Chapter 15
AMARA
Ichuckle. “I’m so sorry, can you repeat that?” I ask.
Lindsey awkwardly looks at Edward. “Well, you need to move into Cooper’s place.”
Seconds tick by.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four—
“When?” I grit through my teeth.
Edward doesn’t beat around the bush. “Today.”
“Why?”
Edward opens his mouth to say something, but Lindsey cuts him off. “The wedding didn’t go quite as expected. You guys show,” her lips part as her eyes dart around. “Well, a disdain toward each other that we weren’t really privy to.”
“I wonder why,” I sneer.
She nods, ignoring my attitude. “We have to pivot a bit. Show the audience something good. Whether you like it or not, we have to get you guys living together a little sooner than other couples so that we have a storyline for you.”
“And what is that storyline?”
“That you two used to know each other, and now you don’t like each other.”
Edward snorts, and Lindsey shoots him a look. He licks his lips. “I thought it was pretty clear from their vows that this dislike is really only one way, Lindsey.”
Oh, some producer infighting!
My mom would love this.
“So I’m supposed to live with Cooper. Starting today.”
“Yes,” the two idiots in front of me chorus.
The cameras are rolling, turning my little home into a damn zoo.
When I was told that people were going to come over to discuss something, I thought that it would be the next steps.
As in, the next uphill challenge I had to tackle.
And although I guess moving in with Cooper Henry could be considered one of my ultimate challenges, I thought we were warming up to that.
“When am I allowed to back out of this again?” I ask, annoyed, my eyes fixed on Lindsey.
“Two weeks. In two weeks you get to decide whether you want to pick someone else.”
“Or quit.”
I catch her off guard as she starts to nod. Pausing, her eyes flicker behind me before fixing on me. “Yes,” she sighs. “Or quit.”
“And this whole thing ends…”
“Three months,” Edward confirms.
I smile. “Eddy. I can call you that, right? Eddy?” He scowls. “With all the respect in the whole entire world, I don’t think you guys have to worry about us making it three months.”
“Amar—”
“No,” I stop him. “When I signed up for this show, I wasn’t doing it thinking that I would be paired up with someone from my past. I came here for a new experience.
To open myself up to someone who may actually be my partner for life.
Not someone you guys paired me with because the drama would be good TV. ”
I should have known better, sure. Absolutely. There is no world in which I should have thought, hey, these producers absolutely have my best interest at heart, and they will be pairing you up with someone totally unproblematic.
Because to some extent, love is supposed to be boring. It’s supposed to be amazing, and wonderful, and beautiful, but it’s not supposed to make good TV.
I knew that. But part of me had hoped.
Tears well in my eyes, and I brush my hair out of my face in an attempt to discreetly wipe them away. I catch sight of one of the cameras, my chest squeezing. “I don’t want the cameras here while I pack,” I state calmly.
Lindsey considers this.
“I won’t have them here,” I push.
She puffs her cheeks out, looking around the room. “Fine. We’ll cut filming today. But you need to get moved into Cooper’s, and then we’ll be filming ITMs about how you felt doing it tomorrow, okay?”
She holds my gaze firmly, both of us testing each other.
I nod once. I’m getting what I want, and that’s all I can really ask for, right?
The crew packs up and heads out.
I love my home. It’s been my sanctuary. My happy place. No matter how stressful life becomes, I can come here and immediately unwind. Let myself just be me.
Cooper can either live in the nastiest, most rancid place known to man, or he could live in the nicest. I’m not sure. I didn’t care to ask anyone.
Fluffernutter brushes against my leg, letting out a loud purr. “I know, handsome. I don’t know why we’re doing this, either.”
Bending down, I scoop him up, heading to my bedroom.
Placing him on the bed, I head to my closet to dig for my large suitcase. I can come back for anything else I need.
I get halfway through my clothes when my buzzer goes off, alerting me to someone at my door. And while I wish it’s one of the girls, my intuition knows better.
Storming out to my door, I hit the button to let them in.
If he knows where I live, he knows which apartment I’m in.
I’m in the middle of folding another t-shirt when my door opens slowly, Cooper’s head peeking around it.
“What do you want?” I ask, barely looking up.
