Come fly with me, p.4
Come Fly With Me, page 4
Me: It was so worth it, just to see the look on your face. Night boyfriend. [wink emoji]
Cooper: I hate you.
I’m laughing almost the whole way home.
When I step inside my phone buzzes and I see that it’s a text from Riley wanting to know how the evening went.
Me: It was as pleasant as a root canal. And it’s not over. We got roped into spending a week with my parents at their beach house and we’ll probably be stuck fake-dating for eternity thanks to my brilliant plan. Also, thanks for not telling me about Natalie having cancer btw, that was a nice surprise. WTF??
A second later my phone is ringing.
“Hey,” I answer with a sigh as I flop back on my couch. I close my eyes and squeeze the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger.
“It wasn’t my place, Wes,” Riley says, getting straight to the point. “If Cooper had wanted me to share I would have, but he didn’t and I had to respect that. And can you blame him? You guys weren’t speaking to each other. You hated him. As far as I knew you didn’t want to hear the guy’s name, let alone talk about what was going on in his life. Do you know what an incredibly difficult line it is to walk between the two of you? Trying to stay friends with you both all this time and not stepping on any toes? I’m willing to do it because I love you both, but I need you not to blame me for shit, Wes.”
I sigh. She’s right and I know it. I have no reason to be angry when I’m the one who’s ignored Cooper for as long as I have. Neither of them is obligated to share anything with me. But Natalie having cancer is a big deal. And I hate that I didn’t know.
“I’m sorry,” I reply, running my fingers through my hair. “You’re right. I didn’t mean to be a dick. I’m stressed about the week at the beach house and that’s not helping.”
“I know, sweetie,” she says, being more gracious with me than I deserve. “But I think it will be okay. You can call or text me any time. You know that.”
I don’t know what I did to deserve her. After everything that happened with Cooper, I’m so thankful I still have Riley.
CHAPTER 5
One week later
COOPER
“Oh, this is beautiful,” Mom says as we pull up to a cozy, one-story, mint green beach cottage with a wrap around porch and a white picket fence out front. There’s a small front yard with a stone pathway leading up to the front steps and palm trees making up the majority of the landscaping, along with a few other smaller plants. On the porch is a white swing as well as two adirondack chairs with a table in between.
Wesley pulls into the driveway behind his dad’s truck and turns off the motor. Mom and I rode with him but I made him keep the top down now that I know it does that, the little fucker. I’ll admit he got me good with that one, and honestly it did my heart good to see him laugh, even if it was at my expense. I’d do anything to see him happy. His smile is everything to me.
I take another look at the house. It really is beautiful. And I’m certain Mom will love it here. It’s peaceful and quiet, and the sea is practically in the backyard. I’m hoping that her body and soul find some rest here. She’s had it rough the past couple of years and she deserves a respite. Still, I can’t help but feel some anxiety about the idea of sharing such a small space with Wesley for an extended period of time. Sharing a room with him, a bed. Fuck, that’s going to be dangerous. I don’t know how we’re going to navigate this, touching each other in front of his family, pretending to like each other, and then going to bed at night, and what? Sleeping as far away from each other as possible?
I climb out of the car and open the back door to help Mom out. She’s thin and pale, and has dark circles under her eyes, and a scarf wrapped around her head, but I don’t think I’ve seen her smile like that in a really long time, her eyes soft, and the sun shining on her face. I smile too, as she squeezes my arm.
“Let’s see the rest of the house,” she says. “And then I think I’d better find someplace to rest.”
“Sure, Mom.” She takes my arm as we walk up to the front door, Wesley trailing behind us with her luggage.
We step inside to a bright, open floor plan. There’s a spacious, modern kitchen to the right, complete with a bar and stools, beautiful granite countertops and a corner nook with a built-in bench seat and table with three additional chairs. The walls and furniture are all a cozy beige or off white color with splashes of navy blue or turquoise interspersed among the dishes and towels.
