These are the small moments I want, the ones that are second nature to couples.
The breakfast dates in the morning. Dinner dates at night. The goodbye kisses. The way they look at each other with love when it’s clear they’re annoyed with one another.
“Hey, where’s my goodbye kiss?” Cooper teases her.
“Right here on my ass waiting for you.”
Dean laughs, then smacks said ass.
“Come on, Caroline. Let’s go before I strangle your best friend this morning.”
She wraps her arm around my shoulder, leading me away from the table, and I wave to the guys. Cooper holds his fingers up.
Eight.
That’s when he wants to head to the bar.
I nod and he grins, and I could just be imagining things, but I swear I see it waver.
As soon as we’re on the sidewalk in front of the diner, she spins toward me.
“Okay, spill.”
“Spill what?”
“Last night. What really happened after the whole ‘you seeing your best friend naked’ thing?”
I will not think about last night. I will not think about last night.
I groan. “Nothing. It was nothing. I promise. Just something that happened.”
She studies me hard, arms crossed over her chest, lips twisted up as she considers my words.
Please, please, please do not see that I totally had inappropriate thoughts about my best friend last night. Please.
“Okay,” she finally says. “I’ll believe that if you want me to. But just know, I’m here to talk if there’s anything that’s suddenly on your mind.”
There is absolutely nothing suddenly on my mind.
Not Cooper. Not his incredible body. Definitely not his co—
“Nope. Nothing,” I tell her, cutting off my own thoughts before I travel down a road I’m trying hard to avoid.
She nods. “All right. Well, why don’t we talk about you going out tonight, then? Are you nervous? I know it’s been a while since you’ve done the whole dating thing.”
“Yes and no. I’m sure Cooper will take care of me just fine.”
“Hmm,” she says, lips tucked together.
“What?”
“Huh?”
“You said Hmm all cryptically—what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Did I?” She waves her hand. “It was nothing. Come on. Let’s cross here.”
She starts rambling on about Dean and his betrayal last night, and my mind drifts to other things.
Again.
I will not think about last night. I will not think about last night.
How many times is it going to take until it’s true?
5
Cooper
“For fuck’s sake, Caroline. Come on already. I’ve got two idiots from the team texting me asking where I am. How are you not ready yet? You’ve been in there for over an hour already.”
“Five more minutes, I swear!” she calls from her bedroom.
With a groan, I toss myself back onto the couch and close my eyes, settling into the comfort of the well-worn cushions. Five more minutes my ass. She said that ten minutes ago.
After breakfast—and Dean asking at least ten different questions about last night—I came back home to a shitstorm of emails and work.
I’ve been cleaning up coding messes all day and barely got my shit done in time for us to be going out.
Now Caroline’s taking ten months to get ready for a night out where she may or may not get laid.
I’m ready to drink. Relax a little. Maybe even get my own rocks off. I could use a way to blow off some steam.
I won’t lie, I was a little grateful to come home to such a mess with work. It meant I didn’t have time to think about what happened with Caroline. It was a distraction.
Sitting here waiting on her?
It’s too much free time.
She needs to get a move on so I don’t do something dumb like start thinking about things I shouldn’t be.
“Ready.”
I peel my eyes open.
And fuck me.
Being best friends with someone for so long, you see all sorts of looks on them. The awkward seventies-retro phase. The choker and combat boots chapter. Even the Is that a dress or my mom’s shower curtain? stage.
The girl—no, the woman standing before me isn’t going through any of those anymore.
Caroline looks good.
Not the girl-next-door kind of good she always is.
More like I’m going to ride you all night long kind of good.
A wine-red sweater dress is hugging her body like it was made especially for her.
And it probably was.
I heard her sewing machine running last night when I couldn’t sleep. I imagine she was in there working on this dress.