Page 7 of After All This Time (A Time For Love #2)

Liam

M y dad and I have always loved putting our heads together to figure out who the killer is in the latest novel he’s reading.

Sometimes they’re thrillers, sometimes they’re good old detective stories, and sometimes he’s even picked up a couple of cozy mysteries.

But all of them must have in common this one thing; a thick plot that will have us wondering, chasing our tails and desperately make us salivate over what is going to happen next.

I don’t even read the damn things. He reads a few chapters, he recounts everything to me over dinner, and we eat while we pick apart all the details.

It’s our routine and we’re not breaking the damn habit. We’ll just have to do it over the phone now that I’m leaving for college.

My point is that I’ve basically trained myself for years and years in the art of trying to figure out what’s going to happen next in most situations. And I already have a degree in all things Cooper.

But he’s just that determined to send me into an early grave.

I swear, the moment I saw him run towards those waves I thought this is it . This is when my heart finally gives up, and all for a guy who has no sense of self-preservation.

Goodbye, dad. Goodbye, mystery novel phone-calls. Goodbye college and life.

Because if he was going to dive into those angry waves, I sure as hell was going to jump after him and swim his ass back to shore. Or probably drown with him.

We make our way back to our car and our newly put-up tent, trailing water and whatever sand we didn’t manage to get off us, in our wake.

Thank God, clean water was easy to access or we would have had to hunt down the showers looking like this on our very first day here.

I can barely move one foot in front of the other, let alone explore the area.

All I can think about is the faint throb in my shoulder where Coop’s lips and teeth were just a few minutes ago.

What the hell was that?

One minute he was pliant on his back—which should have been suspicious and that’s on me—and the next he was lunging and biting me.

The smell of sea water from his drenched hair assaulted my nostrils and yet, it barely registered as pure shock and undiluted need ran through my system.

It was only my surprise that saved me from doing something unbelievably stupid.

Like locking his head on my shoulder until he left fucking bruises on me.

My heartbeat hasn’t settled yet and the whirlwind of emotions has given me whiplash.

He ran towards those waves like it was nothing.

And the way he felt underneath me, his body pinned down, the water turning his hair into black ink on the sand…

I can’t think about this. Not with him mere feet away from me. Not ever really.

Coop shakes his hair like a dog, spraying droplets of water everywhere, including me.

“You really can’t help yourself, can you?” I tell him, chuckling.

He turns my way with a puzzled frown. “Can’t help what?”

“Being ridiculous.”

He gasps. “I beg your pardon?”

I’m full-on laughing now.

“Since when do you beg my pardon?”

“Since never, but it fits the tone.”

“I don’t know why I’m friends with you.”

“Well, I’m sure you can think of a few reasons.”

Oh, I can think of a lot of reasons, and not all of them have to do with loving his goofy ass as a friend.

Reaching our spot, everything is as we left it.

Thankfully, we had the foresight to lock all our valuables in the car before ditching all our stuff here to make a run for the beach.

We both change into some dry clothes and I sit down on one of the collapsible chairs, letting myself relax for a bit.

“Sooo, what do we do now?” comes Coop’s voice from somewhere near me.

I didn’t even realize I’d closed my eyes.

“Can’t you just sit still for a few seconds?”

“Of course I can. It doesn’t mean I want to, though.”

I sigh deeply. “I’ve been driving for the past 3 hours. Let a man chill for a while, Coop,” I tell him jokingly.

The small pause makes me open my eyes.

His face has fallen slightly and I swear I feel a pang in my chest.

“You’re right, Li. I wasn’t thinking.”

If only he knew the effect that expression has on me. He could ask me for the impossible and I’d still try to find a way to give it to him.

“Hey,” I reach over and bump my foot against his. “I’ll make you a deal. You go get us something to eat from that oversized duffle bag of yours and we’ll put on our trainers and go walk around, see what’s out there.”

He whoops, jumping out of his chair, almost jumping over his chair to get to the car.

“You’re the fucking best, Li!”

I shake my head.

At myself.

For what I’ve gotten myself into.

