CHAPTER TWO

Noah rolled over in bed, all of his muscles stiff. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck. As soon as the thought struck him, he realized how ridiculous it was, considering that's exactly what happened. Cooper Bradshaw had collided right into him.

All these years later, and he still didn't watch where the hell he was going.

Noah tried to get up, and groaned at the foggy feeling in his head. It wasn't his ribs that bothered him at all. No, he felt like he was swimming through muddy water, and the only thing that made him feel like that, was Demerol. Why didn't he tell them he couldn't take it?

Fighting his way through the murk, Noah stood. He was a little shaky on his feet, but kept on going. The only way to get out of this was to push himself. He needed a hot shower…something to drink. Then, maybe he would start feeling like himself again.

As much as a shower called him, he not only didn't know where it was, but his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls . So kitchen first, shower second.

Coop's house. He couldn't believe he'd landed himself in his old friend's place. Cooper had been the best friend Noah ever had. After they left Blackcreek, he stopped trying. Didn't want to make new friends, because it would hurt when he had to leave them.

Noah padded his bare feet down the stairs, wondering where his shoes were. How they'd gotten off, and how the hell long he'd been out. When he got to the bottom , it opened into a large living room with oversized-dark green furniture, and a big-ass flat-screen on the wall.

" H'llo?" His voice came out raw and scratchy. Damn Demerol.

"In the kitchen," Cooper's voice sounded from the other side of the living room. Noah followed it, until he found Coop standing at the stove in a pair of jeans and nothing else. The years had been good to his friend. His muscles were firm and defined. His skin golden and sun-kissed, and fuck if he didn't have a six-pack. Noah fucking loved that.

He walked over and fell into the kitchen chair. "I feel like hell. My brain is all foggy."

Cooper laughed. He was always laughing at something. That's one of the things Noah remembered about him. He loved to laugh. "No shit. I thought you died in there. I went in a few times to make sure you were still breathing."

Noah watched as the other man scooped eggs onto two plates, walked over and set one in front of Noah. It was strange how comfortable it felt sitting with Cooper. Almost , as if no time had passed, at all.

"You should eat. You're supposed to take your pain pills with food."

His stomach growled as he looked down at the food in front of him. Until Cooper sat the food in front of him, he hadn't realized how hungry he was. "Thanks, man. Mind if I get something to drink?" Noah stood.

"What do you want? I'll grab it."

"I'm not helpless. Point me in the right direction, and I can do it." Noah didn't like having people take care of him. Didn't like to cross those lines of getting too close. Not anymore. He'd broken his own rule when he got semi-serious with David, and look where that left him? Not that Cooper would be someone he'd end up in a relationship with, because he was pretty sure Cooper wasn't gay, but he wasn't up for letting anyone in again, either.

"Third cabinet over for the cups ; drinks in the fridge." Cooper sat down, and started to eat.

Noah poured himself some orange juice, trying not to wince with each of his movements. Maybe , he was hurt more seriously, than he thought. Definitely time to get another of those pain pills. Well, depending on what they were.

With slow steps , Noah walked over and sat back at the table, drinking down half of the orange juice with one gulp. "Thanks, man. I really appreciate you bringing me here, and for breakfast. We don't really know each other anymore—"

"I hit ya. It's the least I could do. Your car's outside too. She's a beauty. Not running, but, she sure is pretty."

Noah laughed, and when he did , a sharp, stab of pain went through him. He grabbed his side. "Shit, that hurts. Don't make me laugh."

"How long are you planning on hanging around?" Cooper asked , before taking a bite of his eggs.

Wasn't that a good question? All he'd known was that he needed a fresh start, and Blackcreek had called to him. "I don't know. I'm thinking for good. Like I said, just packed up and left."

Cooper nodded. "And l ike I said yesterday, I have a room. Might as well rent it out to you rather than someone else; if you're interested." Cooper set his fork on his empty plate, and leaned back in the chair. He had stubble along his jaw, his dark blond hair, cut short. His blue eyes were full of mischief, like they had been when they were kids. Hell, they'd caused some trouble together years ago.

