Page 1 of Cooper & Jake (Gomillion High Reunion #2)

JAKE

“Twenty-year high school reunion? Whew . Damn, you’re old.”

I flip the invitation over in my hand a few times.

Gomillion High School was the only high school I ever attended.

Growing up as a military brat, I moved every three years, but we were somehow lucky enough to stay in Gomillion for all four years of high school.

I knew it was coming up, but it’s still surreal to have the paper in my hands.

“You’re the same age as me,” I tell Peyton, rolling my eyes.

“Don’t remind me,” he visibly shudders, shaking his head. “Which means mine will probably be up soon. Are you going to go? You haven’t been back there in twenty years.”

Right after graduating high school, my dad retired from the Marines and moved to the small town of Cedar Creek in the middle of nowhere, Texas.

I could have stayed behind, but at eighteen I wasn’t ready to be out on my own yet.

So, I moved with my family. I don’t regret it.

I have a wonderful life in Cedar Creek. Wonderful but lonely.

This town isn’t the biggest, and sadly I know everyone who lives here.

It isn’t often that we see any unfamiliar faces.

I left Cedar Creek about ten years ago, moving to the bigger city of Austin. But after two years there, I came back.

Peyton’s been my business partner ever since I moved back.

We own the only bar in our small town, and it’s a lot different being in a tiny town with only stop signs and no traffic lights versus the big cities and their millions of cars.

I haven’t thought of Gomillion or Gomillion High School in years.

And that’s only because thinking of those places reminds me of Cooper.

Cooper and I were inseparable for the four years I was there. I met him on my first day at the school when I got lost trying to find my classes. I had bumped into the short kid with this fiery red hair and freckles covering his face. He gave me a huge beaming smile, and I was smitten right away.

Of course, nothing happened immediately.

We began as friends, spending time together at school and after it.

One day while he was tutoring me, I gathered my courage to kiss him.

It was a disaster. Our teeth hit against one another, I didn’t know what to do with my tongue and Cooper couldn’t stop giggling against my lips.

Our first sexual encounter was similar. We were a mess of teeth and limbs trying to figure out one another’s bodies. But we figured it out eventually.

And then I moved away and never saw him again.

We tried to stay in touch, but life happened, and two eighteen-year-olds drifted apart. I would be lying if I said I never thought about him. Of course I have. Many times over the years. But I never imagined I would see him again.

“Well, are you?” Peyton questions once more, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I’m not sure,” I tell him, wondering if I should even go. “I don’t really talk to anyone from back then.”

“You should do it. Hell, I’ll come with. We can make it a boys’ trip. Hang out, drink some beer, get away for a few days,” he tells me excitedly. I can see the millions of ideas running through his head, knowing he’s already planning how much fun we could have.

“You’d wanna go?”

“Hell yeah. Jett can handle the bar for a couple of days. He’s been asking for more responsibility anyway.”

“Are you really going to come with me to my high school reunion? Holding my hand, making me feel like I’m a baby or something,” I mutter, hating but knowing I’ll feel more comfortable with him there. “You know what? Fuck it, let’s go.”

“Hell yes, man!”

Three months later, we’re walking out of the airport, the blistering sun hitting down on our faces.

“Fucking balls,” Peyton utters, pulling his shirt away from his body. “I thought Texas was a fucking fire in hell; what is this shit?” A small woman ambling past him gasps and clutches her imaginary pearls. “Sorry, ma’am,” he whispers.

“I can’t take you anywhere, can I?” I laugh, taking out my phone and checking where our car is.

“People back home don’t bat an eye at my language.”

“That’s because they are familiar with you and know you don’t have an extended vocabulary. Plus, I’m pretty sure Texas is hotter than this; you’re just being a big ol’ baby,” I quip, waving in front of Peyton’s face to get his attention. “The car rental place is over here.”

“What brings you boys down here?” The older gentleman says when we walk up to the counter.

“Uh, my high school reunion is this weekend in Gomillion.”

“Ah, I used to live over in Gomillion. We don’t get many visitors there. But it’s a beautiful small town, only about an hour away.”

“What’s there to do around there?” Peyton cuts in, his eyes wide as he looks out to the road through the window.

“You boys are lucky. While Gomillion is still small, there are a lot of activities to do now. Down the road from the biggest hotel is Timbers and Tallboys, which is the local bar, or there’s Fresh Brews if coffee is your thing.

My favorite is The Roll. It has the best cinnamon rolls in the state. The city has grown quite a bit.”

We thank him, grab our car and load our things before heading out to drive toward town.

He’s right; the place has definitely developed since I was last here.

Sure, I was mostly in my own little world and explored the town very little, but from what I can see, they’ve added a lot.

We pull up in front of the hotel, and I’m shocked to see they have their own valet parking vehicles.

