by Ryan, Kaylee
“Nothing really. I just want to spend time with you. I thought I could show you around the city a little bit. You’ll get to see the stadium today.”
“Do you like it here?”
He shrugs, keeping his eyes on the road. “Honestly, I’m not really sure. Last year was hard for me. I didn’t really let myself take it all in.”
“What do you mean?”
“I missed you, Reese. It was hard, and I spent a lot of my time brooding because of it. I got close to a couple of guys on the team, but for the most part, I stayed to myself. I didn’t go out with them, unless it was at one of their houses. I just… wasn’t feeling any of it without you being there with me.”
“I guess we need to talk about that, huh? You’ll be coming back soon.” How can my heart be soaring with his confession and falling to the pit of my stomach in a matter of seconds? I know he has to leave. It’s his job, I’ve always known our situation isn’t permanent, but that doesn’t make the pain of knowing I’m not going to see him every day lessen. Then there’s him telling me how hard it was for him. I wasn’t alone in my struggle. If I would have spent less time avoiding him, and more time speaking my mind, a lot of pain, ours and Hunter’s, could have been avoided.
“Yeah,” he agrees. “I don’t want to talk about that right now. I want to enjoy you being here with me.”
“Okay, but we need to talk about it.” I’m not ready for him to go back, but I know it’s his job and would never in a million years ask him to give that up. He’s worked so hard to get where he is. I just don’t know how we are going to manage with long distance.
I’ve been looking online for social worker positions in the area, and so far, I’ve not had much luck. I enjoy what I do, and I would miss the kids I’m working with, but if it meant being with Cooper all the time, I would move. He’s mentioned it, but we’ve not talked about it. We also haven’t talked about us, and I know that’s all on me. I’ve been keeping us in the safe zone, but the reality is there is no safe zone. Not when it comes to Cooper. I’m madly in love with him. That is the one thing I’m certain of. I know that no matter the time or the distance, he still owns my heart. I was never willing to admit that until now.
“Ready?” he asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Yes.” I give him a wide smile. “I’m excited to see your new stomping grounds.”
“Business first.” He pulls the keys from the ignition and reaches for the handle.
I do the same and meet him at the front of his truck. “Oh my God! Are you Cooper Reeves, I love you so much! I’m your biggest fan,” I say, sugary sweet and jumping up and down.
He throws his head back and laughs, snaking his arm around my waist. “My biggest fan, huh?”
“Oh, the biggest,” I say, giggling.
“And you love me?” he asks with a glint of humor in his eyes.
“I want to have your babies.”
He pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me. “You love me, and you want to have my babies. Sold.” He pulls back, and we begin to walk toward the building. “How did you know that’s all I’ve ever wanted?”
“What’s that?” I ask, confused.
“You to love me and have my babies.” He smirks and pulls open the doors.
My steps falter but quickly recover as his agent, Jarvis Jones, comes walking toward us. “Right on time,” he says, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “Reese, good to see you.”
“You too.” I’m surprised he remembered my name. I only met him a couple of times, and that was over a year ago.
“Cooper, you ready? This won’t take long. I’ve had legal comb through both contracts, and it’s good to go.”
“Both?” I ask.
“Oh, in addition to underwear, there’s a sports drink that picked me up too,” Cooper explains.
“Your boy’s going to be a household name,” Jarvis tells me.
Cooper smiles at me, and if I’m not mistaken, there is a slight blush to his cheeks. I’d call him out on it, but I don’t want to make it worse in front of his agent. He’s supposed to be this bigtime badass football player. He is that, but he’s also just Cooper.
“Come on into the conference room. I have it all squared away,” Jarvis says, motioning for us to follow him.
“Mary.” Cooper stops as a lady about our parents’ age passes us in the hall. “Thank you so much for sending me all of the gear. This is my girlfriend, Reese. She works as a social worker for the children’s home, where I took the items,” he explains.
