Page 89 of Swiped By My Dad's Best Friend
“I suppose that’s true,” I said, playing along. “And I suppose, afterward, if you wanted to come home with me for the weekend…”
“Really?” Cooper pounced, kissing me all over my face. “Thank you, thank you. It’s not too much driving, right? I can take a bus back here to save you a trip afterward. And I can make more trips down to you once I’m fully recovered. You don’t have to do all the driving, I promise.”
“Calm down and take a breath,” I said with a laugh, even though I was delighted to see him so happy. All my Daddy instincts were glowing with pride. Daddy kink made for some fun times in bed, but this was the real reason I’d embraced it so completely with Cooper. I liked making a difference in his life, liked making him smile, liked showing him that he was worth loving.
Worth driving hundreds of extra miles for, even.
“Sorry,” he said. “I got all excited at the idea of finally seeing your place!”
I grinned. The truth was, it was no great sacrifice to finally get Cooper in my bed. I’d secretly wanted him in my home, to hold at night and wake up to in the morning, for a long time now.
“I look forward to it too, brat,” I said seriously. “I hope you know I want you in every corner of my life.”
He kissed me once more before getting out of the truck. “I’m thankful to have such a sexy and sweet Daddy coming to visit me for Thanksgiving. I’ll be counting the days we’re apart.”
Maybe it made us both saps, but I would be too.
26
TRACE
Three days later, I pulled up to the frat once more, eager to see Cooper again, but slightly nervous about whether he’d kiss me or castrate me when I told him what I’d done. But what kind of Daddy would I be if I let Cooper lose his family? I had to at leasttryto help Cooper and Matthew bridge the chasm between them.
Cooper threw open the door and trotted out, looking happy. He was weighed down with shopping bags. Christ, would I be throwing a wrench into his plans? I popped open my door and stepped out. “What’s all this?”
He grinned. “We can’t have Thanksgiving without pie. I had to buy them because I don’t have a kitchen, which is sad because I make this amazing corn casserole every Thanksgiving. It’s the best you’ll ever taste.” He jiggled the bags. “But hey, pie and whipped cream. That’s not a bad consolation prize, right?”
“It’s not,” I agreed, bending to kiss his cheek and relieve him of the bags. We’d talked briefly during the week about what we wanted to do for Thanksgiving. Cooper had broken my heart when he’d shrugged and said he’d rather not have a big meal anywhere because it wouldn’t feel the same.
“It’ll just be so nice to spend time with you,” he’d hurriedly added with a fragile smile. “I don’t care about turkey.”
Apparently, he did care about pie. I took it as a good sign he wanted to mark the holiday somehow. And I also hoped it meant I hadn’t seriously overstepped my bounds. Because when I’d finished my conversation with Cooper on Tuesday night, I’d immediately called Matthew. It’d taken a few tries to get through to him. On the third try, Lena had picked up. “Trace,” she’d said brightly. “How are you? Dad’s in the other room, but I’m sure you know he’s been avoiding your calls.”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“I’m sorry about that,” she said. “But I know how you feel, because Cooper has been dodging me. What are we going to do about these two?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to bring Cooper to Thanksgiving, but he won’t come unless I do.”
“Then, I guess we have some work to do, don’t we?” she’d said, “I’ll work on Dad. You just get Cooper here.”
“You’re sure you can convince him?”
“Leave it to me,” she’d said confidently.
But now I had to do my part and get Cooper to his father’s doorstep for what I hoped would be a reconciliation. There was a chance they wouldn’t be ready; Cooper had walked out on his dad less than a week ago. But this holiday was clearly special to them both. I hoped they’d find a way to see past their frustrations.
“So, how was the trip here?” Cooper asked as he buckled his seat belt, and I pulled away from the curb.
Instead of turning back to exit the campus, I drove north, deeper into campus and toward the college dean’s house.
“Wait, where are we going?”
Yeah, not ready to answer that question. I’d stick with the first one.
“The drive was fine, though I was a bit nervous.”
I held out my hand, and he laced his fingers with mine without prompting. “Why are you nervous?”