Looking at him , he realized how much he'd truly missed his friend. Sure, he'd known it as a kid. It had pretty much wrecked him. Noah had isolated himself for a long time after that, but seventeen years had passed. He wouldn't have thought seeing Cooper would still mean so much. But given that Cooper had been his one real friend from when he was a kid, it made sense.

And renting a room was probably a smart idea. It would be a whole lot less than getting an apartment. Again, he had the money , but he also wanted to get his furniture business off the ground.

There was only one problem. He had no idea how Coop would react to him being gay. It wasn't a problem for him. They would only be roommates, but that didn't mean Coop would be comfortable with it.

"You don't mind sharing a house with a gay man?"

Cooper was taking a drink right as the question left Noah's mouth. He immediately started choking on his OJ, and coughing like crazy.

Well, he guessed , there was his answer. "You okay?" he asked.

Coop was still hacking away, but nodded his head , before he took another drink to calm himself. "Jesus, way to spring that on someone."

A ghost of a memory from the day before snuck into his head. "I'm pretty sure I told you yesterday."

"You could hardly speak straight." Coop's blue eyes widened. "Not straight, straight. I mean, you were all messed up because of the pain meds. I didn't…I wasn't…"

A nother laugh jumped out of his mouth. He tried to hold his ribs, but it didn't stop the pain from shooting through him. He'd never seen Coop so flustered in his life.

"Asshole," Coop grunted. "It's not that funny."

Maybe it wasn't, but Noah needed to laugh. It felt good, too. Well, besides the killer pain in his ribs. "Shit. You're right. I'm sorry, but pain meds or not, people don't say they're gay, if they aren't."

Cooper crossed his arms , and with that movement, the laughter left the room. This was game time. Where he'd find out if his friend would want him to leave, all because of who Noah was attracted to. He couldn't read the look in Coop's eyes. Didn't know him well enough anymore, to know what his intense stare meant.

"We used to talk about girls together, man."

"I was a kid. I was confused. I can promise you, I'm not confused any longer." He held Cooper's gaze, so he understood Noah was serious. This was who he was, and he was okay with that. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"Are you going to hit on me?" Coop tossed back at him.

"You're not my type." Actually, the man couldn't have been more his type. Dark-blond hair, sexy eyes, and his strong, muscled frame. Wasn't like he could tell him that, though. "Plus, you don't hit on every woman you meet, do you? Because I'm attracted to men, doesn't mean I can't control myself around them."

"That's what I thought, so don't ask stupid questions. You're my friend. I'm not going to slam the door in your face, because you have bad taste."

This time Noah held in the laugh, but fuck it was hard. Still , he wrapped an arm around his ribs while he shook his head. The response was so typical of the Cooper he'd known all those years ago.

"More women for me." Coop winked, but then he shifted in his seat. His eyes didn't quite catch Noah's. He wanted to be comfortable with it, but Noah could tell it wasn't going to be as easy as Cooper wanted it to be.

***

Noah Jameson was gay.

Yes , he'd said so the night before, and logically, Coop realized the meds wouldn't make him say that if he wasn't, but hearing it today made it more real. It wasn't that Cooper was homophobic or anything. He was all for the right to live and love who the hell you wanted. For everyone to have that benefit, but, it wasn't every day you found out your childhood best friend was gay.

The same friend he told about a boner he got over kissing a girl at twelve. Maybe it shouldn't, but it made things a little weird.

"So what do you do?" he asked Noah. Cooper crossed his arms over his chest and remembered he didn't have a shirt on. Was it strange that he wasn't wearing one? He knew if a woman sat at the table with hi m, shirtless, he wouldn't be able to pay attention to anyone, but her.

He shifted in his seat again.

"I make wood furniture. Some indoor, and some outdoor. It started out as a hobby when I was home from the service." He replied. "Hoping to open a store and have a workshop attached. You?"

Noah took a drink of his orange juice. Cooper felt naked. Noah stood and grabbed his plate, then reached over for Cooper's , and his eyes shot to his friend's hand.

"Christ. What do you think? I'm going to jump you? This isn't going to work out." Noah continued grabbing the plate, put them in the sink , and then started walking out of the room.

Guilt curdled Cooper's stomach . What the hell was wrong with him? "I'm sorry. I'm being a prick, but you have to admit, it's a lot to take in. I didn't expect it, but I'm okay with it."

