8. Cooper

CHAPTER 8

COOPER

For the first part of our walk, the gut-punch feeling, realizing Lucas thought I'd invited him out to talk about work-related stuff, left me off-kilter. I let Lucas lead the way, moving around groups talking on the sidewalk. Crossing at the light, we headed towards a quieter side street with some old bars and a tattoo parlor scattered between the mostly darkened storefronts. We walked for a few minutes in relative silence until Lucas ducked under the awning of a secondhand book shop, still open for another two hours. I smiled quickly at the sight—I knew the place well.

"What's funny?" Lucas asked, his smile small and uncertain.

"I just find it amusing that you brought me to my sister's competitor," I replied, unable to suppress a chuckle. "She has a shop in Bee Cave. Bibliosmia."

Brows drawing together, he shook his head. "I don't think I've heard of it. I'm sorry?"

"Secondhand books, a lot of rare and hard to find stuff." I opened the door, motioning him ahead of me. "The name means the smell of books."

He snorted softly. "Well, it's a good smell so who can blame her?"

"The owner has a thing for Ouisie," I whispered. "They were in college together, but she was dating her ex at the time. Then she got pregnant and had Greggy, her ex disappeared, and she wasn't in any place to date."

"Oooooh," Lucas crooned, eyes lighting up. "Enemies to lovers! My favorite!"

".. what?"

"Enemies to lovers! The best fictional trope! Like Darcy and Elizabeth—okay, they weren't so much enemies and antagonists, but it counts!" He rattled off a few more names, flashing me that dimpled grin and winking before adding "So your sister and this guy… total Darcy and Elizabeth vibes?"

"No, no, nothing like that," I chuckled. "I mean, he's kind of a sourpuss sometimes, but that's just him, I think. He's been carrying a torch for Heloise for almost ten years. Not in a creepy way, just... if she ever looked his way, he'd definitely faint."

"That's kind of cute," Lucas cooed. "Totally a romance novel setup."

"Maybe," I allowed. "If they stopped trying to outdo one another in sales."

"Okay, nerdy-romantic then," he said with a shrug. "It can work!"

"Tell you what," I laughed, "you can tell my terrifying sister she needs to date her business rival. Sell tickets. I want to see if you can handspring your way out of that verbal beatdown she'd dole out. Ouisie is convinced she's not dating until she's at least forty and Greggy is in high school."

Lucas looked taken aback before joining in my laughter. We stepped inside the cozy bookstore, the scent of old paper and leather enveloping us. The dim lighting and the soft jazz playing in the background created a warm atmosphere. As we perused the shelves filled with literary treasures, I caught Lucas stealing glances at me, his eyes holding an unspoken question.

I pretended to be engrossed in a dusty copy of a classic novel, but his gaze made my heart race. Finally, mustering up all my courage, I turned to him. "You know, this isn't exactly how I imagined our evening would go."

Eyes sparkling, he took a step closer, closing the distance between us. "How did you imagine it then?" he asked softly, his hand brushing against mine. The touch sent a shiver down my spine, and a rush of warmth flooded through me. Something clouded in Lucas's expression as he stared back at me, his lips pursed in a thin line as his gaze searched my face. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone, replaced by something clear, cautious. Maybe a little interested. "Because I can safely say this is not at all like I'd pictured the night going."

"I imagined a quiet dinner, maybe some good wine, and talking about everything but work," I confessed, my voice barely above a whisper. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about the other night. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a repeat." Or more...

A soft smile tugging at the corner of Lucas's lips, he reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Well, who says we can't still do that?" he murmured, swaying closer. Eyes hooded, his gaze caught on my lips.

My heart fluttered at his touch, the air charged with an undeniable tension. Without another word, Lucas closed the gap between us and pressed his lips to mine in a tender kiss. In that moment, surrounded by the scent of old books and the soft sounds of the shop around us, my crush burst into flame, became something else entirely.

And I only hoped Lucas might feel it too.

"Hey! Hey, you're Heloise Howard's brother."

The kiss broke, Lucas taking a half step back and shoving his hands into his pocket, expression wary. A tall, thin man with sharp features and hair even redder than mine peered at us from the end of the aisle, a deep frown on his face. "Did she send you to check the place out?"

"Hey, Sonny," I sighed. "No, we were just... out?—"

"On a date," Lucas broke in at the same time, his cheeks flaming pink. "We were on a date, and I suggested stopping in here."

Sonny turned his shrewd gaze to Lucas. "Are you a bookseller?"

