Page 65 of Until Next Summer

I look up and see we’re almost back at the dock. Cooper guides us in for a smooth landing, then hops out and ties a rope around the cleat before helping me up. I keep hold of his hand, even after my feet are safely grounded on the dock.

It’s silly, but I love holding his hand, the way it feels to have his fingers laced through mine. Steady and secure. There’s so much I like about this man, and I hate that I’ve held myself back. We haven’t even slept together.

“You probably should’ve picked someone else to have a summer fling with,” I tell him.

“No way,” he says, pulling me in for a hug. “The point was to have fun—and I definitely had fun. Did you?”

I nod, because I did. But having fun andbeingfun are two different things.

Aaron’s face flashes in my mind, but I push it away. He doesn’t deserve more of my mental real estate. Not anymore.

“I broke up with Aaron today,” I tell Cooper.

“Oh,” he says, his brow furrowing.

“Made the break permanent,” I explain.

Cooper nods, and I wish I could reach into his head to see what he’s thinking. If it matters to him. It probably doesn’t, since this is just a fling. But it matters to me, and I realize that, consciously or unconsciously, I was letting Aaron stop me from being all in with Cooper.

But Aaron’s a nonissue now, and it’s time I stop listening to my head and start following my heart. Without another thought, I lunge for Cooper, kissing him like there’s nothing holding me back. The butterflies in my belly flutter to life as our tongues dance. I have never felt more alive. I press my body flush against his and swivel my hips ever so slightly, desperate for friction. He’s already hard, and I have a sudden urge not to let his erection go to waste.

“Let’s get out of here,” I say.

“What do you have in mind?” he asks, his voice low and rumbly.

Cooper has been so respectful with my boundaries, agreeing to take things slow. But it’s time to hit the gas. I look up at him, at his beautiful gray eyes full of desire. For me.

I take a deep breath, lower my voice to a whisper, and, as seductively as I can muster, tell him exactly what I want.

“I want you to fuck me.”

Cooper barks out a laugh, and I recoil.

“Forget it,” I say, pushing past him.

“No, wait,” he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me back. “You just caught me off guard—those are the last words I expected from your prim and proper mouth.”

He’s got a point. My father taught me from a young age that cursing wasn’t ladylike. He wanted his daughter to be a lady, and I wanted to make him happy, so I kept my language clean.

But right now, my thoughts are very not clean.

“Okay, so I don’t curse a lot,” I admit. “But ‘sex’ sounds so…clinical. And ‘making love’ is too emotional for a summer fling. The f-word felt more appropriate.”

“I follow your logic,” Cooper says, wrapping one of my curls around his finger.

“Great,” I say. “So, do you want to?”

“Do I want to…”

He’s smiling, and I know I’m the only one who is uncomfortable with this conversation. But I’m also the one who started it. So I let out an exaggerated sigh and put it all out there.

“Do you want to fuck me?”

“Fuck yeah, I do,” Cooper says. “Let’s go.”

He takes my hand, and I don’t even care that we’re breaking a rule by running on the dock. He starts up the path toward the Lodge, but I pull him back.

“Not there,” I say. I know how thin the walls are, and I don’t want to hold back tonight.

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