by Sophie Stern
Cooper: I don’t need to. You knock all other girls out of the water.
I blush as I read his messages. I know it’s still super early in the relationship. I know he could get bored or run off or whatever, but something tells me he’s not going to.
Something tells me Cooper is genuine.
We agree to meet after work and I hurry off to Drinks on Me with a smile on my face.
***
“Where should we go?” I waltz up to Cooper, toss his cigarette on the ground, and kiss him. Deeply. He groans as I do, fisting my hair and grabbing my ass. Neither one of us cares that we’re in the middle of the parking lot. We only care that finally, after a long fucking day, we’re together.
“Anywhere,” he says.
“Let’s go to Cliff 9.”
He raises an eyebrow, but shrugs, and climbs in the car. He grips my hand as he navigates the familiar roads to one of the many cliffs that overlook Whiskee.
Whiskee is a mid-sized city located in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies. The city is perfect, in my opinion, because it’s close to the military base and close to my college and close to some great places to go camping.
I don’t care too much for skiing, but I’ll camp all damn summer if I can.
Cliff 9 is one of the best places to park and look out over Whiskee. You can see everything from up there: the campus, the churches, the trees, the shops. You can see houses and parks and open land.
You can see everything.
Cooper drives us to the parking lot and we sit for a moment, just looking out into the darkness.
“Do you have a flashlight?” He asks after awhile. I forget sometimes that he’s not from Whiskee. He’s not a “native.” Sometimes people in Whiskee can be a little intense about spending our whole lives here.
“Don’t be a pussy,” I say, and hop out of the car.
He protests, but I ignore him and kiss him again. Somehow, we manage to make it to one of the little benches nestled in between a couple of pines, and we look at Whiskee.
“Beautiful,” he tells me. “I’ve never been up here.”
“But you knew right where it was.”
“I’ve driven by. I’ve never been up here like this,” he motions to the city. “At night, at the edge of the cliff. I could stay up here forever.”
“Me too.”
We’re silent for awhile, then he turns back to me. Cooper strokes my hair softly and I nuzzle into his hand, enjoying his touch.
“Why were you so quick to sleep with me?”
“I’m not a slut, if that’s what you’re asking,” I’m suddenly tense.
“I didn’t think you were. I would never think that about you, Bailey.”
“Some people…with the dancing, I mean…” How do I explain this to him? “Some people assume I’m a bit deviant, I suppose.”
“I just wouldn’t have pegged you as being so outgoing.”
“Things have been tough for me lately. I’ve learned that I need to go after what I want when I want it,” I say. “I’ve learned that I need to chase after my dreams because if you wait too long, Cooper, they might not be there anymore.”
“Someone hurt you,” he says, but it’s not an accusation. It’s just an observation.
“I just got out of a bad relationship,” I shrug. “Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to marry me or anything. I’m not like, rebounding like crazy or anything.”
“What happened?”
“Dominic and I were together for two years. Actually, I chose to go to college here so we could be close to each other. Isn’t that stupid?”
“It’s not stupid.”
“He was sleeping with my cousin.” I don’t want to cry. I won’t cry.
“I’m sorry, Bailey. That’s awful.”
“I know it’s stupid, but part of me wonders why I wasn’t good enough. Not that I should have been with a jackass. I just wish I had been better, smarter. I wish I had been enough.”
“I know how you feel.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugs, but I touch his leg and squeeze softly, gently. I hope my touch is reassuring because I know words sure as hell won’t help. Not when something like this is happening.
“It wasn’t me it happened to. It was my parents. My mom…” His voice trails off, but then he shakes his head and continues. “It was so long ago, but my mom left us. She left me and my dad. Who does that to their kid?”
“For another man?”
He nods.
“He had a kid. A family. She left me and my dad to go be some other kid’s mom. How messed up is that?”
Cooper shakes his head and I hate knowing he’s had so much pain in his life. I straddle him and hold him, rubbing his back, petting his hair.
After a minute, he looks up at me and cups my cheek.
“I’ve never told any girl I’ve dated that story, Bailey.”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“I trust you.”
“I trust you, too.”
We sit like that for a few more minutes, then I move back to my spot on the bench and we just hold hands. We don’t kiss. We don’t talk. We’re just together.
Somehow, it’s more healing than anything else I’ve ever experienced in my life.
Chapter 7
Cooper
I go to work each day and work on completing my checklist of “things to do before I deploy.” It’s boring as hell, but worst of all, it keeps me from spending too much time with Bailey. Still, I text her every chance I get, which usually ends up being on my lunch break and after work.
The more time we spend together, the more I dread telling her I’m leaving. How will she react? Would she be open to waiting for me? Is that even fair to ask her?
I’ll be out of communication for most of my deployment. Yeah, I can send letters and emails, but they won’t be regular, and most girls need regular.
Most girls need normal.
