9. Cooper

Cooper

Oh, this was a bad idea.Coming to Oklahoma with Maverick on Christmas Eve . . . Just terrible.

And sleeping in his bed? Right next to him. Listening to his breathing as I try not to move an inch for fear of getting far too comfortable?

Yeah . . . that was astronomically bad. Because my brain knows he’s straight and just a friend . . . But my body?

My body is not cooperating with me.

Not at all.

Stupid dick. Please go down. He doesn’t think of us that way.

Just as the speech I’m giving myself in my effort to calm my raging erection ends, Maverick’s eyes open slowly, and then he’s watching me. He looks at me with a gaze that says so much and so little at the same time. The intensity in his gaze does absolutely nothing to calm my libido, but just when he looks like he’s about to say something, the bedroom door busts open, and we both jolt upward in the bed.

A petite woman with curly brown hair and some traces of gray pops through the door with a huge smile on her face. “My baby boy is home!”

“Mom,” he grumbles, pulling the covers up to his chest, which is really funny because it’s not like he’s naked. Unfortunately, he has the same shirt and joggers on he had on last night.

But I can’t even laugh because this is so not how I thought I’d meet his mother—who’s beautiful, by the way. Like I figured she’d be, given how beautiful her son is. But different from Maverick, she’s what most would probably describe as a blonde-bombshell type. Although her hair is pulled into a ponytail, and she’s wearing a flannel shirt and jeans. No makeup at all, but she doesn’t look like she needs it. Maybe a couple of wrinkles around her eyes, probably from the sun, but the woman is stunning.

Oh, and boots. She’s wearing boots. Probably ready to go wrangle some horses or whatever they do on a ranch. I’m really not sure.

She looks at Maverick, then at me, and I realize again I’m in bed with her son. Her very straight son. This has got to look all kinds of wrong to her. But she just waves Maverick off and walks closer to the bed, “We had the guest room all ready for your friend, Mav. Didn’t feel like using it?”

She seems more amused than horrified. Which is good, I suppose. But for some reason, my mouth decides to open and just go for it, to my brain’s horror. “Oh, it was just really late and I—well both of us were really worried about waking you up. I mean, I know you get up really early, so I didn’t want to wake you up. That wouldn’t be a great way to meet you.” I sit up in the bed, shifting awkwardly as she watches me. “But you know, I figured it wouldn’t be so bad sharing a bed with a buddy. No big deal at all.”

Her lips turn into a smile. My brain takes this as a good thing, and my mouth just keeps going.

“I mean, duh. Two guys sharing a bed is no big deal. I mean, your son is straight. So yeah, it’s just two buddies sharing a bed.”

Maverick shifts in the bed, sitting up too, letting the covers fall as he watches me.

“Well, I mean I’m gay. Totally gay. Always have been. Always will be.” My cheeks flame, and God, I wish I could stop, but I just can’t. “But Mav isn’t. Nothing has changed. He’s straighter than an arrow . . .”

I feel Maverick’s hand on my shoulder. “Coop, stop.” I let out a huge breath of air, and thankfully, that seems to shut my mouth off.

I stare at his mom, my cheeks flaming red, and just wait for her to speak, holding my breath again. Then she bursts out laughing. Her entire face, that was already beautiful even before, lights up and illuminates even more beauty. “Oh my God, you are just precious.” She looks over at Maverick. “You said he was amusing. But you didn’t tell me he was just so damn precious I could cry.”

Maverick chuckles and shakes his head as his mom comes over and squeezes him in a tight hug. “He really is.”

Maverick looks over at me and winks. Oh lord. But there’s no time for melting into a puddle of goo because his mom is walking over to me, sitting down on the bed, and wrapping her arms around me. “Nice to meet you, Cooper. I’m Donna.”

“Hi,” I barely squeak as I get a little lost in her warm embrace. She smells good. Like soap and vanilla. Sweet like sugar. And her hug is just . . . I don’t know how to explain it. It feels safe and warm.

