37. Chapter 37
Chapter thirty-seven
Cooper
I am beyond excited to get home. All day, my head’s been elsewhere. It’s been at home with Sutton. She’s consumed my thoughts more than usual. Electric energy courses through me at the sheer enjoyment of knowing tonight is our first night alone. Our first night officially done with the king of douches, and I plan to bask in every second of it.
I’ve just pulled into Sutton’s driveway after work when my phone rings. I pick it up without even bothering to look to see who’s calling; it can only be one person—the only person in my life who hasn’t gotten the hint that texting is my—and almost every other person on this planet’s—preferred method of contact.
Taking a deep breath, I grip the steering wheel. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, baby, how are you?”
“I’m good.”
A beat of silence passes before she finally says, “So, Sutton…”
“Yeah…”
“I like her.”
I smile. We had dinner with my parents a few nights ago, and Sutton managed to charm them both as I knew she would. It meant the world to me that they were as in love with her as I am. “Me too.”
“You needed someone like her.”
“Nah, I needed her.”
“Awe,” my mom coos on the line. “My baby is in love.”
“Madly,” I confirm.
“And she knows?”
“She is more than aware.”
“Good. All I ever want is for you to be happy in every aspect of your life, and it sounds like you are getting there.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
She’s silent for another moment.
“Mom?”
“I have something to tell you, but I don’t know if it’s anything or not.”
“What is it?”
“I saw Sutton a bit ago… She was having dinner with some attractive yet dirty-looking man.”
My blood boils. Dillon .
“That’s her ex, Mom.”
“Oh… And you’re okay with that?”
“Not really, but I’m sure there’s a good explanation for it all. He didn’t take the end of their relationship well.”
“Okay. Well, if you ever need to talk to me about anything, love life included, please call.”
“I will.”
At that, we hang up.
I’m not going to get mad. I’m sure Sutton had her reasons for meeting up with the man we just got rid of and not telling me. There has to be a good, reasonable explanation. Maybe her cell was dead, and she couldn’t call me.
I’m going to walk inside and calmly ask her about it.
Opening the front door, I’m prepared to do just that, but all that changes the moment I find her lounging on the couch, laughing as she stares at her phone with a glass of wine in her hand.
I slam the door behind me. “Did you meet up with Dillon?”
“Wow, no hello, how are you? Or even a quick kiss. The romance sure does fade quickly.”
“Did you see Dillon today?”
Her gaze narrows. “How did you know that?”
“Better question, why?” I work my jaw.
“Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic?”
“No, I don’t. But scratch that, the real question is why did I hear about it from someone else and not you?”
Sutton rolls her eyes. “Because he bombarded me when I was picking up takeout for our dinner, and I texted you earlier.”
I pull up my texts. The last message from her was the side-eye emoji three times. “This? This is you texting me about it?”
“Yes. That clearly means I’m giving someone the side-eye, aka Dillon the Douche. Who else would it be about?”
“How on earth was I ever going to guess that, Sut?”
“I don’t know, with logic. Gah, it’s like you don’t even know me.”
“That’s because you have the personality of a horny teenage boy and a rodent.”
Her mouth gapes in shock. “Rude.”
She knows it’s true. I groan, scrubbing my face. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m being so jealous.”
“Because you love me,” she yells and hops up and into my arms like a monkey as she wraps her legs around me tightly.
“Don’t worry about Dillon. Don’t worry about anything. You and me, we are rock solid. Like your dick will be shortly.”
I snort. “I’m sorry for overreacting.”
“It’s okay. I would probably react the same if I heard you spent time with Sarah.”
“I would never.”
“Good.” She presses a kiss to my lips. “Now let’s enjoy one of the first nights alone without you-know-who and have wild sex in the living room.”
I palm her ass. “I like the way you think.”
The day is dragging. I’ve had two meetings already this morning, then nothing else on my schedule but building a couple potential plans for a new client to present later this week.
I’ve yawned five times in the past ten minutes. I’m exhausted. Sutton and I took advantage of officially having her place Dillon-free and ended up screwing in the living room, on the kitchen counters, and on the hallway floor. Only stopping to feed each other the delicious steak she had picked up for us.
It was exhilarating, but the rug burns on my ass and Sutton’s knees are nothing we want to repeat. The night was in the top five best nights of my life, and not just because I was getting my brain fucked out of my head. But because of Sutton. Being with her, touching her, laughing with her, made every part of my soul sing with joy.
