Chapter 12 Oakley
OAKLEY
Cole got home a couple of hours ago. I heard him throw his bag on the floor and a huge sigh leave his lips.
When I finally had a break and came out to check on him, he was fast asleep on the couch, a pair of headphones covering his ears.
He looked exhausted. He was still wearing his tennis shoes, and he wasn’t lying fully on the couch.
It was as though he sat down to rest and ended up falling asleep.
After grabbing some water and a snack, I left him alone on the couch to sleep while I finished the rest of my shift.
My job is okay, but it’s not what I want to do forever.
Working in customer service was something I wanted to do because it allowed me to work from home, and it put money in my bank account.
But after being bitched at by customers day in and day out, I’m getting tired.
After clocking out for the day, I turn off the computer screens and place my head in my hands for a few seconds, taking deep breaths.
The job isn’t stressful, it’s the customers that are stressful.
I keep telling myself it’s not permanent; I just need to take that step to move on. One day.
My knees crack when I get up, and I groan, hating how much the chair hurts my body after sitting in it for too long.
After stretching my body for a few minutes, I walk toward the couch, seeing that Cole is still fast asleep.
Hell, at least he’s moved. He’s no longer sitting up, but he still looks uncomfortable as hell.
His body is bent at an awkward angle, one of his legs propped up on the cushions as though he attempted to move and got too tired before giving up.
I move one of the throw pillows to the end of the couch, then maneuver Cole’s body so that he’s entirely on the couch.
His body freezes before a soft sigh escapes his lips, and he relaxes back into the cushions. Fuck, he’s adorable.
Realizing that my plans for the night probably won’t happen, my mind races through ideas of things that Cole and I can still do, just at home.
As much as I love going out and doing things with him, I also love the nights that we can just hang out in our apartment, the two of us spending time together.
Taking out my phone, I pull up DoorDash, scrolling through the list of restaurants that will deliver food to us.
After finding a Chinese food restaurant, I order food for both Cole and me, taking note that it’ll be here in about thirty minutes.
While waiting for the food, I glance around the apartment, wanting to do something fun for Cole.
I walk into my bedroom, looking through all my shit in the very back of my closet.
I find what I’m looking for—a tent—and then glance around my room, realizing there’s too much shit on my floor to do anything in here, and there’s no way I have enough time to clean.
Hooking the tent under my arm, I head over to Cole’s room, smiling when it’s perfectly clean, everything neatly put away.
I take the tent out of the bag, finding the instructions on how to put this damn thing together.
I don’t even remember why I bought this in the first place, and honestly, it’s collected more dust than it’s been used.
But it’ll be perfect for what I have planned.
The tent takes me twice as long as it says to put together, and I’m not entirely sure it won’t fall down on us, but it looks pretty good.
I snatch some pillows and blankets off his bed, setting up a mini bed in the tent.
Once I have that all set up, I go into the kitchen and grab two cookie sheets that we can use to put the food on.
The doorbell rings as I’m tossing the cookie sheets into the tent, and I grimace, hoping it didn’t wake Cole up.
I don’t want him to see it until I’m completely finished.
I tiptoe past a still-sleeping Cole, quickly opening the door and grabbing the food before quietly walking back into his room.
On his dresser, he has a TV setup and a Nintendo Switch that he has hooked up to it.
I turn the TV on the dresser so that it’s facing the tent, and then I pick up two controllers and place them into the tent as well.
Once I get all that finished, I take the food and get it set up.
Carefully, I get out of the tent, double-checking to make sure everything is okay.
I love doing things like this for Cole. Whenever I find the time, I always try to surprise him with something fun.
Sometimes it’s setting up a movie night, or taking him out to eat, or going to an arcade.
I love seeing the smile on his face when he sees that I’ve planned something for us.
Cole’s smile is my favorite thing in the world.
I would do anything and everything to put a smile on his face every day.
Not wanting the food to get cold, I decide to wake Cole up. I pull his headphones off his ears, whispering to him, trying to rouse him from his sleep. He’s groggy, rubbing at his eyes, my words not yet computing in his brain.
