Page 26 of After All This Time (A Time For Love #2)

Cooper

A half-hour later I’m sitting at my kitchen table, munching on the pancakes Li has prepared.

My body is loose and relaxed, and a happy sigh leaves me as I fill myself with the delicious food he made.

It seems orgasms given to me by my best friend go a long way to make me happy.

“Damn, these are good pancakes. Where did you learn to cook like this?”

He chuckles lightly while he digs in his own plate.

“I’m glad you like them. So far I’ve only made food for myself.”

Okay, I like the sound of that way more than I should.

“So you’re saying that I’m your first guinea pig?”

Our eyes meet in the middle and his are blazing.

“No, Coop. Just the first person I’ve wanted to take care of.”

I swallow hard through the mouthful of food, his words filling me with such warmth I’m pretty sure I’m blushing.

“Well, that’s… um… very nice,” I choke out and he grins softly. “So, what was that call about?”

There is a pinch in my chest at the memory of standing in the hallway and hearing Liam’s conversation. How my stomach dropped at the sound of him leaving. How the mere thought of repeating what happened so many years ago was enough to send me to my knees.

I know there is a conversation we need to have.

About then. About what it was really like to have him run away from me in the way that he did. About us becoming almost strangers.

Until now.

Until the day he walked through that door and my world tilted off its axis.

I know we need to talk about it. And we will.

Just... just not now. I want to cling to this new and exciting reality for a little while longer without having everything I felt back then resurface and plunge me into something I wish I could forget.

This strangely comfortable reality where he holds me, and touches me everywhere, and makes me come harder than I’ve ever come in my life, and calls me his baby.

“My buddy, Theo, made me an offer about going into partnership with him and opening a new physio clinic here in Oregon. We’ve worked together for many years and, knowing I was looking for something more permanent, he thought we could give this a shot.

So, that was what the call was about,” he pauses, holding my gaze steadily.

“Flying over to Pennsylvania, where he’s stationed, to talk through the details.

But just for a few days, Coop. Nothing more. ”

I nod along, taking in everything he’s saying, and I can’t help noticing the underlying excitement in his voice.

“Something more permanent, huh?” I bite my cheek to stop myself from grinning wildly.

Liam’s smile is almost feral.

“Very permanent, baby.”

A few seconds pass where we just stare at each other across the table, before I cave to tease him.

“So, should I find a nickname for you, too?” I ask him between swallowing another bite and drinking some orange juice.

Liam’s eyes are crinkling above his own glass of juice.

“You already have a nickname for me.”

“What? Li? But that’s not a real nickname. Anyone could call you that.”

He’s looking at me in that intense way of his that makes me lose my train of thought.

“And yet, only you do that. Besides,” he starts and suddenly my chair is screeching against the floor, as he drags it by his side, “I like it when you call me like that,” he says, his voice low and throaty.

He brushes a finger across the faint marks on my neck.

“Especially when you moan it while you’re coming. ”

Jesus. The filthy mouth on this guy.

I shift in my seat in an attempt to surreptitiously make room for my dick that seems to be taking a whole lot of interest in this conversation, which of course Liam notices.

The smug smile that stretches his lips should not be that attractive.

“Still,” I croak, “I would like to find something else, too.”

He looks too unruffled as he lies back on his chair, his legs spread wide, and I want to tease him a bit just like he teases me.

And maybe, just maybe, make sure he thinks about me while he’s away.

His dark green eyes widen slightly when he sees me get up and slide onto his lap, my arms going around him.

“How about ‘handsome’?” I ask, kissing one corner of his lips softly.

His breath hitches.

“Or ‘sexy’?” I kiss the other corner.

His eyes are liquid fire now and I love them like this.

“Or maybe,” I pause, pretending to think, ‘stud.’”

He laughs of course, which was what I intended, and he tightens his arms around me pulling me flush against his hard, toned body.

“Please don’t call me ‘stud.’”

“Oh, but ‘handsome’ and ‘sexy’ are fine? Modest much?” I joke, my fingers threading through his sandy-blonde hair, now lighter during the morning.

“Your words, baby. Not mine,” he mutters, mouthing my jaw, and a shiver runs through me. “What about you, Coop? What else do you want me to call you?”

His expression is pure evil and I know without a doubt that my teasing has just backfired.

Liam brushes his hand down my spine, and I swear, I arch into his touch out of sheer instinct.