"Not even remotely. Unless you count me taking those boxes of Mom and Titi's romances to Half Price Books for them every year."

He sniffed. "No. No I do not."

"Long time no see." I gave him one of my Media-Friendly smiles. "Should I tell Ouisie you said hi?"

Red crept up Sonny's throat, above his buttoned collar and tie. "That's not necessary. I'll be watching the pair of you, though. No pictures! And if I see her little shop is suddenly copying mine, I'll know who passed the intel on to her!"

Lucas's eyes were so wide the whites clearly showed around the deep brown irises. "Roger that," he murmured. Nodding sharply, Sonny turned to stride back to the counter, no doubt to watch us on CCTV.

I squeezed Lucas's hand, offering a reassuring smile. Once the coast was clear, I turned back to Lucas, unable to contain the laughter bubbling up inside me. "Well, that was unexpected," I said, chuckling nervously. "Weird, though."

Lucas let out a breath he seemed to have been holding since Sunny's interruption and joined in my laughter. "You sure know how to show a guy a good time," he remarked, fluttering his lashes at me with a coy smirk.

"If that's all it takes to impress you, then I think this evening is going better than I assumed."

Lucas studied my face carefully, his smirk falling into something serious, considering. "Are you trying to impress me?"

Awkwardness flooded my veins, heating me to a nice, cheery pink under Lucas's shrewd gaze. "Maybe?"

He snorted. Shaking his head, he turned away to head down the aisle. "Come on. Let's buy each other a book."

I strode after him, catching up easily. "Seriously? This is a book date now?"

He hummed in agreement. "I pick out something for you, you pick out something for me. Then we swap. My sister Renata did this with a few of the people she's dated and said it's a fun way to find out what they think about you."

That was worrisome. "I don't know if I want to know what you think of me," I muttered. He flinched, ducking his face away.

"Maybe I'm worried, too."

I gestured to the books around us. "One way to find out, I guess?"

He nodded slowly. "What're you going to do if the book I pick for you sucks?"

"Smile and say I love it."

He rolled his eyes. "No. That's shitty. Then I'll think you love it, and that's how you end up getting 400 tiny thimbles from various state and national parks."

"Er..."

"Long story short, I told Titi the little thimble she brought back from Yellowstone was cute, and now I have hundreds of the damn things in a storage unit outside of town with the rest of my shit."

Slipping around him to block his path, I made a cross over my heart. "I promise I will never inundate you with souvenirs from national and state parks, even if you told me my spoon collection was cute and I had very refined taste in dust catchers."

His lips tilted mischievously, but he nodded. "I'll hold you to that. Now come on. Let's browse first. Then we'll split up."

As we wandered through the aisles of the bookstore, our fingers brushing occasionally as we reached for the same book or shared a whispered comment about a rare find, I couldn't shake the warmth blooming in my chest. Being with Lucas felt effortless, comfortable, and undeniably exciting all at once. I wanted to browse the store forever, wanted to take him back to my place, and—well, yeah, do the fun stuff, but also just watch something silly on streaming, talk about the books we got, learn more about him. Tell him more about me... About how maybe he had the right idea looking farther into the future, past what we were doing now.

About how maybe he had given me some ideas about what I could work towards one day, when it was time to pack it in.

We split after twenty more minutes, Lucas heading for a corner of the store we hadn't been to yet. I, after a moment of hesitation, veered towards the social sciences shelves. It took a few minutes for me to find something I knew my sister had in her shop because I'd helped her stock the shelves a few weeks back, so I guessed Sonny might have it too. Sonny rang me up with a suspicious glare, watching me as I waited for Lucas.

"Bup bup bup," Lucas scolded as he sailed out of the aisles, wagging a finger at me. "No peeking."

Obediently, I turned my back as he handed Sonny his selection, then listened in amused surprise as he charmed the hell out of the prickly shop owner. "You're welcome back any time," Sonny informed him. "He's not."

My laugh was stifled until we stepped out onto the pavement. "Geezly crow," Lucas snickered, "he's personally offended by your existence."

"It's impossible not to like me," I complained with mock offense. "Something must be wrong with him."

"I dunno. I didn't like you much when we met..." He trailed off, not meeting my eyes as he instead focused back the way we'd come. "Walk me to my car? I parked behind the bar."

We walked for a few moments, the street quiet as we were off the main drag, before I mustered the courage to say, "You said that in the past tense."

"Hmm? Yeah, because I parked in the past. If I was still parking my car, we wouldn't be here."

