Page 82 of To Love You

“What if you stayed here?” he asked.

“In North Edgewood?”

“That’s here, isn’t it?” Cooper smiled and gestured around them at the store, the town, the state.

“That’s…an idea, I guess. I don’t know. Honestly, the only thing I do know is when I’m in the city, it all feels very us, very him.”

“I get that,” Cooper said with a small nod. “When your dad and I split up before, back when you were a kid, I kind of went through that. The weirdness with friends. You kind of try to give yourself space, but you don’t really want it. You want things to be normal again.”

“At least I don’t have to deal with changing my name or anything,” Wyatt mused.

“Does he?”

“No. But I told him I wouldn’t take his name because Wyatt West was too alliterative for my tastes.”

“That is definitely a name.” Cooper chuckled. “But you could have quit finance and become a rock star.”

“I can’t even play the piano.” Wyatt rolled his eyes. “My mom got me lessons when I was a kid and it was a disaster. She should have just set her money on fire.”

“Everyone has different talents,” Cooper said.

“What’s yours?”

Cooper opened his mouth and closed it, unsure of how much he wanted to give away in his answer. Wyatt regarded him silently. “I’m good with my hands. A craftsman, if you will.”

“What do you craft?”

Cooper sucked the rest of his watered down margarita out through the straw. “Leather goods, mostly.”

“Like cuffs and collars?” Wyatt asked. “Or floggers, too?”

He tried to keep his expression neutral, but of all the conversations he ever imagined having with his boyfriend’s son, this was not one of them. Though, knowing what he knew about Wyatt’s past relationship with Grant, it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise.

“Where did you learn about floggers?” He cocked his head to the side. “Did Grant teach you about those?”

Wyatt licked his lips, his expression mild, but his cheeks bloomed with an easily recognizable shade of embarrassment.

“No,” Wyatt answered. “I found one in my dad’s closet when I was eighteen and googled it.”

“I’m sure that offered up a terrifying results page.”

“An interesting one,” Wyatt countered. “But why do you think I would have learned about that from Grant?”

Cooper let out a loud breath and gave Wyatt a lopsided shrug. “Are we going to pretend that the two of you didn’t sleep together before?”

“How did you know that?” Wyatt asked, near panic. “Did he tell you?”

“His face told me once.” Cooper pointed at his face. “And so did yours. Just now.”

“Does my dad know? No. Never mind. He and Grant are still friends, so there’s no way he knows.” Wyatt’s nostrils flared, and for a brief moment, Cooper caught a glimpse of the eighteen year-old kid he’d met when Wyatt had come into town the first time. All of that fear and nervous trepidation. The worry and judgment. “Do you think he’d be mad if he knew?”

Cooper had often wondered the same thing. He figured with Wyatt back in town and staying less than a hundred feet away from Grant, he’d find out sooner or later.

“Your dad has surprised me a lot the past couple months. I couldn’t say one way or the other.”

“Things with me and Grant…” Wyatt trailed off. “They’re nothing. There’s nothing between us.”

“Now?”