The Space In Between(12)

“I’m sorry, what’s funny?” Cooper’s eyes filled with concern. I arched an eyebrow and touched my fingertips to my mouth. It was curved into a grin where uncontrollable giggles were escaping. I shook myself and stopped laughing. Nothing was funny. It wasn’t long until the silence grew haunting and Cooper replaced the dead air with questions.
“When? What happened? Do you want to talk about it?”
Six months ago. A car accident. No, never.
I nudged him in the knee, needing a change in subject. “So what have you been up to?”
His lips parted as if he wanted to speak but they shut fast. He was handsome, but the twitch in his eyebrow showed me he was also in need of repair on the inside. An overwhelming need to know more washed over me. Could it be that someone was as messed up emotionally as me? Did he have a story, too? I wanted to know. No, I needed to know. I needed to not feel so alone for a moment in my life. My eyes pleaded for him to continue his thoughts. He cleared his throat and bit the tip of his thumb.
“I left my wife.”
I watched as his face deepened into a shade of red. It was a somewhat new hurt inside of him, I could tell. His beautiful eyes told a story of sorrows and regrets—something I understood. It was my turn to ask the questions. “When? What happened? Do you want to talk about it?”
Five months ago. Tom Reed. No, never.
I glanced down to my hand resting against his leg; it must have landed there when I tried to give him some comfort after hearing that he was going through a divorce. I moved it away fast, feeling as if I had somehow cheated on my nonexistent relationship.
Frank pounded on the door to the VIP room and reopened it. “Andrea. Times up! Seriously!” He was probably getting heat from Roger. I could tell because Frank would never raise his voice to anyone unless his boss was raising his voice to him. Cooper stood up, pulled out his wallet, and handed Frank a stack of bills. The guard looked down and counted the bills quickly with his eyes before slowly closing the door.
“So you moved to New York?” he asked me, reclaiming his seat. I nodded and explained how I needed to get away from the small town. He understood, remembering what a gossiping place I grew up in. There was a silence filling the room. For the longest time it felt as if we were staring at each other and a part of me was strangely all right with that idea.
“You wanna get out of here?” Cooper asked.
I laughed, nodding. He must have been able to see the need for escapism in my eyes. I sure as heck saw it in his. “Absolutely.”





MY HANDS SHOOK as I placed the key into the door and turned the knob. Cooper stood behind me, patiently waiting. I know he noticed, but he didn’t mention the small limp I had in my leg. It wasn’t as bad as before, but it was still something someone couldn’t miss. As we walked into the small, crammed apartment I welcomed him to my home.
“It’s nice.”
“It’s not.” I laughed. I walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge, “You want a drink? A beer?”
“No thanks. I’m not a big drinker nowadays.” I looked into the fridge and realized there weren’t any beers anyways. Ladasha must have taken the last one, which was fine—she was the one who bought them. Closing the refrigerator door, I looked down, realized I was still wearing my trench coat, and remembered that underneath it I was only sporting a leopard print bra and thong. Horrified, I turned, on a mission to go change. Before I could make my way to my bedroom, Cooper’s hand had somehow found mine.
My body tingled at his touch, and I cussed for allowing myself to feel anything of the sort. His southern accent was somewhat hidden from his life in New York, but I heard it creep out as he spoke to me. “I’m sorry about Derrick. My gosh, Andrea. I couldn’t imagine. I’m so sorry.”
I looked down at our hands and my heart picked up its speed. I couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to happen next. What was going to happen next?! He pulled me closer to him. So close I could feel his breath against my cheek…So close I could have sworn our lips were touching. I allowed my eyes to shut as he lifted my chin. With every exhale he took, I inhaled his breaths. Time kept moving, but we stood still. Allowing our breaths to be all that were heard, all that were felt.
“I’m broken, Cooper,” I whispered. If he were to let go of my hands, I was certain I would shatter into a million pieces. His touch was the only thing holding me together.
“Me too.” He inched my face closer to his, but he didn’t kiss me. No, his lips lingered around my face as I slightly parted my mouth more. When I lifted my eyes, they met with his. The intense green eyes I was losing myself in made a small sigh escape me. He studied every part of my face. He ran a finger across my upper lip and then traced the bottom. Over and over again. Starting from the left and slowly moving to the right. I placed my hands against his chest, not wanting to tumble from his simple gesture. Yes…It was simple, but powerful, that small touch.
He stroked my short hair behind my ears and kissed my forehead. Gentle and loving caresses to my face made me long for his taste, yet I knew he wouldn’t make the first move, out of mere respect. I pulled his lips closer to mine and nodded, granting him permission.
What was I doing? What was I feeling? All I knew was that whenever he touched me, I didn’t feel alone.
He sheltered my mouth with his, which was enough to make my body grow weak. Yet he was there to catch me. One of his hands traveled to my lower back, his fingers massaging me. As his tongue began to explore mine, a light moan escaped from my lips. All my life I had only kissed one man, but I knew I could secretly get used to kissing the handsome soul in front of me. And that thought alone terrified me.