I stopped, and, after a few more steps, so did he. "Your ears are red."

"Shut up," he muttered, darting a glance up at me. "It's warm out. I get red when I'm warm."

"And here I was thinking it was because you were a little embarrassed. Maybe a tiny bit shy."

"I've never been a shy a day in my life."

"Is that so?"

He nodded slowly, big brown eyes fixed on my face as he darted his tongue out, licking his lips. "I'm a pretty bold person, nine times out of ten."

"And what happens on the tenth time?" I asked, my voice rougher and lower than I expected.

"I'm cautious." He took a step towards me. "Not shy. Not afraid. More... watchful. Mindful."

"Aware?"

He nodded. Another step. Somewhere down the block, someone let out a loud whoop, and a car beeped as it was unlocked. Neither of us flinched. Neither of us so much as glanced their way.

"Sometimes," I murmured, "when I'm on the field..." Another tiny step. He was just within arm's reach now. My fingers twitched at my sides, eager to feel the bare skin of his arms, the warm silk of his hair. "I know there's thousands of people watching, shouting, chanting. The other players, you all cheering, Coach..."

"But?" One last step and now he was close enough to feel the tickle of his breath on my neck as he looked up at me. The shadows falling over us between the streetlamps made it feel far more private than we truly were.

"But sometimes, everything else disappears except me and whoever I'm blocking."

"Are you trying to say you're blocking me, Cooper?" he asked, a small smile teasing the corner of his lips, pressing in the tiniest of dimples there.

I wanted to taste them.

"I'm saying that whenever we're together, it's like that for me. Everything else is outside, far away."

He swayed towards me on a breath, our chests barely brushing. "That doesn't seem safe. Aren't you afraid you'll get hurt?"

I nodded slowly. "Very."

We were kissing on the next breath, his inhale and my exhale. Hesitantly, he brought his hands up to my shoulders. I bent to meet him, my own hands gripping his hips like an anchor. It wasn't a deep, dirty kiss, but it left me breathless as we pulled apart. My heart jackrabbited against my ribs like I'd just gotten an interception off Tom Wiesner.

"We shouldn't do that in the street," he muttered, bouncing down on his heels.

"We should go back to my place," I offered immediately. "Trade our books?"

He nodded slowly. "We could do that... Or mine?"

"Mine's closer." Closer meant faster, faster meant being alone sooner, and that meant more kissing, more touching...

"Okay," he whispered. "Okay."

Okay...

Lucas drove us back to my place, giving me a sideways look when mentioned I'd walked. "It's really not that far," I laughed. "And I thought maybe I'd be drinking a bit, so I didn't want to chance leaving my baby out there overnight."

"Oh my god," he groaned, turning where I indicated. "You're one of those guys who names his car Lucille and polishes the rims every Sunday and special orders seat covers that match your eyes or something. I should've known!"

"First," I sniffed primly, "my car's name is Molly. Second, I polish the rims on Wednesdays. And my seat covers are Trooper gold with our team logo in blue."

He cackled, almost missing the turn to my building. "Oh my god," he repeated, shaking his head. "I swear, you'd better be kidding, or I'm just dropping you off right here."

"Not about the name," I laughed. "Or... the seat covers."

He snorted. "Of course you're not. I've yet to meet a football player without the team's name all over every damn thing they owned. If I check your socks, will they be from the merch site? Oh my god, are your undies Troopers branded?"

"No," I drawled. "My socks are black, thank you very much."

He pulled into the drive leading to the private parking garage, punching in the code as I recited it for him, then moved into one of the visitor spots near my car. "And the undies?"

"That's a surprise for later."

Lucas's startled squawk made me laugh as I let myself out of his older-model hatchback. "Come on. Don't forget your book."

The trip up to my floor was mostly quiet. Once we were confined in the brightly lit elevator, a sudden nervousness overtook both of us. The building played a 24-7 loop of local news and what Rye referred to as yacht rock in the elevators, which meant we were both awkwardly listening to a report about a horrible accident on MoPac followed by the opening strains to "Summer Breeze."

"I have to admit," he said as the doors finally opened on my floor. "I didn't picture you living somewhere like this. Most of the players I've known either go embarrassingly big or they get a freaking farm."

I snorted, leading him down the corridor to my apartment. It was nice—like, way nicer than most apartments I've been in—but it wasn't ridiculous. Or at least, I didn't think it was. As I unlocked the door I had a moment of anxiety—what would Lucas think of my place? Would it put me in the ranks of 'most of the players he'd known?'