To the left of the entryway is the sitting room. There’s a fireplace, above it a large flat screen tv, and surrounding it, two chairs and a large sofa and loveseat, each with oversized throw pillows in various shades of blue. The floors are tile with a large rug in the center of the living space as well as down the hallway leading to the guest bedrooms and bath. Sunlight floods in through the french doors leading out to the back deck. The master bedroom is just off the living area and the door is open.
“Mom, Dad, we’re here,” Wesley calls, and a moment later Greg and Christine poke their heads out of the master bedroom.
“We’re so glad you could make it,” Christine says, giving Mom a warm hug.
“Thank you so much for inviting us,” she replies with a soft smile. “It’s lovely here.”
“It’s our pleasure. Let me show you your room.” She leads the way through the living area and down the hall. To the left is the guest bath, and one bedroom, and to the right are two more bedrooms. Christine passes the first bedroom and stops between the two at the end of the hall. “We thought we’d put you across from Cooper and Wesley. We figured you’d feel most comfortable being close to each other.” She gestures to the room on the right with a queen-sized bed, matching oak dresser, love seat, and a window looking out onto the back yard.
“Oh, this is perfect,” Mom says, and I’m pretty sure she has tears in her eyes. “Thank you.” I take her hand in mine and squeeze it gently and then kiss her cheek.
“Of course.” Wesley and Cooper this is your room,” Christine says, stepping across the hall. The room is almost identical but the rug on the floor is a different color and the dresser and the love seat are on opposite sides.
I swallow hard when I see the one queen-sized bed meant for both of us. We haven’t shared a bed in years, and the last time we had we’d actually liked each other and wanted to be close. And while I’d love nothing better than to fall asleep with Wes in my arms, I know that’s the last thing he wants.
“Thanks, Mom.” Wesley gives her a smile, but I can sense his unease.
Christine turns to Greg. “Come on. We’ve got some more unpacking to do. There’s some things I think you’ll want to see.” She smiles at him flirtatiously and takes his hand.
“Oh, yeah?” Greg grins and slides his arm around her waist, pulling her close. “What kinds of things?”
“Things I think we should put to use later tonight,” she replies, and then kisses him.
“Oh, god,” Wesley cringes. “Seriously, guys? I know it’s illogical, but I am still very much under the assumption that you guys do not have sex, and I’d like to keep it that way, so please, just stop.”
Christine and Greg laugh, and I can’t help it, I join them, and to my utter delight, so does my mom. It’s the best sound in the world. Even if fake-dating Wesley is difficult, at least there’s some good coming from it. Being around his family again, and seeing Mom happy is like a balm for my soul. So even if this isn’t real, I’m going to soak it up as much as I can.
“Come on, Mom,” I say, taking her arm. “I’ll help you get unpacked.”
Mom is resting on her bed while I’m finishing up unpacking, when I hear commotion in the front room, and then Wesley’s older brother’s voice.
“Hey, squirt,” he says, and I hear Wesley groan.
I can only imagine what’s happening when Wesley follows with, “Derick, you ass, put me down.” I chuckle. Derick is closer to my size than Wesley’s and he loves to manhandle his little brother. At five-foot-six Wesley’s not tiny, but compared to us he’s small. I’m not complaining because I love everything about his size. But, enough thinking about that because it’ll just make me want things I can’t have.
“Hey.” I turn to look at Mom. She’s giving me a soft smile. “I’m really happy for you, sweetheart.” She reaches out to me and I move towards her and take her hand. “You deserve to be happy. I know things haven’t been easy for you lately. It warms my heart to see you and Wes together again.” I try to smile but it must fail because she frowns. “What’s wrong?”
I let out a breath. “Nothing.” I try harder to paste on a fake smile for her sake. “I’m fine, Mom. And I’m happy to be here. Get some rest, okay?” I lean down and press a soft kiss to her forehead.
“I love you,” she says, reaching up to stroke my cheek.
“I love you, too,” I reply, and then leave the room, closing the door behind me.
