Page 55 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
It was as if that kiss had let him imagine all sorts of shit he hadn’t allowed himself think too hard about. And now he was thinking about it.
The kids had been totally there for Thanksgiving, though, which tickled him to death. Lucy had cooked and cooked with him, Mina had folded napkins until they’d begged for mercy, and the boys had watched football with Coop and stayed off their phones and video games for the most part.
So now it was him and Coop and Bing Crosby and company, and he was a pretty happy guy. The dogs snoredalong with the TV, Suki lifting his head every so often to check out the pie, but the beagles had eaten their weight in green beans and skinless turkey, so they were out like lights.
He’d dreamed of holidays like this, even when he was a kid, because they had always been on the road,always. And then Andy had married Nora, and he’d been an ass, and he’d missed out on so much.
“You’re staring at that pie like it’s a magic eight ball,” Coop murmured.
“Am I? I was getting thinky, mate, and that’s never good.”
“Nah. Not on a holiday, especially. Causes heart attacks, according to an EMT I knew once. Said rich food and family arguments made Thanksgiving and Christmas two of the biggest days for them ever.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.” Coop picked up the Reddi-Whip and sprayed more on his pie, which did make the beagles perk up. Coop gave them each a fingerful, then capped it back.
Brooks scooted closer on the couch.
“You want some?” Those sure, confident green eyes, stared into him. From this close so you could see the hints of gold in Coop’s irises, the way the silver at his temples shone in the light.
“I do.” He wasn’t sure one hundred percent what Coop was offering exactly, but whatever it was, he was in.
Coop scooped up a bit of whipped cream on his finger and offered it to him.
The bullfighter didn’t say a single word—he didn’t have to. It was simple and honest as all get-out, and Brooks swore by all he held holy that time stopped.
He leaned in, nice and slow, his abs tight. This would not be the appropriate time to surge in and poke himself in the eye or some shit like that. He wanted this to be right.
He wrapped his lips around the tip ofCoop’s finger, lapping the whipped cream off, nice and easy. Their gazes stayed locked as he sucked, tugging on that finger. He played there with the tip with his tongue, proving that when they got down to the nitty-gritty of all this, he wasn’t a shrinking violet. Coop was beginning to sway with the steady pulls Brooks was giving him, and Brooks sure felt like they’d been dipped in hot water.
He leaned back and let Cooper’s finger go, and Coop licked his lips, panting a bit. “Well, that liked to kill me. I don’t suppose that you would be interested in finishing the movie in my room. I got a nice TV in there.”
That was a clear offer, and Brooks didn’t bother to pretend he didn’t know what it meant. He stood up and took the plates so the dogs wouldn’t get them. “You want me to bring these to your room too so we can finish them up later?”
“Yeah, no reason to let things go to waste.” Coop stood as well, and in the soft sweatpants the bulge of his need was absolutely undeniable.
It made Brooks’s mouth dry a little to see, in fact. He had the feeling there was a lot about Coop he could explore. Full stop, and he was more than willing to get started.
They did all the things that grown-ups had to do. Dogs went in and out. Doors were locked. Lights were turned out, the house made safe and solid for the night.
It didn’t cool him off any.
There was something heavy about the whole thing.
Brooks guessed he wasn’t a kid anymore. This wasn’t about locking yourself in the bathroom and humping away, and praying nobody knew. The look Coop gave him was straightforward, burning, sure with the knowledge they were going into the other room. They were going to pleasure each other. If he was lucky, and he thought he was, he was going to sleep cuddled next to somebody and wake in the morning with that same someone in his arms.
Someone who he respected the hell out of, and who he wanted.
They headed into the big master suite, and Brooks thought the sexiest sound in the entire world was the sound of Coop locking the bedroom door behind them.
He put the plates of mostly eaten pie on the bedside table, and Coop stepped into his personal space.
“You really wanna watch the movie?”
He shook his head. “No, sir.”
“Oh, good. Me either.” Coop reached up and pulled him down into another kiss. This one was sure, Coop holding them and rocking them together like they were having a two-step.