When I’m not working, I spend all my spare time with her. I’m addicted. She’s like fire and ice. She’s sweet and sour at the same time, strong and fragile all rolled into one.
When it comes to Bailey’s family, though, she’s timid and nervous. She doesn’t want to mess up her relationship with her mom. She doesn’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt her mom’s growing relationship with the English professor.
Part of me wishes I could punch the asshole in the face. Who does that? Really? Who dates their student’s mom? Only, it’s already happening, and there’s not much either of us can do but accept it.
So Bailey calls me, and I listen to her rant. I’ll pick her up and we’ll drive around, make out for awhile, and talk about our problems. We’ll share our secrets.
We’ll do everything together but talk about the future because for me, it means saying goodbye, and for her, it means accepting the world has moved forward.
A few weeks go by and we settle into a strange, comfortable routine. I’ll drive her to work sometimes or to pole class. I haven’t seen her dance at the studio, but her body is getting more toned and flexible every day. When she’s sore or has bruises from learning a new move, I’ll massage her, give her a bubble bath, lotion her skin until she feels good again.
Is this what falling in love is like?
Is this what it means to lose yourself in another person?
There’s a part of me that’s scared of this. I never expected to fall in love, especially not at Forrest AFB. There are a lot of rumors that surround this duty station and even though I’ve heard story after story of people falling in love here, I always thought it was ridiculous. People have said there’s something in the water and now I think it might be true because Bailey is the best damn thing to happen to me.
“I want to show you my new moves,” she tells me one night. We’re in my dorm room. I’m not supposed to have girls overnight, but it’s one of those rules that’s not enforced unless your commanding officer doesn’t like you.
Luckily, mine th
inks I’m amazing.
“Is that so?” My dick is instantly hard. It’s always hard around her, but her dancing? That really does it for me. Bailey has never taken dance lessons before. This is her first time. Somehow, I can’t believe she’s never tried it before because her moves are unbelievable. She’s unstoppable.
She turns on the music and pushes me back onto my bed. I’m on my back. I push up on my elbows and watch her begin to sway to the music. My feet hang off the bed and I wiggle my toes, getting comfortable. Bailey just smiles.
Everything about her is teasing, seductive. Her moves are natural, but perfectly calculated to excite my dick even more.
Bailey twists her hips, moving them in slow figure-eights. Her shirt comes up, up, up. She pulls it over her head, then tosses it aside. She slowly moves her hands up her stomach and over her black lace bra, cupping her breasts as she does. She turns in a circle, shaking her ass, moving her hands up and down her body.
She never stops moving her hands.
As she dances, I imagine it’s my hands on her. I imagine I’m the one making her groan, moan, bite her bottom lip.
I want to yank her pants down and slide my hand between her thighs, feeling just how fucking wet she is for me, but I know have to wait.
With Bailey, it’s all about the control, the teasing.
It’s all about making me at her mercy.
And that’s just fine with me.
Slowly, she slides her black pants off. She always wears them to work. Her uniform is casual: black pants with a brightly colored shirt. I don’t mind the plain pants, though. They hug her ass perfectly, making her soft, round cheeks look even more delectable.
I suck in my breath when I see she’s not wearing panties.
“Like what you see, airman?” She winks. The coy little dancer actually winks and keeps moving, never missing a beat.
Bailey massages her breasts, runs her hands all over her body, and finally comes close enough to the bed where I can reach out and touch her.
“No, no,” she shakes her finger at me. “No touching.”
“Strip club rules?”
She nods.
“We’re not in a strip club.”
A look of surprise crosses her face and I take advantage of her surprise. Reaching out, I grab Bailey and yank her close to me, then crush my lips to hers.
Fuck.
Yeah.
She tastes so damn sweet I can barely keep myself from coming right now. I don’t want to ruin the moment, but I do want to taste her.
All of her.
“Come here, gorgeous,” I pull her onto the bed with me. She’s straddling me now, but she looks confused because I’m still dressed and she’s not.
“Let me take your pants off,” she smiles, but I shake my head.
“Climb up on me,” I say. Bailey looks confused, so I hoist her higher and push her bottom until she’s straddling my face.
“Um, Cooper?” She sounds nervous. “Is this what you…um, meant? Is this okay?”
“Lower yourself onto my face, Bailey. I want to eat your sweet pussy.”
“I’ve never…”
“It’s okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Bailey, if you don’t start riding my face, I’m going to go insane. I want to feel you come while you’re riding me so get down here, baby.”
That’s all the urging it takes, then I feel her sweet lips reach mine. I kiss her, then lick and suck on her body. Her sweet honey flows over my tongue and I lick harder and faster. Bailey moves her hips slowly at first, but as her arousal increases, she gets more into it and lowers herself onto me even more.
I grip her hips and pull her down more tightly, licking and sucking her. I know Bailey has never been touched like this before, and the truth is that I haven’t touched anyone like this before, either. I’ve never wanted to, never felt that urge.
