CHAPTER 6
LIAM
Cooper is hiding something.
He’s been fidgeting all over the place for days now, not to mention sneaking glances at me and blushing every time he thinks I’m not looking.
It has me weirdly on edge. I want to know what the fuck is going on, and the fact that we’re not sharing the same bachelor party tonight certainly doesn’t help things.
I don’t want to spend my night away from him.
I don’t give a shit about not being a bachelor anymore.
I’ve loved Cooper since I was sixteen years old.
I would have fucking married him the moment we turned eighteen if I could have, so saying goodbye to my bachelor days means absolutely nothing to me.
The music is so fucking loud at the bar, it only manages to piss me off. Not that it would take much for that to happen, considering my mood has been shitty ever since I got here with Nate and the guys from the physio clinic.
I’ve been nursing a drink for the past half-hour and have barely drunk any of it, my thoughts spiraling.
Why didn’t Cooper want to have our bachelor parties together?
Did he want to spend some time away from me?
Fuck, why does that thought make my chest hurt so bad, it feels like I can’t breathe?
“Hey, man. Is everything alright? You seem down.” Nate nudges me with his elbow.
“Yeah, it’s all good.” I nod, pasting a small, hopefully convincing smile on my face. I don’t want to be an asshole to my friend just because I miss Coop. “Nothing to worry about.”
Nate nods back, tipping his drink to his lips. “So you’re having fun, right?”
“Of course.”
He laughs and shakes his head.
“You’re such a bad liar.”
I chuckle then, joining the conversation with the rest of the group for a while, definitely not thinking about what Coop is doing with his friends from the coffee shop.
I’m halfway through my drink when my phone vibrates in my pocket, and when I fish it out, a text with Cooper’s name is flashing on the screen.
Coop: Come home, Li…
Every cell in my body snaps to attention at those three words.
I stare at the message for only a moment before I’m typing back.
Me: On my way.
I don’t how or why he’s home, but I don’t care.
If Cooper wants me home, then I’m going home.
I look up from my phone to let Nate know I’m leaving, but he beats me to it.
“Go,” he says with a smile and a sparkle in his eyes I don’t understand.
Fuck, what’s going on?
Under different circumstances, I would grill Nate until he tells me, but it’s impossible to stay here one more second, knowing Cooper is waiting for me.
My heart beats hard through the whole drive back to the apartment, and when I open the door, it gets so much fucking worse.
Low music, soft amber lights, and Coop. Coop standing there, barefoot, just inside the living room, golden light framing his features, looking almost damn ethereal in simple jeans and a T-shirt.
I swallow hard as he comes closer, close enough for me to see the wet tips of his black hair and his liquid blue eyes, now darker in the dim light. Close enough for his citrus scent to wrap around me. Close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body.
The smile on his face is pure sin.
“Hey,” he breathes, and I’ve never wanted to touch him more.
“Hey.” A wisp of black hair falls onto his forehead as he cocks his head and simply looks at me. “Why are we here, Coop?”
His eyes hold mine fucking captive as he takes one more step, and his shirt brushes against mine.
“It’s our bachelor party, Li. Did you really think we were going to spend it apart?”
An onslaught of want and longing crashes into me, and it almost sends me to my knees. My hand shakes as I run my knuckles over his cheekbone and down the side of his face.
“We’re not?”
Cooper’s eyes flutter shut for a moment, leaning into the touch, before he shakes his head and threads his fingers with mine.
“Come on.” He pulls me after him with a secret smile, leading me to a chair he’s placed in the living room.
My heart is in my throat when he makes me sit and he remains standing above me. At least, until he leans down to whisper in my ear.
“It’s not a bachelor party without a stripper, right?”
I suck in a sharp breath, and my eyes widen as I watch him pull back and reach for his phone.
Fuck, I love him.
I love how fucking bold he is with what he wants even when something is new to him, even when he’s nervous, just like I can see he is now.
He’s always been the fearless one between us.
“I suppose not,” I manage to say in a deep rasp that makes Coop smile. Because he knows. He knows how everything he does affects me on a visceral level.
A low, filthy beat spills from the speakers in the room. It’s not loud, but soft. Throbbing. Pulsing in tandem with my own heartbeat.
Cooper turns to look at me, and I fucking drown in the need swirling in his gaze.
I have to ball my hands into fists when he starts to move, eyes locked with mine. I’ve never been more torn between reaching out and grabbing him, and just lying back and enjoying the show.
He’s giving me a fucking show. My best friend, my fiancé, is putting on a show just for me.