When I get out to the living area, Greg and Christine are puttering around in the kitchen, and Derick and Macy, I think it is, are sitting cuddled up on the love-seat. Wes is across from them on the couch, curled up with his knees to his chest. He looks so damn cute. Have I mentioned that I love how tiny he is? I just want to pick him up and plop him back down on my lap, nuzzle my nose in his neck and breathe him in.
“Hey, it’s true,” Derick says, drawing my attention back to him and his wife. He’s smiling widely as he gets up to give me a hug. “It’s good to see you, man. I thought maybe Wes had finally driven my parents to insanity when they told me you two had gotten back together. Glad to see it’s not true.”
“Very funny,” Wesley mumbles, and I chuckle.
“Thanks, man,” I say, and turn my attention to his wife.
“Oh, yes, Coop, this is my wife, Macy,” Derick says.
“Nice to meet you.” I reach over to shake her hand. She has long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and deep brown eyes. She gives me a lively smile.
“You, too, Cooper. I like your tattoo.” She nods to the black snake coiling around my forearm.
I grin. “Thank you.” It’s official, I like her. She turns her other arm over and shows me the roses on her forearm. “Nice,” I say, and it is. It’s vibrant, and gorgeous.
“Any significance to it?” she asks as I take a seat next to Wesley and Derick takes his place next to her.
“No, I just thought it looked cool,” I reply, grinning.
“Same.” She smiles back at me. “I’m trying to convince Derick to get matching ones but he’s a scaredy-cat.” She nudges her husband, grinning at him, and he does a full body shiver.
“Hell to-the-no,” he says affirmatively. “If you wanted matching tattoos you should have married someone else.”
She chuckles and kisses his cheek, and I can see the genuine affection in both of their gazes as they look at each other. He drapes his arm over her shoulders and draws her close. She rests her head on his shoulder and I start to panic a little, because Wes and I are most definitely not giving off any of those lovey-dovey vibes.
I bite my lip and look at him as Derick and Macy flirt with each other, ignoring us. Then I decide to go for it. He’s paying me for this, after all. I turn sideways and slide down on the couch, resting my head on a pillow, my legs draped across the cushions, and wiggle my socked toes at Wesley. He lowers his legs and my feet go on his lap where he begins to massage them. God it feels good. His small hands can do amazing things. And after being on my feet for hours at a time all day, every day for work, this feels soooo good. I groan as he works. He moves from the sole, to the instep, to the arch, the heel, and then to each individual toe, and they crack, loudly, but I love it. Jesus, I could lay here all day and let him work on me.
“You guys need some privacy?” Derick teases.
“You only wish your girl did this for you,” I say, and wink at him. “Jealousy is not a good look on you, my friend.”
Derick laughs. “Oh, my girl does plenty of things for me. I have nothing to be jealous about.”
Macy smacks him on the arm, grinning.
“I thought we weren’t allowed to talk sex on this trip,” Greg remarks from the kitchen.
“Who said that?” Derick asks.
“Your brother,” Christine says. “Apparently he thinks you two were dropped off by the stork.”
Wesley blushes furiously. “Oh my god, I didn’t say that. I just don’t want to think about the two of you having sex, and thanks a lot because now it’s front and center in my brain again.”
We’re all laughing now, except for Wesley. He’s always been a little shy when it comes to sex, and I remember that now and try to rescue him. “Sorry, babe, my fault,” I say, and sit up, sliding my feet away from him. He looks at me, his eyes soft. I lean over and press a kiss to his temple, feeling his soft curls under my lips and drinking in the scent of vanilla and almonds.
“Hey, what about a game of beach volleyball?” Derick challenges Wesley and I. “Me and Macy against you guys.”
“Yes!” Wesley leaps off the couch like his pants are on fire. He’s playing it off like he’s super excited, but I’m fairly certain he just wants to do anything that will make it possible for us to not be in such close proximity to each other, and the thought makes my stomach sink. I’m actually enjoying being around him again, but he clearly can barely stomach the closeness, if his body language is anything to go by.
“I, uh, I don’t know,” I say, biting my lip.
“Why not?” Wesley is practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“I don’t think I should leave my mom alone.”
