Page 42 of Too Delicious
He laughs. “No. Damn, as in you look good in my boxers.”
“I’ll take them home and wash them tomorrow,” I say, watching him open a box and pull out a massive king-sized cotton quilt. It’s homey and was clearly made with love by someone.
“Don’t bother,” he says as I help him cover the bed with the quilt. “You can keep them.”
“Don’t be silly,” I say, as he climbs under the covers, holding open the quilt, indicating I should join him.
“Fine. Leave them here and I’ll keep ’em under my pillow like one of those…what are those things that women fill with rose petals to make things smell nice?”
“A sachet?”
“That’s it.”
My brain clicks the strange pieces together. “You’re going to use…the underwear I wore…to scent your pillow?”
He makes a long, low hum as he snuggles down into the pillow, his eyes half closed.
“Yep,” he says, after a long yawn.
“Weirdo.”
“Mm-hmm. Get in the bed, dream girl.”
I crawl in next to him and he spoons up behind me.
Suddenly I’m at a loss for words. Or I’m all talked out.
I like this spooning thing he does. In the shower and in the bed. It makes it easier to tell him things.
Which is probably why before sleep hits me that I blurt it out.
“For the record, I love you too.”
He squeezes me tight.
“So you’re no longer annoyed that I moved here to be closer to you?”
My heart squeezes.
“No. But there is one thing. I know how much your aunt’s house means to you. I would hate for you to give it up.”
He draws in a breath. “But you hate that house.”
I laugh. “I do not.”
“Liar.”
“Okay. Fine. I hate…a lot of it. But I also love it because it means so much to you and your brother. It has happy memories.”
He sighs. “Yeah. But it’s too big. Too much upkeep. Carter and Summer are building a smaller house more suited to their needs.”
Carter is the more practical twin, but I won’t say that.
“I think you should keep it,” I say.
After a long pause, Cooper says, “You do?”
And here is where I remove the final brick in the wall I’ve built between Cooper and my real feelings.