“Is that option still on the table?”
Lucy pinches my side, and I squirm, trying to get away from her torture. She turns her face to kiss me square on my chest then peels herself away, going to the coffee pot and pouring us both a cup. “Can you get the pancake mix out of the pantry?” she asks over her shoulder. Her hair is hanging long down her back in loose, beautiful, wild waves, and her t-shirt is askew, showing an extra inch of her collarbone. Maybe it’s just Drew’s voice still ringing in my ears, but I can’t help the feeling that I don’t deserve to be here.
“You still want me to stay for breakfast?”
Lucy pauses and turns around to lean back against the counter, a sweet smile settled over her mouth. “Cooper James, I love you, and nothing my big dummy of a brother says will change that. I know you better than he does, and I want nothing more than for you to stay and eat pancakes with me and Levi this morning. Please don’t go.” She holds out her arms, and I gladly step into them because now I’m a man addicted to Lucy’s touch.
“I don’t want to come between you guys.”
She sighs. “Sometimes confrontation is necessary, and clearly, this one was. I think it’s okay that we’re asking for Drew to see us differently. He’s used to knowing each of us a certain way, and we’ve both changed, grown out of who we used to be, and he’s trying to hold us in a box we don’t fit in anymore. I’m sure it’s going to be uncomfortable for a bit, but he’ll come around.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Apparently, you don’t know Drew very well either. He will. He just has to throw a tantrum first.”
I lean away so I can take Lucy’s face in my hands. “Have I told you I love you?”
She grins. “Are we going to be that annoying couple who says it every five seconds now?”
“Oh yeah. I can see myself becoming very clingy.”
She lets out a groan. “Insufferable. Are you going to call me a hundred times a day?”
I pick her up and set her on the counter so I can kiss that patch of her shoulder that’s peeking out of her shirt. “A hundred and one.”
“Gross. You’re not going to call me babe, are you?” She tilts her neck and taps a finger to it, showing me exactly where she wants me to go next.
I grin and do as I’m told, laying a warm, lingering kiss right above her finger. “Oh yeah, baby.”
“Baby?! Oh, that’s worse. I don’t know if I can allow that.” Her voice is trailing off as I nip at her earlobe.
I feel her shoulders melt as I hover my mouth over her ear and whisper, “I’ll call you anything you want me to, Lucy.”
“Oh goodness.” Her tone has me scooping her up off the counter and carrying her out of the kitchen. She kisses my neck as I carry her to the stairs, her room my destination.
Until…
“PANCAKE DAY!!!” Levi shouts from the top of the stairs.
I pause in my tracks and shut my eyes in a tight, pained squint because I’ve never been more upset to hear those words in my entire life. Lucy laughs and strokes the back of my head then whispers, “Welcome to parenthood.”
“Do you want to come over and watch something sappy with me tonight?” Jessie asks as I’m cleaning up my station and getting ready to head out of work for the day.
“I would, but I’m headed over to—”
“Cooper’s house! I know, I know; it’s what you do every day now.”
I puff out a breath. “I’m not that bad.”
“Oh yes you are, but I don’t blame you. I’d be the same way if I had a fine man loving on me like Cooper is with you.” Jessie’s gaze drops, a familiar forlorn look creeping in. She must sense I’m about to console her, though, because she abruptly holds up her hand. “Nope. I’m good. Don’t need a pep talk today. Maybe tomorrow, but today I’m okay.”
Nice try. I pull her in for a hug anyway.
It’s been three weeks since I started “officially” dating Cooper, and yeah, now that I think about it, I guess we’ve been pretty inseparable. I should probably worry about how obsessed I am with him, or how attached Levi has become, but I’m not. He fits. It just feels right between us in a way I didn’t know was possible.
“So you’re going over to Cooper’s to—”
“PUT TOGETHER FURNITURE,” I hurry and interject before she says something blunt that will make me blush. Jessie and Cooper are the worst—especially when they team up. It seems like their life’s mission is to turn my cheeks into raspberries.