Noah turned to him. "Glad to know I have your approval."

"Fuck," he ran a hand through his hair. "That's not what I meant. You're not making this easier, you know."

Noah closed his eyes and took a deep breath , which probably hurt. Cooper couldn't help but wonder if there had been people, with whom his sexual orientation hadn't been okay with; if Noah had had problems. But then, he'd said he'd been in the service, so that made sense. The thought of people giving Noah shit for being who he was sent anger coursing through him. This was Noah—the guy who always had Cooper's back when they were kids.

"You are who you are. Don't be a hot head because it surprised me. You always were getting pissed about something."

This made Noah open his eyes. He shook his head, but he didn't look upset anymore. "That's because you never took anything seriously. You were always getting us into trouble."

"I was always helping us find fun. Now come on, before I have to kick your ass like I did all those years ago. Remember that?"

"I remember you ramming into me and us rolling around in the yard , because neither of us knew how the hell to fight. If I remember correctly, I ended up on top though."

Cooper let the memory dance around in his head. Maybe Noah was right. Hell, they'd only been ten years old. He couldn't even remember what they'd been fighting about. But then another thought crowded his brain…had Noah known then? Or at least been questioning it? Had moments like wrestling around meant something different to Noah? Cooper shoved those thoughts away.

"Sit your ass down and I'll grab your pills. They only gave you Vicodin, probably because you can't handle yourself."

"I need to work on my car."

"Doubt that's happening today. You got hit by a truck yesterday, remember?" Cooper walked over, grabbed the pill bottle and tossed it to Noah, who caught it.

They sat back at the table , and his friend took one of the pills.

"I'm a fire fighter," he told Noah. He didn't want to look him in the eye, because he knew Noah would know how important that was to him.

" It's good way to honor them. Your parents."

Cooper gave a simple nod at that. It was ridiculous that after all these years, he still couldn't talk about losing his parents in the fire. He'd been almost ten when he came to Blackcreek to live with his Uncle Vernon, and they'd never made him talk. Even the times he probably should have, Vernon wouldn't go there. It wasn't how a man dealt, he'd said. But, the fact that Noah just understood him? That spoke volumes.

"I just bought the house , so I'm working on it in my spare time. I do three, twelve-hour shifts a week, so it gives me lots of spare time."

Cooper watched as Noah eyed the kitchen. It wasn't that his house was falling apart or anything, but it was old. A big old place, with wood floors, and a lot of windows. Sure it needed some tender love and care, but Cooper had loved it on sight.

"I'll be glad to help," Noah told him.

"I'll take you up on that."

For about forty-five minutes , they talked about Noah's car, jobs and renting the room. They joked a little about their childhood, but didn't delve too far into it. Finally, Noah stood. "I really need a shower. Do you mind?"

Coop stood too. "Of course not. I'll help you get your stuff out of the car." He knew Noah wouldn't let him get it by himself, no matter his injury. Cooper didn't blame him, because he would be the same way.

Considering he was moving, Noah didn't come with a lot of stuff ; a couple of boxes and a few bags. It took less than five minutes for them to get everything, into what would be, Noah's room.

"There's no bathroom in your room. The shower in my bathroom's broken. Until I get around to fixing it, we're going to have to share the one in the hall."

"Not a problem, man. I appreciate you letting me stay here."

Cooper thought he saw something in Noah's stare that m ade him wonder if Noah was really trying to say something else. As quickly as it had come, it was gone though, and he figured he must have imagined it.

"What are friends for? I'll take ya out sometime and we'll…" Shit. He'd done it again. Almost said, they'd go find some women. He'd never really had an openly gay friend before. Like he said, it didn't bother him, but it was…different.

"Have a beer?" Noah finished for him, making Cooper feel like an ass.

"Yeah. We'll have a beer."

When Noah turned around to head for that restroom, Cooper didn't move. He didn't know why, but he couldn't stop himself from watching his old friend go.

The last thing Cooper thought as Noah closed the door was that he didn't look like he was gay, to him. Then, he realized, what a stupid thing that was to think. "Jesus. What the hell is wrong with me?" he took one more look at the closed bathroom door, and walked away.