21. Cooper

Cooper

“You’re moping,” George says as he sits down next to me on the couch in our living room.

I roll my eyes but don’t look over at him. “I’m not.”

“You so are,” David says unhelpfully.

I just got home from my shift at the bar, and okay, maybe I’ve been looking at my phone a little too long, willing Maverick to call or text.

He’s on the road for the first time in our relationship. In Pheonix for the first race of the year. We’ve been officially dating for almost two months. We even made it through Valentine’s Day—a really nice meal at his place, followed by all the sex and binge-watching movies in his bed.

It was by far the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had. Everything is going great. He’s been getting ready for the race while I go to school, work, and the shelter. We’ve made it work.

But not getting to spend the night in his bed tonight has put me in a bit of a mood. He did ask if I wanted to stay in his house while he was gone, but it wouldn’t be worth the drive to his place and back every day.

His dogs are staying with me at my place though, but they seem just as miserable without Maverick as me. It’s late, even in Pheonix, and I know I should just go to bed, but as soon as my phone vibrates and lights up with his name, I instantly jump up.

I head to my room, flipping off George and David as they catcall me the entire way. I close and lock the door behind me, leaving George and David to watch the dogs, and answer the phone, “Mav.”

“God, it’s good to hear your voice.”

I sigh as I land on the bed on my back. “Yours too.”

I can hear the smile in his voice. “You just get home?”

I nod my head even though he can’t see me. “Yeah. Don’t you have a race tomorrow?”

“Yeah. But I wasn’t going to bed without talking to you.”

See, he says things like that, and I can’t stop to think about how badly I wish I was there with him. Or the fact that no one besides a few select people know we’re a couple. “I miss you,” I say honestly, the ache deep inside. The longing to be in his arms so great it’s nearly crippling.

“I miss you too. How was class?”

I can’t help smiling at his question. He really cares about me. He’s always asking how my day was, and he cares about the answer. I don’t know if I’ve ever really had that before.

I talk to him about my classes, then about the new rescues in the shelter and what happened tonight at the bar. He tells me about his flight and a little about his hotel room. “Are you nervous about the race?”

“Not at all,” he answers confidently, and I love that about him. Hell, I love everything about him, if I’m being honest.

“I wish you were in bed with me,” I say. “Or I was with you.”

“God, I wish you were here.” He sounds so sincere, it’s like a punch to the chest. But I don’t want to wallow in the sadness.

We can be apart for two damn days.

“If I was there, what would we be doing?” I ask, a teasing lilt to my voice.

He doesn’t miss a beat, his voice dipping low. “You wouldn’t be wearing any clothes, for starters.”

“Oh, I can fix that,” I say as I put the phone down and quickly strip out of all of my clothes before holding the phone back up to my ear. I can hear his clothing rustling, and then he’s back on the phone.

“Naked?”

“Oh yeah,” I say, biting my bottom lip as I let my free hand move over my right nipple, already a peaked, tight bud under my fingers. “So naked. So hard and horny for you.”

“Yes.” I hear him pant into the phone, and I imagine him touching himself too.

I grab the bottle of lube from my drawer, not wasting any time pouring it into my hand. “I can’t stop thinking about you letting me inside you, Mav.” Not a lie or an exaggeration. We haven’t had a chance to do it yet, usually too frantic and lost in each other’s bodies to actually prepare him for his first time. But we’ve talked about it many times.

“Oh fuck, I can’t either.” His voice is strangled, tight and wanton. He’s close. I stroke myself hard and fast, knowing this will be a quick one. “I know you’re going to wreck me with that big cock, and I can’t fucking wait.”

“Oh, God.” That’s all it takes before cum explodes from my dick, hitting my stomach and chest.

“Yes.” I hear his deep throaty moan, my cock jerking and releasing more cum from the sound alone.

I lie there, panting into the phone and listening to him.

“Goddamn, do I miss you. And not just for this.”

“I miss you too. But mostly just for your body,” I tease, and he laughs easily.

“One more day.”

I nod, not letting the sadness take over. We can do one more day. “Yup. And then, all the sex and movies and relationshippy stuff.”

He chuckles again. “Have you thought more about the fundraiser next month?”

We talked about it a little bit after I told him Sebastian and Axel invited me to go and I wasn’t too sure about a black-tie affair. “A little.”

I can feel the sweet smile on his lips through the phone. “I think it could be really fun.”

“A fundraiser for sick kids? Sounds like a blast.”

He laughs again, which he seems to be doing more and more, and I’m here for it. “Good food. Good booze. Good company.”

I try like hell not to frown. Good friendly company. Ew, I don’t like that bitter thought. It’s not his fault he’s not ready to come out yet.

“I’ll think about it,” I finally manage to say, even though the thought of being in a huge group of people with Maverick and not being able to touch him makes me slightly sick to my stomach.

It’s not fair to him. I know that. I told him I can handle this, and I can. It’ll be just fine.

“Good. I can’t think of any better way to make people write some checks than to look into those big ole gorgeous eyes of yours, Coop.”

And just like that, I melt into a big ole pile of goo, like I always do.

“Goodnight, Maverick.”

“Goodnight, Coop.”

I hang up and clean up the cum mess, then get dressed before I open my bedroom door, letting his dogs rush in and jump on my bed. I laugh and sigh, wishing, like I’m sure they do, that Mav was here before I turn off the light and climb under the covers.

You can do this, Cooper.