“I have something set up for us.”
“Oh yeah, hmm, tomorrow,” he says, yawning and trying to turn back over.
“No, I set it up now.” He doesn’t respond, and his hand grabs the pillow to shove it under his head. “Cole Turner. Wake up. Your food is going to get cold.”
One eye pops open, a small smile showing on his face. “Food?” he mumbles, turning his body slightly. “What kind of food?”
“I got Chinese food.”
He sniffs the air, his body deflating. “You’re lying. I don’t smell anything.”
Rolling my eyes, I push at his shoulder. “Get your ass up, or you don’t get any food at all.”
“Fine,” he whines, slowly getting up from the couch.
“You have no idea how exhausted I am. We danced for hours, Oak. With barely any breaks at all. You have no idea how many times I wanted to just lie on the stage and not get up. I seriously contemplated just lying there and letting them dance all over me. I wouldn’t even care if I got their shoe prints all over my back. That’s how bad it was.”
“Is the dance hard?” I ask, grabbing Cole’s hand and interlocking our fingers.
“No. It’s just too much to figure out when there are so many guys.” He whines, his voice getting squeaky. “Thankfully, it’s just our core five and not the whole Peaches crew.”
“Well, that’s good at least,” I tell him, guiding him into his bedroom. “Now, are you too tired to eat and play some games? Or I guess we could eat and watch a movie if you’d rather do that?”
“Oh my god,” Cole breathes when we step into his room. “When did you do this?” he asks, leaning down and glancing into the tent. “Holy shit, this is amazing. It’s like camping, but in the apartment.”
“Well, yes,” I deadpan, flicking the tent. “That is what the tent means. Now you pick. Game or movie.”
“Would you be okay if we watched a movie? I kind of want to relax, and I know how you get with games. I don’t think I can handle the competitiveness tonight.”
Scoffing, I shake my head, “Me? competitive? No, Cole, that’s all you. I just have to act up to get on your level.”
Which is one hundred percent true. Cole is competitive as hell when it comes to playing games on the PlayStation or the Nintendo.
He tries to play it off as though he’s not, but between the screaming, cussing, and jumping up from wherever he’s sitting, it’s an experience playing against him.
And if I don’t act the same way he does, he gets even rowdier, trying to draw me in.
It’s gotten to the point where I can only play online because I’m scared he’s going to make the other players cry.
He tries to say it’s me that takes it too far, but it’s one hundred percent him.
“Well, we’ll just have to agree to disagree then. Hmm. Let’s watch Scary Movie. I could use a good laugh.” He crawls into the tent, a huge smile taking over his face as he looks around at everything. “This has to be the most amazing thing you’ve ever set up.”
“Thanks, I figured you would like it.”
I’m not telling him I found it on Pinterest earlier today. I was looking for fun things to do when I came across an article labeled as Top Fun Date Ideas to do at Home, and when I saw this one on the list, I knew I wanted to do it right away. And from the huge smile on his face, I’m glad I did it.
Cole separates the food onto our plates, while I grab the remote and find the movie to put on.
He hums around a bite of orange chicken, then puts another piece onto his fork, shoving it into my mouth.
He watches me patiently while I chew the food, waiting to hear my thoughts on it.
I give him a quick thumbs up, and he chuckles, shoving another piece into his mouth.
He eats quickly, his mouth like a squirrel, with tons of food shoved into his cheeks.
He finishes way before me and grabs all the trash, throwing it away.
Once I’m done eating, he grabs my plate and disposes of it too.
“Thank you, I really needed this. Just a quiet night at home.” He sighs, stretching out his legs.
“Of course,” I tell him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. “You know how much I love spending time with you. It wasn’t exactly what I had originally planned, but I’m so glad we’re doing this.”
“You’re always spoiling me. I love it.” He leans over me, placing a kiss on my forehead. Butterflies form in my stomach, and I smile, wondering where those came from.