And Cooper was worried.
But he’d still asked Noah to come. That meant something to him. “Stop stressin’. We’re painting a barn. I swear, you’re worse than a damn woman.” Noah winked at him.
“Fuck you,” Cooper replied, without any real venom behind his voice, but then he sobered. “You know how people in Blackcreek can get.”
Noah nodded. “Yep. Been dealing with how people can get for years.” And then he got out of the truck, and started walking over. A few seconds later, he heard Cooper’s door open and close behind him.
“Hey. About time you guys showed up.” One of the guys said. They all shook hands and Coop introduced Lenny, Ryan, and Fredrick, who the barn belonged to.
“Nice to meet you and thanks for helping. My wife has been asking me to get it done for a while now. I’m afraid if it’s not done tonight, I’ll be on the couch.”
They all laughed.
Fredrick led them over, and gave them supplies before they got started.
“Braden was supposed to come too, but he met some chick and I guess their night isn’t over yet.” Fredrick told them as they started painting.
“Lucky motherfucker. He’s always going home with someone. I miss that shit,” Lenny added.
Cooper leaned over and whispered to Noah. “Lenny just got married.” As Ryan said, “You just got married.”
“Don’t you know the sex stops then?” Lenny tossed back.
“Not for me. My girl can’t get enough.” This from Ryan, and it went on from there. The guys were all cool to hang around, sharing beer and stories. They were all fire fighters except for Noah, so a lot of the talk circled around that.
They asked Noah where he was from and how he knew Cooper. They talked about the army for a while, Ryan having spent four years in the service.
Noah was aware that Cooper didn’t veer far from him. At first he’d been pissed thinking that he was really worried one of these guys was some kind of homophobic asshole who would cause shit if he found out about Noah. When the other three guys were out of earshot, Noah grabbed a hold of Cooper’s arm before he could walk away, and asked him.
“What? No,” Coop replied. “I’m not going to pretend they don’t throw words around, but if I thought someone was that big an asshole, do you really think it’s someone I would spend time with outside of work?”
He had Noah there. “Then why are you watching me like I need a God damned babysitter?”
It was then that Cooper’s eyes skated down Noah’s body. That his jaw flexed, the left side with a tick. Lust took place of any anger Noah had. That look on Cooper’s face said it all. It was because he still wanted him. Because he didn’t want to stay away? Noah sure as hell wished that was the case. Wished like hell Cooper could make himself go there.
His friend jerked his arm away. “Won’t happen again.” And then, Cooper walked away. Noah thought about going after him, but he wasn’t sure whether he would tell the other man he could have his eyes on Noah all he wanted, or that he needed to make up his fucking mind before Noah went crazy.
So he did nothing. He dipped the roller back in the paint and wondered if he was wrong, if they’d already fucked things up beyond repair.
***
Noah was right. Cooper had stuck to him like glue all day because…well, because he wanted to be with him. As crazy as it sounded, he realized he never felt alone when Noah was around.
Not that he should be feeling alone when he was with guys he knew from work, and in some ways he didn’t, but in others, Cooper always felt a little shut off from other people. He never felt that with Noah.
Plus—and this was the part that he really needed to try and put a fucking stop to—he still couldn’t keep his eyes off Noah. Every time he thought it was getting better, Noah would do something or say something, or move a specific fucking way that would knock Cooper for a loop.
He’d seen beautiful women. He’d been with beautiful women, but he’d always been able to take his eyes off them. He hadn’t felt that frenzied need that made him feel like he’d lose his mind if he didn’t have them.
But he had it with Noah. Wasn’t that some shit?
“Did you hear that someone’s buying Rowdies?” Ryan asked everyone.
“No shit? I didn’t know they were selling.” Coop tried to focus on the conversation, instead of where his thoughts had been.
“I think it was sort of a last minute thing. I’m not sure why but some guy is buying the bar.” Ryan replied.
“I heard about that.” Fredrick shook his head. “I heard he’s some faggot from Denver.”