The Space In Between(38)

I felt his arms wrap around me from behind. He buried himself into my shoulder and shook his head. “Of course I want to marry you. It’s just…”
I turned to him, feeling ill. “It’s just what?”
“You’re doing something with your life. You’re getting a college degree. You’re preparing for your future. And I’m just here.”
“You have your music, Derrick.” He was amazing at his music, and I never looked down on him for not going to college. It wasn’t for everyone.
“What if I’m not enough for you? What if I end up f*cking all of this up? Screwing us up?”
I wrapped my legs around him and held on tight.
“Don’t talk like that, all right? You’ll always be good enough. We’re in this together, okay? You and me.”
“You and me,” he sighed into my neck. “You and me.”





THE MOMENT DINNER was being prepared I had my mom barging into my bedroom to wake me up. Personal space was not something she believed in. And there we were again, waiting in the living room. She could have let me sleep for a little while longer.
“I’m so happy you decided to come!” Perfect Michelle grinned as she walked into the house with a guest.
“Holy shit!” I screamed as my eyes connected with Cooper’s.
“Language!” Mom scolded.
“Sorry Mom. Excuse me. I—I have to use the bathroom.” I shot up from my seat and hurried away. How dare he.
How dare he come here. Hasn’t he done enough already? It was because of him I was in this damn situation. I turned on the faucet in the bathroom and started splashing water against my ghost white face. Breathing was becoming a problem.
“We should talk.”
The sound of his voice sent chills down my spine, and as I turned to look at him, my heart started pounding against my chest. He was unshaven, wearing a button-down shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. Dammit. He looks good.
He closed the door behind him and stepped near me. I stepped back. This continued until I was up against a wall and he was staring me in the eyes.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed. I’d left him in New York. I’d called him a dirty, disgusting, vomit-worthy * and left him in New York.
“I can explain.” He put his hands up as a sign of peace, but my body was still ready to defend myself from his smooth accent and strong arms.
“I hope you know what you’re doing is a form of stalking, Cooper.”
His green eyes smiled with his lips as he chuckled and reached into his back pocket. “No. You don’t understand, I was invited. I’m staying in the coach house here for a few days until the party.” He pulled out the invitation to Michelle and Eric’s Christmas party and I was sure smoke was coming from my ears. I was fuming.
“This is my life, Cooper. This is my life you are playing with. And I don’t appreciate you taking it as a joke.”
“You think I would screw with your head, Andrea?” He was sincere in his words, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d lied to me.
“Your wife is pregnant.”
“Yeah, I know. With another man’s kid.”
Oh no. His hand somehow found mine and I felt my warrior stance fading away. I spoke softly as I avoided eye contact. Those eyes would be the end of any form of dignity I was trying to hold on to. “You got me fired. And Ladasha.”
“From a strip club. Not to be rude, but I think y’all can do better.” I could feel him getting closer to me.
“Says the man who showed up to the strip club in the first place.” I shut my eyes. I tried to fight away the feeling of wanting his lips connected to mine, but I kept hearing the words soda pop running through my head.
Fight it.
I began to nervously twiddle my fingers as Cooper spoke. “You want the truth? My manager said I would get over it. That I should have a lap dance. A one-night-stand to clear my mind of all of it. Probably not the best idea, six hundred dollars later.”
“Well I’m sorry you wasted your money.”
“I didn’t mean it in a rude way. It’s just, that’s not who I am.”
“And you think that it’s who I am!?” I hissed.
“Of course not, Andrea. You know how I feel about you.”
My breaths were heavy, I was ashamed of what had happened between the two of us the first night we met and the guilt of being home, in this town, was weighing heavy on my soul. I needed to make myself clear to Cooper that I had no plans to be with him. “Listen, shit happens. People go through things and people make mistakes. What happened between us these past few weeks was a mistake and it’s probably best we never talk about it.”
Cooper agreed with his words but his actions spoke differently. He lightly brushed the side of my face with his hand.
“Okay, so it never happened,” I whispered. My eyes landed on Cooper’s hands, which were holding mine. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a glimpse of comfort.
He whispered back. “What never happened?”
My skin began to heat up as I continued trying to stay strong. I missed his lips. I wanted his lips to miss mine, too. I wanted them to first kiss my bottom lip, followed by my top. My knees were slowly going out on me. His face was hairy—out of his norm. I wondered what his unshaven face would feel like against my face. Against my chest. Against my stomach. Against my…
No. I had to focus. I looked into his eyes. “We were two people who were experiencing weakness at the same time.”
Cooper closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine. “A stupid mistake.”