“She’s not alone,” Christine says, giving me a warm smile. “Greg and I will be here and we’ll let you know if she wakes up, sweetie. You guys go have fun.” But I’m still hesitating.
“I don’t want her going without me for too long.”
“We don’t bite, Cooper,” Greg says, calmly, with a hint of a smile. His eyes twinkle behind his glasses. “You’re allowed to enjoy yourself. And I think your mom would want you to. It’s a short walk to the beach. You can be back in less than five minutes if you need to be. Just take your phone and we’ll call if we need to.”
I sigh. But then I catch Wesley’s gaze and those blue eyes are looking at me in a way I’m not sure how to interpret. He seems thoughtful, maybe? “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” he says. “We can stay and watch a movie, or play a game or something, if that’s better.” The sincerity in his voice melts my heart, because even if he hates me, he cares. And maybe he doesn’t even care about me directly, but he clearly cares about my mom, and about my concern for her. This isn’t him acting, I know that. And that settles it for me.
“Let’s go play volleyball,” I say, as I stand. “It’ll be fun.”
Wesley’s eyes widen. “Are you sure?” he asks, putting a hand on my arm. He looks me in the eyes. “We don’t have to.”
“I’m positive,” I say. And without even realizing what I’m doing, I lean down and press my lips to his in a soft kiss. He sucks in a breath, his body tensing, but then relaxes and accepts it, because what else can he do? I pull away and he bites his lip, blushing. I have to stop myself from apologizing for taking him so off guard because we're dating, right, and that was perfectly normal. Ugh, this whole fake-dating thing is messing with my head. All these things I want to be doing, and am actually doing, and wish I could be doing for real, but they don’t mean anything to him. And his family has no idea. Fuck, I feel like my brain is a ball of spaghetti.
“Okay,” Wesley says, “Let’s go change. We don’t want to play beach volleyball in jeans.” Then he surprises me by taking my hand and leading the way to the bedroom.
WESLEY
As soon as we get in the room I release Cooper’s hand and shut the door. Then I make my way over to the dresser and start rummaging through it. But I can’t focus. Shit. Why did he have to kiss me? Now my brain is a muddled mess. It was two seconds, but the feel and taste of him is lingering on my lips, and in my mind, and I’m as flustered as all get out. Apparently not too flustered to notice the sound of his zipper being lowered though, because, hello! my cock is taking notice of that. I stop my pathetic attempt at finding my athletic shorts and tank and look through the mirror above the dresser, checking out Cooper’s very fine backside as his jeans fall to the floor. He turns sideways, slipping his T-shirt off over his head, leaving him clad in only his navy blue boxer briefs, and giving me the perfect view of his toned abs and flat stomach. Not to mention that muscular back. Holy shit, now my cock is very, very aware. I’m fully hard as I gape. I feel like I know better but I can’t stop myself. That ass is so perfect, and my gaze lingers on it for a moment before my eyes lower to his muscular thighs as he slides his shorts on. I sigh internally. Why does he have to get dressed so fast? I haven’t had such incredible eye candy since...well, shit, I don’t want to think about that. My gaze travels back up to his torso, and once again I catch a glimpse of the tattoo on his left pec before he slides his shirt on. I’m pretty sure I see a heart but I can’t make out the rest of it. And the real issue now is that he’s completely changed and I haven’t done a thing except stand here and ogle him, and I’ve got an erection that I cannot let him see. Way to go, Wesley. Way. To. Go.
“Hey,” Cooper says, turning to face me. My gaze meets his through the mirror. He’s fiddling with his sunglasses as his gaze darts to the floor. “Sorry if I caught you off guard with that kiss. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
I swallow, and my words are more high pitched than I would like for them to be when they come out. “It’s fine,” I say, and then I clear my throat and try again.“It’s fine.” That’s better. I didn’t sound like a fucking mouse that time. “You were just doing your job. I get it. Don’t worry.”
He nods and looks like he wants to say something else but doesn’t. Instead he rests his sunglasses on top of his head and says, “You coming?”
