Page 79 of Her Greatest Adventure

I pinch his side, muttering, “Sarcastic ass.”

His laugh fills the hallway. “Of course you can bring your things. Fill my house with all the pink you desire if it’ll make you happy.”

“Don’t tease me. You know how I feel about that by now.”

“I’m not teasing. Paint the walls Barbie pink if you want to. It’s just a house.”

“Were you this sweet with your past girlfriends? Because I’m having trouble processing how they would have accepted the ending of your relationship if you were,” I blurt out.

Does he have an ick I have yet to see that they did? I doubt it, considering how much time we’ve spent together already, but you never know. In all honesty, it’s hard to think of anything that could be bad enough to outweigh the good.

Crinkles appear at the corners of his eyes when he laughs. “You say it as if there’s a choice when it comes to accepting a breakup.”

I shrug. “I’m just saying, I won’t give you up unless you give me a good enough reason for us not to be together. You’re stuck with me now. Married or not.”

I’m surprised when he looks genuinely content with that. “I’ll hold you to it, love. Now, go inside before I lose my ability to leave again. We can continue the past relationship talk another time.”

“Fine. But I want details. All the nitty-gritty ones that you haven’t shared with anyone else,” I say, hugging him again.

He wraps me up in his arms. “Alright, but I’ll want the same in return.”

“I’m already an open book.”

We stand there for a little while longer, neither one of us wanting to let go. It takes everything in me to pull back when my next-door neighbour gets home, their keys rattling loudly as they fiddle with their door. I smile up at Cooper, pretending we’re still alone.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” I say.

After kissing me one last time, he steps away, a pained look on his face. “Soon.”

“Bye, Sparrow.”

“Bye, Adalyn.”

The sound of him saying my name lingers as I head inside and shut the door behind me. Silence welcomes me, and I sigh, turning the TV on.

I’ve never been a rational person, but even I know that my dependence on Cooper might be borderline obsession. So, instead of moping around doing nothing, I head to my room, grab my camera and laptop, and put my ass to work.

It takes hours to catch up on emails, plan out my posting schedule, confirm upcoming photoshoots, and upload the first of many travel photos, but by the time I’m done, I feel much calmer. I never complain about my job because I know how lucky I am to be able to do what I do, but it can be overwhelming at times. Especially when I let things accumulate the way I do far too often.

It helps that I have such an amazing publicist who takes care of the things that used to drag me down, but maybe I should find an assistant. Even Noah has an assistant, and he doesn’t do anything besides record music in his bedroom that he won’t let anyone listen to and perform covers at gross bars. It was Tiny’s idea, but surely, he would have told her to fire his assistant if he didn’t even slightly enjoy having one.

I remember when my brand was simply me going out and having fun. Somehow along the way, it’s strayed from that. Is it possible to get back there someday? Or is this a forever thing?

The questions float away when one of those secret Noah songs plays from my laptop speakers. It’s the one I stole back in tenth grade, before he moved out of the house and would stupidly leave his laptop lying out on the kitchen table.

The song is one of my favourites, one of the gentler ones I’ve heard from him. His voice is as deep and hard as it always is but somehow happier, if that’s even possible. The only time I hear him sound this way is when he’s singing or when a certain brunette is around.

He would kill me if he knew I had this in my possession. For some reason, he’s insanely protective over his music. It’s a shame because if this were to get out there . . . my brother’s life would change. I know that without a doubt.

I want that for him so badly. He deserves to be recognized by the world as the pure talent he is. But as much as I wish I could help with that, there’s no way he would ever forgive me for betraying his trust in order to ensure that happened.

Pausing the song, I shut my laptop and toss it to the side. For now, I’ll just sit and wait for the chance he takes the shot for himself.

Hopefully, we’ll all live to see that day.

29

COOPER

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