Collide

Page 39

“You never told me how things went when you went looking at buildings.” Cooper ran a hand over his forehead, wiping the sweat away.
“Good. There are a couple possibilities. I’m supposed to go and talk to a woman this week, which is good. I’m itching to get busy. I miss working with my hands.”
Cooper cocked a brow at him. “You’re not working with your hands now?”
“It’s different. I get these ideas and I want to make stuff, but I don’t have the space to do it, or a place to store it.”
Coop nodded his head. “Furniture, huh? I’d like to see something you made sometime.”
“Then I’ll have to do it. Some of my shit is in storage back home. Once I get my own place, I’m going to have to go back and get it.”
Cooper’s brows pulled together. “Plenty of room here, if you haven’t noticed.”
“I can’t rent a room from you forever. Pretty soon I have to look for a house, Coop. Might as well not move the stuff twice.”
Cooper turned away, and began staining again. Noah wanted to lean over and bite him. He always did pout when he didn’t get his way. You’d figure he would have gotten over that, by now.
“If you’re nice, maybe I’ll give you something.” When Coop turned, Noah winked at him. Cooper rolled his eyes, obviously understanding, that it might not be something he made, that he gave to Coop.
“If you tease me, I might have to just take it.”
“Good luck with that.”
Once they finished the job, they worked in the yard for a little while longer. “I’m about done here. I need to run to the station and pick up my paycheck. Figured I’d go grab something for dinner after, and bring it home to watch the game. First preseason game of the football season. That calls for celebration.”
Noah laughed. It was. They used to watch football with his uncle when they were kids.
“You gonna be around?” Cooper asked.
The way he said it made Noah smile. It was almost like he was nervous. He almost teased Cooper but decided to keep his mouth shut. “I’ll be here. I might screw around out here, and get some shit done.”
“Okay. I’m going to run in and shower before I head out. See ya later.”
Noah groaned at the mention of a shower, wishing Cooper would ask Noah to join him.
Cooper paused for a second, opened his mouth, closed it, and then turned to walk into the house.
Noah watched him go, still wondering what the hell they were doing.
***
“Hey, man. How’s it going?” Braden asked, as he leaned against wall at the firehouse.
Cooper walked over to him. “Pretty good. I came to grab my check and then I’ll probably head home. What about you?” He and Braden had gone out and grabbed a drink a few times. He hung out with him more than anyone else at the station.
“Just got off. I could go home, but where’s the fun in that? I was thinking of hitting the bar. Maybe playing some pool or something. Wanna go?”
Hell. He didn’t know why he hadn’t seen that one coming. Any other time he would have, but tonight… well he had other things in mind for tonight. Exactly what he didn’t know but they damn sure included being home with Noah. “Nah. My buddy who’s renting a room for me is expecting me. We’re watching the game.”
“Bring him with us. The more the merrier. And it’s not like the game won’t be on there.”
Which was true but for some reason, Cooper still found himself saying, “Maybe next time. I don’t really feel like going out tonight.” Because, I’m going home to the man who sucked my dick last night.
It wasn’t as if that was all Noah was to him, though. Still, his thoughts almost made him take it back. Almost made him tell Braden he’d go out. That they’d drink some beer and maybe meet some women, and it would be like any other night. That would be the easy thing to do. Even though no one knew what he was doing with Noah, if they kept it up, people would find out. It would be hell at work. Hell with his uncle. Maybe going out wasn’t just the easy thing, but the right thing.
But it wasn’t what Cooper wanted. Crazy as it was, he wanted Noah.
“Maybe next week.” Cooper backed up as he spoke. “We’ll catch the game next time and I’ll kick your ass at pool.”
“Yeah right, Bradshaw.” Braden laughed.
Coop ran into the office and grabbed his check. Luckily, he didn’t run into anyone else on the way. Once he got back to the truck, he tried to figure out what to get for dinner. He could always barbeque, but it was getting close to game time. Plus, they’d worked in the yard most of the day. He knew he didn’t feel like cooking, and figured Noah probably didn’t either. He probably should have asked Noah what he wanted.