"Oh, wow, this is nice," he crooned. "Beautiful view of the park! I bet you can see that Trail of Lights thing they do at Christmas from here."

I nodded, locking the door behind us and following him to the picture window overlooking part of Zilker. Lucas dropped his bag from Sonny's shop on the sofa, staring out at the darkened park. A few lights picked out trees and part of the nearest foot path, but twilight swallowed most of it, never fully dark thanks to Austin's glow but a nice little island in the night, somewhere not busy and loud. "That feeling I was talking about earlier? Being the only ones in the world?"

Lucas nodded, craning his neck to look up at me. I stood close behind him, looking out over his head at the dark blotch of the park and the bright lights of the city. "You feel it here too."

"Sometimes. Right now."

"Sometimes right now?" I loved his smile, the puckish tilt, the way it smoothed out the worry lines he wore like a hair shirt. "Sounds complicated."

"It doesn't have to be," I whispered. Lucas closed his eyes on a sigh, a shiver racing over his body. "Lucas..."

"We shouldn't do this," he said quietly. "We shouldn't. I could lose my job, my reputation, the nonprofit would stop working with me..."

"Or," I interrupted, pressing my fingers to his lips, feeling the firm muscle and soft skin, the way it sent a pulse of need you now and please please please straight to my cock. "Or maybe nothing bad happens. Because this is ours. And for us."

He huffed a tiny, helpless laugh against my touch. "People always find out."

I dropped my hand, let him take a step back before I spoke again. "We'll stop then. It's... it's just two adults acting on impulse, acting on attraction. We?—"

My words ended in a started grunt as Lucas flung himself at me. One thing about cheerleaders—they can fucking jump. Lucas was airborne from a dead standstill in just a heartbeat, and then in my arms before I could do more than process motion means grab!

"Stop talking for a minute," he ordered, lips brushing mine as he spoke. "Nice catch, by the way. I see why the team shelled out the big bucks for you."

My startled laugh rang off the high ceilings and bounced between us. "Warn a guy next time?"

"I like to keep you on your toes."

Lucas felt good in my arms, right even. We kissed in the middle of my living room until I couldn't hold him up anymore; then we moved to the couch. Somewhere, my phone buzzed, but I ignored it. Whatever it was could wait until I damn well felt like talking to anyone other than Lucas.

As we made out on the couch, Lucas's breath mingled with mine. The creak of springs and rustle of fabric were all but lost under the tiny noises he made, the whimpers and gasps as I found spots on his throat and behind his ear that made him arch into me, cling to my shoulders and back, stretch and drum his heels in pleasure. Our hands roamed freely, exploring familiar territory and new discoveries alike. I trailed my fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck, coiled between myfingers and begging to be touched.

Breaking away, he looked into my eyes, his face flushed and his cheeks damp with sweat. "We both know why this isn't a good idea," he whispered, "but I think we also know why it's a very good one."

I nodded, braced above him and wanting nothing more than to trade places, be the one held down. Held down by Lucas Ortiz, at his mercy even if only for a few minutes. "God, yes."

He tilted his head and pressed his lips to my ear. The warmth of his breath sent shivers through me. "We need a code word," he said, his voice barely audible, "something that means..." he hesitated, his eyes locked onto mine, "This needs to stop." At my stricken expression, he reached up and pressed his palms to my cheeks, "No, no, no… I'm not saying…" He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against mine, then huffed a frustrated laugh. "If I say handspring, we need to stop, okay?"

I nodded. "If I say…"

Eyes still closed, he smiled. "Fumble."

"Don't jinx me," I teased, pressing a kiss to that damn dimple. "Fumble."

Lucas opened his eyes, and I fell into that deep gaze. "Coop?"

I nodded. "Yeah… yeah…"

He closed the distance, craning his neck to kiss me. Everything melted into a haze of pleasure and need. Lucas's body was smaller than mine, but he was strong, a fact which shouldn't have surprised me but did. He looped his arm around my shoulders and did some maneuver, ending with me on the floor and him on top of me. At my startled yelp, he grinned. "I spend most of my time training to catch people flying through the air. Flipping you on your back is nothing."

"That is way sexier than I expected it to be," I breathed, diving in for another kiss. He laughed against me, his breath catching between us. I seized the opportunity to deepen things, tasting his tongue and lips, the remnants of our drinks, the cinnamon gum he'd chewed in the car. Lucas made a desperate, needy sound in his throat, tangling his fingers in my hair to hold me still before rolling his hips, pressing his ass against my hard cock. Even through our layers of clothes, it was divine.

