The tips of his fingers glide along the length of my arms. He lifts on his elbows and kisses my chin and then my lips. “I love you, Story. I still love you.”
The rush of our bodies coming together for the first time calms, and the air turns. I left the lamp on earlier, and now I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to miss his expression for anything. The confession makes me swoon, but the love I see written in the anguish as he waits for me to respond does me in once and for all. “I love you, too. I never stopped.”
This time when we kiss, we scramble to get naked as well. It’s not until he’s positioned over me and at my entrance that he stops. “I’m not prepared.”
“You don’t have a condom?” I ask, panting through my words. My body, a traitor, is squirming against him already to feel him deep inside.
“No. Not on me.”
I moan gratuitously and leverage his shoulders to satisfy the craving. “Oh, fuck it.” I roll my eyes just before sinking onto his erection, the back of my head shoving into the pillow, and I close my eyes. But when he doesn’t move, my eyes fly open again. I can read the question before he has to say it. “I’m on the pill.”
“Okay,” he says with a smile playing on his lips. “That’s good.”
“It is good, but I need you to move, babe. Please.”
“Yeah. On it. On you. In you. Yeah. I’m just going to shut up now.” His hips start to thrust, sending delectable chills through me. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this wanton for sex. The blame lies squarely on Cooper’s shoulders.
I smile, embracing the fullness, the tingling sensation as my body stretches for his and acclimates. This sense of wholeness that I haven’t felt since him fills my body and soul.
It’s all so much, so fast, and too slow, harder and with not enough built-in breathers as we fumble through the sheets and each other. I ride him, getting drunk on his expression as he savors every inch of my exposed body on top of him.
I drown in each thrust that hits deeper, so much that I let my moans fill our ears as our skin becomes slick with need and desire. We make love, fuck, and everything in between. We laugh together. We love together. We come, and we recover together.
Lying naked on top of the covers, I turn my head, my body too depleted to make the effort. And then a swell of happiness surges through my veins at the sight of Cooper lying on his side of the bed again.
His eyes are closed as if sleep is about to drag him from me, but then his hand finds mine, and our fingers entwine, like our hearts. He faces me and says, “I can’t believe you’re in my life again.”
“When you least expect it.”
“Best day ever.”
I slide over and drape myself all over him because I have Cooper back in my life, and I will never let him go again. I kiss his chest. “The best.”
He wraps around me and rolls me to my back with him draped over me. “Who cares about early shifts or meetings?” A kiss connects us together and deepens, our bodies coming together again.
We’re slower this time, the frenzy still smoldering inside but kissing, studying, touching every nook and cranny, ebb and flow of each other’s bodies. Making out and making love.
Sleep just about tackles us in bed after our breathing evens, and the heaviness subsides when he says, “You used my line.”
I laugh though it’s not the words but the giddiness I feel that’s bubbled up. “Which one?”
“Fuck it.”
I laugh even harder. “It fit. Although it’s kind of your thing, you’re not the only one who gets to say fuck around here.” I caress his cheek just before snuggling into my favorite spot against his side. With his arm around me, he kisses the top of my head.
“Speaking of around here, do you want to talk about your room? ”
“Oh.” I cringe. “That.”
He pops up on his hands and takes a leisurely scan around the room. Glancing back at me, he says, “It’s like going back in time.”
“Guess I blew it. You found out I’m a total weirdo.”
“I already knew you were a weirdo, but that’s okay. I’m a weirdo, too.” Shaking his head, he says, “I’m also feeling very twenty-two again. Your bed is even in the same spot as it was in the apartment.”
“It’s a new bed, though.”
“I’m thinking that’s all that is new. The room’s flipped but the same. The same desk is under the window with your camera on top. The dresser is probably still full of old flannel pajamas.” He flips the covers off and walks to the desk, tapping twice. I know what he’s doing. When he looks back at me, he says, “You kept it. You kept my note.” He then looks at the room again. “You kept everything.”
“I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. The memories we created there . . . we created Reed.” I lie back, trying not to feel awkward. I had my reasons, and they were enough for me through the years. Stacking my hands behind my head, I say, “I had you when I lived there.”
Coming back to bed, he slides in next to me. “I wish I’d had the same, but nothing at my apartment was you and me. We were a studio walkup just off campus.” He brings me into an embrace, and he kisses the soft spot under my ear. “Free from everything that held us back before, we get to be whoever we want together.”
“As long as we’re together, that’s all I need.”
When he lies back, something comes over him, and he scrubs a hand over his face. “I told you I love you. Like I just blurted it out there. That could have gone sideways so fucking fast.”
I take his hand from hiding his face and kiss each knuckle and then his palm. “Being sideways with you isn’t so bad.” Sitting up enough to kiss his lips, I add, “I love you, Cooper Haywood.”
His hand moves against my cheek as he stares into my eyes. Then he lifts, and our mouths come together. “I love you, Story Salenger. I’ll be the best Mommy’s friend you’ve ever had.”
I burst out laughing. “That should be easy. I never had another.”
“You always were too good for me.”
“I’d say I’m just right, and we’re perfect together.”
I snuggle back, relishing the quiet moments as much as the laughter. But soon, my eyelids are too heavy to keep open. Listening to Cooper’s steady heartbeat, I give in.
I don’t mean to stare but seeing Cooper drink coffee across from me has my heart floating on cloud nine. It’s so unexpected yet feels so right.
Setting the mug down in the sink, he rinses it like the knight in shining armor he is, and says, “I need to get going, or I’ll be late.” Coming around the peninsula, he holds my hips, swaying them gently. He always was a hip man. “When can I see you again?”
We’ve had a Sunday pattern going on for weeks. “I was thinking next Sunday is too far away.”
“If I had my way, it would be tonight, but I understand your schedule is very different from mine.” Embracing me, he asks, “What works best for you and Reed?”
“You being in our lives.” My words have him leaning back to find my eyes. “What about we make Mondays puzzle and pizza night?”
His smile could light up the pre-dawn sky. “Sounds like something I’d like to do with you guys.”
“Good. Maybe we just start from there and let things happen naturally.”
Kissing my forehead, he pulls back. “Music to my ears.”
I walk him to the door. He kisses me once more before jumping down the five steps onto the sidewalk. My heart stops like it does every time my son tries to do that. Rolling my eyes, I cup the side of my mouth. “You’re worse than Reed.”
“Cooper!”
Oh, shit.
Reed comes running down the sidewalk with Lila and Jake close behind.
He runs into Cooper’s arms and hugs him. This time, when Cooper hugs him like he’ll never let go, my heart stops for different reasons. When he buries his head against Reed’s neck, I cry . . . like a baby.
Lila comes up the steps and hugs me. “Must have been a good night if you’re smiling while you’re crying about it.”
“It was the best,” I say, sniffling through my words.
“Hey, Mom?”
I turn back to see them together, looking more like father and son than I’ve seen. I wipe back my tears. “What is it, buddy?”