Page 159 of Something Rad
I force myself even closer to her, bending down to whisper in her ear. “Fuckrules.”
I can feel the pace of her breathing quicken by the rise and fall of her shoulders. I don’t move as she slowly raises her hands, grabbing two fistfuls of my jacket. A shiver runs down my spine and a smile comes to my face as I try to anticipate what this crazy, unpredictable, undeniably,painfullybeautiful girl is going to do next. Somehow, she manages to completely surprise me, suddenly shoving me away so hard that I stumble, reaching up and grabbing a shelf to steady myself.
“Fuckyou,” she growls.
I regain my footing, charging back up to her. “What’s your problem?”
“The same as always!You.” I rear back, and Cooper shakes her head, fire blooming in her cheeks. “I mean, what are we even doing anymore, Robbie?”
“What do you mean–” I start to question her, but she cuts me off.
“I got my end of the deal,” she says, pointing to her chest. “I’m student body president, yearbook editor, and not a total loser to the school anymore. Andyou,” she turns her finger on me, poking it into my chest. “You stood up to your friends and your family. You showed them you could get a serious old boring girl like me to give you a chance. Denise is clearly dying to jump your bones again. So,again, I ask,what thehellare we still doing?”
Cooper’s finger stays pressed into my chest and my eyes stay locked on hers. I clench my jaw, slowly raising my hand to wrap around hers. Her eyes squint as they flick down to our joined hands. My voice nearly at a whisper, I ask her, “Why wasn’t I allowed to get mad about Paul?”
Her eyes dart back up to mine and her face twists in irritation. “I’m sorry,” she laughs, “did we just hit rewind? Or teleport to an alternate dimension? We’ve been over this.” She tries to pry her hand free from mine but fails as I just squeeze it tighter.
“Tell me again, Cooper.”
She continues her attempt to pull her hand free. “Because you kissed Denise first,” she grits, glaring up at me from under her eyelashes.
I catch her off guard, yanking her closer to me by our joined hands. “And not because none of this is supposed to be real?”
Cooper’s shoulders drop. I loosen my grip on her hand and it falls from mine, landing at her side. Her mouth opens, but no words come out. Not for a very long and heated moment.
“Well…yeah,” she finally mutters, her voice barely audible. “That too. Obviously.” She rolls her eyes and turns her head away from me.
I push my tongue into the side of my cheek, hiding my incredulous smile in response to the absolute bullshit coming out of Cooper’s mouth right now. “Well then, if that’s the case,” I murmur, taking a step forward, “I gotta know, what were you thinking about?”
“What?” she questions me, still not meeting my gaze. “When?”
I place my left hand flat against the door to the side of her head, caging her in as I lean forward. “What were you thinking about, Cooper,” I repeat, reaching up with my right hand and cupping the outer edge of her jaw, forcing her to look at me, “when you were on top of Paul…” I pause, letting go of her face to brush the backs of my fingers over her right cheek, right in the spot where that deep pinkish red color rushes to her face “...cheeks flushed…eyes shutsotight…and you let out that little sound.” Her eyes widen to the size of the night sky, darkening to nearly its same color. “That…soft little moan, Cooper–”
Something like a growl comes out of her as she slaps my hand away from her face. “I hate you,” she grits.
“Yeah,” I nod. “I hate you too.”
At least that’s the only thing I know to call this emotion that makes my heart feel like it’s on fire and like my brain is about to explode and like electricity is dancing across every inch of my skin.
She twists her body to the side, reaching for the door knob again, but I stop her, beating her to it, holding it in an impenetrable iron fist. She freezes in place, staring at my hand on the door knob as she realizes defeat.
“What were you thinking about, Cooper?”
She remains stone-still for ten harsh beats of my heart before she stands up tall. When she turns to face me, the absolutely devious look in her eyes makes my stomach do a somersault. Cooper pushes up onto her tiptoes, forcing me to stand up straight. She puts her hands on my shoulders, pulling me closer.
“You know…” she whispers, letting out a breathy little laugh that sends goosebumps straight down my spine, “your eyes were shut too. Your body went all stiff and rigid.” She releases me with one hand to trace her finger across her shoulder and down my chest. I swallow hard, trying to focus on getting my heart rate under control so she can’t feel it right through my two layers of clothing. “Breathing…soshallow,” she continues, her lips forming into a playful smile. “Your face was so twisted up in focus. Right…here.” She removes her hand from my chest, reaching up and pressing her thumb hard right between my eyebrows, smoothing out where they pull together.
Something in me snaps, and I reach up, snatching her wrist away from my face and pulling her in as I push us both back against the closet door, her back hitting it with a light thud.
“Yeah, Cooper?” I breathe, our faces a mere inch apart. “Ask me whatIwas thinking about.”
Her eyes bore into mine. A few seconds go by, and her tightly pulled together brows slowly begin to relax at the same time she starts to shake her head. Her lips part. “Robbie–”
Cooper doesn’t get to finish that thought as the door is suddenly ripped open behind her and she goes falling full force from my arms.
And straight into Paul’s.
“Whoa there,” he chuckles, steadying her. My eyes dart down to where his hands are on her body, and I once again have the sudden desire to rip them straight off his arms. I don’t get to fantasize about it any further, however, as Denise’s voice distracts me,
