10. Chapter 10
Chapter ten
Cooper
T wo and a half hours later, Sutton finally reappears.
Her keys jingle in her hand as she steps through the front door and stalks over to where I’m sprawled out on the couch.
She juts her hands out, thrusting a melted iced coffee in my direction. “Here.”
I sit up, eyeing the drink with caution.
“Just take the damn coffee, Cooper.”
I don’t know what’s up with her. She’s acting like a crazy person. From running out of the house earlier like a serial killer was in her house. To acting awkward as fuck with this coffee.
Honestly, I assumed she wouldn’t get me anything after her sprint away from me.
I stand, taking the condensation-covered cup from her. “Thank you.”
She glances down and around the room. Hell, she looks anywhere but at me. She’s been like this since we had brunch with her mother.
Something is off.
And it’s making me nervous.
I miss my usually sunny, albeit snarky, Sutton.
I don’t like this version that won’t look me in the eye and challenge me.
I’d like to think it was the brief kiss we shared earlier today.
I hadn’t planned on kissing Sutton. But the older Ms. Hale was a force to be reckoned with, just like her daughter. And she was right.
No one was going to believe us if there weren’t any real physical interactions between us.
Sutton wouldn’t move on from her fiancé that quickly and not be so wrapped up in the man that she couldn’t keep her hands off him.
No, she would be all over me. So the kiss was the least we could do to sell the lie.
Problem is, I’ve been dreaming about kissing Sutton since the first moment I saw her.
She was drunk and fumbling but also so damn cute.
And when she flirted with me, it made me feel something I hadn’t since my first crush in high school.
I’ve tried to ignore the feelings that’ve been eating away at me for the past year or so we’ve been in each other’s lives.
Tried and failed.
I’ve lied to myself by convincing myself it was nice to be flirted with by a beautiful woman. That it was flattering.
But God, did that kiss make the truth rise to the surface, whether I liked it or not.
Fuck, I hope it’s eating her the same way it’s eating me.
The moment our lips touched, I was gone. What was supposed to be a chaste kiss quickly took a turn into something more. She was intoxicating, and I couldn’t get enough.
And now all I want to do is take her mouth again. To wrap my fingers up in her blond strands and yank her to me.
Cautiously, I bring the cup up to my lips. Hoping it wasn’t tampered with.
She would smirk or bounce on her toes if she did something to the drink, right? Right ?
But she doesn’t do either. Instead, she focuses on her feet.
Closing my eyes, I give the drink a chance.
Hazelnut flavor fills my mouth as I take my first swig. The coffee is only partially watered down, but other than that, it tastes normal.
It tastes like my usual hazelnut iced latte.
Smugness and caffeine fill my veins. She knows my usual .
Her eyes finally move from the spot on the wall she’s been staring at, and she watches me as I gulp down the drink. She licks her lips as her gaze falls to my throat.
I make a point to drink every drop while she’s standing right in front of me.
Peeling the cup from my lips, I say, “Ahhh.”
“You didn’t have to drink it all right away.”
“I was thirsty. Someone had me waiting for hours.”
She blinks up at me innocently and gives me a small smile and a shrug. “Oops.”
I set the cup on the coffee table and take a step closer to where she stands. “What took you so long?”
“Lines.” She clicks her tongue, shaking her head.
“Lines?”
“Yeah, they were super long.”
“Long lines made it take over two hours for a coffee?”
“They were huge. Astronomical, even. Out the door and down the block. I think maybe there was a celebrity or something in there.”
“A celebrity?”
“Maybe. Who knows? Not me and definitely not you.”
I laugh. This woman is insane. Certifiable. Maybe her mother was right about needing to get her committed.
The only problem is I like her brand of crazy.
“I feel like you’re lying to me, baby opossum.” I take another step, bringing us almost chest to chest.
“Too bad you can’t prove it.” She juts out her chin in confident defiance.
I brush my fingers down her forearm, and Sutton sucks in a breath as goose bumps trail behind my touch. I stop when I reach her wrist, running my thumb over her pulse.
