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“He did ask me if anything weird happened the night of the party.” I sank my teeth into my lower lip. Had he sensed our attraction?

With a wince, he said, “Did you tell him I tried to kiss you?”

“No.” I huffed a laugh. “I figured you were too drunk to mean it, and it wasn’t worth mentioning.” I wouldn’t have told him even if Cooper hadn’t been drunk, but that was beside the point.

“Okay, good.” He entwined his fingers in mine and held up our hands, watching them. “For the record, I meant it. I almost lost my mind at the party when I saw you and JJ together.” He shook his head. “Fuck, was I jealous. ”

“You were?” I narrowed my eyes. “But you were with that cheerleader. What was her name, Danica?” My chest pinched. “Did you ever text her?”

“Hell no. And I won’t.” He curled his fingers around my hand. “I wanted you that night, not her. She wouldn’t leave me alone.” He huffed a sigh. “That’s why I got too drunk.” His gaze caught on mine, and he held it. “I wanted you.” Leaning in, he pressed a lingering kiss on my lips. “Still do.”

My heart burst with warmth. This was too good to be true. Or was it? I deserved to have what all my friends had, didn’t I? Holy shit, Ace and Zoma were right. “Ace and Zoma told me you might be attracted to me, but I didn’t believe them.”

“You should listen to your friends more. They know things.” He touched my nose with his index finger and a smile broke out over his face. “Is there anything else we should talk about?”

“Living together and, and dating.” I sucked in a breath. “I’ve never lived with a guy I was dating.”

“Me neither, but then I never dated a guy.” Dipping his head, he freed a soft snort. His gaze wound back to mine. “How do you want to handle it?”

I rolled my lips, thinking about it. “I don’t know. But I want to avoid getting on each other’s nerves, you know? Or be attached at the hip.” I ticked my head. Whatever that meant.

With a tsk, he said, “Myles, when your season starts, we’ll be traveling to games on top of practicing and studying. I don’t think we’ll have time to be attached at the hip.”

“Oh, yeah.” I leaned into him, his body heat warming my insides. Leaning my head on his shoulder, I said, “It’ll just be nice to have someone to come home to. Someone to relax with.”

“Don’t make us sound like an old married couple. I want to take you places.” He kissed the top of my head. “We’ll figure this out, Myles. We can do it our own way.” He scoffed. “Unless JJ doesn’t like it.”

“What?” I lifted my head, snapping my gaze to his. I was over worrying about JJ .

“I’m kidding.” He lifted our hands and kissed my knuckles. “He’ll be fine with it. If he isn’t, he’ll just have to get used to it.” His gaze softened. “I won’t let JJ tell me who to date. I’ll try to get his blessing, but ultimately, I won’t let him stand in our way.”

Nodding, I pressed a hard kiss on his mouth. “Good.” I hoped JJ wouldn’t be a dick about this.

He yawned. “Anyway, been a long day. I’m going to head off to bed.” He gave me a coy grin. “I’d ask you to join me, but we should probably get used to being roommates first, right?”

“Right.” I stood from the couch. He had listened to what I’d said and was taking it to heart. “Okay, I’ll let you use the bathroom first. I’ve got a chapter to read.”

“Sure.” He rose, wrapped his arms around my neck, and pulled me in for a toe-curling kiss. “We’ll save the rest for another time.” He freed me and strolled toward the hallway to the bedrooms, whistling.

After grabbing my book from my backpack, I settled on the couch and opened it in my lap to the chapter I had to read.

Zoma tiptoed from the hallway, a pair of black pajama bottoms hugging his narrow hips.

I looked up from my book. “Hey, Zoma.”

Holding a finger over his lips, he shushed me and glanced behind him. In a harsh whisper, he said, “I don’t want Cooper to hear us.”

I dropped my mouth open. He knew. They’d somehow heard us or walked out on us and hid.

With a sly grin, he sat cross-legged next to me and grabbed both my hands. “So you and Cooper will date?” His eyes twinkled.

“How much of our conversation did you hear?” As the edge of my lips tugged up, my pulse quickened. What had we said and was any of it embarrassing?

“Enough. Ace was beside himself and almost lost it, so I had to send him back to our bedroom.” He giggled softly. “He wants me to report back after I talk to you.”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Oh my God, I’m not surprised, but yeah, Ace isn’t one to be stealthy, eh.” I glanced at the hallway. “But you two shouldn’t be eavesdropping on your roommates.” I attempted a glare and failed. I couldn’t be mad at them. They only wanted the best for me.

“Listen, I think it will be important for you both to take it slow since you’re living together. You don’t want things going too fast and fizzling out.” He freed my hands. “You’ll both need some space.”

I nodded. “Agreed. We sort of talked about that already.” I glanced at the hallway. Hopefully, Cooper wasn’t listening.

“Good. If you need Ace and I to be around more, we can be. Then you and Cooper won’t be on top of each other all the time.” He wagged a brow. “Speaking of topping…”

“Stop, Zoma. We haven’t gotten that far.” I snorted a chuckle and threw another glance at the hallway, my heart skipping. “Listen, thank you and how about we talk some more when Coop’s not home?”

“You got it.” He climbed off the couch, stood and grabbed my arm. “I’m so happy for you, Myles. Me and Ace both.”

I gave him my warmest smile. “Thanks.” I pointed at my book. “Now let me read.”

“Sure. Goodnight.” He strutted off.