Chapter Eighty-One
Declan
Grace is still vibrating as we climb the stairs to my apartment, arms smacking her hockey bag as she gestures wildly.
“And then I deked left, like, really left, and she completely blew it. Coach said it was the cleanest fake out he’d ever—”
“I know.” I chuckle, smiling as I pull out my keys. “I was there, remember?”
“Yeah, but I need to tell Cooper,” she insists, fingers beckoning for my phone. “He said he wanted updates. I know you said he was flying, but—”
I’m only half listening, my mind still on the drive home, his text saying he was delayed and wouldn’t be back for another week.
The usual flurry of dread didn’t flare up like I expected.
Somehow, his acceptance for the recording studio was the final thing I needed to trust he was coming home.
But that didn’t stop me from wanting to reach for my phone, wanting to call him the second the game was over.
Habit now, or maybe need, I’m not sure there’s a difference anymore.
Turning the key, I push the door open, stopping dead in the threshold. Suitcases, at least ten of them, are all scattered around the hallway. For a beat, my brain blanks as I can’t see anything past the luggage.
“Cooper, you’re back!” Grace shrieks, dropping her bag with a clatter, launching at him full speed.
He barely has time to straighten before she throws her arms around his waist. Laughing, he scoops her up and spins her around.
“There’s the girl who scored the winning goal,” he gushes, setting her back on her feet. Beaming at him, she turns back to look at me.
But I’m still standing in the open doorway, everything inside me going very still.
“Hey, you,” he says, voice like a purr I can feel all the way to my bones.
“Hey,” I manage, finally stepping inside and closing the door. “What are you— How did you—?”
Lifting his hand, he jingles a set of keys. “Never gave back the spare.”
Grace tugs his hand, gaining his attention and giving him a condensed play-by-play of the game. He listens to every detail, reflecting her excitement, pride radiating from him as he drinks every second like he’s starving for it.
And I just stand there, watching him in my apartment.
“I wish I was there,” Cooper says when, eventually, Grace runs out of steam, crashing from the adrenaline. “But can you give me five minutes with your brother?”
Glancing over her shoulder, she snorts. “Yeah, I think you broke him.”
She disappears into the kitchen, and Cooper slowly meanders through his suitcases, stopping in front of me, blue eyes twinkling as he presses a chaste kiss on my lips. He pulls away, but my hands snap out, latching onto his hips.
“You’re back,” I whisper, which is ridiculous, but it’s all I’ve got.
“I wanted to be here when you got home from the game.”
My throat goes tight. “But I thought you were delayed.”
“Might have told you a little lie,” he says, scrunching up his nose.
“You should have told me. I would’ve gotten you at the airport.”
“And ruin the surprise on your face when you saw all the suitcases?” he asks, grinning. “Not a chance.”
Stepping closer, he erases any distance, his hands sliding up my chest before they wind around my neck. “The game sounded good.”
“She was amazing.”
“You proud?”
“Yeah,” I say, swallowing hard, the lips I’ve dreamt about for days right there for the taking. “I am.”
“I want to go to the next—”
“Shut the fuck up and kiss me, Cooper,” I growl.
His laugh is cut off when I crush my lips against his, groaning when I taste him on my tongue. My hand cups his jaw, angling him where I want him, licking into his mouth, learning him all over again like it’s been years since we last saw each other.
He breaks the kiss first, forehead pressing to mine.
“I missed you,” he whispers as his fingers thread into my hair at the base of my neck. “Longest week of my life.”
“Mine too,” I say, huffing out a laugh.
“I got you something.” Reaching beneath his shirt, he pulls the chain free.
“Well, technically it’s not yours, but I…
” he trails off, holding the pendant up between us, the metal glinting off the sunlight shining through the blinds.
Turning it over, he doesn’t say a word as he shows me the back, the new engraving.
My initials.
“I told you I was coming back,” he says, fingers curling into my shirt. “And I meant it. Wherever I end up…it only counts if you’re there with me.”
That empty place that’s lived hollow for so many years, the Cooper-shaped hole inside me, doesn’t feel as empty. I run my thumb over his lower lip, feeling the faint tremble as his eyelashes flutter closed.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he whispers and leans into my touch like he’s been waiting for it. Pulling back, he looks over his shoulder at the stack of suitcases, then back at me, a shy grin pulling at his mouth.
“But, uh…you looking for a roommate? I come with great perks.” He pumps his eyebrows salaciously, voice dropping to a sinful whisper. “World-class blow jobs, tight little h—”
“Cooper,” I hiss, grip tightening my grip on his hips.
His tongue flicks out, brushing against my earlobe before he leans back, smirking. “Hugger. Tight little hugger. Honestly, Dec, get your head out of the gutter.”
I roll my eyes. “I hate you.”
He kisses the corner of my mouth. “You really don’t.”
“Can I come out now? Or are you two still sucking each other’s faces off?” Grace calls out from the kitchen, making me groan.
“I don’t even want to know how she knows what that is,” I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose.
Cooper laughs under his breath, and I pull him in again, kissing him slower this time, lingering, like I’m finally laying out everything I’ve never been brave enough to do in the past.
“Guys? Seriously? I can still hear you,” Grace whines.
Cooper snorts, linking our hands together and leading me toward her. And I follow him, finally, fully, without ever looking back.