Page 96 of Something Rad
“I’m so glad you’re here, Sara,” Denise says suddenly, bringing me back to reality.
What?
I feel the slightest dig of Cooper’s nails into the back of my neck, making goosebumps prickle down my spine. I swallow nervously as I glance up at her, but am surprised to find that she appears completely unphased. “Thanks, Denise,” she says. “I’m glad to be here.”
“You don’t usually come to things like this,” Denise states.
It’s not a question, but Cooper answers it anyway. “I haven’t in the past, no,” she says.
Denise tilts her head, smiling in a patronizing kind of way, and makes a show of leaning against Jesse on the couch next to her. Something twists in my stomach as she does it, but I’m not sure what to call the feeling. I grind my teeth together, ready to speak up, but Cooper beats me to it.
“But what can I say? It’s just been a whole new world since I’ve been with Robbie. He makes anything seem possible. He always has me pushing my limits and living just off the edge of my comfort zone. I guess you could say he’s making me a better me.”
I blink several times, then turn my head to look up at Cooper. I find her already looking at me and meet her eye contact, my lips involuntarily pulling up at one side. She gives me a soft, closed-mouth smile in return. “But I’m sure you understand that,” she suddenly adds, turning back to Denise.
I stiffen, forcing my brows not to shoot to my forehead.
Holy shit, Cooper.
When I look at Denise, her smile is gone, her brows pulled together and lips parted. Cooper just leans further into me, resting her head on top of mine and smiling even more sweetly right at Denise, shameless.
It takes everything in me not to jump up off this couch and high-five Cooper right now. Maybe even pick her up in a hug and spin around.
Jesse clears his throat. “You guys didn’t get anything to drink yet?” he asks. Denise seems to snap back to life, sitting up in her seat.
“We hadn’t had the chance,” I reply, “but I guess we’ll head that way now.”
“Don’t bother,” Paul speaks up.
“Yeah,” Jesse adds, “we just grabbed a couple of extra beers when we were in the kitchen a minute ago.” He makes a show of looking around, moving the cushions on the couch and peering behind them.
I start to sit up, Cooper shifting to the side on my lap. “Thanks, really. But, it’s okay. We can go grab some ourselves.”
“Wait,” Denise says, looking directly at me but grabbing Lisa’s arm to her side. “Didn’t you have them, Lisa?”
A huge smile spreads across Lisa’s face. “Oh, right. Duh,” she says, moving aside the pillows next to her. I spot a gleam of something familiar and my jaw clenches.
Shit.You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Here it is!” Lisa squeals, whipping out the big gold hand bell and shaking it for all it’s worth, the sounds ringing out throughout the whole living room. I start to run a hand down my face but stop myself, realizing this isn’t something I should be looking upset about. I force out a dry chuckle instead, throwing my hands in the air.
“You know what that means!” Jesse claps.
Cooper’s head is swiveling around frantically. “What does that mean?” she whispers out of the corner of her mouth the me, her voice shaky.
Paul is suddenly off the couch, and his and Brad’s hands are on my and Cooper’s shoulders.
“Seven Minutes in Heaven!” half of the living room yells practically in unison, followed by an explosion of claps and cheers.
Within seconds, Cooper and I are pulled up off the couch and being shoved into the living room game closet. I spin us around as we stumble inside, taking the impact as we slam into the back shelf, throw blankets and nearly an entire box of Scrabble raining down on our heads.
“You kids have fun in there!” Paul says, before slamming the door shut and plunging us into darkness again.
“Robbie,what the hell?” Cooper grunts, shoving herself off of me. “Whatis going on?”
I shake my head, even though she probably can’t even make it out in the darkness. I put my arms out to the sides, feeling around for a light switch, and end up tangled within Cooper’s arms that are doing the same thing. Neither of us have any luck, and I swing my arms around in the air looking for a pull cord of some sort, but it’s no help. I end up snagging my foot on something (probably a rogue throw blanket) and stumbling forward, accidentally taking Cooper with me. Her back thuds flat against the closet door and my arms shoot out, one hand landing somewhere near her head and the other probably somewhere near her waist. We both let out some sort of startled grunts in response, and they’re almost immediately drowned out by the sound of giggles coming from the other side of the door. I reach blindly for the door handle with one hand, giving it a hard twist.
Locked. Definitely locked.