“What’s that, your fourth cup today?” Jeff asks as I tip the pot to fill my cup while he waits behind me with his own mug.
“You would know since you’ve filled yours as much as I have.”
He snickers down at his empty coffee mug. “Guilty.”
“Why are you overdoing the caffeine today?”
“New baby kept me and the missus up all night with colic.”
I hiss through my teeth. “Ooh, sounds rough.”
“You have no idea.” He takes a drink from his mug. “What about you?”
“Um… Up late.”
“Doing?”
I purse my lips. “Stuff.”
Jeff cackles. “Your better half to blame?”
“Yeah.” I smile.
“I don’t blame you. Enjoy the time together while you can because before you know it, you’ll have kids demanding to sleep with you, destroying any idea of alone time you have.”
“I—I don’t think kids are in our near future.”
“Smart.” He claps me on the shoulder. “I wish Lisa and I would have waited a couple more years before popping them out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I love the little fruit of my loins, but I also miss sleeping.”
I open my mouth to respond, but my eyes catch on something I shouldn’t be seeing. “What the hell…” I whisper to myself as Dillon the Douche hugs my boss before striding out of the office with a shit-eating grin on his face.
The confusion must show on my face because Jeff asks, “Do you know him?”
“Yeah,” I mutter. “That’s my girlfriend’s ex.”
“Maybe it’s a coincidence,” he says hopefully.
“Yeah, I doubt that. He didn’t take the breakup well and has been more than a little difficult.”
“Does he know you work here?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Shit,” he hisses. “What do you think they were talking about?”
Mr. Avery glares across the office. “Shaw, my office. Now,” he demands before turning around and walking behind his desk. Everyone’s head swivels in my direction with looks of apprehension and intrigue.
“I guess we are about to find out.” I set my mug on the desk closest to us.
“Good luck,” Jeff says, giving me a thumbs-up.
I hold my head high as I move past my coworkers. Each one of them gives me a different expression that says “yikes.”
The moment I step into his office, he demands I shut the door behind me.
I do as he says, then make my way to the stylish yet uncomfortable guest chairs in front of his desk.
“Do you know why I called you in here?” he asks, his tone lacking his usual jovial lift that I’ve come to expect.
“I can only assume it has something to do with the man who just left your office,” I reply honestly.
“Yes, it appears you and Dillon are no strangers.”
My heart rate increases as my nerves take over. I swallow. “You could say that, unfortunately . How are you two acquainted?”
“He’s my godson.”
My stomach drops.
Fuck . My mind races with every single shitty thing Dillon could have just told him about me. Lies and truths.
“So you can imagine my surprise when I saw you and Sutton, the woman who left Dillon at the altar, together.”
“Technically, she didn’t leave him at the altar. She refused to sign the—”
He cuts me off with a glare. “The way I see it, this means one of two things. Either you’ve been lying to me and everyone in this office about your relationship with Sutton. Or you were an active participant in the betrayal and heartbreak of my godson by helping his fiancée cheat. So, which is it? Are you a liar or a cheater?”
I ignore the sound of my blood rushing through my ears and the pounding in my chest as I tell him, “Our relationship is real.”
He steeples his hands in front of him. “So you’re a cheater?”
I clear my throat. “No, sir. Sutton and I didn’t begin our romantic relationship until months after I began working here and long after their failed wedding.”
A sneer-like smile graces his lips. “A liar it is.”
I close my eyes. “Yes, but I don’t see why my relationship status was ever relevant or even appropriate to be discussed.”
“You made it relevant when you chose to lie.”
I bite my tongue, not wanting to make the situation even worse by bringing up the fact that he and the board strongly implied that the position would go to someone who matched their lifestyles and ideals. Aka a person in a committed relationship. They all but said it in my interviews.
He breathes out through his nose, his frustration seeping through every pore. “Not only am I rethinking your recent promotion. I’m rethinking your entire future with this company.”
I freeze, my heart feeling like it’s going to explode. “Am I being fired?”
He shakes his head. “That has yet to be determined.”
I nod. “I understand this doesn’t look great—”
“Doesn’t look great? That’s not even half of it, Cooper. It looks like we hired a liar. The board won’t be pleased.” He leans back in his chair. “As of right now, you are on administrative leave until we make our decision.”
“Okay.” I swallow. “What does that mean exactly?”
“It means, collect your belongings and wait by the phone until you hear back from us.”
