Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
COOPER
JANUARY
Noah
Did you give her the goods?
Me
It’s five-thirty in the morning.
Noah
And when I dropped them off an hour ago you were wide awake and about to head to work. So, did you give them to her yet?
Me
Not yet.
Noah
Well, what are you waiting for?
Me
Keep your pants on. I just got to the office.
Noah
Make sure you tell her they’re from me. Don’t you dare try to pass them off as your own.
Wait, what am I saying? You can’t pass them off as your own because then you would have to explain why you can’t replicate the amazingness of my muffins. Unless you already told her you’re nuclear level bad in the kitchen.
Me
Has anyone ever told you that you’re annoying? I don’t know how Hannah lives with you.
Noah
My girl is obsessed with me, full stop.
Jordan
You’re both fucking annoying and I’m obsessed with this conversation ending as soon as humanly possible. Why are you blowing up my phone before the damn sun is up?
Elliot
What he said. This doesn’t feel like a group chat conversation.
Noah
Every conversation is a group chat conversation. It’s a brother thing.
Jordan
Well, can it be a brother thing in, like, three hours? It’s my day off, and I’m fucking tired. And if one of your texts wakes up Jo, you’ll have to face her wrath. She’s vengeful in the morning.
Elliot
So, what’s the deal?
Noah
I gave Cooper muffins and coffee to take to Evan for their weird early morning at the law firm ritual.
Me
It’s not weird—it’s ours. Do I give you shit when you and Hannah hang out up on the roof in the middle of the night?
I absolutely do not.
Jordan
Don’t give him shit. He’s going to be a dad, so he needs to up his game to get the girl.
Me
I don’t want her because we’re having a baby. I want her because I just…want her. She’s everything.
Noah
Baby brother coming in hot with the swoon.
Elliot
Seriously. But it makes sense. All of that Cece level intuition you have? You would fall the hardest and fastest of all of us.
Noah
No way. I fell for Hannah, like, immediately. I win fastest.
Jordan
I need to ask mom if you were dropped on your head as a child.
Me
I doubt it. He’s just annoying.
Noah
See if I ever bake for any of you, ever again. From now on, only my girl gets my muffins. You can all fend for yourselves.
Jordan
Oh, but how will we ever survive?
Noah
You won’t. This is what I’m saying.
I have to go into surgery now. You can all think about what you’ve done while I’m gone, and if there are sufficient apologies in this group chat when I’m done saving lives, I’ll maybe, potentially, consider baking a pie for guys’ night next week.
Me
What guys’ night?
Noah
The one we’re having when the girls go to book club. Remember brother time? That used to be a thing.
Jordan
I’m all the way in.
Elliot
I’ll make dinner, but I’m cooking in Cooper’s apartment. He has the best kitchen.
Me
You bet I do.
Jordan
It’s really wasted on you, dude. What good is an epic kitchen if all you do is dump takeout on plates?
Me
I like to look at it while I sit on the couch. It’s all pretty and stuff.
Gotta run too. Need to kiss my girl.
Noah
Oh my god, seriously. Coop swoon FTW.
Jordan
I’m showing that last message to Jo. She is seriously team Cooper and Evan.
Noah
Same with Han. She showed me Evan’s fanfiction last week, and holy hell your girl is talented. We need to keep her, so don’t mess it up, Coop.
Elliot
Amelia too. She said if you fuck this up, they’re keeping her and getting rid of you.
Me
Thank you all so much for this overwhelming show of support. I’m really feeling the love this morning [eyeroll emoji].
Jordan
Just trying to help you get the girl.
Noah
I made you muffins. That’s love.
Elliot
Serious moment. I’m proud of you, Coop. Falling for the girl and impending fatherhood looks really good on you.
Me
El is my favorite today. The rest of you can fight for second place. Later assholes.
In a great mood from early morning texts with my brothers and the knowledge that I’m about to see my girl, I stick my phone in my pocket and walk the rest of the way down the darkened hallway to Evan’s office.
When I get there, I lean against the doorway and watch her.
She’s bathed in the light of the single candle on her desk, eyes focused on her computer screen.
Her lips curve into a small smile as she types, lost in the world she’s creating.
My arms practically ache to get around her.
“You are so hot when you’re writing spicy scenes.”
Evan sucks in a breath, her head whipping up from her laptop screen to where I’m standing. “Jesus Christ, Cooper, you scared the shit out of me.”
I grin, sauntering over and dropping my bag on one of her chairs, rounding her desk to kiss her.