Oh, I’ve gone down on women before. I’ve had experience, but I’ve never had someone ride my face. There’s something so animalistic about the experience. There’s something so raw and passionate. There’s something freeing about the way Bailey has completely exposed herself to me and the way she trusts me enough to try this.
I feel her body tense as she nears her orgasm and I pick up the pace.
I want her to come like this.
I want her to come so hard she’s riding my tongue like it was made to bring her pleasure.
I want her to come like there’s nothing else in the world she’d rather be doing.
I want her to come until the only name on her lips is mine.
I want to make Bailey come and then I want to do it again.
And again.
And again.
She explodes. Bailey cries out as she pushes down on me and I tenderly lick up and down her lips. I slide my tongue over her soft pussy, tasting every bit of her orgasm, feeling her tremble on my mouth.
And then she slides down into my arms, wrapping them around me, and Bailey kisses me.
It’s the most tender moment of my life and it’s also when I realize I don’t want to live without her.
I don’t want to spend another day without her.
I want all of her.
Bailey is young. We both are. It’s probably stupid to want to get married so young or to think I could be lucky enough to have found “the one,” but that knowledge doesn’t change the way I feel. I love being around her.
I love touching her.
Holding her.
Bailey kisses me and all my pain disappears. She touches me and everything else vanishes but her.
She’s all I see, all I want, and with my upcoming deployment, all I can never have. It wouldn’t be fair to ask a girl like her to wait around for me. It wouldn’t be fair or right, so I hold her with the knowledge that soon, I’ll have to say goodbye.
Soon I’ll have to accept that she’ll move on.
Soon I’ll have to know she’ll find someone else.
But for now, for right now, she’s in my arms, so I hold her and whisper and tell her how beautiful she is.
After a few minutes, she starts lazily tracing her finger down my chest.
“I should, uh, return the favor,” she says quietly, running her hand lower. My dick has never been harder, but it’s not the right time. Not just yet.
I stop her, holding her wrist, and bring it back up to my chest.
“It’s okay,” I whisper. “Tonight I just want to hold you.”
She rests her head on my chest.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind. I’m good at it, you know.”
“I know.”
I stroke her hair for a minute, then Bailey starts talking again.
“That was really fun.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I had a good time, too. You’re sexy as hell, Bailey.”
“Stop.”
“It’s true.”
“You always flatter me.”
“You deserve to be flattered.”
“Yeah, well, you’re the only one who thinks that.”
“Dominic was an asshole.”
She laughs, but it’s a dry, humorless laugh.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“I want you to know not all guys are like that. Some guys are better than that, Bailey. Some guys see your worth.”
She cocks her head, as if it’s the strangest thing she’s ever heard, and then she kisses me softly.
“I should go. It’s late.”
“You could stay.”
“You’ll get written up.”
I shrug. There are worse things in life. I don’t really care if I get in trouble for having Bailey sleep over.
“Let them write me up. Stay.”
“If you really want me to.”
“I want you to.”
“I might get horny in the middle of the night.”
“I know just how to make you feel better.”
She laughs loud, then. She laughs bright and my soul feels complet
e with her in my arms, then Bailey and I settle in for the night and I wish for the millionth time that I didn’t have to leave.
Chapter 8
Bailey
“My mother wants us to have dinner with her and my professor.”
“Scranton?”
“Yeah.”
“And your mother?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?” Cooper spits out the word like it’s on fire in his mouth, like he can’t quite believe I would invite him to a family function.
“Why am I inviting you or why does she want us to have dinner?”
“Both.” He raises an eyebrow and I roll my eyes. Men. Still, at least he isn’t being weird about it the way Dominic would. Dominic was obsessed with my mother. She doesn’t know why we broke up and I doubt I’ll ever tell her. It’s too stupid and embarrassing.
“Because you’re my…I mean, I thought we were…” My voice trails off as I realize we’ve never actually defined our relationship. There’s never been a moment when we were like, “Hey, we’re dating!” We haven’t changed our social media relationship settings or anything like that.
We’ve just…been together.
And I like it.
I like that with Cooper, there’s no pressure to be anything or define anything. We can just be us.
“Yes?” He takes a step forward. We’re in the middle of my kitchen making pasta. Kasey is off in her room doing whatever it is she does in there, so we’re basically alone.
“I care about you,” I finally blurt out.
“Oh, Bailey.” He reaches out and strokes my cheek. I lean into his touch the way I always do because with Cooper, I can’t control myself. “I care about you too, Bailey. So much.”
“Then…”
“Dinner with your mom?” He whispers.
“Dinner with my mom,” I nod.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.” I squeak it out because it’s so soon and I know it’s not going to be fun. I’m only going to appease her. She actually doesn’t know Cooper will be joining me because even though I care about Cooper, I kind of want to keep him for myself. I kind of don’t want my mom to know about him yet. I kind of don’t want to share him with the world.
