Page 53 of Tell Me Again

God, please believe me, Coop.

He nods once, his eyes still closed. “I... want this. You. Us. I-I want us.”

That sounds almost like an invitation, and I want to latch onto it, offer to stay, make him all the huge promises that I’ll do everything in my power to keep. But I can still hear his reluctance, and I don’t want to push. I cup his cheek and gently tilt his chin so he’s looking at me. Then I lean in and brush the softest of kisses on his lips.

It’s so damn good.

It takes me a moment to speak, and when I do, the conviction in my voice is almost gone. “I’ll go now. But I hope you’ll still let me see you tomorrow—”

He suddenly pulls away, and his face cracks into his big, brilliant smile. “God, Mel fuckin’ called it.” He laughs and shakes his head.

I’ll admit I’m confused as hell. “Um, what?”

He looks at me again, still grinning, and then explains, “Mel—she told me to have a good time tomorrow... on my ‘date.’ I told her it wasn’t a date, but...”

He’s laughing again, and god, I want to just throw all my self-restraint out the window, especially when he stops and looks at me and his eyes are practically dancing. He looks happy and silly, and it just takes my breath away.

I smile along with him, and there’s a swell of hope in my heart. “Is it, then? Tomorrow? A date?”

He does that thing then where he bites his lower lip, and god, that’s going to be my undoing. That and his baseball cap.

“It’s a date,” he says, his voice both deep and soft.

That’s also next-level sexy. Lips, baseball cap, voice. God, it’s too much.

My heart’s racing now, and he lifts both hands to frame my face, then tilts his head down to kiss me. His lips are warm and soft as they caress mine, and his tongue darts out, sweeping along my lower lip and then into my mouth. And I’m... gone. It’s this wonderful, heady mixture of heat, desire, and something deeper.

Of course, it’s over much too quickly when he pulls back, breathing heavily. He comes in for another light kiss, then straightens up and lets his hands slip down to my chest. His eyes linger on mine for a moment longer, and then he smiles gently. “I’ll, um, walk you out?”

I nod, and he slips his hand into mine. And it’s so soothing and warm that I’m pretty sure I don’t ever want to let go.

***

I’m still buzzing, even two hours later as Brenna walks with me out of her parents’ house, toward her car. I wonder how much she might suspect, what with all the curious glances she’s been giving me all evening. I mean, I have been acting preoccupied, I’m sure.

And with good reason.

I can still feel the warmth of his hand holding mine, the gentle pressure of his lips as he’d kissed me, the solidness of his body pressed up against mine.

God, it felt so good. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.

From next to me, I can sense Brenna’s curious gaze. I look over at her, and she’s watching me, smiling gently, her eyes kind and soft. We stop at her car, and she glances back toward her parents’ house and then turns to me again and lifts one hand to rest on my upper arm.

“Thank you for coming,” she says. She squeezes my arm lightly before letting her hand drop down. “I know it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable thing, but... well, yeah, I appreciate you letting my dad apologize and listening to my mom rant about not getting to make the cake.”

She’s smiling at me again, and I want to say something, to thank her for her wonderful kindness, but she just sort of shakes her head, her smile widening.

“You seem happy in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you be happy before,” she says. She seems to study me for another moment. Then she bites her lip. “Did you...?”

God, she doesn’t even get to finish her question and I can feel my cheeks heat up just thinking about Coop’s kisses. I let out a short, shuddering breath and lower my gaze to the ground again.

“Josh?! Did you get to talk to him?”

My face must be bright red right now, and I’m kind of glad it’s dark out.

“Y-yeah, I . . . did.”

She’s quiet for a moment, and I’m almost afraid to look up. But when I finally manage to, she’s smiling at me again, the corners of her eyes glistening with faint tears. They don’t look like sad tears, though, and when she nods and opens her arms and pulls me into a hug, I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude.

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