“Nice to meet you, Reese.” She offers me her hand, which I shake. “I hate to run, but I have a meeting across town.” She waves and rushes down the hall.
Cooper starts to walk again, and I have to rush to catch up with him, not that he’s giving me a choice. He hasn’t let go of my hand. We follow Jarvis into the conference room, and I sit and watch as Cooper signs two contracts for endorsement deals. It’s surreal to watch. I love that I get to be here for this moment. He’s made it. He did it, and I’m so damn proud of him. This is more than just a stadium. This is his work, his blood, sweat, and tears, and I get to be here with him.
We talked about this day so many times, him going pro. It’s here, he’s living it, and although he’s headed into his second season, it’s really sinking in for me being here. I tried so much to not think about him all last year, I missed out on all of this. The excitement, and the thrill of him living his dream.
“That’s it,” Jarvis says, placing the signed contracts into a folder. “I’ll send these over, and I’ll be in touch about the next steps.”
“Thanks, Jarvis.”
“That’s my job. What are you two getting into the rest of the day?” he asks, making conversation.
“I thought about giving Reese a tour.”
“They’re painting, so that won’t be today. Next weekend?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Cooper says, not committing. He looks over at me. “I guess we’re heading home. It’s been a while. I’m sure the place needs airing out.”
“Call me if you need anything,” Jarvis says, leaving the room with some pep in his step. Not that I blame him. Cooper signing those two deals, in addition to his new five-year contract, Jarvis just got another big payday.
* * *
“Home sweet home,” Cooper says, unlocking his condo, and pushing the door open, motioning for me to walk in first. “It smells better than the last time I was here.”
“Bad?” I ask, smiling.
“You have no idea. I cleaned out the fridge and washed up the laundry when I came down that day and signed my new contract.”
“Coop, it’s a great space, but it barely looks lived in,” I say, looking around the room. There are no pictures on the walls or any other types of decorations that make this place his.
“I slept here. Hung out on the couch watching TV, that’s about it.” He points to the end table.
I walk toward the end table and look down at the one and only decoration. A framed picture of the two of us. Picking it up, it’s a picture of us that was taken at one of his CU games. He’s in his jersey and a sweaty mess, but we’re both smiling and happy.
“I love that one,” Cooper says.
“I’ve never seen it.”
“Mom took it. Junior year.”
I set the frame back on the table as my eyes scan the room. My eyes seek out something that I might have missed, but come up empty. Just me and him. The realization of that sucks the air from my lungs. It’s not that I didn’t believe him that last year was hard for him. I guess I just never let myself believe it was as bad as he said it was.
“Tour?” he asks, holding his hand out for me, and I take it, letting him pull me from the couch. “This is the living room.” He grins and leads me toward the kitchen. “Eat-in kitchen. There’s a decent-sized patio out back with a grill and a couple of lawn chairs. I don’t do much entertaining.
“I have two bedrooms and two full bathrooms. My room has a master bath, then the guest bat
h, which whoever is in the second bedroom also has to use,” he explains, leading me down the hall. “Guest bath.” He points out.
“Have a lot of overnight guests, do you?” I ask him before I can think better of it.
“No. None actually, you’re the first.” He leads me to the end of the hallway. There is a small closet door directly in front of us and a door on both sides of the wall. “Right side master, left side guest room. Go ahead and look around. I’m going to run out to the truck and grab our bags.” He kisses my temple and leaves me standing in the hall.
Curiosity gets the best of me as I step into his room. The same comforter he used at college is sprawled across his bed. There’s a dresser, and an empty clothes basket on the far wall, and a nightstand on either side of the bed. There are no pictures or art on the walls. It’s very manly, and very Cooper. It just feels like it’s not really home. My eyes land on another frame, all by itself, on what must be his side of the bed. My feet carry me to that side of the bed as my eyes narrow in on the picture.
