Chapter Five
Lachlan
By the time Stephanie and Taryn were conferring about flowers—of which there were far fewer than I would’ve predicted, I was at my wits’ end. I rounded on Cooper. “Can’t you just be normal?
“Like what?” He blinked as if he had no idea what I was talking about.
"Like, why did you have to flirt with the guy who delivered the chairs and the guy who is doing the lighting and the guy who came with the champagne?"
"Who do you want me to flirt with, then? You?" He arched an eyebrow in a way that was just so fucking sexy.
"No...." Even I didn’t sound convinced to my own ears. Out of frustration, I stormed out.
And made it as far as the front door of the hall before Cooper caught up with me.
Well, you didn’t try very hard to get away.
Oh, shut up.
“Hey.” Cooper wasn’t even winded. Because of course he wasn’t. “What? Please don’t tell me you're grumpy because you're jealous.”
I glared. “Firstly, I am never grumpy.”
He had the gall to laugh to my face. “Ha, grumpy is your total personality. I thought your sister getting married might loosen—”
“And secondly, I’m not jealous.” Best we knock that misconception off the table right away. Because I wasn’t jealous. That was a completely wasted emotion. One simply accepted the reality of the situation and moved on. One didn’t contemplate what might’ve been.
Or what might still be.
He pursed his lips. “You know, I think you are.”
God save me. Truly. Please help. “I'm not. Can we please change the subject?”
“No. I like the subject.” His countenance lightened, and he winked.
Fucking winked.
“You like yourself a little bit too much if you think that all anyone does is think about you all day.” Because someone needed to knock him off his fucking high horse. If that person had to be me, so be it.
“So, do you?”
“Do I what?” I wasn’t enjoying the mental gymnastics required to keep up with him.
Or so you tell yourself.
“Think about me?”
“No.” Simple. Straightforward. The truth as I told myself.
His grin turned wicked as he took three steps forward into my personal space. “You sure?”
I stepped backward and hit the wall behind me. “Can you please move back?”
“No.”
Obstinate fucking asshole.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
Memories of last night flooded me. Brought into sharp focus what we could be doing. Still… “Cooper. Move.”
“Make me.”
“Jesus, Coop. What are you? Like, five? Consent is a thing, and—”
Telegraphing his move, he reached up with one hand to touch my face.
I could’ve stopped him. Despite the word no, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I asked his to cease his…aggression…that he would.
Still, I grabbed his wrist, switched our positions, and pushed him against the wall. “I said no, Cooper.”
He grinned. “Yeah, okay... but I still think you like it.”
Is this guy for real? How arrogant can he possibly be? “No.” Yet even as I said the word, my cock was straining against my pants.
Cooper pressed against me, brushing our erect shafts.
“The mouth says one thing, the cock says another. I always believe the cock.” Again with the arrogant and cocky attitude.
Sort of an appropriate adjective. “Shit. I think we’re needed in there.” I pressed against him. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Yeah…but what a way to go.” He grabbed me by the tie and yanked me toward him.
Our lips met and immediately the clash began. The fight for dominance. Because no way was I letting him control this. I pushed him against the wall, grabbed his hair, and settled my mouth so I could get a better angle.
He moaned and tangled our tongues together. Then he grabbed my ass and pulled me ever closer. Like he wanted to crawl into my skin and stay there.
Forever.
On that thought, I yanked back. “We need to go.” I pivoted and took off, nearly at a run.
As I hustled toward the door, I heard him mutter something about not being an iceman.
Well, whatever.
He was hot on my heels as we made our way into the room.
I stopped short in the hall when I saw Taryn, Stephanie, and the celebrant Geneva standing at the makeshift arch.
Cooper breezed past me, “Sorry.” He feathered his hand through his hair as I followed him.
Adjusting my fucking tie.
Pushing down the memories of our kiss.
Willing my fucking cock to deflate.
Geneva eyed us with an all-too-knowing expression. “You’ll be walking your mothers down the aisle?”
“Yes.” I cleared his throat. “And then our fathers will walk our sisters down the aisle.”
I took my spot beside Taryn while Cooper stood next to Stephanie.
Taryn gazed up at me.
I gave her a quick shake of my head.
“Great. Then let’s get started.” Geneva opened a beautiful embossed hardback book and began to read.
Twenty minutes later, the woman was on her way to the next rehearsal.
Stephanie leaned against Taryn. “I’m tired, and we’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
“You’re staying in the same house?” Cooper eyed them. “Isn’t that against tradition?”
“That the groom shouldn’t see the bride before the wedding.” Stephanie glared at him. “Well, we say it’s just fine for the bride to see the bride.”
Taryn pressed a kiss to her cheek then met my gaze.
“You might want to head home, then. Cooper and I will close the place up.”
She offered me a grateful smile. “Awesome. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Holding hands, the women departed.
Silently, Cooper and I organized the last of the decorations. I was constantly aware of him, even as I straightened the chairs. I still thought the dance floor was too big, but he probably knew more about these things than I did.
When we were finished, we met up in the middle.
Cooper grinned. “The wedding's tomorrow. You nervous?”
I gave the hall one last, long look. “No. I think we're ready.” I’d calculated to leave plenty of extra time tomorrow so if anything came up, I’d be able to deal with it. So I could ensure Stephanie and Taryn had the perfect day.