***

After re-charging is done, we set off for some designated pathways through the trees and I have to admit that this is actually working better in stretching my tired legs instead of sitting around.

The views are as astonishing as they were when I first got a glimpse of them—green as far as the eye can see, interrupted by brief intervals of a cloudless, blue sky, and the deep blue ocean.

The place is busy, bustling with movement, laughter, and conversation from lots of families and groups of friends hanging around everywhere around us—near tents, in larger kiosks, in small picnic areas, and even next to giant RVs.

But the trees seem to soak up all the noise, leaving behind a soft rustling that keeps every other sound at bay, save for the scrunching sound of our footsteps on the fallen pine needles.

Even Coop seems to be taking it all in quietly, his curious gaze absorbing the scenery.

We walk around for quite some time, getting a feel of the place, and we also chat to a couple of other campers that we encounter on our way.

They tell us all about the scenic trails that offer unparalleled views to those who dare hike them, and they also mention the bike rental at a short walking distance.

Coop’s eyes light up at the mention of both of those things, but I’m only willing to try the bike rental since I’m sure hiking would kill us.

“Hey, Liam?” Cooper’s voice interrupts my thoughts as we slowly head back to our spot.

“Hm?”

“Are you happy we came?” He asks this in a normal tone but a hint of uncertainty slips through the cracks.

“Of course, Coop,” I smile at him. “This was the best idea you’ve had in a while.”

He grins back before he suddenly frowns.

“Wait a minute, are you saying I haven’t had any good ideas lately?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you implied it.”

I make the mistake of taking too much to reply.

“I cannot believe you.” He shakes his head in mock disappointment.

“I’m sorry, should I remind you the highlights of your brilliant ideas?”

“Go ahead, I’m all ears,” he says, tilting his chin up stubbornly.

“Okay. How about when we were twelve and you were sure the abandoned house down the block was haunted, and that we absolutely had to visit it at night to see if we would run into ghosts?”

“Well, there was a very good possibility, thank you very much.”

“And how about when we were fifteen and you were sure that this girl in 8 th grade had a crush on me when in fact, she just needed a tall guy for a school project?”

“How was I supposed to know? She kept staring at you whenever you were in the same room!”

“And what about the time when you entered us in a food competition that made us wish to never even look at cake again, just because the prize would have been a new bike?”

Cooper looks at me sheepishly.

“Okay, I might have miscalculated that one. But that doesn’t mean my ideas weren’t good!”

“Have you forgotten how we met?”

“I couldn’t just let that kitten get hurt, you know that!”

“Of course I do, Coop. The intention was good. It was just the execution that was lacking.”

“I wouldn’t say that. It brought you to me. I’d say that was one hell of a successful idea.”

He says that like it’s nothing and I keep walking beside him like I’m not trying to swallow through whatever is lodged in my throat.

My laugh comes out rough.

“Yeah. I mean, can you imagine life if Nate and I hadn’t stumbled upon you that day?”

My light tone betrays none of my eagerness to hear his answer.

“No, Li.” He stares straight ahead as we arrive to our tent. His clear blue eyes shift towards me and bore into mine as he says, more seriously than I’ve ever heard him before, “I can’t.”

His gaze is unflinching and I can’t help wondering what is going on in his head. What makes him suddenly turn serious when moments before he looks so carefree.

But he snaps out of it a few seconds later with a wry laugh that should put me at ease but instead raises the hair on my arms.

“I’ll have to see what that’s like soon enough anyway, right?”

He’s smiling but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

I reach him in three steps and I only stop when there’s no more steps forward.

My hand raises to cup his neck, putting enough pressure to make sure his eyes stay on me.

There’s no need though.

He never breaks eye-contact.

“It’s just for a little while, Coop. That’s all.”

His crystal-blue gaze is so open and honest, there’s not a thing he feels that isn’t reflected in its depths. I hate the apprehension I see there, the faint trembling of his lip as he swallows, and I just want to take away that look of desolation he gets in his eyes from time to time.

And that’s what I’ll aim to do here.