Say You'll Be Nine

Oh right. The talking thing. I’d said I would try harder. “Mpfh. Just thinking about what I need to work on next. I think the bathroom fixtures are being delivered tomorrow along with the windows and doors. It’ll keep me busy if I finish the flooring.”

I served myself a second helping of chicken and rice. “This is amazing. You need to tell me how to make it so I can have it again sometime.”

“I’ll make it for you.” He sounded annoyed and defensive.

“Okay.”

“It’s not like I’m moving to LA. My family is here.”

I glanced up at him. Yep, he was annoyed. I kept my mouth shut.

“And my brother needs his procedure.”

I kept chewing.

“And I won’t get the part anyway, and even if I do, I’m not sure I want it.”

Now that wasn’t something I could ignore. “Yes you do.”

He blew out a breath and pushed his plate out of the way before laying his head on his arms in a big dramatic gesture.

I took a sip of water.

“Yes I do,” he mumbled into the table.

“You’re going to do great. How about one day at a time?”

He lifted his head up and glared at me. “Stop being so reasonable.”

I reached over and took his hand. “Hey, I was thinking maybe tonight we could browse decorating ideas together. If we see some things we like, you can do some shopping while you’re in LA.”

Cooper’s entire face lit up. “That’s a great idea. I can get whatever we need and then arrange shipping for the stuff I can’t carry back.”

“Exactly. Plus if we don’t have any luck with ideas, you can find a place to get decent decorating books and magazines there.”

He stood up and began clearing the table. “Okay, you feed Nacho, and I’ll get the laptop set up.”

I took over with the cleaning since that was our agreement. When he cooked, I cleaned and vice versa. But tonight I took my time with the dishes, trying to get in the right frame of mind to enjoy my last evening with him before everything changed. Because even if he didn’t get the part, he would get another one. The fact this opportunity came in so quickly after our project started getting traction meant it was just the beginning for him.

When I finally put the last dish away and made my way to the bedroom, he was clicking away on the keyboard.

“They got me on a flight tomorrow afternoon so I’ll be there in time to meet my agent for dinner. Then I guess the audition is the following morning. But I won’t be home till the next day since they said they may need another read.”

I climbed onto the bed and moved Nacho out of my spot next to Cooper. “That was fast. I guess they’re still up working.”

Cooper didn’t look up. “They’re an hour behind us, remember?”

Right. I hadn’t really remembered that. I should have, but I’d never really had any reason to talk to anyone in California. Maybe that would change.

I stroked Nacho’s coat while I waited for Cooper to finish all of his travel arrangements. When he finally clicked over to the bulletin board website, I leaned in so I could see.

He clicked through some different folders to get to something specific. “This is something I found earlier. It’s this really cool mix of color—see here these Persian rugs—and more stark modern pieces like this sofa. Now, before you say you hate stark modern shit, which I already know, look at these pictures…” He pointed to several photos where the modern pieces were mixed in with more colorful, comfortable side things like pillows and pictures on the wall. I wasn’t any kind of decorator-minded person, but it looked really nice.

“Yeah. I like that. That’s different, but cool, you know?” I probably sounded like an idiot.

Cooper clicked through several more examples of the mix of styles until I could really picture what he had in mind for the main living area of the cabin. “What about the bedroom?”

“Yeah, actually, I was wondering if you thought you could make a big king bed frame to match the trim work you talked about with the branches. See how in this photo they have that rustic frame and then they put the modern bedding on it? It would be like a reverse of what we do in the living room.”

I looked over at him. His face was bright and excited. It was the most beautiful version of him even though he was gorgeous in any state. I ran my fingers through his wavy hair. “You’re better at this than you thought. It turns out you really are gay.”

He elbowed me and laughed. “Maybe so. Or maybe I picked up more during my years in LA than I thought.”

I slid the laptop off the covers and set it on my little bedside stand before climbing on top of him and forcing him down onto the pillows. “Too bad. For a minute there, I thought we were going to end up with a cabin that would have made Duck Dynasty feel right at home.”