Page 78 of Swiped By My Dad's Best Friend
“Yeah, until the next young guy comes along.”
“No, Matt. It’s not like that. Cooper is it for me, okay? I’m in love with him, and that’s not changing.”
“I can’t talk about this with you,” he said.
“Then tell me how he’s really doing at least, and get me out of your hair.”
Matthew seemed reluctant to answer. After a lengthy pause, he finally said, “He really is sleeping a lot of the time. Even if I wanted to let you visit, he’s not very active. He gets up to eat and shower, and even that seems to take it out of him. He’s getting a lot of headaches. The doctor said that should improve within a week or two.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Don’t bother thanking me. If I have my way, hewillreconsider this relationship.”
“Understood.”
“Drive safe when you go,” Matthew said before hanging up.
Well, that could have gone worse. At least he hadn’t wished bodily injury on me. Now that I had news about Cooper, I felt as if I could breathe properly for the first time since leaving him at the ER. But I didn’t fool myself. I had a long way to go before Matthew was ready to accept me as a suitable partner for his son.
And until he did, my future with Cooper was far from certain.
23
COOPER
“Between your extensions and Thanksgiving break, you should be able to catch up on everything,” Dad said as he set a stack of printouts on the coffee table in front of the sofa where I’d been lounging with the TV on; I couldn’t really watch it, but I could listen to it. “I also brought you some lunch.”
He sat a fat burrito wrapped in foil on the table beside the stack of paper.
“I got everything printed out so you can work on it off screen.”
“Great,” I muttered, less than happy with my situation as I sat up and sorted through the assignments. Most of it involved essay writing, reading assignments, and test prep. I could manage that, I hoped. Reading was still a bit dodgy. Concentrating on anything at all was a struggle.
That was the only explanation I had for why I hadn’t fought harder to get my phone back. I’d looked for it a bit this morning, but I’d gotten distracted by a visit from Kev, there to check in and reassure me the guys were continuing on the housing projects without me. I hadn’t had the heart to tell him my grades were likely to torpedo the whole thing. Maybe there was a chance we could withdraw my name, due to the accident, and the frat could still win.
Dad settled on the arm of the sofa, watching me as I unwrapped my burrito and took a bite.
“You know, your grades were in better shape than I expected,” he said casually. “And most of your professors said your work had been getting better lately.”
I swallowed a bite of my burrito and set aside the assignments, not anywhere ready to read through the details yet. “I’ve been trying.”
He nodded. “It shows. I always knew you could do it if you just applied yourself.”
I used to think it’d feel good to have my dad’s approval after so many years failing to live up to his expectations. But instead, I felt like an imposter, like I was accepting praise for something I didn’t deserve. “I couldn’t have done it without Trace.”
“Oh, I don’t believe that.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? You’ve had a front row seat for the past few years. College isn’t easy for me.”
For once, Dad seemed to really hear me. “Why is that, Cooper? You’re so smart.”
I grimaced. “I don’t know. I just…never really wanted to be here, I guess.”
“What?” He sounded shocked.
I shrugged, focusing on my burrito instead of looking at Dad’s face. “I told you I wasn’t sure about going to college before I ever enrolled.”
“You were still upset about your mom. We all were. The best thing for you was to move on with your life, focus on new things.”
