Everything in me tightens, exploding around his shaft so hard I’m not even sure how he stays inside me. I hear him groan and feel him expand and pulse as he comes just as hard as I did.
Our muscles slowly relax, and our ragged breathing slows as we come down from the high. My arms and legs are still wrapped around Cooper, and his hands squeeze my ass as I pull back to look at him. His eyes are shining, and a little cocky smile is pulling at the corners of his mouth. He looks so carefree right now, and I don’t want to break the spell.
“Can we get out? The water is about to freeze my ass off.” He grins, making me burst out laughing. I nod my head, smiling from ear to ear. Setting me down, he turns and shuts off the water. I grab towels for us both, and we quickly dry off and walk into the bedroom to get ready for bed.
I slide in on my side and braid my hair so it won’t dry a crazy mess and watch Cooper as he putters around, hanging his uniform and sliding on some boxers. Despite our water escapades, I can see the tension in his shoulders coming back.
“Hey, come here and lay down for me,” I say to him, pulling back the comforter and grabbing my lotion.
He walks over and, at my direction, lays down on his stomach, taking a deep breath once he’s settled.
“You were so relaxed a minute ago, I don’t want you to lose that,” I tell him, straddling his hips. I squeeze some lotion onto my hands and then rub them together. The vanilla scent floats in the air and surrounds us as I start at the top of his back and work my hands into the muscles in his shoulders and neck. His groan, the only sound in the room, makes me smile as I continue to work through the knots in his back.
“That feels so good, Quinn,” he moans, my name rolling off his tongue like an unintentional seduction.
I move my hands across his back until he’s no longer tense, and he melts into the bed like I was hoping he would.
Suddenly, he grabs me around the waist and flips us over so quickly I squeak, and my eyes go wide with surprise, making him laugh. He smiles down at me so wide there’s no way I couldn’t smile back at him.
“You always know exactly what I need. A lot of the time better than I do,” Cooper says with a seriousness in his eyes that tells me what he’s about to say is important. “I don’t know how I lived without you, Quinn, but I am beyond grateful to have you in my life now. You make every day brighter than the one before, and I want you to know how much you’ve come to mean to me.” He swallows hard and looks me directly in the eye.
“I love you, Quinn. I love you with everything I am, and I can’t imagine a day without you in it,” he says. I feel tears gather in my eyes as I look at this incredible man. I run my hand across the side of his face as a smile bigger than any other breaks across mine.
“I love you so much, Cooper. I always thought I was fine on my own and didn’t need anybody else besides myself, but these past few weeks with you have shown me that I was just waiting on you to come into my life. You’re everything I’ve ever dreamed of, and I’m so glad you’re mine,” I tell him, meaning every word with my whole heart.
He leans down and kisses me with all of the love he just expressed and spends the rest of the night telling me how much he loves me in ways words could never express.
29
QUINN
“Cheers,” we yell, clinking our glasses together and throwing back the shots as if we genuinely enjoy the fire that races down our throats. Each of us shivers once they’re down, naturally making us laugh at our reactions. There are several shot glasses scattered across the sticky table along with other glasses filled with various mixed drinks.
“Why do we put ourselves through that so many times in one evening?” Natalie yells above the noise of the bar.
Donna’s is packed tonight, the noise level matching the number of people vying for space over the pop music playing through the speakers. We decided a girls’ night was in order for no other reason than we just wanted to spend time together, so we ditched our guys and came out on this Friday night.
“Because it makes us feel like this afterward,” Sara replies, giving a little shimmy to emphasize her point. We’re all pleasantly buzzed, possibly on the edge of drunk. We’re also lucky enough to know that eventually, one or all of the boys will show up and make sure we all get home safely. Mostly because, if the girls are hanging out together, the boys are hanging out together as well.
It’s been an adjustment, having a big group of friends like this. They know everything about each other, and I literally meaneverything. There’s no topic they don’t talk about or information they don’t share with each other, and while that concept is foreign to me and has been difficult to participate in, I absolutely love it.
There’s a genuineness to the circle of trust these women have with each other, and I feel incredibly lucky to have been invited into it. Even when they tease me about how easily I get embarrassed.
“Okay, okay, okay. Time for Quinn to dish on why she looks like she’s floating on air,” Megan says as the girls all nod in agreement. I giggle, feeling my face turn red, and a smile stretches across my face.
“Sometimes I hate how easily you guys can read me,” I say as the girls all laugh at me. I let out a deep breath and share the most incredible moment of my life with the girls that mean the world to me. “Cooper told me he loved me the other day,” I say, and immediately a chorus of squeals springs from the girls making me laugh.
“Finally! I’ve been waiting since you guys went on your first date. I can’t believe it took this long,” Lucy says.
“Seriously, me too,” Megan chimes in.
“I mean, it hasn’t been that long since we started dating, but it’s also because we’ve both been crazy busy and when we are able to carve out some time together, we don’t do too much talking,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows despite how red my cheeks get.
“Ah, Quinn, I’m so proud of you,” Natalie squeals. “We’ll have you giving us the dirty details in no time,” she laughs, making me roll my eyes despite the smile that stretches across my face. “But in all seriousness, this is the best thing. You both deserve the world, and I am so happy for you guys.”
“Ditto,” Sara says, lifting her glass. “To love, and the hope we can all find a soul mate as hot as Cooper Jackson.”
“To sexy soul mates!” Natalie responds, and we all clink our glasses together in agreement.