Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting, #1)(29)

The mood shifted, the air heavy and thick, and I sat frozen, transfixed by his eyes and the way they locked on to mine. Our dip in the lake had left the waves in his hair more defined, bordering on curly territory, and before I realized what I was doing, I reached up and pulled on the lock that hung down on his forehead.

His breath stuttered, and mine didn’t feel so steady, either. I licked my lips, and he made a low noise in the back of his throat. Awareness zinged through me as my heart beat a rapid rhythm against my rib cage.

A loud throat clearing broke the silence, and I looked toward the doorway, where a blond woman stood.

I scrambled to my feet and Cooper did the same. “Hey, Mom. This…isn’t what it looks like.” He tugged on his shirt. “I know that’s what every kid says when he gets caught doing something against the rules, but we fell into the lake, and Kate was soaking wet, so that’s why she’s wearing my clothes, and—”

The woman held up a hand. “It’s okay. You’re lucky I wasn’t your dad.”

Cooper nodded.

“All the same, why don’t you and…Kate, was it?”

I swallowed, but my voice still came out squeaky. “Yeah. Um, nice to meet you?”

A small smile curved her lips. “You, too. Now, why don’t you come down to the kitchen and I’ll make some dinner.”

“You’re going to cook?” Cooper asked, and the woman gave him a look. There was a bit of reprimanding in the mix, but there was softness and affection, too.

“I can make grilled cheese, as you well know,” she said.

“Right. And cereal.”

She laughed, and I hoped that meant we weren’t going to get into huge trouble. I could handle, like, a tiny bit of trouble, but if anyone yelled, I cracked and panicked.

Cooper picked up my phone and gave it to me. For some reason, his bringing up how we’d been soaking wet earlier made me recall the way his clothes had clung to his torso, and I got caught up staring at it now. Wet or dry, he knew how to fill out a T-shirt, that was for sure.

“Kate?” Cooper extended his hand. “You coming?”

Part of me was dying to see if Mick had texted back, but there were too many eyes on me right now, and I couldn’t refuse Cooper’s hand.

Once I took it, warmth tingled through me, pushing all thoughts of checking my phone to the far corner of my mind.





Chapter Seventeen


Kate


As I walked toward the school on Thursday morning, my thoughts were caught up in reliving moments from last night. I’d had such a fun evening with Cooper, from our impromptu swim in the lake to hanging out in his room, and even after that, having dinner with him and his mom.

She was beautiful, the kind of woman I imagined won crowns in pageants. Which was probably why I’d expected her to be cold. Now I mentally kicked myself for stereotyping. I wanted to defend myself by saying I’d been burned by girls who looked like her before, but that was no excuse.

Mrs. Callihan made us grilled cheese, and then I pressed for stories about Cooper—it was only fair that I gather intel on some of his embarrassing moments since he’d witnessed way too many of mine.

“When he was little,” Mrs. Callihan had said with a smile, happy to indulge me, “he was obsessed with space, and used to constantly spout off facts about solar systems and planets. I’d ask him to take out the trash in the evening and then I’d find the trash on the back doorstep, and he’d be out on the shore of the lake with a telescope. I used to call him my little space case.” She’d ruffled his hair and he dodged away, his entire face red.

“Thanks, Mom. That’s enough stories for now.” Cooper had put his hand on my shoulder. “I should probably take Kate home before her mom starts to worry.”

“No, no. It’s still early.” Mrs. Callihan had glanced at the time, and her warm smile faded. “Oh. It’s later than I thought.” A strange look passed between them, an unspoken conversation I didn’t have the translator for.

Since my clothes had dried, I’d changed and Cooper took me home. We hadn’t talked much on the way, but it was a comfortable silence, one I hadn’t scrambled to try to fill. And not because he didn’t deserve my chatter that time.

Bonus, when I’d started to take off his hoodie in the truck, he’d told me to hang on to it so I wouldn’t have to be cold for the few steps it took to get to my front door. I’d wanted to wear it to school this morning, but I figured that’d make it look like we were a couple, and our act was supposed to be more casual friends who might be hooking up.

I paused and let that sink in. Honestly, I’d been so wrapped up in how much fun I’d had yesterday evening, I’d almost forgotten that our hangouts were part of a deal. I needed to remember that before I got carried away and started making the confusing tingly attraction vibes I occasionally felt with him into something they weren’t.

But we’re real friends now, right? Having someone to confide in, someone who made me laugh and even look forward to school had made this last week and a half so much better, and I didn’t want to do anything to mess that up.

Which meant chalking up that moment on the floor of his bedroom to not ever being that smooshed up against a boy before and refocusing on my mission. The one he was assisting me with.