Her heart is pounding as she shifts on her feet, trying to yank her wrist from my grip, but I don’t budge.
“Why did you run out of here so fast earlier?”
“Cooper, please,” she whispers, her eyes pleading with me to leave it alone. To drop it. But I can’t. I won’t. I have to know if it was about the kiss. If she’s feeling the same things I am.
It’s crazy to think I might affect her the same way she affects me. Especially since she just left a man at the altar. But if there’s even a sliver of a chance, I’m going to take it.
I’ve waited too long. Have let her brush me off for too long. Tonight, I’ll get some answers.
“Answer the question.”
Unease fills her eyes, but she opens her mouth. “I—”
The front door bursts open, and Dillon struts in, giving both Sutton and me a cocky smile before he turns to hold the door open for someone.
Long, toned tan legs fill the room first before a face I’m all too familiar with. Both my and Sutton’s jaws drop as Sarah, my ex-girlfriend, walks into Sutton’s living room.
I drop Sutton’s wrist but don’t move away from her.
Now, I expected him to bring home a new woman every night, trying to get under Sutton’s skin, but this—her—I wasn’t expecting. It’s not just a poorly calculated move against Sutton. No, this is a strike against the both of us.
But not for the reasons he probably thinks.
I’m not sure if Sutton will be jealous. But I know that’s what he is going for.
But for me, it’s more annoyance. No envy, jealousy, or insecurity. I don’t care if he is seeing my ex.
That relationship ended a long time ago.
Admittedly, I dated Sarah for way longer than I should have. We were fun. The sex was good. But the spark died long before I ended things with her.
I had taken the coward’s route out, too. I told her it was her friendship with Hadlee that was the problem. That I couldn’t be with a person who knew what Hadlee was doing to hurt my friends and stayed silent.
It was true, but it wasn’t the entire truth.
But it was an excuse to leave.
I had been complacent.
The relationship had run its course.
And I hate to admit it had been feeling that way since the moment Sutton had blamed her tripping on rodents.
Sarah comes to a halt when she sees Sutton and me. “Cooper?”
I open my mouth to reply, but Sutton beats me to it. “Sarah.” Her tone is anything but friendly.
“What are you doing here?”
Again, Sutton speaks for me. “He lives here… With me.”
Anger and annoyance radiate from her. And she looks as if she’s going to snap. I can’t tell if it’s because of Dillon or because of me. I don’t even care if it isn’t about me, as long as it isn’t over Dillon. That’s a lie, I do care. I want her to be jealous over me.
Sarah’s eyebrows shoot up. “You two live together. Like roommates?”
Dillon smirks, his eyes glued on Sutton’s face.
“If roommates mean two people who are sleeping in the same bed every night, fuck like rabbits, and are in love, then sure. Roommates,” I toss out.
Sutton pulls my hand into hers, intertwining our fingers.
Sarah’s gaze drops to our linked hands, and her face falls. “Oh, when did this”—she gestures between us—“happen?”
Dillon opens his douchebag mouth and chimes in, “Sutton left me for him.” He frowns at her, and Sarah gasps and strokes his arm to comfort him. He then turns his attention back to us. “But oddly enough, even with these thin walls, I haven’t heard anything that sounds remotely sexual coming from the room you two share.”
Sutton sneers. “Been listening, perv?”
He shrugs. “Just find it odd, is all. Guess the grass isn’t always greener, is it?”
Sutton rolls her eyes. “It’s ponds vs. the ocean. One mirky and dirty. The other is vast and full of wonders you can’t even imagine. There’s no comparison.”
“Whatever.” Dillon closes the door behind Sarah and stalks off to his temporary room.
Sarah watches him for a moment, then moves to follow before stopping directly in front of me. Her eyes soften. “I don’t have to go with him, Coop, if you don’t want me to.”
Sutton rears her head back as if she’s been slapped. “You did not just proposition my boyfriend in front of me.”
Sarah’s attention darts to Sutton, then back to me. “Cooper?”
“And she can’t stop herself, can she?”
Fighting a smile, I tighten my hold on Sutton’s hand and step behind her. “Dillon’s room is the last door on the right.”