“You wanna come back to my house tonight?”
I gaped. “Uh, my sister will know. Your sister will know.”
He chuckled. “I’m pretty certain they’re not giving us a second thought.
But if they are, they’ll just think we're doing more wedding stuff.” He shrugged.
“No pressure. I won't tell. Not even Stephanie.
Just... just come with me and relax. Just for one night.
It won't mean anything, I promise. No more pressure.
Just you and me. And tomorrow we'll pretend it never happened.”
He’ll be the death of me. “Sure. Why not?”
To my surprise, he grabbed me by the waist and dragged me close. “Don’t sound enthusiastic or anything.” Then he kissed me full on the mouth, using my surprise to thrust his tongue into my mouth.
Instantly, my senses went into overdrive.
His scent—always faint. Like, he didn’t wear cologne or anything, but he smelled…
like home. The feel of his hands as they cupped my ass and dragged me closer.
The taste of his mouth—coffee and a breath mint.
Kind of weird but also wildly erotic. Then, as his cock brushed mine, the next few hours played before me.
Him. Naked.
Me. Naked.
Us…fucking like rabbits.
I pulled back. “Yes. This.”
Twenty-five minutes later, we were kissing our way through his front door, uncaring if anyone spotted us.
He tugged my tie.
I untucked his shirt from his pants.
He undid my belt,
I broke the kiss so I could yank his shirt over his head. I wanted the expanse of bare skin I’d spotted last summer when we’d gone to the lake. His skin was merely sun-kissed, but shone in the low lamplight. I raked my fingernails down his perfect abs.
“Hey, no fair.” He batted his hands away. “I want reciprocity.”
I started unbuttoning my shirt.
“Take off your shoes, and we’re going to my bedroom. Do you have to piss?”
I blinked. “Uh, I’m good.”
“Great. Shoes, then bed.”
“Sure.” He hadn’t seemed like someone who’d care about anything so pedantic as shoes in the house, but as I caught sight of his original hardwood floors, I kind of understood him.
Whereas I had all chrome, laminate, and shining new things, Cooper’s house was almost a hundred years old.
With the financial help of his parents toward his down-payment, he’d bought this rundown place and was slowly making improvements to it.
Walls had been his first project, with the floors coming second.
He had plans to gut and remodel both bathrooms as well as the kitchen. When he had the money.
Which was certainly not what I should’ve been contemplating as I shed my shoes and followed him up the narrow staircase to the second floor. The main bathroom had been his second project—after the living room—because, as he liked to brag, he spent a lot of time up here.
Implicit in the comment had been he, uh, entertained a lot.
Gentleman callers.
Of which I was about to become one in a long line.
And if I kept up that line of thought, I was likely to lose my boner.
So I shelved thoughts of Cooper’s past conquests and focused on removing my pants, tie, shirt, socks, and underwear.
I piled all on a reading chair placed before his front window.
He had a stunning view of Cedar Valley out that window.
As well as the dormant volcano, Mount Baker, in the far distance.
He scratched his nails up and down my back. “I know the view fascinated you the last time you were here, but it’s dark. My neighbors likely can’t see you naked, but—”
I stepped back quickly.
His laughter rang in the space.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“You love that about me.”
His words brought me up short. I hiccupped on love for just a moment. Then, once my brain got back into gear and I registered the rest of his sentence, I smiled. “Yeah, your irascibility is something endearing.”
“Whereas you’re staid, boring, and predictable.”
Instead of taking offense, I grinned. “When you saw me at Taryn’s house, did you predict I’d be in your bed mere days later?”
“Uh.” He tapped his chin in obvious faux contemplation. “Fuck no…?” He laughed and grabbed my hand. “Come to my bed, Lachlan.”
“With pleasure, Cooper.” My cock jutted out in keen interest as he led me to the four-poster bed. He’d gone all out in this room—restoring it to how it’d likely been all that time ago.
He pulled back the blanket and gestured for me to get in.
The open window allowed a breeze of cool air, but some of the earlier heat lingered.
“On your back, Lachlan.”
I arched an eyebrow.
He faltered. “Oh, am I not fucking you? Is that too presumptuous?”
I sputtered. “I, well…” I squinted as I tried to think. “It’s been about eighteen years since I’ve done this.”
“Oh. Oh.” He frowned. “Okay, so are you going to fuck me? Because I’m totally down with that. Or we can just fool around because, like, I can’t imagine not having sex for eighteen years.”
“You were nine.”
He blinked. “I’m not going to ask how you calculated that. But yeah, I was prepubescent the last time—”
“I had sex a couple of weeks ago, Cooper.” I tried to keep the edge from my voice.
“But not with a guy. Oh, did what’s her name peg you? Because that would be super—"
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I think that’s enough. You’ve had your fun at my expense.”
His expression sobered. “I would never make fun of you, Lachlan.” He twisted his lips. “Okay, I take that back. I would never make fun about your lack of gay sex experience over the last eighteen years. Better? Because I’ll totally razz you about—” He yelped. “Hey!”
I grinned and tightened my grip on his cock. I might’ve snagged it when he’d been twisting himself into a metaphorical pretzel. “Fuck me already, Cooper. Please.”
His eyes softened, shining blue in the lamplight. “Yeah. That.”