It’s me. I don’t recognize where I am, but I’m smiling and looking off in the distance. I pick it up to get a closer look, trying to pinpoint when and where this was taken.
“That one,” Cooper says from behind me, “is my favorite.”
“I don’t recognize it.” I don’t look away from the picture.
“That’s because I cropped me out of it.” He walks over to me and pulls open the nightstand drawer, pulling out a single photograph, and hands it to me.
My hands tremble as I take it from him, and suddenly, I not only recognize the picture, but I’m taken back to that day. I can remember the smells, the sounds, and even the moment. In the original picture, my smile, it’s for Cooper. He’s looking at me, wearing the same grin. It was our high school graduation party. Our parents combined them, and Coop and I had just finished singing karaoke.
“I remember that day.”
“Me too. Although, I admit now I see it differently. I see the way we looked at each other even back then, and I kick myself in the ass for not realizing what we were. I was too blind to see that you have always been more than my best friend, Reese. I’m sorry it took me so long.”
Staring down at the picture, I see it. All the times we’ve had together, and more importantly, that look. It’s the same one I’ve seen on him every day since he came busting into the room at the banquet hall, telling me he loves me.
This is us, and it’s real. It’s not something that’s just going to go away. Our love, it’s so much more than what I think either of us dreamed it could be. It’s a “deep-rooted in your chest, chains around your heart” kind of love.
Carefully, I place the picture back into the nightstand and close the drawer. Then, I turn to face him. It takes me one step to be toe to toe with him. It takes one second for my hands to rest against his cheeks. It takes one heartbeat for me to say, “I love you, Cooper Reeves.”
He leans down and presses his lips to mine. It starts out slow, his hands clasping behind my back, mine resting on his face, but then his hands begin to roam, and all bets are off. I take a step back, stepping out of his hold, grab the hem of my T-shirt, and pull it over my head. His brown eyes watch me intently as I go to the waistband of my capris and quickly remove them. I kick them off to the side.
“Jesus, Reese.” Cooper reaches for me, but I take another step back, my legs hitting the bed.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” I say as I reach behind me and unclasp my bra, slowly sliding the straps over my shoulders and letting the silky garment fall to the floor.
“Cooper,” I say when he just stands there staring at me.
“This is real. Right? Please tell me I’m not dreaming.” His eyes rake over my body.
“This is real,” I assure him.
“Thank fuck,” he mutters before quickly shedding his clothes. His hands grip my waist as he picks me up and sets me on the bed. “Lie back, baby.”
I do as I’m told, anxious for his hands and his mouth and his cock, in any order. I’ve denied us both long enough. “Cooper,” I pant as he kisses my ankle, moving his lips to trail up to my inner thigh. He kisses me over my panties, but all too quickly, his lips are gone and are on my opposite thigh, trailing kisses down my leg.
“Lift for me,” he says once he’s done torturing me. I lift my hips, and he slides my panties down my legs, dropping them to our collective pile on the floor.
“I don’t have condoms here,” he says, his voice tight. “I didn’t think this would happen, or I would have been more prepared.”
“We didn’t use one last time. I’m still on the pill.”
“I didn’t want to assume.”
“You’re my boyfriend. We’re in a committed, loving relationship. If we’re both comfortable with it, we don’t have to use them.”
“Are you? Tell me what you want, Reese.”
“I want you inside me. Sooner rather than later.”
His eyes flare with heat. “Bare?” he asks, choking on the word.
“Only you,” I remind him.
“Only you,” he says in return.
Chapter 17
Cooper
I take a minute to just look at her. To stare at the beauty lying before me. I’ve wanted for this for what feels like an eternity, wanted us, and now that she’s here, and all mine, I don’t know where to start.
I want all of her. There are so many things I want to do to her, but there are two that I need before any of the others. First, I need to hear her tell me she loves me again. I’ve waited so long to hear those words, and I just… need her to say it again. Two, I need to taste her. Now. My mouth waters at the thought.