“How about ‘sweetheart?’” he grins, still keeping up his light caressing that makes me sigh in contentment. He brings his lips next to my ear. “Or maybe ‘needy little thing.’”

My eyes snap wide at his words, a jolt of electricity making my heart thump loudly in my ears.

Liam zeroes in on my reaction like a predator, his expression darkening.

“You like that, don’t you?”

All I can do is nod. He never stops touching me with warm, strong hands, never stops whispering things in my ear, and all I can do is nod because this guy makes me want things I never thought I’d want.

“You want me to take care of you, and soothe you, and pamper you, and remind you how needy you are, sweetheart?”

“Fuck, Li,” I sag against him, my body already reacting to everything he’s saying and doing. “What are you doing to me?”

His hand glides upwards until he’s cupping my neck.

His gaze is soft and tender.

“The same thing you’re doing to me, Coop.”

There’s so much raw honesty there that I have to avert my eyes in case I say things neither of us is ready for.

Instead, my head slumps against his shoulder.

“It’s all your fault anyway. You got me all addicted to your stupid hands and ridiculous face and now you’re cutting me off.”

His chuckle makes my head jiggle.

“Okay, so how about this. Can you take a day off when I’m back?”

I perk up immediately, my head shooting straight up.

“Of course I can, I’m the boss, I can do whatever I want. Well, not actually whatever I want, but I can make it happen.”

He smiles my favorite smile, the one that makes him look like he’s happy. So happy.

“Then make it happen ‘cause I’m taking you somewhere.”

I gasp. “Where?”

“No way, it’s a surprise,” he laughs when he avoids my attempted swatting of his arm.

“What? Then why would you tell me so soon? It’s going to kill me not knowing!”

He grips my hand in his palm, holding it against his chest.

“I told you now because I want you to have something to think about for when I’m home.”

Home.

Fuck, he shouldn’t say those things to me.

“Okay, I’ll be patient.”

His blank stare speaks volumes.

“Oh fuck you, Liam.”

The smile that breaks across his face is pure filth.

“All in good time, sweetheart,” he grins darkly.

Jesus, I’m probably sweating.

“Wow, confident much?”

“Just stating facts, Coop.”

I bite my lip to control the stupid smile that wants out.

“Oh, and just so we’re clear, this is a date,” he adds casually, his eyes sparkling.

Swarms of butterflies explode in my stomach.

“Okay?” he whispers in a soft voice, a hint of vulnerability peeking through.

“Okay,” I tell him simply, brushing my lips against his and letting my kiss communicate everything that words cannot.

***

With Liam away, I have all the time in the world to take care of every loose end I can think of at work in a controlled and focused way.

Yeah. Sure. Focused, my ass.

My mind is like a hamster that’s been running in its wheel all day long.

My thoughts are full of him; I feel the phantom touch of his hands on me, and his dirty and sweet words keep popping up whenever I do even the most mundane of tasks.

But worst of all, is the way I miss him.

It’s been about a month since he’s moved in, and before that, we hadn’t seen each other in years.

I should be used to his absence.

But now it’s as if his scent is everywhere in the apartment, the air saturated with that intoxicating orange and lavender smell he carries.

I’m not even going to try to explain myself for the number of times I thought I smelled something similar in completely random places, or the way my body immediately heated.

It’s a Pavlovian response at this point.

I don’t even know how I managed to do a full check of the café’s food and drink inventory, finish up all pending orders of supplies or go over all financial stats of the previous weeks, when I had one eye literally glued to any sign of my phone screen lighting up with a message.

Or how I managed to carry out any sort of conversation with Lily and the others when I kept spacing out at the thought of our date.

Jesus. A date with Liam.

My chest warms and I’m pretty sure I have a stupid smile plastered on my face that makes me look like an idiot.

Do I give a fuck though?

Nope.

I don’t even know what a date with my best friend would look like but I don’t care. All I know and care about is the excitement that has been fizzing in my veins since the moment he mentioned it.

As I get ready to head over to Nate, my phone pings, sending my heart haywire.

God, this is ridiculous.

Is this what it feels like to be obsessed with someone? Like bliss and torture at the same time?

Li : What are you up to, baby?

He should really stop calling me that if he wants me to be a functional adult.

Except I don’t want him to stop calling me that.

Me : Just leaving the house and heading over to Nate’s.

Me : Movie night with him and Madison.

Li : Sounds good.

Li : Is this the official meeting with the girlfriend?

Li : Should I be offended that I’m not there?