Chapter 18
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
COOPER
Waking up with Ellery in my arms gives me a feeling I can’t explain—peace and contentment, followed by a flash of fear. I worry that I might be dreaming. Did I get a concussion in a game, or am I knocked out and this is all some dream?
She moves in my arms, but I slide out from holding her. She rolls over to her stomach and puts her arms under her pillow, her favorite sleeping position.
I dig through my bag and put on my lounge pants and a T-shirt before heading into the kitchen.
The crew did good—the fridge is completely stocked for breakfast. I start the coffee, and while that’s brewing, I crack some eggs to make us an omelet, cut up some fruit, and even make a small stack of pancakes.
“Am I in some rom-com movie?” Ellery walks in wrapped in a blanket, and suddenly breakfast doesn’t look as appealing anymore.
“Are you naked under there?” I point at her with the spatula.
She nods.
“Fuck me, Elle.”
She walks over and cuddles up to me. “Whenever you want.” Her eyes sparkle, and I wind my arm around her. “It all smells so good.”
“Have a seat. It’s almost done.” I kiss her temple.
But she doesn’t move. “I don’t really want to leave you. Our first morning together and you’re not in bed when I wake up.”
“Sorry, but I knew you’d be hungry since we didn’t eat last night.”
She nods. “You know me well.”
We ended up having sex three more times last night, and after all the years we’ve known each other, I discovered something new—my favorite position so far is when she rides me.
I pick up a blueberry, putting it in front of her mouth. She opens it and takes it.
“I think we might be the stupidest couple ever,” I say, turning off the burner and grabbing the plate of pancakes.
She walks in front of me to the table, then sits in the chair that faces the back of the cabin. Snow came down last night since we’re so far north. Not that snow is unheard of in October in the Midwest.
“Why are you calling me stupid?” She plates her breakfast while her bare leg sneaks out of the comforter, teasing me.
“Because we waited so long for this.” I catch her eye. “I’m so happy.”
A slow smile spreads across her face, getting wider the longer our gazes lock. “Me too.”
“Good.” I lean forward and kiss her. “I’m half-tempted to make you sit on my lap so I can feed you.”
“No way, we’re not going to be one of those couples.” She laughs.
This was something I worried about whenever I pictured us getting together. I knew I’d want to scream it from the rooftops and always be touching her, but she’s weird about public affection. This is a lot of change, and I think I might have to ease her into it.
“What do you want to do today?” I ask, changing the subject because there’s no way we’re getting into a disagreement on day one. “I googled the small town near here, and they have some shopping event going on in their downtown.”
“You wanna shop?” She forks a bite of pancake and eats it.
“Well, there isn’t a ton to do, honestly. I can’t ski unless I want Coach Stone to kick my ass on the off chance I get hurt.”
“Hey, I have no problem shopping.” She chuckles and finishes eating.
“I also need to know what day off you have next week.”
Her head tilts. “Why?”
“I want to take you on a real date.”
“Oh.” Her anxiety is visible in the way her eyes shift away from mine. “What about photographers and stuff?”
“You’ve been photographed with me plenty of times.”
She gives me a “duh” look. “This is different. We’re together now.”
Maybe I was wrong and she’s down with some PDA now.
“People are going to find out. Well, the people who care. There are plenty who don’t give a shit who I date.
” I eat my omelet, snagging a raspberry from the plate of fruit.
“I’m ready for them to know you aren’t just my best friend anymore.
I want to scream into every microphone in the world about how I scored the most amazing woman. ”
I hold out my hand, and she comes over and sits in my lap. “I’m not sure I’m ready for the public criticism. Remember Adeline?”
“You know where you stand in my life. Don’t listen to them.”
She laughs. “You’re delusional sometimes.”
“No, I’m not. People will be happy for us.”
Her eyebrows lift. “Well.” She picks up a raspberry and lets the blanket fall open, placing it on her nipple. “We’ll have to agree to disagree for now because a raspberry has gone astray.”
I bend down and take the raspberry into my mouth, licking her nipple as I do. Standing, I hoist her up firefighter-style and leave the room.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to bed.”
“I’m still hungry. You know I’m not one of those salad girls.” She hits my ass before sliding her hands down my pajama pants.
“I’ll feed you.” I drop her on the mattress, and she’s now at eye level with my dick.
“Oh, he’ll do.” She pulls down my pajama pants and takes my dick into her hands, licking her lips.
It’s another two hours before we finally get in the shower and get ready to go out.
Turns out our friends just parked the minivan at the neighbors’.
I went outside to see how cold it was before we tried to find an Uber or a cab and spotted it.
The owner returned it to us in exchange for me signing a few things.
Turns out he used to live outside of Chicago, so he’s a Grizzlies fan.
That’s probably why he agreed to keep the van in his driveway for the duration of the weekend in the first place.
We’re on the road, looking like a married couple without their kids in tow and on the way to the Fall Fest when Ellery’s phone pings.
“Who is it?” I ask when she slides her hand out of mine to pull the phone out of her purse.