I push myself out of the chair and make my way to the door. “For what it’s worth. I’ve been in love with Sutton since the moment I saw her years ago. The timing of our physical relationship might have been an exaggeration, but the feelings weren’t. I know your relationship with Dillon complicates things, but I hope you let my job performance speak for me instead of my personal drama with him.”
He doesn’t say a word. So I close the door behind me and head into my office to grab my belongings.
I don’t have much in the way of personal effects. A picture of Nate, Viv, Sutton, and me taken from one of many trivia nights we like to frequent. My pencil case is filled with my favorite pens. And the stupid-fancy calculator I’ve never used once that Nate and Vivian bought me for my first day on the job.
Gathering up a few other items, I shove them into my backpack and turn off the lights without looking back.
From the moment I saw Dillon step out of my boss’s office, there was only one place I wanted to be—one person I wanted to talk to, to see.
Sutton.
I have to know if she knew about Dillon and Avery.
The FTW building is beautiful. Nate and Sutton have both already told me that before but seeing it in person is something else. The cubicles aren’t the boring old-fashioned kind that you can stick tacks into. They’re black metal, giving the space a sleek industrial vibe.
“Welcome to FTW. How can I—oh, it’s you.” Hadlee’s voice pierces my ears, bringing my attention to her.
“Hadlee.” I nod. She is every bit as beautiful and awful as I remember.
“Cooper,” she sneers. “Come to ask me for ways to get Sarah back?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Sutton.”
She rolls her eyes. “Her office is one floor below. You’ll want to go past the cubicles and down the long hall. You can’t miss it. Her name is on the door.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, taking off without another glance at her.
Her office is exactly where Hadlee said it would be. I knock twice on the thick door before she calls out, “Come in.”
Sutton’s long hair is draped over one shoulder while her eyes are glued to the computer in front of her. Her fingers move at a quick pace as she types away at the keyboard for a moment before looking up.
“Cooper!” She beams, pushing back from the desk and walking over to me. Her arms wrap around me, and she pushes up on her toes to kiss me. “What are you doing here?”
“I think I lost my job.”
“What?” she gasps, pulling me by the hand until we round her desk. She pushes me into her chair and then sits in my lap.
“Yeah, well. The official word is that I am on administrative leave until further notice, but I’m fairly sure that’s corporate for termination heading your way. Am I right?”
She hisses through her teeth. “It doesn’t sound good.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“What happened?”
“Dillon decided to pay my boss a visit.”
Sutton pales. “To meet with Mr. Avery?”
“Did you know? Who my boss was?”
“Not until that night at his house… I saw a picture on the wall and put two and two together. I’m sorry, Coop. I should have told you right away. I know I should have. But we were so happy about getting rid of Dillon. I didn’t want to ruin the mood.”
“So instead of ruining a night or two of sex, you let me walk into work to be blindsided by this?” I spit at her.
Her face falls in a mask of pure guilt, and I instantly feel like shit for putting that expression on her face.
“I’m so fucking sorry. This is all my fault.” Her chin wobbles.
I almost agree with her for a split second, but I stop myself. None of this is her fault.
“No. I’m the one who lied to my job about our relationship in the first place, which is what they’re planning to use as my fireable offense.”
“But I’m the one who left you in the dark about their family ties. If I would have warned you, maybe we could have figured out a solution before you were ambushed and put on leave.”
“Maybe… But can we both just agree that Dillon is the asshole here?” I ask.
“As he is in all facets of life.”
I let out a small laugh. “What am I going to do?”
“You aren’t going to panic.”
“How? I might have lost my income.”
“I have more than enough to support us.”
“Baby…”
“No, I don’t want to hear it. If the worst happens and they are idiots and fire you over that little shit, I will support you as long as you need.”
“I don’t want you to have to do that.”
“I know. But I will. Because we take care of each other. This relationship isn’t one-sided.”
I wrap her in a tight hug, inhaling deeply. Comfort washes over me as her scent fills my nose. “Thank you.”
Her eyes soften and the lines on her forehead smooth out as she tips up and presses a featherlight kiss to the corner of my mouth. “Go home, crack open one of those fancy IPAs from the fridge, and take a nice hot bubble bath. Use my lavender oils—that’s important. It will make the entire experience more enjoyable.”
“You being with me would make it more enjoyable.”
“I know, baby, but I can’t leave yet. I have an interview that I can’t reschedule.”
“Of course. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad.”
She silences me with another kiss, this one to my lips. It’s not soft like the last, but it also isn’t overly passionate.
