The Space In Between(21)

“You look amazing,” he said as he approached me and displayed his dimples.
“What? This? I just tossed it on.”
Ladasha grunted loudly at the idea of me just tossing on a dress, and I shot her a stern look, which silenced her giggles.
“So what about your wife? Are you two not together?” Ladasha asked. She walked over and made herself comfortable in the chair. I had a feeling this was going to be a long night. Cooper sat on the couch and I sat next to him. Ladasha’s question was pretty personal, and I could feel my heart start beating faster.
“Panda?” I whispered his way.
He grinned and shrugged. “It doesn’t count if she asks.” He turned to Ladasha and answered the best way he knew how. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated? Like Nicholas Sparks complicated?” she questioned. My gosh. Dasha was on tonight. Question after question.
“I can’t say. I’ve never read his books or seen his movies,” he confessed. Was I surprised a twenty-five-year-old male hadn’t taken to reading Nicholas Sparks novels or watching his movies? Not really. But Ladasha was shocked. Her mouth dropped to the floor and she shot up, disappearing into her room.
While she was gone, I turned to him and he pulled me into the curve of his body. I fit perfectly and it felt good to be near him. “I’m so, so sorry. I thought she would be at work, and she had a really hard day so I can’t really ask her to leave, and I totally understand if you want to call Panda and hit it out of here and—” I rambled on and on until my words were silenced with his kiss.
“I don’t mind.”
Oh my gosh…I was so glad he didn’t mind. Ladasha reentered with a collection of movies in her hands. I quickly removed myself from Cooper’s hold and smiled as my best friend wiggled her way to sit right in between Cooper and me.
“Okay. We can start easy with it. We’ll start with A Walk to Remember. Then lead into The Notebook.”
A double feature night was happening with the three of us. Cooper wrapped his arm across the back of the couch and chills ran through me as he lightly caressed my arm without Ladasha noticing. His eyes were glued to the television. And I couldn’t be certain, but I was pretty sure he was tearing up during a couple of scenes.
Halfway during The Notebook, Freckles entered the room and walked across the television set. Cooper shrieked as if he had seen a ghost. “Holy shit! You have a cat!?” he shouted with his green eyes widened.
“We got her today. Isn’t she sweet?” Ladasha grinned as she picked up our new housemate.
“I—I’m not really a cat person,” he stuttered.
“You’re afraid of cats?” I asked. He cleared his throat and said no. Ladasha brought Freckles near him and Cooper dramatically went flying over the back of the couch. “Holy crap,” I giggled. “You’re afraid of cats.”
Cooper frowned. “I had a bad experience once. Remember my cousin Michelle’s cat? Oscar?”
“Yeah.”
“Remember when it went missing one summer night?”
Yeah. I remembered. Eric, Michelle, and I spent weeks hanging up flyers in search of that cat.
“Yeah. I kind of took my uncle’s car and drove him to a different city after he attacked me in the kitchen.”
I cracked up laughing. “Bullcrap.” The look on Cooper’s face was priceless; he appeared as if Freckles was a lion ready to kill him. He lifted his shirt and to show Ladasha and me the marks from his fight with Oscar the feline.
I narrowed my eyes to zoom in on the marks Cooper was certain were there, but I didn’t see anything. He glanced at his side and pointed. “Come on, I know you see that!” Higher his shirt went.
Ladasha raised an eyebrow as she looked at Cooper’s abs and murmured, “Meow.”
Cooper let out a small chuckle and lowered his shirt as he mumbled to himself. “It must be the lighting in this room.”
Right. The ‘lighting’ is to blame for his invisible scars. How come I didn’t think of that?
Ladasha’s eyes met with mine and she gave in to a fake yawn with Freckles in her arms, “I’m so tired. I hope you two don’t mind me dipping out on the movie…” She winked at me and walked into her room. “It was nice meeting you, Cooper.”
“You too, Ladasha.” He grinned.
Door slammed. Ladasha was gone.
“Afraid of cats?” I smirked as Cooper came over to me and sat on the coffee table directly across from me. Whenever he came near me, I could feel my insides become twisted. He made me so nervous in the best possible ways.
“You don’t understand. Oscar liked you. You were pretty.”
“Were pretty? Past tense?”
He leaned in and took my hands into his. He kissed my palms. “You know what I mean.”
I shook my head and stood up. “I’m going to go take a shower and head to bed. Sorry this night fell apart.” Walking to the bathroom, I could feel his eyes glued to my body. I knew he thought I was more than pretty.
When I peeked back at him, I could see him running his hands over his face. “All right well, I’ll talk to you later.” He walked to the front door and opened it, but quickly closed it once he heard me whisper.
“Join me.”





THE HOT STEAM filled the room, fogging up the bathroom mirror and windows. “Cooper…” I moaned as he pinned me against the wall and ran his fingers across my back. I watched as the water hit against our wet bodies and delivered us with more passion than we had yet discovered. He lifted my lips to his and slid his tongue into my mouth, allowing his to cover mine.