I opened the door, and Cooper pushed past us and jumped onto the bed, laying his head down on my Wii controller.
“Cooper, get out!” I said, laughing.
“Awww, poor dog.” Cassidy sat down on my bed and scratched him behind the ears.
“That’s not helping,” I said.
“Why do you have a framed picture of a sailboat?” she asked.
I shrugged and sat down next to her.
“Let me guess,” Cassidy said, “because someone else picked it out and put it up in a room meant to encapsulate who you are, even though you have no interest in boats.”
“If I say yes, do I get to kiss you?”
“Not in front of the dog!” She pretended to be shocked.
“Cooper, get out!” I said, prodding him.
Cooper sat up, considered it, and then promptly lay back down.
Cassidy finally coaxed him off the bed and shooed him out the door.
“There,” she said. “We have successfully sexiled your poodle.”
“Achievement unlocked.” It was a phrase I’d picked up from our lunch table, and it made Cassidy smile.
She bent down to take off her boots, and then padded barefoot around my room, examining it.
“Where are your books?” she asked.
“Under the bed,” I admitted sheepishly.
Cassidy got down on her hands and knees and peered under the bed.
“It’s the lost library of Alexandria,” she said dryly.
“I don’t get it, but okay.”
“You should put them on your shelves. Unless you’re afraid the football team might come over and discover that you’re a giant nerd.”
“I haven’t read many of them,” I said, in case she thought that I had. “They were my mom’s in college.”
“You’re never going to read them if they’re under your bed.”
“I’ll put on my new leather jacket and go read one in a coffee shop tomorrow,” I promised, grinning.
“You’re so full of it,” Cassidy teased, scooting onto the bed. Her arms were goose bumped from the air-conditioning, and her tank top was askew, revealing a lacy bra strap.
“Mmm, come here,” I said, pulling her on top of me.
I’d forgotten to put on music to set the mood, but it didn’t matter. For once, we had a huge bed all to ourselves, and a lock on the door, and an echoing, empty house beyond that lock.
I kissed her neck, slipping the straps of her tank top over her shoulders, and then kissed those too. I pushed her tank top down around her waist, hoping she’d get the hint that I wanted her to take it off.
“Very subtle,” she said, sitting up and wriggling out of her top. Stripes of late-afternoon sunlight seeped though the blinds, creating golden bands across her skin.
“It’s purple,” I said stupidly, mesmerized by the appearance of her lacy bra and the soft curves of her waist.
And then Cooper let out a pitiful whine and scratched his paw against the door. Cassidy glanced over, and Cooper whined again, louder this time.
“Hush, Cooper!” she called, but if anything, the mention of his name seemed to encourage him.
“Just ignore it,” I told her.
And we tried to, for a while. But it’s pretty hard to pretend your dog isn’t sobbing his eyes out on the other side of the door.
“It’s getting worse,” Cassidy said, trying not to laugh. “Can’t you do anything?”
“He’s never like this,” I grumbled, getting up.
I stuck my head out the door. Cooper stared back at me, his brown eyes quivering. He let out an experimental whine.
“No!” I told him. “Hush, Cooper! Go away!”
Not going to happen, old sport, his eyes seemed to say. He lay down, settling his head on top of his paws, and whined softly.
“Better,” I said, shutting the door with a sigh.
Cassidy was sitting up on the bed in her bra and jeans, her hair tumbling over her shoulders.
“So where’s this drawer full of lube?” she joked.
“We won’t need it,” I promised, and my T-shirt joined hers on the floor.
We started kissing again. Cassidy was on top, straddling me. Her hair swished against my cheek, and she bit my bottom lip a bit as we kissed, and I pretty much wanted to die, it was so sexy. I reached for her bra and waged a brief but unsuccessful battle against the clasp, managing to get it thoroughly stuck in the Velcro of my wrist brace.
“Um,” I said. “We have a problem.”
“Did you, you know . . . finish?” Cassidy asked awkwardly.
“Nope, still good,” I assured her. “But, um, I’m caught on your bra.”
Caught was an understatement. My wrist was practically handcuffed to her back.
“Oh.” Cassidy bit her lip. “Maybe I should—what if I—no, hold on, I’ll pull it over my head.”
“This is so humiliating,” I muttered as Cassidy wiggled out of her bra.
“Well, it brings new meaning to the phrase ‘booby trap,’” she teased, and we both laughed, a situation made infinitely more interesting due to the fact that she was topless.
“So, do you care where I put it?” I asked.
“What?” she spluttered.
“Oh wow, no. Your bra,” I clarified, unsnagging it from my wrist brace. “Sorry.”
“You’re cute when you blush.” Cassidy grinned mischievously. “And since you asked, how about I show you exactly where to put it?”
Cassidy slid down beneath the covers, and I tossed her bra onto the floor and closed my eyes and clenched my fists and let the delicious pressure of her warm, soft mouth take me back to our fireworks, all of them bursting at once.