points to the bed in the room behind him. “That way, Remy won’t wake you up or accidentally sit on you when he finally comes home. If you need anything, just yell.”
One more kiss to my hand, and he disappears down the hall, leaving me clutching his T-shirt and staring after him, wondering what the hell just happened.
nineteen
Where You Go I Go
Cooper
When I wake the next morning, Sloane is gone. Oddly, her absence bothers me more than I thought it would. She must have snuck out in the early hours but left a note on the kitchen table.
‘Thank you for the hospitality. Chivalry is not dead.’ – Sloane
The grin plastered on my face the entire morning eventually gets on Remy’s nerves.
