Page 27 of Chasing Elliott
“No labels,” he said softly, his hand moving to cup my cheek. “No strings. Just two people who are attracted to one another and want to spend time with each other.”
Before I could process what was happening, Cooper’s lips were suddenly on mine. Hestarted off slow, prodding as if he was waiting for approval. I pulled back briefly, looking into his light brown eyes in search of any hesitation but came up empty.
“I’m so going to regret this,” I murmured before pushing myself up on the balls of my feet and crashing my lips to his.
He grabbed my face tightly between his hands, his mouth claiming mine in a way that no man had ever done before. Cooper ran his tongue along my bottom lip, and I slipped my tongueinto his mouth before he could do the same to me.
Cooper spun me around, using his foot to shut the door behind him. His hands moved to my hips, moving me backwards towards his bed. As the back of my knees collided with the mattress, I fell flat on my back with him falling on top of me.
I broke the kiss as laughter escaped from both of us, me covering my eyes with my hand while he pushed himself up on his elbows. Cooper looked down at me with a look of lust and admiration, causing a wide range of emotions to stir from somewhere deep within me.
I hastily pushed him down and rolled us over so I was straddling his waist as he laid flat on his back. I dipped down and pressed a slow, sensual kiss to his lips as he moved up to a sitting position, his hands on my hips.
“Just friends,” I reiterated as I pulled back slightly, resting my forehead against his. “Right?”
“Right,” Cooper replied with a conviction that had me believing him, just for a brief moment.
And that moment was all I needed.
My eagerness must have been evident on my face because his hands slid up under my tank, pulling it over my head and tossing it to the floor, my hat falling off with it. Once my top was off, I didn’t waste any time in stripping him of his black tee and trailing my hands down his chiseled chest.
Cooper connected our lips once more, his hands wrapping their way into the hair at thebase of my neck as he gripped it somewhat roughly and a moan involuntarily escaped me. Thenoise seemed to spur him on, his kisses becoming more urgent as he flipped us over and began to kiss down my neck.
I dug my nails into his shoulder as my other hand ran through his hair and it felt just as good as I had imagined it would be that night at the beach. His hand trailed down my side, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin as he traced his finger over my hip bone before finding the button on my jean shorts.
“Please tell me you guys made up,” Benjamin said as the door burst open causing Cooper to quickly whip his head around as I laid there underneath him.
“Are you kidding?” I heard Kara’s voice respond. “The door was closed,and we didn’t hear arguing. I don’t think barging in was your best idea.”
I groaned, covering my eyes with the hand that had been previously embedded in his hair, my other still resting on his shoulder. “Will you two please just get the hell out of here?”
“Is this really the best idea?” Benjamin asked and I dropped my hand to try and seeCooper’s expression, but he was still facing the door.
“I swear to god, Ben, if you don’t get the hell out of here right now, I’m calling Drea.”
I angled my head to see Benjamin throw his hands up in the air before pushing Kara outof the room, his hand on the doorknob. “Fine, but we’re talking about this later.”
As the door closed, we simultaneously released a sigh. Cooper looked back down at me, asmall smile resting on his face as he pushed some of my hair behind my ear. He suddenly rolled off me, falling beside me so our arms were pressed against one another.
“Well, there goes that moment,” he grumbled.
“He’s right though, isn’t he?” I questioned, tilting my head so I could look at the side ofhis face. “I mean, in hindsight, this really isn’t the smartest thing for us to be doing.”
Cooper finally looked at me, a slight furrow in his brow. “No one ever said I was smart.”
“I’m serious,” I responded with a chuckle as I pushed myself upright so my back was resting against the headboard. “One of us needs to be responsible here. We both know this isn’t going to end well.”
“I don’t need you protecting my feelings or making any decisions for me,” he told me softly, laying on his side with his head resting in his hand. “I understand that we don’t want thesame things, Elli, and I am okay with that. I am sorry for how I reacted earlier; there’s a lot moreto that than meets the eye, but it was only, like, ten percent about you.”
I nodded softly, trying to figure out if I could believe whathe was telling me or not. “I’m just trying to look out for you. I may not be perfect, hell if I’m not far from it, but I’ll always do what I can to hurt as little people as possible.”
“Hey,” Cooper said gently, resting his free hand on my thigh. “I’ll make you a deal. If itever becomes too much for me, I’ll tell you.”
“I’m just worried feelings will get involved,” I told him honestly. “I can’t get wrapped upin feelings, and if you really want to do this, you can’t either.”
Cooper nodded in what seemed tobe understanding, but I didn’t miss that mischievous look in his eye that he tried to hide. “The moment that happens, if it happens, I promise to behonest with you.”
“Why do I feel like it’s stupid of me to believe you?”“Because it is.”
