Page 78 of Love Thy Neighbor

“Are you serious about this? Because you don’t do relationships.I’mthe one who dates. You’re the one who humps and dumps.”

“You’re right,” I say, dropping my hand from her face. “You should leave. I mean, I’ve humped, now it’s time to…”

She glares at me, and I laugh, pulling her back to me.

“I’m being serious, Cooper. Relationships are hard. I don’t want to do this with you if it’s not what you want.”

“It is what I want.”

“How do you know?” she counters. “You’ve never wanted a relationship before.”

She’s right. I haven’t ever really wanted a relationship in the past—but that’s because nobody ever seemed worthy of giving it a shot with.

“It’s you. You’re different.”

It’s not a line. It’s the truth. She’s different. She’s Caroline.

“And because it feels good.Natural.”

She exhales slowly, softly. “You know if we do this, things are going to change between us, right?”

“I would like to point out that I ate your pussy last night when I definitely wouldn’t have done that as friends, so things are already changing.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re already making me regret this.”

“Does that mean you want to try?”

She swallows, then slowly nods. “Yes. But I also want to be cautious. I want to beusstill. You know those married couples who always say they married their best friend? That’s what I want, to still be friends in between everything else.Partners.”

“Be like married couples, huh? You proposing to me, Caroline Elizabeth Reed?”

“You wish, Bennett.”

“Hmm, Caroline Elizabeth Bennett has a nice ring to it.”

“That’s not even my middle name.”

“It’s not your last name either…yet.”

I wink and she groans, shoving my face away.

And I know we won’t suck together at all.

* * *

“Areyou really not going to turn the heat up tonight? It’s getting down into the forties, Cooper. The forties!”

“Yeah, outside, and it’s sixty-two in here. That’s a whole twenty-plus degrees higher. Just grab an extra blanket.”

She huffs. “You know, as aboyfriend, you should turn the heat up.”

Boyfriend.

The word is still strange to hear, especially coming from Caroline’s mouth directed at me, but I don’t hate it.

In fact, I really kind of like it.

I’ve never really been a boyfriend. I’ve always preferred to get my rocks off and move along. Never been one to attach myself to someone. Nobody has ever seemed worth attaching to.

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