“Bryce.”
“Let’s play with them a little,” I say.
“Yeah, okay. I’m going to tell her that you left last night.” She types it out, and her phone pings like crazy. “She’s sending those rapid-fire texts where she doesn’t finish the sentence. She starts by saying, ‘What?’ then, ‘No way.’ Then, ‘I thought my plan was brilliant.’”
“Tell her you’ve been crying all night. Our fight got worse, and I stormed out. That I’m probably back in Chicago already and you’re stranded.”
“Oh, that’s evil. They’ll know you’re not there.” She bites her inner cheek like she does when she’s deciding if she really wants to do something.
“They let us come up here without knowing we’d end up where we are. They deserve a little of their own medicine.”
She nods and her fingers fly across the screen. I pull into the town area, which looks as though it could be a movie set.
“Oh, this is so cute.” She pockets her phone and opens the door.
We’re not even thirty seconds away from the van when her phone pings and mine does too.
She pulls hers out, and I grab it from her, turning it off before I turn off mine. “No more interruptions.”
“Work?”
I shake my head. “Work doesn’t need you. You’re off.”
“Okay. I’m going to have major anxiety about this, but maybe in the end it will feel freeing.” She tucks the phone into her purse, and we walk down the street.
We go into every shop, from the candy and chocolate store to a pottery place. We eat lunch at a local brewery, and the entire time, I can’t keep my hands off of her. And she doesn’t seem to mind, kissing me in public as if it’s no big thing. Maybe I was worried for no reason.
After lunch, we drop the bags in the van and take a walk through the park.
“I was thinking… when we get back, whose place are we going to stay at?” I link our fingers together.
“What do you mean?” She knocks her shoulder with mine.
“Do you think I’m going to be able to not sleep in the same bed as you now?”
She looks at me a little quizzically. “It’s only been one night.”
I stop us from walking any farther. “So, you’re saying you want to sleep away from me?”
She lets me hold her close, my hands linked behind her back, her hands on my chest. “I’m saying I’m on call a lot, and you’re in the middle of your season.”
“Exactly, so we need to make the most of the time we have together. I vote for The Den. My place is bigger.”
“Barely.” She scoffs.
“Since I own the building, you could just give up your place, save your money, and we can move in together.”
Her eyes bore into me for a moment. “You’re serious?”
I lock my arms tighter around her. “Don’t you think we’ve spent enough time apart?” I kiss her to convince her, and she doesn’t object when I slide my tongue into her mouth. “So?”
“So, you’re not getting an answer, and as great of a kisser as you are, it won’t influence me.” She squirms out of my hold. “Give it time. It’s been one night, Coop.”
I sigh. “I just hate the thought of driving back tomorrow and saying goodbye to you. Now that I have you, I don’t want to let you go.”
She laughs. “I get that, but I’m not going anywhere.” She wraps her arms around my neck. “I want to be wherever you are. And I’m so happy we’ve finally gotten here. But we just got here, Cooper. Give it some time. You might even get annoyed with me.”
“Never,” I say, knowing I never got annoyed when she was my friend and vice versa. “You know me…”
“Yes, you’re impatient and want what you want now.
I know what I’m getting myself into.” She smiles.
“Enough touristy stuff. All this talk about going back tomorrow makes me want to make the most of the time we have here. There are no distractions here. Nothing to pull us away from one another, so take me back to the cabin and show me exactly what I’ve been missing all these years with only being your friend. ” She licks her lips.
“Let’s go.” I pick her up and walk back to the minivan.
“Coop, put me down,” she says as she laughs.
“Not on your life.”
I get her in the minivan and drive faster than I should back to the cabin.
We use the code to get in, and we’re stripping each other’s clothes off before the door is even shut.
Getting tangled in her jeans, she falls to the floor laughing, and I squat next to her to help, but she grabs me and pulls me down, placing her lips on mine.
Our kiss only stays PG for so long before we’re in R-rated territory, continuing to undress each other on the floor.
“Fuck, condom,” I mumble, climbing off her.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Stay put.”
“I’m not a dog,” she says.
I grab the box of condoms and drop them on the coffee table in the family room, then slide one on, meeting her back on the floor. I thrust inside her, and we each moan at the sensation.
“You feel so good.” She holds me close.
I lift one of her legs over my shoulder to get as deep as I can. “How about now?”
“I have no words.” She grabs my neck, smashing her lips to mine.
After we finish, I start the fire, lay blankets in front of it, and ask her to join me. We lie on the floor, caressing one another and kissing while we talk about nothing and everything all at once.
An hour later, she climbs on top of me, and I can’t help but grin. The glow of the fire really brings out her beauty.
“I don’t want you to think that I don’t want this,” she says. “I’m one hundred percent in this. I promise you that. I just don’t want to go full steam ahead. Part of the fun is dating. I get that we’ve known each other a long time, but…”
“You want to be wooed?”
Her cheeks blush, and she shrugs. “Maybe a little bit.”
I raise up and kiss her. “Consider it done.”