Her candle today is a sugar cookie scent, and she’s wearing pajama pants covered in hearts, a purple sweatshirt that says Women Don’t Owe You Shit, and her pink fuzzy slippers, her hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun.
Her desk is littered with piles of cherry Jolly Ranchers, two coffee cups, and her ever-present pink notebook, which reminds me of the work I left unfinished last night, and I make a mental note to get back to it this morning before my workday starts.
Easing back, I cup her cheeks, running my thumbs over the circles under her heavy-lidded eyes. “Tired, baby?” I murmur, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Evan blows out a breath, pressing her forehead to mine.
“So fucking tired. I had to pee, like, every twenty minutes last night, and I couldn’t get comfortable, and then I couldn’t sleep for shit.
So I plotted my next fic, did a full water change in the aquarium, spent an hour buying new plants and other accessories for my guys, and read half a book.
When none of that put me to sleep, I gave up and came here. ”
I press a kiss to her forehead. “You should have stayed with me last night. Maybe what you needed was something to distract you from all the sleeplessness.” I’m joking but also not really.
Except for the night of New Year’s Eve, Evan hasn’t stayed over again, even though she’s been at the brownstone almost every night since then, hanging with me, my brothers, and the girls.
I know that not sleeping over is her way of keeping just a little bit of distance between us.
Of hanging onto whatever control she can when so much is out of her control.
And the fact that she looks surprised every single time I walk her home and kiss her goodnight at her door, like she’s expecting me to argue with her about staying over, makes me even more determined to go at her pace.
To wait until she’s ready. She’s worth it. She’s worth everything.
“By something, do you mean your dick?” she asks dryly.
Smiling, I reach back for my bag, grabbing the blood pressure monitor. “My dick. My tongue. My fingers. They’re all a really good distraction.”
“Do we have to?” she asks, wrinkling her nose and looking at the blood pressure monitor. “We’re literally going to the doctor in four hours.”
I run a finger over her hand. “Every day, Ev. Be a good girl and give me your arm.”
She takes off her sweatshirt and tosses it on her desk, rolling her eyes even as her lips curve into a smile. “You know the whole good girl thing doesn’t work nearly as well when you’re not inside me.”
I laugh as I attach the blood pressure cuff and hit the button to start the machine. “That could be arranged. You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about bending you over this desk, shoving one of your tight skirts up to your waist and fucking you right here.”
“Hot desk sex?” she muses, tapping her finger on her lips. “I could totally get behind that.” Looking at me, she smirks. “With you behind me.”
The mental image that flashes through my brain has my cock instantly hard. “Say the word, Rhodes, and I’ll make it happen.”
The machine beeps, and we both glance down at it. Evan lets out a long, slow breath. “Why is it that I feel like I won a gold freaking medal every time my blood pressure is normal?”
I stand, kissing the top of her head. “Because it’s your scariest thing. So, when it does what it’s supposed to do, it’s a relief.”
Evan sighs, kicking back in her chair and resting a hand at the top of her bump, more visible than ever under her tight T-shirt.
Something about the unconscious gesture has my heart squeezing in my chest, and I have to resist the urge to get on my knees and kiss her belly.
“I swear, once I have this baby, I’m never looking at another blood pressure monitor ever again. ”
I smile, reaching back into my bag. “If I didn’t think burning plastic and electrical parts was a really, really bad idea, I would say we could have a ritual burning of this hateful machine.
Maybe instead we just toss it in the Charles or something.
Here,” I say, handing over the paper bag. “Special treat today.”
Evan peeks into the bag and lets out a moan. “Did you seriously bake chocolate chip muffins?”
I shake my head, pulling out the thermos and travel mug I brought with me.
“Noah did. He bakes them for Hannah every day, and he dropped some off at my apartment like an hour ago before he went to the hospital. He made coffee, too, and ordered me to bring them both to you.” I grin at her, opening the thermos and pouring the peppermint latte into the travel mug, screwing on the lid and handing it to her.
“He told me to tell you he’s sorry you’re saddled with a baby daddy who can’t even pour a bowl of cereal without fucking it up, and that he’ll bake for you anytime you want. ”
Evan snorts out a laugh, taking a sip of the coffee. “Tell him he needs a new name for you because baby daddy is the worst. Also, seriously, the day they find out that you’re, like, the second coming of Julia Child is going to be the best day ever. Please let me be there for it.”
“Rhodes, I want you with me every day.”