Page 41 of Collide

Noah chuckled at that. “I have a feeling you’re going to be hard enough to handle.”

Coop returned his smile, and pushed Noah toward Coop’s bedroom.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I don’t think this back room is big enough for me to work.” Noah looked around the small space. There was a possibility he could make it work, but it wasn’t what he wanted.

“I was wondering about that.” Cooper stepped up beside him. “I mean, there’s a lot of surface with the counter all the way around the room but I don’t know how much of that you need. The room is small and it doesn’t leave you much ground in the middle.”

Noah sighed. This was the third and last place they had to look at. Blackcreek was a small town so there weren’t a lot of options. Sure he could go closer to Denver, but he also didn’t want his business too far away from home. “I guess I didn’t really think about shit like this when I packed up and came home.” He shook his head. “If I look closer to Denver, I should probably look for a house there as well.”

“What? Why would you want to do that?”

“So I wouldn’t have to drive in every day. If this place is going to be mine, I don’t want to be an hour away from it.” Noah took care of what was his, and he didn’t feel like he could do that as well from a distance.

“Yeah, but you have time. It’s not like you have to make that decision now. Something else might come up here.”

Noah pushed Cooper’s shoulder. “Always the fucking optimist.”

“I’ll help you look. We’ll figure something out. Don’t go makin’ any rash decisions.”

They turned to head out. “It’s hard sitting around for such a long time. I’m used to being busy. Especially the days you’re at work.”

Before Coop responded, they stepped outside. “What do you think?” the realtor asked.

Noah shook his head. “The front is great. I love the display window but the back is just too small.”

The woman smiled at Noah. “Don’t give up yet. I’m definitely not going to.”

Cooper nudged him. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

Noah chuckled, and asked her to call him if she found any other possibilities, and then they were climbing into Noah’s Mustang. They’d spent the past two weeks since the football game together. Coop went to work, but when he wasn’t there, they were watching TV, working on the house, whatever they could find to do.

Cooper gave head like he’d been doing it his whole life now, and Noah was thankful everyday, he got to be the one Coop gave it to. The only time he didn’t sleep in Cooper’s bed, were the nights Cooper worked. It felt wrong for some reason. When Coop was home, it was so they had access to each other. What reason did he have when his friend wasn’t there? Noah already worried they teetered along a very steep edge; that he wanted to keep the lines wherever he could, without missing out on Coop.

As they drove down the road, Cooper said, “You never did tell me why you wanted to move so fast.”

“And I don’t really want to, now.”

What man wanted to admit getting cheated on? Especially, someone like Noah, who should have seen it coming.

“Come on, man. This is me you’re talking to. Tell me. You said back there you didn’t really think about your work, when you packed up and came home. Makes it sound like it was a spur of the moment thing.”

Noah signed, knowing Cooper wouldn’t give up on this. It wasn’t the way he was built. “I was dating this guy—David. He’s still in the military and was closeted.”

“Serious?” Coop asked.

Noah paused for a minute, considering the question. “I thought so. It’d been over a year.”

“You were in love with him?” Cooper shifted in his seat, his voice holding a surprised edge to it.

“No.” That answer came easily. “But I was committed to him. I thought he was committed to me.”

Beside him, Cooper mumbled, “Shit.”

“Yeah. My reply was a little harsher than that. I could have killed them both when I walked in on them, together. I never saw that as me, ya know? Being the kind of man someone thought they could take advantage of, and get away with.”

“All his cheating says, is that David’s a bastard, not that there’s anything wrong with you. And you didn’t let him do anything. You walked away. You’re not your dad.”

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