Page 25

It’s another weekend come and gone way too soon, and I find myself leaving the airport as Cooper boards a plane Sunday evening after yet another tearful goodbye.

My dad isn’t home when I get there, but his cook left some dinners in the fridge. I settle on a salad and add some chicken to it, and I stare out the window as I eat by myself.

I’m my dad’s only child—that we know about, at least—and he tells me how I’m the puzzle piece that’s always been missing from his life. He regrets not being there in my childhood, and he’s been good to me since we found each other. We’ve gotten very close in a very short amount of time, but he’s busy with tons of different business ventures.

And now he’ll be embarking on the busiest one of all. He’s excited, and I’m excited for him, but I already miss having him around. It gets lonely in this big old mansion, but as I stare out at the view that’s similar to the one in the house Cooper’s going to purchase, I can’t help but think maybe I won’t be living here much longer.

It’s a little early to think I’ll be moving in with Cooper once he’s in town, but he hinted at it, and I did, too. It’s the path we’re traveling, and I think we both see it coming sooner rather than later. My only reservation still is that he wants kids—and soon. I’m not there yet. I’m not even out of school, and I always imagined I’d work a few years to establish myself in a career before I settle down with kids.

Cooper texts me when he gets home, and I know it’s time to focus on school. I open my class schedule and start reading through the materials in preparation of classes tomorrow.

When I set up my class schedule for this semester, I created an ideal schedule. I have no classes Thursday or Friday, I don’t start on Monday or Wednesday until ten, and I’m done by early afternoon every day. It’s a great schedule in terms of having a long weekend and having plenty of time to get my classwork done throughout the week, and it’s also a great set-up for snagging either a job or that internship I’ll need for next semester.

Or, you know…plenty of time for Cooper Noah.

Mia and I chose two classes to take together, so I’ll see her on Mondays and Wednesdays in Global Consumer Behavior and on Tuesdays in Leadership and Management Skills.

My first class on Monday morning is a marketing one, and it meets for seventy-five minutes. It’s a tedious first class where we go over the syllabus and play icebreaker games that are pointless given that I know the majority of my classmates since we’ve been in the same cohort for our major for years. We get our first writing assignment, one I’m confident I’ll be able to knock out in a few hours, and then I have a fifteen minute break before heading to my second class of the day—the one I have with Mia.

She’s already waiting for me, and I slide into the open seat beside her.

“How was your morning?” I ask.

“Eh,” she says with a shrug. “First day means the same old shit in every class.”

“Same,” I admit. And then Dylan walks in, and he sits on Mia’s other side. Her attention moves to him. Mine moves to my phone, which I pull out to text Cooper, and I find one from him already waiting for me.

Cooper: Good luck on your first day. Miss you.

Me: Thanks! Just about to start my second class.

Cooper: How was the first one?

Me: Boring. Syllabus and icebreakers, just like every other first day of every other college class.

Cooper: I’ve got syllabus and an icebreaker for you.

Me: Why does it sound sexual when you say it?

Cooper: Because it IS sexual when I say it. [wink emoji]

The professor starts talking, so I reluctantly put my phone away.

But I want to hear more about that icebreaker Cooper has in mind.

I’m having a hard time focusing on much of anything this week as Cooper’s move-in date looms closer and closer. I run home from classes, eat, and immediately get my work done so my weekend will be clear.

We talk every night, but his daytime texts have been limited as he finishes training his replacement and starts working on the new role he’ll take on with his company once he’s in Vegas.

It’s on our Tuesday night call after my second day of classes when he says, “I talked to Kaylee, and she said she’d love to have you come help out. But I think she’s more interested in actually meeting you than in having you work for her.”

I wrinkle my nose even though he can’t see me. “I’m nervous to meet your friends.”

“Don’t be. They’re pretty awesome.”

I let out a nervous giggle. “I’m sure they are if you chose them to be friends with, but they’re going to judge the years between us.”

“So? We’ve already determined it doesn’t matter to us. Besides, Kaylee’s only like twenty-four, and she’s already married with two kids. Her husband is a decade older. If anyone will understand, it’s the two of them.”

“Okay, okay,” I grumble. “Still, it’s scary to meet the friends, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. I lucked out that I met yours the night we met.”

“Truth,” I say with a giggle. “So when can I meet her?”

“My boss invited me to his place Thursday night, but maybe we can plan a dinner Friday if they’re not busy.”

“I’d love to,” I say. “What time is your thing with your boss?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll talk to him, and I’ll be staying at his place, too, but let me get there and make a good impression before I start inviting you to stay the night.”

I laugh. “Deal. But make your good impression fast because it’s either your boss’s place or my dad’s house, and neither really sound like a good option.”

“Maybe I’ll rent a room for the month at Caesars so we can stop by whenever we need some private time,” he suggests, and there’s a sexy, desperate edge to his tone.

“I think that’s a great idea for the month of September. Or we can just, you know, put that camping mattress to good use in the bed of my truck,” I suggest, and I hear the desperation in my own voice, too.

He chuckles, and it’s a raspy sound that sends an ache pulsing between my thighs. “I better go or this is going to turn into another night of phone sex and I need to finish packing up my kitchen since my storage pod is arriving tomorrow, and you need to finish writing your paper due tomorrow.”

“All right, buddy. But be warned. I’ll be ready to put that camping pad to good use once you’re back in Vegas.”

“So will I,” he promises, and we say our goodbyes.

Only a few more days until he moves here. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to concentrate on which global consumer behavior I want to change about myself when all I can think about is Cooper.