He steps in, all six foot five of him, and momentarily, only for the briefest of seconds, I forget why I’m mad at him.
Because he looks so good.
Cooper has never shied away from his body. Why would he? He puts in work for it. But while most of the players dress in, well, normal clothes, Cooper tends to be a little more fun with his wardrobe. Which doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. He’s always been that way.
But as I look him up and down, part of me wishes that his shorts were a little shorter. That his slightly cropped t-shirt was slightly more cropped, showing off a little more of his lower abs.
I catch sight of the bottom of a thigh tattoo, and I think I’m starting to salivate.
God, you’re pathetic, I think to myself. Always have and always will be, it seems.
“I wanted to come help you pack. I heard the news just a bit ago.”
I toss a couple more things into my suitcase, and when I don’t reply to him, he makes his way to my bedroom door.
His head nearly hits the doorframe. I wish it would.
“I also just wanted to—” he stops, his eyes suddenly wide, his mouth ajar.
I roll my eyes. “Wanted to what, Cooper? Come over here and annoy the livi—”
He lets out the biggest sneeze I’ve ever heard. Honestly? It sounds like it hurt. A lot.
And another one.
And another.
And that’s when he lays eyes on Fluffernutter.
“You got a freaking cat?” he asks through reddening eyes.
I toss more underwear into my luggage with a shrug. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I thought you didn’t like them.”
“No,” I correct him. “I didn’t like them because you couldn’t be around them. There’s a huge difference.”
Cooper’s breathing fills my room as he watches my cat with an intensity I’ve never even seen before.
I decide to rip the Band-Aid off before he does.
“And I hope you know—”
“I’ll get the shot,” he says through coughs.
My mouth hangs open, mid-sentence. “What?”
“I’ll get the allergy shot. I know you’re bringing,” he squints at Fluffernutter, who rolls over on his back, letting out a soft mew. “the cat,” he says.
I want to be angry. I want to be the one to tell him that no, I will be bringing my cat to his place, despite his allergies and protests. I want to have something to hang over his head. To make him suffer, and to enjoy watching it.
But if I really sit with myself and think about it, I don’t want any of that. I don’t think I want any of this at all.
I don’t want him to suffer. But I do want my cat. So I accept his answer without a word.
“Fluffernutter,” I inform him. “That’s his name.”
“Because he looks like marshmallow fluff,” Cooper smiles.
It’s not a question.
It’s not an inquiry.
It’s a fact.
And I hate that he knows that with every fiber of my being.
I ignore him.
Instead, I ask him something that’s been worrying me since Lindsey and Eddy left. “Do you know if we have to spend all our time together? Isla has a gallery show coming up that I’d like to actually enjoy.”
I can hear him suck in a breath. I could have left it at her having a show. I didn’t have to add that last part.
But I did.
“Um,” he scratches the back of his head. “I don’t think we have to be together at all times, no. But we can ask them tomorrow.” He looks at the ground. “I’d like you to enjoy the night with our friends.”
“My friends,” I snap. “As I recall, I’ve been here longer than you, Henry.” He opens his mouth to retort, but I cut him off. “No, Cooper. You don’t get to talk. You lost that privilege a long time ago.
We continue packing in silence. Cooper packs up my bathroom, a move that feels far too intimate to allow. Yet somehow I do.
On one hand, it feels like nothing ever happened. Like we’re just falling into routine again. Like we’re just two planets revolving around each other.
On the other hand, I hate him.
“So, what did the girls tell you about the wedding?” he asks softly, handing me a bag.
I sigh. “They said it was gorgeous. They said you suck when I informed them of our history. And they said they were so sorry for involving me with you. Not that it’s their fault. I obviously didn’t tell them.”
He lets my digs bounce off him.
“So I assume they didn’t know anything about this either?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Though Heidi did say that her heart fell into her ass when she walked out and saw all the boys standing at the end of the aisle.”
All the girls agreed with her. One by one, they all saw the boys and got confused.
“You know—” Cooper picks up a picture on my nightstand. The one of me at the beach with my mom.
“Actually, let’s get going, if you don’t mind,” I say, interrupting him again.
He studies me for a few moments, his eyes lingering on mine, before slowly placing the photo in my travel bag with a nod.
“We can do that.”