Page 44 of Swiped By My Dad's Best Friend
“I know you did,” I said quietly. “How about we go talk somewhere private?”
Cooper nodded as the redhead offered, “You can talk in our office if you want.”
I turned, extending my hand. “Sorry to be so rude. I’m Trace Laurie.”
The pretty boy extended a hand. “Benji. And this is Ace.”
“Sorry,” Cooper said. “Trace is…a friend of the family.”
Ace’s eyebrows lifted, but he didn’t question Cooper’s words. I suspected they could see our relationship went beyond “family friends.” But I’d leave it to Cooper to decide how much to reveal.
“I was thinking we might take a drive. We can get a coffee and talk.” I glanced at Cooper, and he nodded. “I can take you wherever you need to go after that.”
I hoped he’d need to go to my bed, but I wasn’t about to announce that in front of his friends.
“Okay, sure.” His voice was a little hollow. “Thanks, guys, for letting me gatecrash your evening.”
Ace stepped forward, giving him a quick hug and thump on the back. “Anytime, man. You know that.”
“Yeah, if that frat gets too annoying, feel free to visit,” Benji added. “Ace misses his bros.”
Ace didn’t look as if he were missing anything as he slung an arm over Benji’s shoulders and smiled down at him. Goddamn, but what a beautiful sight, seeing two young men so openly in love. I wondered how my life might have been different if I’d had friends like these when I was Cooper’s age. It took me a long time to find the courage to go into a gay bar, given the AIDS epidemic, much less embrace my sexual orientation.
The moment the apartment door closed behind us, I pinned Cooper to the wall and kissed him. He melted into me, parting his lips and giving me everything I wanted.
We’d done so much together via video chat. I’d wrung dozens of orgasms from my boy. But standing in a dim hallway, kissing him, transported me to our first time all over again. Sexting paled in comparison to having a living, breathing man pressed against me. I felt his quick breaths, tasted his flavor, and soaked in his body warmth.
This was real. This was what I wanted.
But first things first.
I pulled back, tipping my forehead to his. “You taste like weed and mint,” I murmured. “It’s a surprisingly nice flavor.”
“Yeah, I smoked a little,” he said hesitantly.
“You’re entitled. Sounds like your day hasn’t been the best?”
He sighed. “No, but it’s my own fault. I’ve fucked up everything. Which is why I need to be punished.” His eyes implored me. “Will you do it? Please? You can make it hurt more this time. I deserve that—”
I cut him off with another kiss, this one hard but swift.
“We’ll discuss that in the car. Come on. Let’s get that coffee.”
Slipping my arm around his shoulders, I guided him through the parking lot, then paused to open his door for him. He glanced sidelong at me. “I don’t know if I should feel charmed you’re being such a gentleman, or ashamed that I look such a mess you don’t think I can open a door.”
“Get in, brat.”
His laugh was a balm to my worry about what had Cooper beating himself up so hard that he wanted me to beat his ass too. I could tell he was serious. He didn’t want a fun, sexy spanking followed by a blow job. Hewantedto be punished.
And before I could help him, I had to know why.
13
COOPER
Iwas starting to feel a little ridiculous for melting down in such dramatic fashion. Trace had rushed to rescue me, and why? Because I’d failed a quiz? Because I had a low GPA—my own fucking fault—and couldn’t figure out how to dig myself out of my own hole? Some people had real fucking problems. Trace had better things to do than baby-sit me.
My thoughts swirled, a storm of guilt and self-incrimination, while Trace quietly navigated the streets with the help of his GPS. True to his word, he swung into a coffee shop drive-through. “What would you like?”