Her eyes widen as she swallows down her embarrassment and walks away. Sutton and I don’t move a muscle until the door closes and the familiar sounds of Dillon’s music blare through the walls.
“Can you believe the nerve of that hussy?”
“Total trollop,” I agree.
She shifts nervously, her eyes darting back to Dillon’s room, and my stomach bottoms out. She’s pissed that he brought her home. Her anger was for him.
“You weren’t—I mean, you didn’t want to take her up on her offer, did you?”
I stare at her, perplexed.
“Shit,” she mutters to herself, untangling our hands and stepping away from me. “Don’t tell me Dillon’s little revenge worked on you?”
She can’t be serious.
I wait for her to laugh or something, but she doesn’t.
Dear God, she’s serious.
“Are you high?” I ask. It would explain her weird behavior today.
“What? No, of course not.”
“Then why on earth would you think I give two shits about Sarah?”
“I don’t know, you guys were together for quite a while.”
“Yeah, on and off. Just like you and the douche of the century over there. Are you still hung up on him?”
“What? No!”
“How?”
“What do you mean, how?”
“How did you just drop all of your feelings for him within a split second.”
“Drop it, Cooper.”
“No, I want to know since you seem to think I’m still hung up on someone I ended it with when Viv and Nate were broken up.”
Her throat bobs as she swallows. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“Well, I don’t like seeing you upset that the asshole brought home another woman when I am supposed to be your boyfriend, but here we are.”
“I’m not upset about him. I’m upset about her.” She flings her hand out toward that door down the hall. “I’m upset about you.” She slaps a hand over her mouth like she didn’t mean to say that last part.
“Me?”
She groans in frustration. “Yes, you. You just stood there mooning over her like a damn idiot. You made me look stupid. And I am stupid. This is never going to work. We should call it now because no one is ever going to believe we are a thing. Not with you staring at your ex like that and def not when Dillon doesn’t even believe we are sleeping together.”
Frustration pumps through my veins as I rub a hand down my face. “You want him to believe it?”
“Obviously.”
“Fine.” I grasp her by the arm and pull her back into her bedroom, slamming the door behind us. I flip the lock and stride to her bed.
She eyes me warily as I climb on top of her bed and bounce. The bed squeaks under my weight.
“What are you doing?”
“Convincing him.”
“By bouncing?”
I shoot her a frustrated glare. “By creating a sensual auditory experience for anyone who might try to listen.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” She jumps to sit beside me on the bed.
I grin. “Sutton, can I fake rock your world?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” she moans out with a sly smile.
The music coming from down the hall gets quieter, and Sutton motions with her hand for me to continue on.
“Does Mommy like Daddy’s cock?” I ask, sounding breathy as I bounce up and down.
“Ew,” she laughs. “Mommy and Daddy?”
“Shhh,” I say in a hushed tone, pressing a finger to her lips. “Just go with it, trust me.”
Sutton then climbs onto her feet and jumps on the bed, causing it to bump the wall even harder. “Yes, Daddy. More, more, more.”
Disgust fills me, and I fake gag, whispering to her, “You were right. It’s awful.”
I grunt and groan as Sutton begins to slap my thighs to create the perfect combination of sounds.
“Oh yeah, right there, Mommy. Don’t stop.”
“I won’t stop until you’ve filled me with your sweet seed,” she yells, jumping faster and faster.
We’re both panting in no time, which only helps to sell our little charade.
Soon, we’re both screaming each other’s name in fake pleasure with a long, exaggerated sigh as we finish.
We collapse on the bed, side by side and panting.
A door slams down the hall, and I know it worked.
Sutton lifts her hand up, and I slap it. “Good work.”
“Don’t tell me you high-five after sex?” I ask, both curious and apprehensive.
She wiggles her brows like a madwoman. “You’ll never know.”
Laughter bubbles out of her until she’s laughing so hard her face turns red and she can’t speak, only squeaky wheezes falling from her lips.
I love the insane amount of joy that something so ridiculously childish can bring her.