Chapter 5
FELIX
“Hello?” I called into the apparently unattended premises of Big Dick’s Lube and Service. I’d have to get a photo of the sign for Avery. Maybe get them a magnet or something. They’d get a kick out of that.
It was dark in the shop, which struck me as suboptimal for mechanical work—but then I wasn’t a mechanic. I didn’t know the first thing about cars, including how to drive them.
“Gimme one sec,” a familiar voice called from somewhere deeper in the shop. I stepped into the dark, following the sound, then the distinctive ring of metal being dropped on concrete and someone swearing under their breath.
Eventually, I found a pair of feet sticking out from under a people mover that had seen better days.
“Sorry about that,” their owner said, rolling out from under the van. “Couldn’t let go withou—oh.”
My eyes had adjusted well enough by now that, as Cooper’s body appeared from under the van, all I could do was stare at him.
Specifically, the view I had of the V-shaped slice of his torso that was visible under his hanging-open overalls.
Bare, dusted with dark curls, and his overalls were unbuttoned so far I could see his thick treasure trail disappearing into the waistband of his boxers.
Which were black, but, I surmised from the glimpse of them I could see peeking out, covered in bananas.
Hot. Hot, hot, hot. My brain went to static as I took him in, the sheen of sweat on his skin, the obvious power of his core—not the lean muscle definition I’d been used to seeing in the mirror, but the body of a man who made a living moving heavy things around.
I’d realized Cooper was a big guy when I ran into him, but it was only registering now that he was a big guy.
That was setting off all kinds of fireworks in my brain.
Maybe Avery was right. Maybe I did need to get laid. Maybe…
Cooper, still lying on what I thought was basically a big skateboard, looked down at himself as well.
To my disappointment, he scrambled to close the lowest few open press studs, taking away the view below his belly button before rolling off the board and heaving himself off the ground without so much as a sound of effort.
“Sorry, gets hot in here. I wasn’t expecting anyone. ”
“Hi,” I said intelligently, wondering which way I should tilt my head so my partially melted brain didn’t drip out of my ears.
It had clearly been too long since I got laid.
Cooper looked at me. Then he looked at my hands.
I looked at them as well. There was a cup of coffee in each. One of them had his name on it.
Right. Because that was what I’d come here for.
The top of Cooper’s overalls were still open, revealing the hollow of his throat and a hint of collarbone.
Avery was definitely right, if this was how I was reacting to seeing an attractive man approximately a tenth naked.
“This is for you.” I held out the cup that said Coop on it. “I asked Iggy to make it how you like.”
Cooper’s warm fingers brushed against mine as he accepted the cup. They were rough and dry and covered in motor oil, which I thought probably meant I shouldn’t want them in my mouth right now.
I did, though.
Fuck. Was this what six months of celibacy did to a man? I’d never had to find out before.
When I finally managed to raise my gaze away from Cooper’s chest to his face, he had an eyebrow raised.
“There’s also…” I said, holding up the paper bag I had a death grip on along with the coffee in my other hand. One of the dirty chai blondies. I figured they were good enough to count as a full apology, combined with the coffee.
Cooper’s other brow rose.
I had not explained myself.
“Figured I owed you coffee,” I said.
Cooper’s brows knit. I was learning they were very expressive. Avery would have loved to take a pair of tweezers to them.
“It was your coffee.”
“Yes, but I spilled it on you, and then ran off without even making sure you were okay. Are you?”
I hadn’t seen a burn on his chest, but…
“Fine.” Cooper’s mouth twitched into a shy smile that made something in my stomach do a backflip. He was cute. Aside from being hot. “You…?”
“Fine,” I said. “I didn’t actually get any on me.”
Cooper’s smile widened a little. “Well, good. Sorry I was late yesterday.”
I shrugged. “I liked getting to know Benji.” He was a good kid. Cooper was obviously his hero—half of what I’d heard from him was Coop says, Coop thinks. “That’s actually the other reason I’m here.”
Cooper’s smile faltered. He looked down at the coffee in his hand, shifting his weight. “Is this a come into my office conversation?”
“What? No! No, he’s not… he’s probably the best student I’ve ever had,” I said.
I didn’t have to tell Cooper I hadn’t had all that many.
I’d done one or two guest appearances doing demonstrations for younger dancers and I’d done the Nutcracker choreography, but it’d been my first solo class, the first time I’d had to really teach something.
I’d been unbelievably grateful that Benji was attentive and serious, and all the others seemed to follow his lead.
