Page 14 of 4-Ever Theirs (4-Ever 1)

Chapter Five

Andi did a double take at the list in her hand. She’d made it all the way to aisle seven before she realized what she was truly doing.

After waking around lunchtime, her head still shaking off the last of the fuzzy feeling from her drugging, she had found herself alone in their apartment. Like she had every Tuesday after classes since they’d moved in together, she’d grabbed the top sheet of paper off the magnetic notepad stuck to the front of their refrigerator then headed out to shop for groceries.

When she got home, she’d give the receipt to Reed. At the end of the month, he’d deduct the guys’ share of the food from what she owed in rent. They ate so damn much, sometimes she got a refund. Usually, her cart overflowed with frozen pizzas, beer, boxed mac and cheese, and an assortment of similar junk food.

Today, it contained—judging by the price—a nice bottle of wine, two steaks, a bag of fingerling potatoes and some bittersweet chocolate squares. Each of those items had been added in Cooper’s impressive script.

She didn’t mind shopping for her own romantic dinner with him in the least.

In fact, she’d bet he’d realized that collecting the items he’d carefully thought about and placed on the list to facilitate his seduction would heighten her anticipation.

Score one for him.

Not that she could stand to be much more excited about their date night.

Rushing through the rest of the chore, she wondered if he’d be waiting for her when she returned. Or maybe she’d have some time to borrow another dress from the ladies next door and curl her hair. He’d seemed to like what she’d done with it last weekend.

Why hadn’t they done this sooner?

She tried not to regret the terror she could have avoided if they had.

Through it all, she worried. How would she make sure it was good for him too?

Tonight shouldn’t be exclusively about her. She wanted to leave them with amazing memories of her. If she was totally honest, she’d admit she felt the need to brand each of them with some piece of her so that they could never forget what they’d shared. Not only this week, but also in the past four years.

As she’d suspected, she hadn’t even made it to the cracked concrete stairs at the end of their sidewalk before Cooper came out to meet her. His long legs made short work of the distance between them. Tall and lankier than their other two roommates, he was a pleasure to watch in motion. His chestnut hair had a bit of a curl to it. The shaggy cut framed his classic features nicely too.

“Hey,” he said by way of greeting.

She was too busy ogling him—now that she could do so with open interest—to protest when he insisted on taking every one of the plastic bags overflowing her fists from her instead of sharing the load. Typical.

“Find everything you needed?” he asked with a charming smirk.

“I think so. Except for the jumbo condom assortment. You might be out of luck.” She couldn’t resist torturing him.

“Seriously?” He stopped dead, as though he might sprint to the nearest drugstore without bothering to set down their dinner first.

“No, of course not.” Andi laughed. “But you should see the look on your face. Relax, Cooper. Even if there were a sudden latex shortage, you could spend the night teaching me how to give killer BJs instead.”

“Oh God.” He groaned. “This is going to be tougher than I thought.”

“To be with me? Like that?” She swallowed hard, wondering if she could keep herself from crying like a sore loser if he backed out now.

He shook his head and glared at her, something he rarely did. “To make it until after dinner before fucking you senseless.”

Good thing she wasn’t carrying anything or she would have dropped it right there. The electric shocks his promise sent through her zapped her heart.

“Hey, I’m fine with some countertop action. Getting messy in the chocolate. You know, whatever works.” She tried to play it casual and failed miserably. Because the reality was, she was dying for something to take the edge off her need. A taste of what was to come.

“As delicious as that sounds…” His resolve seemed to be cracking for a moment, until he shook his head. “Nope. We’re doing this the right way. Come on, help me figure out how to bake something edible for dessert.”

“Only if you’ll let me eat it in bed.” Andi tried not to pout.

“Deal.” He grinned.

They worked together seamlessly in the kitchen, him searching for recipes while she got out the rest of the ingredients they’d require. As much as she hated to admit it, being with him like this relaxed her. It was just another night hanging out with Cooper.

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