“Are you really not going to turn the heat up tonight? It’s getting down into the forties, Cooper. The forties!”
“Yeah, outside, and it’s sixty-two in here. That’s a whole twenty-plus degrees higher. Just grab an extra blanket.”
She huffs. “You know, as a boyfriend, you should turn the heat up.”
Boyfriend.
The word is still strange to hear, especially coming from Caroline’s mouth directed at me, but I don’t hate it.
In fact, I really kind of like it.
I’ve never really been a boyfriend. I’ve always preferred to get my rocks off and move along. Never been one to attach myself to someone. Nobody has ever seemed worth attaching to.
But I guess just like every other aspect of my life, Caroline is the exception to that rule.
Of course my true first time dipping my toes into this pool would be with my best friend.
Smart one, Cooper.
“You know, as a girlfriend, you shouldn’t nag so much. It’s really unattractive and I might have to withhold sex if you keep it up.”
Her hand goes to her hip. “You’re going to withhold sex? From me?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
“We’ll see about that.” She growls and stomps out of my bedroom.
I smile when I hear her grumbling from the living room, probably going on about what an ass I am. I know it’s just a matter of minutes before she stomps back in here with the gray chinchilla blanket in hand.
It’s been a few days since we decided to give whatever is happening between us a shot, and I think Caroline’s plea for us to not change has been met. We’re still us, we just kiss a lot more now.
Admittedly, that part has been an adjustment. I almost have to remind myself that it’s okay to touch her. I’ve spent so long with her playing the just friends routine that I forget I don’t have to hold back anymore.
And our jokes…they feel more intimate and private than before.
Now when we watch a movie, she no longer falls asleep innocently on my lap. She’s too busy straddling it.
We haven’t told anyone what we’re doing yet. I think we’re both too scared to jinx it or hear what a bad idea it is.
Momma B tried to video-chat me yesterday, then called Caroline when I didn’t answer.
Neither of us could answer because my cock was buried in her throat, and we both got in trouble for not answering our phones.
The only thing I regret is not realizing sooner how good it feels to be with her like this.
Not just the sex—which is incredible—but everything else.
The looks. The simple touches. The feeling of being intimate without actually being intimate.
I didn’t realize I was missing that until now.
Hell, I don’t think I even realized I really wanted it until now.
I hear feet pad across the apartment, and I chuckle.
“Fine, you win—but only because I’m really starting to like your bedroom more.” She barrels into the room, then climbs into my bed like it’s her own, pulling my comforter and the gray blanket over top of her. “Did you know you can hear Mailbox Betty through my bedroom wall? Her cats are super annoying.”
She fluffs the pillow—my favorite pillow—behind her and sighs, letting her eyes fall closed when she leans back against it.
“Are you comfortable?” I ask, staring down at her with a raised brow.
She peels an eye open. “Very. But could you turn out the hallway light? It’s shining right into my eyes when I close them.”
I flip the blanket off my legs, tossing my e-reader onto the bedside table, and push off of the bed. “You’re really going to take advantage of this whole boyfriend thing, aren’t you?”
“Yes. But I also know you’d do it for me anyway because you love me.”
We both still.
Now that’s one part of this I didn’t think about at all.
Love.
We’ve used that word before over the years, casually and not putting anything behind it other than platonic feelings. Because of course I love her. She’s been in my life for over ten years now. How could I not love her?
But now? That word has a different meaning…a different feeling.
She clears her throat and shuffles around the bed.
I force myself to move. To not think about it too hard.
I reach into the hall and flip off the light, then make my way back to the warmth of the bed.
Shit. It actually is getting cold in here.
But I’m not turning up the heat and giving Caroline the satisfaction. I know she’d turn it around to how I did it