“Say it again,” I demand, my voice husky with my desire for her.
“Only you.”
“No, tell me,” I say, leaning in and placing a kiss just below her belly button. I peer up at her as she lifts up on her elbows to look me in the eye.
“I love you, Cooper.”
“Fuck, baby, you don’t know what hearing you say that does to me.” I slip my finger through her folds, and she moans. I lick my lips. She’s so wet. The anticipation is killing me. I lean in close, ready to fucking devour her, when her words stop me.
“Coop.”
I glance up to see her still sitting up on her elbows, her teeth biting at her bottom lip. “I don’t know if— I mean, I’ve never.” She nods toward where I’m on my knees between her legs, preparing to devour her.
“We’re going to learn together. You tell me what you like, and if I do something you don’t like, tell me that too.” She nods, her teeth still chewing on that bottom lip. Lowering my mouth, I swirl my tongue over her clit, and she moans.
“Oh my God,” she breathes.
Her reaction is all the confidence I need to keep going. I nip, and suck, and lick, all while she squirms beneath me. I love that I’m driving her crazy, that she yearns for my touch. Heavy and throbbing, my cock’s reminding me I need to be inside her. To feel her pulse around me. I need her to come. Sliding one finger into her heat, I pump lazily a few times before sliding another, and sucking her clit into my mouth.
“Oh, fuck!” she cries.
Her pussy pulses around my fingers and her orgasm explodes on my tongue. I take all that she’s giving me, not stopping until her body relaxes into the mattress. Then, and only then, do I slowly remove my fingers from her and wipe my mouth with the back of my arm.
Sitting back on my knees, I watch her closely as her chest rapidly rises and falls, and her eyes slowly open.
“Hi,” she says shyly.
“I love you.”
A slow lazy smile pulls at her lips. “I love you too.”
Climbing to my feet, I grip my cock in my hand and pump a few times. Her eyes zone in on my actions. “Move back on the bed, Reese.” She does as I ask, and again, I just take her in. Her hair is splayed out on the pillow, her eyes hooded and hungry, and her body is flushed from her release.
; “You need help with that?” she asks.
“Just enjoying the view,” I tell her.
“My view’s not so bad either, but I was kind of hoping for the full experience.”
“I’m a full-service kind of guy.” I chuckle, climbing onto the bed and settling between her thighs. She immediately wraps her legs around my waist, locking them behind my back.
“Now I’ve got you.” She laughs.
“I never want you to let me go.”
She moves her head from side to side. “Never.”
Bending my head, I kiss her. It’s slow and deep as my tongue pushes past her lips. I push inside her. Home. Reese is and will forever be home to me. I push all the way in and pull out of the kiss, resting my forehead against hers.
“This is real, right? We’re together. No holding back, no hiding. It’s you and me. We can start planning our future?”
“It’s real. We’re real. I couldn’t hold back any longer, even if I wanted to. It’s killed me to keep you at arm’s length all this time.”
“You let me hold you at night,” I say, kissing her cheek. “And hold your hand,” I add, placing a kiss to the other cheek. “You let me live with you.” I kiss her nose. “You let me love you,” I whisper as my lips press to hers.
The time for talking is done as I make love to her. Over and over again, I slide in and out of her body, each time feeling as though I go deeper and deeper. Holding my weight on my arms on either side of her head, I stare down at her and get lost in her eyes, lost in her soul. It’s not just our bodies that tether us, but our hearts. The connection is powerful and overwhelming. Our first time was fast and intense, years of pent-up sexual frustration with one another, causing us to go fast and hard. This time though, we take our time. Her hands stroke my arms, my back, before she rests them on either side of my face.
“I’m close, Coop.”
“Thank fuck.” I swivel my hips and thrust a little harder, a little faster, and that’s all it takes for her nails to dig into my arms, her back to arch off the bed, and my name to fall from her lips as her pussy squeezes my cock like a vise.