I arched up the next time he did it, drawing a shuddering sigh from him. And again, and again, until we were moving together, the kiss more a smear of heat and wet and need than anything now. It didn't matter that the corner of the coffee table was jabbing my shoulder, or the wood floor was uncomfortable as all fuck. Lucas's weight atop me, his panting, gasping breath, his hands moving over my hair, my neck, my chest, grabbing at my shoulders—it all made any discomfort worth it.

"Oh god, yeah," he breathed, throwing his head back when I squeezed his hips, grinding him down on my hard, almost painful, length. "Fuck, I wish we'd taken a minute to take off our pants," he laugh-sighed.

"Next time," I promised. Because I wasn't going to last much longer, not with the way he was moving, the sight he made. "Fuck, you're beautiful," I murmured. "So beautiful."

Surprise flared in his eyes, his lustful, heated expression flickering before the shock was gone, replaced by desire.

It had been years, close to a decade, since I'd been so damn frantic to orgasm, but with Lucas atop me, working me over, every other thought dissolved in a haze of heat and need, replaced with a pinpoint focus on making him fall apart so I could follow. He gasped and laughed when I lunged up, holding onto him so he wouldn't fall. I moved us back onto the sofa, pinning him beneath me. At the questioning look on my face, he nodded, whispered, "Please, yes," and moved against me again.

Hands and mouths came into play, each kiss and touch more desperate than the last. We fumbled the buttons on our jeans, the rasp of zippers lost under panting breath. "Just a sec," I muttered, pushing up so I could see between us. His cock was thick, blunt-tipped and rosy at the head, a bead of precum leaking down the underside. He was shorter than me, but girthier. My jaw twinged with anticipation; he'd be a stretch to take. Whining, Lucas thrust up into my hand. "Don't tease," he ordered throatily. "I'm so close."

"Can I?" I asked, nodding to my own hard length jutting between us.

Lucas pushed up onto his elbows and smirked. "Ginger all the way, huh? I didn't know you could get freckles there."

"Hush," I chuckled. "Can I?"

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

It took a little maneuvering—that whole thing about height doesn't matter when you're laying down is kind of bullshit—but soon enough, we'd figured out a position that let me grasp our cocks together in one hand. Just barely, but still. Both of us leaking like faucets, we were slick and sticky and hot in my grasp. Lucas wiggled beneath me, locking his legs around my thighs, digging his fingers into my biceps, and that was it for me.

For a moment, everything suspended. It was like the instant before I hit a tackle, that breathless, timeless in-between state. Then everything burst into sparks and heat. Hot release coated my fingers, my body bowing against Lucas. His sharp, high gasp was the only sign his own peak was right there. His body went taut, eyes fluttering closed. On a breath, his orgasm broke. Streaks of cum painted his belly and my knuckles, the mess we'd made cooling rapidly on our skin.

Reluctantly, I let us go, both of us oversensitive now but neither wanting to stop touching. He scooted up to rest against the arm of the sofa, uttering a small oof when I carefully lowered myself to lie between his spread thighs, head on his chest and his hand in my hair. "So this evening went way differently than I expected," he said after what felt like a long time but was really just a few minutes.

"How'd you expect it to go?"

He hummed thoughtfully. "A drink or two, maybe talk about the upcoming fundraiser, bitch a little about how things are going with the nonprofit, you'd be charming, I'd be bitchy, then we'd go our separate ways." He tilted his chin to peer down at me. "Maybe a kiss."

I scooted up, moving my head to his shoulder. I brushed a kiss against his prickly jaw and smiled when he shivered. "Maybe?"

"Mmm. To be honest, I couldn't stop thinking about the other night. But I didn't want to assume…"

"Lucas—"

"Ooooh, you sound serious."

"I am. Listen to me: I am interested in seeing where this goes between us, okay? I'm… more than interested, if that's possible. I want to get to know you better. I want you to know me . And I understand it's not going to be easy with our jobs and… Well. I was hoping you saw more to me—to us—than physical attraction and having to work together for the nonprofit."

Lucas stared at me so quietly, for so long, something inside me shriveled. My neck felt hot with embarrassment. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and started to move off him.

"Wait."

His legs gripped around my hips so tightly I couldn't move.

"I want to find out too."

"Yeah?"

Tentatively, he smiled, relaxing his grip on my hips, and nodded. "Yeah."