Page 5 of Cooper & Jake
3
JAKE
Cooper’s eyesare bouncing between Peyton and me, his gaze lingering on the hand rubbing Peyton’s back. I haven’t seen this man in twenty years, and now I’ve seen him twice in the matter of a few hours. The woman who came with him is no longer paying any of us attention and is dipping her toes into the water. I give my focus back to Cooper, not wanting to deal with Peyton and his dramatics anymore.
“I figured this weekend was going to be really busy with all the different activities they had planned, so I wanted to come out here and make sure I visited this spot at least once.”
“Same,” he tells me, looking back at Peyton. “I loved this area growing up, so I wanted to ensure I had time to come before everything got too wild.”
“Wild is my middle name,” Peyton cuts in, walking toward us.
“His middle name is Walter,” I deadpan, smiling as Cooper laughs loudly, a snort escaping his lips.
“Dude, don’t go telling people my real middle name.” Peyton lightly punches me in the gut, reaching his hand out toward Coop. “We never got to be introduced, Little Dude. I’m Peyton.”
“Cooper,” he replies, shaking Peyton’s hand. “Sorry if I’m sweaty. Hiking and all that.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. ’Cause now I’m thinking about how I have to make that damn hike back down.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” I tell him. “Maybe getting to forty has finally hit you.”
“First with the middle name and now outing my age? What the hell, Jake-O?” he replies, his hand flying to his chest as though scandalized.
“It was great to run into you, but Taylor and I are going to keep heading farther up.”
“Oh, okay,” I say to him, watching as he walks over to the woman—Taylor—and whispers in her ear. She nods her head and glances at us before coming up to me.
“It was nice meeting you, hopefully I’ll see you more.” Her gaze ping-pongs between Cooper and me, and I watch as they disappear just as quickly as they arrived.
“Do you think they left because of you?” Peyton asks, standing beside me.
I shove his shoulder while rolling my eyes. “Shut it. You have five minutes to rest, and then we’re heading back down.”
“Fucking fuck. Okay. But dude, you have it bad.” Peyton sits down on one of the enormous boulders next to the waterfall.
“What the hell is wrong with me? This is weird, right? I haven’t seen or talked to the man in twenty years, and here I am, wanting to follow him up the mountain so that I can talk to him some more.”
“Maybe you’ll get lucky and be able to spend some time with him this weekend?”
“You don’t think it’s strange?”
“I mean a little, but also, who am I to judge? I’ve been in love with my best friend for years and have never told him, so whatever. Now, I’m not saying follow him up the damnmountain, but if you happen to run into him at some events, don’t let him run off like you did today. Twice, actually.”
“I didn’tlethim run away,” I huff, taking the spot next to him. “He fled by himself.”
Which doesn’t bode well for me now that I’m thinking about it. Both times I’ve seen him today, he’s rushed away from me. Which sucks because we were friends first, before we dated.
“Okay, I think I can make it back down now,” Peyton huffs, standing up and wiping his hands on his knees. “Let’s not race this time, okay?”
“Hey, you’re the one who took off yelling, ‘Last one to the waterfall is a loser.’ No one told you to do that.”
“Everything is a competition, Jake-O.Everything,” he deadpans, staring me in the eyes. “Except for the walk back. No competition for that.”
With a roll of my eyes, I lead us back down the trail. We take our time throughout the walk, looking at the different plants we see on the way. Before heading back to the hotel, we stop at one of the small convenience stores to stock up on some snacks we’ll need to get through the night. Walking into the lobby, I stop in my tracks when I see Cooper and Taylor standing at the elevator.
“Well, looky! What do we have here?” Peyton tells me as we both stare at them. “Three times in one day. Plus, we’re staying at the same hotel. One would think it’s kismet.”
“Yeah,” I murmur, my eyes not able to leave Cooper. “Kismet,” I whisper.
