Page 49 of Tumbling the Cornerback

With a small smile, I let myself out into the hall, locking the door behind me.

Cooper appeared tired but good. Like... too good to be true. His hair fallen from its usual soft knot, it hung around his face like one of those old Renaissance paintings. Caught under the security light by the front door, he fairly glowed. I stood there a moment, just inside the lobby doors, and stared. He had on shorts and the t-shirt from the Queering Sports fundraiser eons ago now, peering at something on his phone. He looked beautiful. He looked like mine.

That thought sent a thrill through me, cutting through the funk and grimness like a hot knife. I must have moved or made some sound that caught his attention because he glanced up and met my gaze with a small, cautious smile. Shoving his phone into his pocket, he gave me a half-wave near his chest, cocking his head curiously.

Oh, right. I guess I should open the door.

When I hurried towards him, he held his arms open for me. I ran the last few steps, letting him take my weight as I buried my face in his chest. Cooper stroked my hair with one hand while the other pressed me to him, his heart beating hard and steady against my cheek. "Today sucked," I said finally. "I'm glad you came back. I missed you."

He laughed softly, soundlessly. "I'm glad you had your friends."

"I'm sorry it wasn't you," I said, then hesitantly added, "But I think maybe I needed to see them first. To get through the dreck. I didn't want to dump all of that on you."

"Baby," Cooper sighed, pushing me away just enough so he could see my face, "if we're gonna do this, you need to understand this right now and never forget it. I will never be upset about you needing to vent, cry, share, whatever you need when you have a bad time. I want to help you shoulder that burden, okay? And if you need space to do it, I want to give you that too, so you know I'm not off sulking or calling you a brat."

The tears were sudden and unexpected, my eyes stung. "Why is it so prickly when you're nice?" I complained, burying my face in his shirt again.

"Because it's breaking your shell."

Damn it.

We stood there quietly for a few minutes, rocking slowly with one another's breaths. Finally, when I felt like I could talk without crying, I said, "Liz said she told you where you could find him."

"Ah. Yeah. Here..." He shifted, fishing his phone out to unlock the screen and show it to me. "Phil's been sending me links."

"Cooper Howard is a badass," I read from the first post. "Saw him at Laviol talking to JCreel. Creel was a drunk a-hole. Coppertop was total class, didn't rise to the bait." I grinned at him. "Class, huh?"

"I wanted to lay him out," Cooper admitted, cheeks pinking as he ducked his chin sheepishly. "But what would be the point? I'd feel good for a few minutes. Creel... he's not a great person, but tonight, I got the definite vibe he's not happy with himself. Like, deeply unhappy."

"So that gives him the right to fuck me over? To talk shit about other queer players?" I demanded, temper rising. "I know you like seeing the best in people but?—"

"But that doesn't excuse what he's done," Cooper interrupted firmly. "You're right. And he does need to be held accountable. And he will be. But punching him? That would only make things worse in the long run for all of us. And the last thing I want to do is be like him, Lucas." He captured my chin with his fingers, guiding me close for a kiss. We were on the street in view of passing cars, the drunk party girls passing on the sidewalk, the security cameras, but he didn't care.

And neither did I.

In a minute or two, things got too heated to call it innocent.

"We can't go to my place—they're gonna wake up when we come in," I mumbled into the kiss.

Cooper grunted, pulling away to nod towards his truck. "There's room."

"Seriously?" I laughed, leaning back. "On the street?"

"Well, I was thinking of going around the corner where it's darker, but if you're into the whole showing off thing, we can find a consensual situation at one of those clubs or something, and?—"

"No, no, no! I mean, if you are, we'll discuss, but no one gets to see your sweet ass but me."

"And the guys in the locker room," he teased.

"Shut up. No exhibitionism for me, thank you."

I eyed the truck, then glanced back at the lobby doors. “Can you be quiet?”

He grinned. “Might have to put something in my mouth.”

Heat suffused my body, blood rushing down in a dizzying sweep. “I think that can be arranged.”

We traipsed up to the apartment as quietly as we could manage. Side-eye from the security guard downstairs made us giggle like teenagers, which just got worse the more we tried to shush one another. Thankfully, my friends were sacked out when I got the door unlocked or doing a damn good job of pretending. “Come on,” I whispered, barely making a sound, and led Cooper to my room.

---