Cooper’s smile flared right back into life, and my stomach flipped again.
That was probably fine. It was probably completely fine and normal to get butterflies over a man I’d just met. Nothing that was likely to be a problem later, now that I was meant to be teaching his kid.
“Okay,” he said. “Okay, great. In that case, a little sunshine?” he gestured at the open shop door.
I nodded and followed him out into the surprisingly warm spring sun, breathing in the salt on the breeze and the hints of flowers wafting down from the florist a handful of doors along the street.
Otter Bay was a postcard-perfect small town from the dramatic cliffs to the cute little shopfronts.
People here smiled and nodded to each other in the street—even stopped to talk.
I’d been in New York so long—and in the company bubble—it was like being on an alien planet.
“What do you think of Otter Bay?” Cooper spoke up as we reached a little green space complete with a park bench under a tree and neat flower beds just starting to come back to life after the winter. It was an obvious question to ask a newcomer, but for a second I worried he’d read my thoughts.
“Uh.” I winced as I sat down next to him. My leg still didn’t like the movement of sitting down, especially if I’d been on my feet a while. If Cooper noticed, he didn’t react—which was fine by me. I couldn’t take any more pity.
“It’s…” I continued, struggling to find words that would both describe it and—hopefully—not insult a local.
“Small,” Cooper concluded for me. “Quiet. Peaceful, I guess. Took me a while to get used to it again.”
“You lived somewhere else?” I asked, handing over the bag with the blondies in it.
“Portland, for a while.” The bag rustled as Cooper opened it. He peered in, and then offered it to me.
“That’s for you.”
“Go halves with me,” he said. “Mom will kill me if I’m not hungry at lunch.”
I hesitated. I’d already had one yesterday.
Cooper shook the bag. “I’m serious. You’d be doing me a favor.”
My tongue darted out to wet my lips. When he put it like that…
I took out the blondie and broke about a third off it. A compromise.
Cooper huffed, but took his own piece out and smoothed the bag out between us to serve as a plate.
“I moved home for Benji. My sister, uh. She died suddenly, so there were no arrangements. A grieving six-year-old was a little much for me to handle alone, so… I came back. After finding out my boyfriend was kind of an asshole. Ex-boyfriend,” he corrected.
“I know all about those,” I said. “Asshole ex-boyfriends, I mean. Sorry about your sister.”
Cooper smiled wryly. “Benji lost a lot more than I did.”
“You still lost her. And you must’ve known her longer.”
I sipped my coffee, watching something I couldn’t quite read play over his face, lips pursing and nose wrinkling. It was a good face. Strong jawline, strong nose, strong brow. Classically handsome, my mom would have said.
Benji had his eyes, warm amber that lit up in the sunlight.
“Thank you,” he said. “But you didn’t want to talk about my sister. You wanted to talk about Benji?”
Cooper took a bite of his two-thirds of the blondie before I could say anything and made a sound that reminded me of the one I had—only when I’d made it, it hadn’t sounded nearly as obscene. The rumble that came with a deeper chest sent a jolt of interest right to the pit of my stomach.
“Uh,” I said, wetting my lips again.
I hated it when Avery was right. They knew me far, far too well.
“Umm, yeah. I think you know about the competition coming up?”
Cooper nodded, more focused on his blondie than me. I could see why. Next to one of those, a washed-up ballet dancer who’d already spilled coffee on him once couldn’t possibly compare.
“Amelia has me doing the choreography for it. I want to put Benji in the lead role,” I said. “But I wanted to ask you first if that’s okay.”
Cooper’s eyes widened. “Yes,” he said, licking crumbs off his lips and holding a finger up to stop me saying anything else while he swallowed. “Are you kidding? You’ll make his entire tiny life! Why would it not be okay?”
I shrugged, gesturing out at the world beyond the little shaded sanctuary we were seated in. “You might not want him to pursue this.”
“Because I might think dancing is for girls?” Cooper asked, so clearly offended that I couldn’t help smiling wryly. At least Benji didn’t have to worry about that.
“Well, you might have,” I said. “But there’s more than that. It’s not cheap,” I continued, ticking that off on one of my fingers. “It’ll change his body forever if he keeps it up. You’d know better than I do if he can handle pressure, and it’s only gonna get worse from here on out.”
“The worst has already happened to him,” Cooper said softly, looking down at the coffee in his hand. “I think that kid could handle anything. I wish I was half as brave as he is.”