He’s barely done anything yet, just moving to the beat of the music, relaxing into it, and I’m so hard for him it hurts.
A hint of self-consciousness peeks through as he touches his neck, hands sliding down his pecs and abs, body still moving sinuously to the music.
He’s not dancing like a professional. He’s dancing like a guy enjoying what he’s doing, and that flash of nervousness makes me feel like my chest is going to explode.
“Have you ever done this before?” I ask softly, quietly, but he hears it all the same.
Cooper shakes his head.
“You’re the first.”
A rough fuck escapes me, and he fucking smiles.
God-fucking-damn. How am I supposed to sit here and not go to him when he admits things like that?
But his gaze pins me in place, and I can do nothing but watch helplessly as he comes closer, close enough to stand between my spread legs. His hand slips under his gray T-shirt, pulling it up slowly, exposing his gorgeous body to my greedy eyes.
I bet his skin would be so warm if I leaned in and brushed a kiss on his stomach, the need to do it, to feel for myself, almost overwhelming.
It must be plain as day in my expression, because Cooper whispers, “Just watch. For now.”
For now.
Fuck. Me.
I nod, my nails digging into my palms as my eyes feast on every inch of skin he reveals, trying desperately to swallow past my dry throat when he holds his shirt up with one hand, and his other feathers over his toned stomach, his taut chest, his hard nipples.
His lips part in an exhale when his nails graze his nipple, his head lolling back with a soft moan that has me growling at the back of my throat.
Fuck, my baby likes his nipples played with so much. My mouth waters just picturing my tongue swirling around the hard nub, Cooper’s moan growing louder and louder in my ears.
“More, Coop,” I plead, my voice unrecognizable. “Show me more.”
His blue eyes are burning, his bottom lip sucked between his teeth as he takes his shirt cleanly off. His hips are fucking undulating to the low beat, and I feel as if I’m in a damn trance when I lean forward and nuzzle his skin just above the waistband of his jeans.
“Damn it, Li,” he says in a trembling voice, pressing harder into me. “You’re supposed to just watch.”
“I can’t, baby,” I mumble against his skin, giving in to the ravaging need to mouth his perfect warmth and feel him shudder. “I’ve missed you so fucking much.”
“Liam…”
My eyes squeeze shut at the sound of my name like that.
Like raw desperation. The same that’s currently tearing me up from the inside.
The feel of strong fingers carding through my hair makes my eyes snap open and look up at those blue pools of want.
He doesn’t say anything, but when he steps back and releases me, I immediately feel the acute loss of him. But my heart thunders in my chest when his fingers reach for the button of his jeans, the sound of his zipper cutting sharply through the beat of the music.
And I almost come when he starts lowering his jeans, and I see the dark-blue straps hugging his hips.
“Sweet baby…” I rasp under my breath, my eyes glued to the material.
Cooper, being the evil man he is, doesn’t just take his jeans off.
No. He holds my gaze and turns his body just enough for me to see everything as he slides his jeans down his legs—the way the jockstrap cups his rock-hard erection, the way the straps frame his hips and push up the globes of his ass.
My brain has gone completely offline, and I almost swallow my tongue when he straddles me, sitting on me.
Hot, naked skin is all I feel. I hear no music, I see nothing else but Coop on my lap.
Coop in his tight, dark-blue jockstrap.
A filthy grin tips his lips as he starts grinding on me, moving sensuously, his hands bracing on my shoulders, running down my chest, touching me everywhere.
“Are you okay there, handsome?”
Any semblance of control I have snaps. Torn to shreds. Utterly demolished.
I grip his hips tightly, hard enough to leave marks, and pull him firmly into the saddle of my hips. A dark chuckle leaves me when Cooper whimpers.
“You like teasing me, sweetheart?” I say in a hoarse whisper, my grip on him helping him move harder, tighter. More. “You like watching me fucking unravel for you?”
“Mhm.” He nods, and he looks damn beautiful—all flushed cheeks, miles of golden skin, hard cock peeking through his underwear. “I wanted to surprise you, to be alone with you. I—” He hesitates, heat and vulnerability swimming in his eyes. “I wanted to make tonight special.”
God, I’m so gone for this man.
I can’t not cradle his face in my hands, brush my lips against his, breathe in his sigh.
I can barely speak from the lump in my throat when I touch my forehead to his.
“Every day, and every night is special with you, Coop. I told you,” I say, smiling when I pull back to peer into his eyes. “You’re my dream come true.”
He melts on me, his thighs tightening on either side of mine, making our crotches rub together.
We both groan.