Page 23 of Craving Cooper

As soon as I step out of the shower, I wrap a towel around my hips and make straight for the kitchen, fixing myself a black coffee, which I take back to the bedroom with me, leaving it on the nightstand before I return to the bathroom to brush my teeth and shave. The coffee is just the right temperature by the time I return, and I gulp it down while dressing.

It’s just after eight, and I’m doing okay for time, so I grab my phone, wallet and keys, dumping my cup in the dishwasher, when it occurs to me that there’s something I ought to check with Brady.

I connect a call to him, and he answers on the third ring, just as I’m letting myself out the door.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah. I’m just leaving, but I wondered if there’s anything you need me to bring over for Laurel… or Addy, for that matter.” I have to remember, he’s a family man now, and I smile about that, making my way down the stairs. This way of life suits Brady, even if it’s not for me.

“I don’t think so,” he says. “But thanks for asking.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll see you in five minutes.”

We both hang up as I get down into the reception area, and I glance at Mallory’s desk, my smile widening. I’m surprised by how much I wish she was coming with me today. I enjoyed spending time with her yesterday. Especially in the evening, when the work was done, and we sat around talking, like old friends. That’s something I’ve never been able to do with Meredith. She’s never really gotten along with Brady, and I think she’s only met Laurel once. It was at the coffee shop, and as I recall, ended in an awkward silence.

“Why couldn’t you have made more of an effort?” I asked her when we got back to my place.

“Because they’re your friends, not mine.” She frowned at me.

“Maybe. But did you have to make everyone feel so uncomfortable?”

“It’s not my fault. You and your friends can meet up for coffee during the week, if that’s what you wanna do. What I don’t understand is why you want to waste time with them on the weekend.”

“I don’t regard it as a waste.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. The weekends are supposed to be for us, Cooper.”

Her argument might have made sense to her, but it didn’t in the context of her constant demands that we should turn our relationship into something more permanent. I wasn’t about to say that, though, just in case she thought I was coming around to the idea… which I wasn’t.

Even so, I really enjoyed last night. It felt refreshingly normal… like something most couples do. Except Mallory and I aren’t a couple.

I’ve never considered myself as being part of a couple, despite Meredith’s presence in my weekends. Given her current state of silence, I’m even less sure about our status.

Still, I don’t have time to stand around daydreaming or dwelling on life’s uncertainties. I need to get going, and I head out the door. When Mallory and I made the walk to my car yesterday, there was a kind of nervous tension between us. We made polite conversation about how difficult it is to park, and how time-consuming it is to have to walk around to the rear of the building whenever you want to go out. All the while we were talking, though, I was thinking how sexy she looked in those cut-off shorts. Even now, recalling the way they framed her perfect ass, my cock hardens, and I shake my head, trying to focus on something else…

Except I don’t want to. I enjoy thinking about Mallory.

She makes me smile.

I’m positively grinning by the time I get to Laurel and Brady’s place, recalling how I felt yesterday when we first got here, and I realized why Mallory had been staring at me for most of the morning. I know it’s superficial, but show me a man who wouldn’t like to be admired by a beautiful young woman…

I glance up, seeing Brady standing by the door. He’s probably wondering why I’m sitting here, staring into space, and before he comes over to ask, I turn off the engine and get out of the car.

“Is everything okay?” he asks.

“Absolutely.”

He looks less than convinced, but as I walk up to him, he steps aside, letting me into the house.

Brady and I have spent a very full day shifting furniture around and unpacking, so Laurel has practically nothing left to do. The kitchen is tidy, all their clothes are neatly stored away in the closets, and most of the books have been stacked on the shelves that already lined the walls on either side of the fireplace in the living area. Those that are left won’t fit anyway, but Brady has plans to build more shelves upstairs, so we’ve moved the boxes into one of the guest bedrooms for now… the one they don’t plan to convert into a nursery. We’ve also moved the couches, so they’re facing each other, as opposed to just being dumped in the middle of the room, and although Laurel offered to get up while we did it, Brady would hear of it.

“You’ll drop me,” she said, sounding scared as he and I positioned ourselves at either end.

“Never,” he replied, and we made quick work of moving the couch around.

When it came to shifting the second one, Addy decided she wanted to sit on it, and giggled as we tipped it one way and then the other, taking care never to risk her falling, until Laurel told us to stop fooling around… and we did. Eventually.

By the time we’re finished, I don’t think anyone would guess they only moved in here yesterday, and while we’re both exhausted, it’s been worth it. Laurel’s been able to rest for most of the day, and Addy’s just about finished organizing her toys, which she’s insisted on unpacking herself, stashing them into the two wooden trunks Laurel brought from her place, that now live at the far end of the sunroom.

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