Page 25 of Say I'm Yours
“Ready?” Cooper asks, bringing my attention back to him.
“For our friend date,” I remind him.
“For our date, date.”
I grab my sweater and mumble under my breath. “Whatever you need to tell yourself, buddy.”
He laughs from behind me and places his hand on my back. I lock the door and then Cooper helps me into his truck. This is the reason I don’t wear dresses. All the boys have these giant ass trucks, which require them to hoist you into the cab. I swear it’s a conscious thing.
“Okay,” he says as he gets in the cab. “No backing out now.”
I shake my head and smirk. “Drive, Cooper.”
“If you insist.”
We head down the road and make small talk. He tells me about the herd that he needs to move tomorrow and how the farm is doing. I talk a little about how excited I am for next year. After teaching third grade for the last eight years I’m finally moving to teaching fifth grade. I’m actually looking forward to school starting because this will be fun. I get to see some of the kids I had a few years ago and teach a new curriculum.
“It sounds like you’re happy,” he notes.
“I really am. I’ve been stuck in the same lesson plans and grading scale for a long time. I love the kids, that hasn’t ever been the issue, but I don’t know . . .” I trail off. “I’m bored a little. Getting to find a new way to teach something excites me.”
He smiles and takes my hand. “I’m glad we’re doin’ this. I’m glad you agreed.”
“I was somewhat coerced.”
“Same difference.” He shrugs. “Even if I get my ass kicked,” Cooper adds under his breath.
“What does that mean?”
He cracks his neck but keeps his eyes on the road. “Just that I’m sure I’ll have a visit to my house pretty soon. There’s no way Trent is happy about me takin’ you out.”
I groan. “No. He isn’t.”
Cooper’s eyes meet mine for a second. “How do you know that?”
Shit. Now, I’ve kind of screwed myself into telling him. I take a few seconds to think about what exactly I want to say. “Well, he stopped by my house today.”
“And?” Cooper presses.
“And he said as much.” I think back to what my mother always says: less is more. I’m going to stick to the facts and leave out the whole business of my letting him maul me on the couch.
“Oh,” Cooper says as his head turns back to the road. And a moment later, a loudbangsounds. The truck shifts, but Cooper gets it over to the side of the road safely. “Dammit!” he bellows. “I’ll be right back.”
He exits the truck, and I try to think of how to take back the admission of Trent coming over. I hear Cooper cuss a few times as he drops the tailgate and then slams it closed again.
This can’t be good.
I get out and head back toward him as he continues to mumble.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Blew a tire.”
“Oh, well, just change it and we can be on our way.”
He huffs. “Don’t have a spare.”
“Why?” I’m trying really hard to hold back my amusement at the situation.