“When you get in the tub, send me a text, and I will send you something that will make it one of the best baths you’ve ever had.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
I do as Sutton instructed.
I go straight home and pop open a cold IPA. The full-bodied flavor fills my senses as I make my way to the bathroom with an extra can in my left hand.
After finding Sutton’s lavender bath oil, I crank the water on high and wait for the tub to fill. I pop the top off the oil and splash a few droplets into the water before removing my clothes and stepping into the near-scalding water.
Dropping my head back against the small pillow she has draped over the edge of the tub, I close my eyes.
My parents have not only finally accepted that I have chosen a career path different from theirs but are supportive of it. Hell, they even seem proud of me.
How proud will they be when I have to break the news I was fired?
What the hell am I going to do if I lose my job?
Am I going to have to dip into the savings I set up for my parents?
Go back to teaching?
I’d rather have Dillon third wheel every date with Sutton than go back to where I started.
Fuck . I groan, rubbing my hand through my hair.
What a lie. I’d rather do anything than have Dillon in Sutton’s and my life, especially after he tried to end my career.
The only thing that makes this entire situation okay is her.
The fact that I found someone who’ll stand by me through it all.
A woman who is strong, compassionate, and loves me like no one else has.
In a few short months, my feelings for her have grown from an intense crush to a soul-aching love that has me terrified of losing it.
If it comes down to it, I’ll return to teaching. I’ll do anything and everything I can to contribute to our life in any way I can. Even if that means going back to a job that was filled with stress and severely lacking in the pay department. I would do it, for us.
I lean over the side of the bath, careful not to splash any water onto the floor, and grab my phone from my pants.
Cooper
Home and in the bath. Now what?
Sutton
I have two videos for you to watch. One is an inspirational tale that I would love for us to aspire to be like, and the other is something special I made for you a couple days ago when you were out with Nate.
Two hyperlinks appear in blue.
Which do I watch first?
Whatever your sexy heart desires.
I click on the first link, only to be brought to a Hentai porn site with a video titled “Hot guy fucks hot babe.” I chuckle at the video and fire off a text to Sutton before I press play.
You sent me a porn link…
*Shrugs* It’s one of my favorites. I thought maybe it could inspire you a little.
Noted… I’m nervous to click on the next link.
Don’t be. You are going to be INCREDIBLY pleased with what you find.
Intrigued, I ditch my plans to watch “hot guy fucks hot babe” and click on the second link.
This time, I’m not directed to an adult video site, which kind of has me bummed but also even more curious as it takes me to a Google drive with a folder labeled “For Cooper’s Eyes Only.”
Opening the folder, I click on the singular video file. I press play and find Sutton standing in front of her bed in nothing but a scantily, almost see-through teddy as her hands rub down her torso, then back up to her breasts, where she cups them and moans.
Holy shit.
Holy fucking shit.
Did she record a dirty video for me?
She looks at the camera, then licks her lips as she sits on the bed and spreads her legs wide open. The tiny panties she has on doing nothing to hide her slick entrance.
“Welcome to a very special Masturbation Monday.” Her lips curl up into a smile as her sultry voice comes through. “I hope you enjoy the show.”
I pull the wooden bath tray from the other end of the tub closer and prop the phone up as I slip my hands under the water to grip my cock. Sutton’s fingers trail over her clit a few times before she plunges a finger inside herself.
“Fuck,” I groan at the same time she does in the recording.
“I’m thinking about you right now. Thinking about your hands. Your fingers filling me as you fuck me senseless with them.” Her face contorts in pleasure as she puts on the show of a lifetime for me.
I squeeze my cock, timing my fist to her fingers, imagining I’m there with her, feeling the inside of her hot walls tightening around me.
Sutton rolls her hips, fucking her fingers enthusiastically for the camera, for me. “I’m close,” she pants. “Are you close?”
So close . I grit my teeth together, wanting to last as long as she does in the video. My balls are already painfully tight as I struggle to hold off.
Her legs begin to tremble, and her breathing picks up. “I’m coming.”
So am I .
I let go just as she does.
Euphoria.
It’s the only way to explain the intense pleasure and calm that washes over me and everything I am with her. Fuck, even when I’m imagining her.
I let my pounding heart rate come back down before I click back on the porn she had sent me for inspiration, and it’s not even twenty minutes later that I’m palming my cock again, chasing after another orgasm.
An hour, two beers, and a couple of orgasms later, I climb out of the bathtub, relaxed and tired.