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Anger lit into my confusion. “What do you mean, it doesn’t matter? How can you say that?”
“Because Cooper,” she said, hiccupping. “That was a lifetime ago. We’re not those kids anymore.”
“Really? Because I still feel like the kid you left behind, utterly confused by what had gone wrong. And I’m supposed to believe it was to protect me? From what?”
She kept shaking her head. “I thought I was doing the right thing, Cooper,” she said again. “I can’t expect you to understand,” she cried out as she started backing away.
I couldn’t stand the thought of her backing away from me—not again.
“Haley,” I said, reaching for her. Relief swelled inside me when she didn’t pull away and I took advantage by pulling her into my arms, resting my forehead against hers. “Make me understand, baby. Tell me what I don’t know,” I whispered.
“Coop,” she croaked, “I’m not even sure if I understand anymore,” she whispered, the agony in her voice clear. “Nothing makes sense to me anymore.”
My eyes went from her watery gaze to her stress bitten lips. “Nothing?”
She let out a shaky breath. “Well, almost nothing,” she amended.
And then we were kissing, wrapped tightly in one another’s arms. I reveled in how she clung to me, like she’d never let go—and all I could do was hope she never would.
I drank at her lips, tasting the salt of her tears and ten years of frustration, longing and confusion. It was a relief to know she’d wrestled with the same emotions that had been plaguing me for all this time.
She pulled back from me. “Coop, I can’t do it,” she started, and my heart fell. “I can’t be without you for another second. I need to feel you. I need to be with you, please,” she begged, her eyes roving my face with a desperation I recognized all too well—it was what I saw in the mirror every day.
“I’ll do whatever you want, Hales, just say the word.”
Her breath shuddered as she said, “come to bed with me.”
Haley
Never would I have dreamed of saying those words to Cooper after pushing him away, but in that moment, my need for him was all-consuming. I was so tired of fighting and when his eyes flashed hot at my request, I knew I’d done the right thing—I would pick up the pieces in the morning.
He answered me by roughly tugging me to him and slanting his mouth across mine, walking me backwards in his embrace until my back rested on the screen door.
I moaned as I leaned into his kiss, so relieved to feel him this close. There was that overwhelming feeling again.
Home.
Tonight I would go home and revel in every second in Cooper’s arms.
I stopped him long enough to unlock the door, and he followed me inside, not allowing us to break our touch. His hand stayedclutched at my waist as we moved into the living room and as soon as he closed the door behind him, I was in his arms again, drinking in the taste of him, my hands drifting to the buttons of his shirt. My fingers worked frantically as his mouth attacked my neck, making me gasp as he nipped at the sensitive skin.
Once I undid all the buttons, I shoved the shirt off his shoulders, my heart thundering at the ferocity in his eyes as the shirt fell to the floor and he quickly divested himself of his undershirt.
His chest and abs were even more defined than they were years ago, his muscles honed into finely chiseled grooves. Apparently, surfing was even more effective at keeping him in fine form than football was.
The sound of his husky chuckle brought my attention back to his handsome face. “If I would have known you’d have that reaction, I’d have stripped down a lot sooner,” he teased as his hands went to the waistband of his jeans. My hands shot out and stilled them, taking over.
I held his gaze as I undid the snap, then pulled down the zipper of his jeans. He bit his lip in a way that made me want to bite it too and in that moment I decided tonight I wouldn’t fight my instincts, so I leaned forward and nipped at his fuller bottom lip. He let out an anguished groan. “I’d forgotten how enthusiastic you can be,” he murmured.
I grinned at him. “You haven’t seen nothing yet.”
His smile matched mine and then his hand cupped the back of my neck, bringing my mouth to his again. “That’s my girl,” he whispered before kissing me again, his tongue wasting no time tracing the seam of my lips before dipping inside.
I welcomed him in, our feet shuffling us closer to my bedroom as we left a trail of clothes on the floor in our wake. I was so grateful it wasn’t far.
When we got to the bedroom, he stopped for a moment, taking in the room he used to sneak into regularly. “My God, this hasn’t changed at all,” he said.
I stood before him now in my bra and panties and reached behind me to unhook my bra. “The woman it belongs to hasn’t changed much either,” I reminded him.
