Page 46 of Vegas Heat

Cooper was busy between training his replacement at work and entertaining his mom while she cooked meals for him. I’m only staying the weekend since I promised the dance studio I’d sub again this week, and then school starts.

I don’t know how much time I’ll have to spend with him once I have the weight of four senior-level classes in front of me, but school has always come easily for me. If anything, I’ll have tons of time on my hands. Maybe I should look for a job, but that might interfere with my internship next semester.

It’s why I started helping out at the dance studio. I always loved to dance, and I took ballet all the way through my sophomore year of high school. That was when my mom started pressuring me to look at colleges for ballet, and I didn’t want it to be my career. I wanted it to be my hobby.

I taught one class last semester on Thursday mornings when I had an opening in my schedule, but I opted out of that this semester so I could focus on finding an internship to benefit my major.

I’m sure Cooper will find other ways to fill my hours anyway, depending what his new job is.

The flight is only about an hour long, and when I land, I practically race through the airport to get to him. I know he’s here somewhere, and it’s on the other side of security when I spot him.

He’s standing there, black Under Armour baseball cap on his head, jeans and a black t-shirt…and my memory betrayed me. He’s even hotter than I remember.

I run across the airport to get to him, and he laughs with anoofwhen I plow into him. He turns his hat backward to lean down to kiss me, and hereallykisses me good, even dipping me at the end. I’m pretty sure some audience standing nearby isclapping for us, but I can’t be positive since the only thing I’m positive about right now is that I’m back in his arms, exactly where I belong.

The dynamic between us is exactly the same. His kiss is even more intense, his arms hold me even more tightly—everything is kicked up a notch between us including the feelings. Last weekend was about getting to know each other. This weekend is about seeing if the magic we both found last time we were together was an anomaly or if it’s still there.

And in the first five seconds he holds me in his arms, I already know the truth.

It’s still there, and it’s even better than it was before.

“You smell good,” he says, pulling back and pressing a wet kiss to my neck as he breathes me in.

“You do, too,” I say, pressing a kiss to his cheek where I take in the woodsy scent that’s all man and all him.

“Let’s get home and get naked,” he suggests. He turns his hat back around and nods at my suitcase. “What’s in there?”

“Clothes.”

“Pfft. Won’t be needing those,” he says, and I laugh as I smack him in the arm.

We head out to his silver Ford F-150, and he helps me into the passenger seat, lugging my suitcase into his backseat while I buckle in. He drives us toward his apartment, and he’s cool and easy behind the wheel, just like he seems to be in every other aspect of his life.

“Welcome to San Diego,” he says once we arrive, and I’m curious to see where he lives. It’s like I’m getting an inside look at who this guy is after we skimmed the surface last weekend, and I feel like by the end of this weekend, we’ll know each other on an even deeper, more intimate level.

I’m not sure what that means or where we take it from there, but I can’t wait to find out.

CHAPTER 20: COOPER

I open the door and usher her in first with my hand on the small of her back, and she glances around with a bit of awe.

If she still doesn’t know who I am, that’s fine by me. But surely she’ll have questions given the fact that I live in a luxury apartment with a killer view in downtown San Diego…and, at least as far as she knows, I work with an organization focused on kids’ fitness.

She doesn’t know about the eighty-four-million-dollar contract over three years I was guaranteed the year before I got hurt. She doesn’t know about the money I made before that, either.

This place costs a pretty penny in monthly rent, but it’s a drop in the bucket. It feels strange even thinking that considering I’m not really a guy who cares aboutthingsso much, but I do care about a nice view and comfort. This place offers both, and it’s a monthly lease so I can move out whenever I want.

And that appears to be the end of this month.

Everything’s already packed thanks to mommy dearest and her Type A organization skills, and the boxes are stacked neatly in the third bedroom. The essentials are all I have left to pack, and I have plenty of time to get the rest before it’s time to head to Vegas.

So this weekend is about relaxing with my girl.

My girl.

The girl I didn’t even know a week ago.

While the snake trouser is telling me to get her naked, my brain is telling me she’d probably like a little romance before I fuck her until she can’t walk straight.

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