She pulls back, her smile that’s so damn comforting, despite me spilling my guts out to her in the first seconds of our meeting. “Maverick mentioned you were gay, but he didn’t say you were totally gay and always have been.” She winks at me, and it’s playful. “And always will be.”

“Mom,” Maverick laughs, playfully warning her.

She laughs, and I pick up that she’s teasing me before she hugs me again. “I’m glad you’re exactly who you are, Cooper. It sounds like you’ve been a great friend to my son.”

“Oh,” I say dumbly as she pulls back and then squeezes my cheek gently with her small hand.

“You are just adorable. My goodness. I’m so happy you’re here.”

“You’re just happy to have extra hands this morning,” Maverick teases—or God, I hope he’s teasing.

His mom stands up and laughs, tossing her head back. “You got me, but he is adorable, and I’m glad you’re both home. Now get up and get dressed. Cows wait for no one.”

Maverick smiles, looking genuinely happy as he climbs out of bed, and his mother leaves. I sit there, staring at him in horror. “She’s not kidding, is she?”

“Nope,” he says, grabbing a pair of jeans from his bag and then a long-sleeved shirt.

“I’m not exactly a farmer,” I say nervously as I climb out of the bed, nearly tripping over the rug in the process, fully proving my point.

He merely smiles at me, walking so close, my breath catches. “She’ll take it easy on you, I promise. And we aren’t farmers. We’re ranchers.”

“I don’t know the difference.”

He grins, but he doesn’t help me out at all, heading instead for the bathroom to change. I curse as I make my way over to my bag, finding a pair of jeans and the sweater I planned to wear today.

Maverick walks out of the bathroom a moment later, eyeing the sweater, and I notice he’s fully dressed. That was fast.

“Yeah, you can’t wear that.” He walks over to his closet, shuffling through some stuff until he pulls out a flannel button-down shirt and hands it to me. “Here.”

I take it, feeling the softness and heaviness of the fabric. “I think it’s too big.”

He grins and then shrugs. “It’ll do for today.”

“Thank you,” I say, feeling far too giddy about wearing his clothes. I am officially ridiculous.

I head into the bathroom to change, still trying to calm my libido. But thanks to my nerves about ranch work, it’s not too hard. Although I’m really excited to work with cows and horses.

I’m going to be a vet someday, and I haven’t been around those types of animals all that much.

I’m pretty happy when I walk back out of the bathroom, until I see Maverick holding a pair of boots out to me. “I think we wear the same size shoes, and you’re going to need these.”

“Boots?” I ask as I eye the offending “shoes.” I don’t think I’m a boots kind of guy.

“Trust me, you don’t want those fancy shoes of yours on your feet when we get to the stables.”

I sit on the bed and decide he’s probably right. So instead of arguing, I tug them on, and we head downstairs. I’m greeted by his mother again, who’s still brightly smiling and happy. But then I see an older version of Maverick standing next to her.

Somehow, he’s a little taller than his son and a little sterner. Okay, so his mom is cool, totally fine with my rambling and my being gay. But this massive brick wall of a man, whose face hasn’t moved at all since I walked in . . . Yeah, maybe be really quiet, Cooper.

Don’t breathe.

But then something magical happens. The man’s face morphs into a big smile, and he pulls Maverick in for a great big bear hug. I swear Maverick’s feet lift off the ground. “Good to see you, Dad.”

“Good to see you, son.” He releases Maverick, but then I let out a surprised squeak when the big man wraps his arms around me and squeezes tight. “And Cooper! Good to meet you, son.”

Oh my God. He called me son.

I might really embarrass the hell out of myself and start sobbing as I try to wrap my arms around him and squeeze him back.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“Dad, don’t break him,” I hear Maverick say.

“Oh, he’s fine, aren’t ya?” Maverick’s dad asks as he loosens his hold on me just a little, and air whooshes back in my lungs.

“Yes, sir.”

He chuckles. “Hank. Please. None of that sir shit.”

Maverick laughs, and Hank hugs him again.

“All right, let’s get our asses moving, so we can get to Christmas dinner.”

“You ready for this?” Mav asks.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

God, I hope that’s true.