Chapter 36
HARLEY
I can’t decide if I should tell Cooper that his wife discovered his shirt in my bedroom.
I couldn’t believe it when she zeroed in on it. She couldn’t quite recognize it—she wasn’t certain—but she was suspicious. And then she brought it to her nose and sniffed it. I thought for sure I was busted when she did that. After all, a woman knows what her husband smells like.
Yet she didn’t say a word. So maybe we’re safe.
The funny thing is that when she went back into the living room to eat the salad with me, I was almost disappointed that she didn’t call me out on it.
Maybe I wanted to get busted. I didn’t have to invite her to my house—we could have met somewhere else closer to the gym.
And even if we did meet here, I had plenty of time to stuff that T-shirt in a drawer, but instead, I left it right where she could find it.
It was almost exhilarating when Debbie picked up her husband’s T-shirt, trying desperately to place it.
Right now, we’re in my living room, eating the salad she made. It’s nothing special but it tastes pretty good, thanks to that miso ranch dressing. I’ll have to ask her where she got it. It’s been a long time since I had a friend I could share recipes with.
It makes me sad to think that I don’t have any close friends anymore.
My last one was my college roommate, Mariah.
But Mariah got married and had a baby, and after that, every text message exchange we had included a photo of her baby doing something she thought was “so adorable.” I couldn’t even talk about the weather without her sending me a photo of her baby holding a thermometer or something.
I finally snapped and told Mariah that I had absolutely no interest in the constant photos of her ugly daughter.
After that, our friendship sort of fizzled.
Debbie is talking about her garden now, which is obviously her favorite topic, but I don’t care about her stupid flowers.
There’s only one reason why I’ve become friends with Debbie Mullen, and that’s to pump her for information about Cooper, although, as always, I try to be casual about it, like I barely even remember who he is.
“So…” I take another bite of salad, crunching the lettuce between my teeth. “How is your husband doing? What did you say his name was? Carter? Connor?”
She gives me a funny look that I can’t quite interpret. “Cooper.”
“Right. So how is Cooper?”
Her tone is disinterested. “He’s fine.”
“What did you say he does for a living?” I prompt her. “Something in an office?”
“He’s an accountant.”
“Right.” I snap my fingers as if I didn’t already know all this. “That’s sort of boring. He’s a bit of a nerd then?”
“A bit,” she concedes, although I disagree. Cooper might be an accountant, but he’s definitely not a nerd. Nobody who saw him with his shirt off would think so. “Not as much as me. And he’s hopeless with any technology. He needs my help to turn on the computer.”
I already know that’s true. It has made stalking Cooper online an exercise in frustration.
I prefer men who post everything they do and everywhere they go on social media so I can gauge exactly what they’re thinking.
But Cooper is older than me—old enough that posting minute-to-minute updates online is not a priority for him, like it is for a lot of men my age or younger.
“He sounds nice,” I say before she can start talking about her garden again. “You’re lucky to be married to a nice guy.”
She doesn’t answer me right away. She seems to be considering her response carefully as she stabs a piece of tomato with her fork. “He’s nice” is all she says.
“Good father?” I press her. I like the idea of Cooper being a good father. Mine was shit. I don’t want to blame everything bad I’ve done on daddy issues, but it would have been nice if he ever said two words to me, that’s all I’m saying.
“Great father,” she confirms.
She doesn’t seem eager to discuss this, but I can’t help myself. I’m desperate for any little morsel she can tell me about Cooper Mullen, even if it means giving myself away.
“It must be hard to be married for so long,” I say. “I would think that after five or ten years, a lot of the romance gets sucked out of it.”
Debbie’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. Uh-oh, maybe that was too far. I got greedy. But I am desperate for a tearful confession that she and Cooper don’t love each other anymore and that he hasn’t touched her in years. I don’t want everything he told me to be a lie.
“Marriage can be hard,” she says quietly.
I wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn’t. I grudgingly respect that she isn’t trashing her husband, but maybe that says it all. If she and Cooper were stupidly in love, she would say so. She’s embarrassed to admit that her marriage has fallen apart.
Cooper is the one. Every time I meet with him, I’m more sure of it. And now that I know Debbie, I understand why he’s desperate to get away from her.
I just have to handle this exactly right.