“They tried to get our boy here,” Knox said, nodding to my other side where Cooper was sitting back down.
I focused my attention on Cooper when I asked, “Why’d you say no?”
“You know how I feel about Hollywood, Wills,” he said and Knox rolled his eyes before pulling a girl who was passing by into his lap to take a chug out of the drink she was holding.
“I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” I told Cooper, standing and he was right behind me. I gave him a sideways look as we walked inside the house. “You’re coming in with me?”
“Are you inviting me?”
“Absolutely not.”
Someone was already inside the bathroom next to the laundry room, so I stood with Cooper in silence, crossing my legs together tightly as we waited. He was biting the corner of his lip and pretending to look down at a doorstopper extending from the baseboards, but I could feel his gaze heating the side of my face. I started to tease him about it but then the bathroom door opened. I almost groaned when Miranda stepped out, wobbling a little. She looked surprised for a moment, as she glanced back and forth between my face and Cooper’s, but then she smiled. A genuine one at that.
“All yours,” she said, before disappearing down the deck hallway.
I honestly wasn’t sure if she was talking about the bathroom or the boy beside of me, but when we went back outside I didn’t see her and I realized she must have already left. Cooper caught my wrist when I started to gravitate toward the bonfire and gave me a tiny smile. “Let’s get away.”
“Yes.”
We walked with a couple inches of space between us as we headed away from the party, but when the sides of our bodies brushed, he reached between us, lacing our fingertips. A tingle raced up my arm.
“I should’ve said this before, but congrats,” I said, trying my best to ignore the pressure weighing down on my chest, making it difficult for me to breathe around him.
“For what?”
“The competition you won. That’s what this party is for, right?”
“And here I was thinking you were congratulating me for finally getting the girl,” he said and when I inhaled deeply, he ducked his head and added, “But thank you.”
The sounds of the party slowly faded as we walked further away from his house. Away from the lights and his friends. Away from turning back.
“You’ve got guests,” I said at last, stopping beneath one of the palm trees peppering the beach.
“It’s my party,” he pointed out, “And besides, it’s thinning out. They’ll probably be gone before we get back.”
“And you’re leaving it to break your rule about clients,” I whispered.
He froze, and my lips dragged up into a satisfied smile. Cool and calm and collected Surfer Boy was frazzled because of something I’d said. Unfortunately, it didn’t last very long. Tightening his grip on my fingers, he closed the space between our bodies, keeping each movement controlled. His lips parted, and I expected him to question me like he always did, to ask me if he was what I really wanted. Instead, he backed me up against the tree, pinning my hands over my head so that the leaves scratched my palms.
Everything touched—our bodies and lips and tongues. He smelled like coconut and salt water, and more than anything I wanted that scent on my own skin. I was hardly aware when he took me down with him to the ground, pulling me on top of him.
His thumb pressed against the center of my panties—against the center of myself—and I about lost it.
Breaking away from his mouth, I whispered, “I haven’t done this in a really long time.”
He pulled his hand from my panties, cupping my face and tangling his fingers into stray strands of my hair. “I know.”
“Cooper, I’m not going to have sex with you—at least not out here.”
“Jesus, Wills, we’ve been undoing one another for days. The last place we’re going to tear each other apart is right here, in the sand. Guess you can say I’m greedy because I want to be the only one who hears you come,” he whispered in a harsh voice, hushing my gasp with his tongue, his lips, before it even had a chance to surface.
When I came up for air this time, I tightened my knees against his sides and raked my fingers through his blonde hair. He squeezed my bottom and grinned, but it wasn’t easy-going or teasing, like usual. It was brimming with frustration.
“You never talked to me like this before,” I said.
He gave a husky laugh and then sat upright, gripping me like he’d never let go. “You coming here tonight was the game changer.”
Chapter Twelve
In the two weeks I’d been taking surf lessons with Cooper, I hadn’t once seen the inside of his bedroom or any area of his house other than the laundry room, kitchen, and shop. Until tonight.
By the time we’d returned to the beach, the party was over and everyone had scattered. I had a feeling that Paige had something to do with that, but I didn’t say anything as Cooper guided me inside through the deck door, locking it behind us.
“You’re quiet, Wills,” he said, his fingertips pulling gently on my own as he walked backwards, guiding me toward the staircase. I followed him up, feeling my heart pulse a little harder with each step.
“I thought you liked it when I was quiet,” I teased, and he paused. Turning sideways halfway up the steps, he turned, and ran the tip of his tongue across my bottom lip. My hand flew up to touch that spot as we climbed the last six stairs.
“I don’t want you quiet tonight,” he said.