“What should we do for the rest of the day? Wanna head to that coffee shop?”

“Sure.”

Peyton and I step into Fresh Brews, and we notice immediately that the aroma of coffee beans has permeated the entire space.

I’m such a coffee slut, I need it all day, every day, and sometimes at night too.

We walk up to the counter, noting that they have a variety of fresh coffees and a few types of pastries in the glass containers.

After ordering our drinks, we take a spot at one of the two-seater tables in the corner.

“Okay, so who do we have to look out for? Who were the enemies, the friends, the ones we need to avoid?”

“Wow,” I say, trying to think back to everyone I ran into in high school.

“I wouldn’t say I was an outcast. But all of us here grew up with one another, so while I had buddies, I wasn’t friends with every single person in the school.

I was on the baseball team, so I knew a few of those guys.

They can be on the list of people we talk to.

Don’t think I had any enemies.” Cooper flashes in my mind, and I wonder if he would consider us friends now.

“What just happened to your face?”

“Huh? What?” I question, looking at Peyton. “What are you talking about?”

“Your face. The smile slipped off it, and it was like you just watched someone run over your dog.”

“Ugh,” I say, scrubbing my hand down my face. “Cooper.”

“Cooper? Oh shit, Cooper! How the hell did I forget about him? Do you think he’s going to be here? Damn, I remember what a mess you were back then. Wasn’t he supposed to come visit you? And ghosted you? Shit, man.”

“Thanks for bringing it up,” I mutter, taking a sip of my drink. “We were eighteen. It’s not ghosting when you’re a teenager. It’s growing up.”

“Ghosted. Growing up. Same thing. Damn. I bet he’s going to be here. Does he still live here? Is he married? Does he have any kids?”

“Dammit, Peyton. I don’t know,” I growl, getting irritated at his questioning.

To be fair, he’s only inquiring questions I’ve been asking myself every minute since I received the invitation in the mail.

Hell, I even tried searching for him on Facebook, but he doesn’t have a profile.

Or at least one I could find. It’s like he really disappeared.

“Ohhhhh,” he says, smirking at me. “I get it now.”

“Get what now?” I huff, rolling my eyes. I love Peyton to death, but fuck is he ever annoying right now. Which I know is only because my mind is on a constant loop of hoping I see Cooper and wishing I don’t, and he keeps drawing more attention to something I’m trying not to think about.

“You’ve been antsy since the second we walked off the plane. Which was hella confusing because you’re always so rock solid. Never let anything faze you. But it makes sense if you’re expecting to run into someone from your past.”

“But I’m not,” I lie, my eyes darting away so that I don’t make eye contact.

“Yeah, sure, man.”

He’s right, though. From the second I felt the invitation in my hand, my mind went straight to Cooper Dalton.

I know we were young, but I loved him with every inch of my being.

He was the one person I could be myself with.

Moving every three years was hard as hell.

Constantly having to start over and make new friends was disastrous.

But moving during high school? Fuck, that was the worst. But he made my four years there bearable.

And I truly thought we would go to the same college together and navigate life with one another.

But things happen. One minute we were Myspace friends and the next, we never talked again.

So yeah, my mind has been constantly racing, wondering if he’s going to be here. Hell, I don’t even know if he still lives here. For all I know, he’s moved away, or he’s married with kids in a two-story house with a white picket fence.

Goddammit. Suck it up, Jake.

It’s been twenty years, for fuck’s sake. Being hung up on your high school boyfriend is ridiculous. And embarrassing.

“All right, what should we do since we’re a few days early?” Peyton asks, his eyes widening as he looks behind me. “Holy fuck. Don’t look now, but one of the sexiest men I’ve ever seen just walked in the door.”

Twisting in my seat, I turn around to see who’s caught the attention of my best friend.

My eyes lock on a familiar set of emerald-green ones, and my heart stops.

Gaze locked on the gorgeous woman in front of him, is Cooper Dalton.

He must sense our stare because his head flips up, first making eye contact with Peyton before shifting his eyes my way.

His eyes widen, his jaw drops open, and the next few things happen all at once.

Someone bumps into him from behind, and he trips over their foot, sending him crashing to the ground.

I’m up and out of my seat in record time, my chair skidding across the floor as I make my way to him.

“Oh my god, Coop,” the brunette woman says as she leans down next to him. “Are you okay?”

I don’t know who this woman is, but I use the moment to take Cooper in.

He’s still just as gorgeous as he was back when we were eighteen.

He has fiery red hair, and freckles dot his face.

Freckles, I used to trace with my fingers while he lay on my chest. But there are also changes from the last twenty years of living.

There are hints of gray peppered through his hair, and he has smile wrinkles in the corners of his eyes.

He’s still on the lean side, but just as perfect as I remember.

Cooper opens one eye and sees me hovering before closing his eye and muttering, “Just peachy.”