Page 38 of The Off-Limits Rule: Extended Edition

I don’t know what I was expecting Cooper to do with Levi. Actually, yes, I do. I thought he would be kind, but probably try to shake his hand and say something either a little too old for Levi likeHow’s algebra going this year?or swing too far the other way and talk to him in a baby voice.

I didn’t expect him to squat down to Levi’s level and hold out his fist. “What’s up, buddy? You can just call me Cooper—or Coop, like your uncle does. Cool if I come fly a kite with you today?”

Levi’s face lights up as he pounds his fist into Cooper’s, looking so proud of himself for already knowing what to do because this is what he always does with Uncle Drew.

“Yeah! You can come! Do you like my socks?” Levi sticks a leg out.

Cooper makes a big show of studying the sock. “Dude, I am so jealous of these socks. I don’t care what anyone says—Buzz Lightyear is cooler than Woody.”

And just like that, Levi lets Cooper into his super-secret favorite-people-in-the-world-only club. It’s very elite and prestigious, and I don’t mean to brag, but I’m definitely in it. I think it’s time we make T-shirts.

Cooper stands back up with a soft smile aimed down at me. I think he knows he’s in Levi’s club now, and I think he likes it. “Ready to go have some fun?” he asks, glittering aqua eyes showing off almost a little too much.

Chapter 16

Lucy

“I’ll drive,” Cooper says, dead serious as we all walk out to my little white Honda Civic. He holds out his hand as if it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

I hold my keys a little closer to my chest. “Why? You don’t trust my driving?”

“My mom is a very good driver,” Levi says, stepping in betweenus.

“Thank you, babe,” I say, ruffling his hair.

He turns his face up to Cooper. “She only hits the curb sometimes now.”

My smile falls, and Cooper’s lips press together suspiciously. He extends his hand for the keys again. “I trust you, Lucy. I just want to drive you around today so you can relax.”

Right. I shouldn’t feel a surge of emotions at that tiny statement, and the fact that I am feeling them probably means I’ve set my bar way too low in the past. Either way, I hold out my keys with the ring pinched tightly between my thumb and index finger, as ifthey open the locks to a kingdom rather than my little Honda Civic.

“I don’t trust many people to drive when Levi is going to be in the car,” I say when he looks to where his open palm is waiting beneath the keys that I’m reluctant to drop.

“Do you trust me? It’s okay if the answer is no. I’ll ride shotgun.”

I narrow my eyes. “Depends. How’s your driving record?”

“Two tickets. No wrecks.”

“How fast were you going?”

“Ten over the speed limit both times.”

I drop the keys into his hand and give him the sternest look I can muster. “No speeding with us in the car.”

His grin pops. “Yes, ma’am.”

After helping Levi get buckled into the car, I climb into my passenger seat and then stop short, covering my mouth to smother a laugh. Cooper—sweet Cooper—is situated in the driver’s seat and barely fitting inside the vehicle. His long legs are scrunched up so his bent knee is pretty much beside the wheel, and he has the window down so he can hang his elbow out.

“Something funny?” he asks with raised eyebrows.

And yes, the sight is hilarious, but it’s also something else. It’s…hot. Don’t ask me how it’s possible, but the fact is, seeing this huge man packed like a sardine into my tiny old car, with his hand draped over the steering wheel like it’s the most normal thing in the world, is doing things to my body. Good things. Delicious things. Things that make me want Cooper to do things to me too. But not before he takes off his shirt and turns his hat around backward and drives me around town with a trunk loaded down with groceries. Do I need better fantasies?

“Do you maybe want to scoot your seat back a little, Cooper?”

“I already did,” he says gravely.

“You look like you’re heading to the circus.” The sexy circus, but still.

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