Page 8 of Can We Just Be Happy Now?

He pries my fingers away from my face, forcing me to look at him, and not letting go of my hand. “I want to know what you think about anything and everything, dork. It’s weird we’ve never had this conversation,” he states like it’s an indisputable fact.

“Why?”

“We’ve been friends for sixteen years. You’d think every subject would have come up by now.”

“You know I don’t open up to a lot of people.”

Releasing my hands, he tugs on the strings of his maroon football hoodie, amused as his bright blue eyes taunt me. “I’m not a lot of people.”

“I know.” I can’t believe he wants to talk about sex with me. It’s not that I don’t want to be as comfortable with Cooper about this as I am with Chastity. I just never expected it to be a thing for us.

“I’m attractive. You’re attractive. We’re friends. Good friends. It’s bound to happen eventually.”

My eyes widen, my mouth falling open. What did he just say?

He laughs. “Talk about sex.” With a pause, he rolls his tongue against his teeth like he’s debating whether to free his next thought.

When he doesn’t add anything, I stare blankly back at him. “I thought we were talking about my books,” I whisper.

His brows scrunch together. “I think this is all coming out wrong.”

“Umm. Yeah.”

“Let me try again. You’re my best friend.”

“Troy is your best friend,” I reply without a second thought. Cooper is one of my best friends, but I’ve never thought I was his.

“Yeah.” He shakes his head, contradicting himself. “But it’s different. You’re my person. The one I want to ask about their day after school. The one I want to share cupcakes with. Argue about TV characters with. Do homework with. Do nothing with. And all of that is about to change.”

“You’re only going to be ten minutes away.”

“You know, Troy asked about us today.” He chuckles like this new information won’t freak me out. What is happening right now? “And it got me thinking . . .”

His playfulness falters.

“What?” I whisper, curiosity overcoming my struggle to comprehend what he’s saying.

He takes a breath. “Actually, maybe I shouldn’t say anything.”

I’m nervous, but now that he’s brought it up, I want to know. I reach over to his arm resting on the edge of the chair. He glances at where we connect. “Tell me.” I bite into my lip, anxiously awaiting his response.

“Only if you promise not to hold it against me.”

I nod, hoping he can’t sense how much my heart rate has picked up.

His eyes flicker across mine as he decides on his words. “I don’t know, Soph. I just wonder . . . what it would be like if we were more than just friends.”

He must sense my panic. The plastic of the chair squeaks as he shifts to face me more. He reaches out for me but withdraws his hand before it makes contact, grabbing onto his hoodie strings instead. “If I keep talking, are you going to run away?” he says, unsure of himself all of a sudden.

I shake my head slowly, as if the speed could counteract my heart rate.

He takes a deep breath, and it reminds me to take one. “Everything is easy with us. I guess I think if we hooked up, things would either get better or ruin our friendship. I figured bringing this up wasn’t worth the risk.”

“Why are you bringing it up now then?” My gaze falls back to where I’m twisting my curls in my fingers.

“If it freaks you out, promise me you’ll forget I said anything.”

“I promise,” I say after a small hesitation. Whatever he’s about to confess doesn’t feel like it’s something I’ll easily forget.

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