“They made me go alone, Noah. They left me all alone. I didn’t want to go by myself. I’m so tired of being alone.”
Noah squeezed his shoulder, not sure what else to do. This wasn’t usually how it went. Yeah, Coop had nightmares, and Noah had woken him up and talked him through them before, but he’d never sounded so lost. That was usually reserved for Noah himself.
“You’re not alone, man. You know that. Everyone loves Cooper Bradshaw.” He hoped the playfulness in his voice helped.
Noah noticed the feel of Cooper’s muscled shoulder beneath his hand. The stretch of his warm, taut skin. Fuck, I’m such a prick. He had no business thinking about that, at a time like this.
Noah started to move his hand away, but Cooper grabbed it. “No…don’t. Wanna feel you.”
The moan was impossible to hold back. How bad had he wanted to hear words like that from Cooper? But not like this. Not when his friend was so raw. “Don’t do this, Coop. Not tonight. You’re emotional, and not thinking straight.”
Cooper’s hand tightened on Noah’s wrist. “No shit I’m emotional, and I haven’t been thinking straight for a while, and you know it.”
If this were any other situation, Noah would have laughed at that. Leave it to Coop to play on the word, straight. But, it wasn’t any other situation, and as much as he wanted to crawl into bed with his friend and touch him everywhere, he couldn’t.
He looked down at Coop, the moonlight on his muscled chest. His body chiseled, and defined. Rough, yet smooth, with a light dusting of hair. It made it even sexier that it was Cooper. “If I touch you anymore tonight, I’m not going to want to stop. I won’t do something you’ll hate me for.”
“I told you I could never hate you. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to close my eyes and see them. You always chase my demons away. I need you tonight, Noah. Just sit with me. Touch me. Ground me.”
A primal desire to do just that, reared to life in Noah, stronger and fiercer than anything he’d ever felt before. He wanted to do all those things Cooper said. He wanted to own him, to take care of him in a way he’d never done with another person.
There wasn’t a chance he could walk away right now. Not after what Coop just said to him. His friend never admitted to needing much of anything, yet everything in what he said screamed he needed Noah right now. People failed Noah enough, that he wouldn’t do the same to someone else.
“What do you want from me? What do you need?” He didn’t want to fuck this up.
“Just be here. Fuck, I sound like a pussy, but just don’t leave.”
Noah sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but his boxer-briefs. He had no clue what, if anything Cooper had on, because his blanket covered him from the waist down.
He put his hand back on Coop’s arm, then his shoulder, feeling each masculine curve and muscle in him. “I didn’t know you still had nightmares.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Not often.” Coop’s eyes closed.
“Do you talk to anyone?”
Coop shook his head. “Not since I used to talk to you.”
Noah’s hand stilled on Cooper, but he tried to play it off like he wasn’t about to fucking explode. “That shrink?”
Coop shook his head. “Didn’t last long. My uncle didn’t think I needed it.” And then…then he began pulling on Noah’s hand. “Lay with me. Jesus, I really want you down here with me, man.”
Noah fought the urge to do just that. To do more than that. “You’re killin’ me here. You said you couldn’t.”
Cooper’s eyes were on him. “I know. I fucking know what I said, and I don’t mean to screw with you, but…I can’t explain it. Everything inside me is calling for you. No matter how hard I try to push it away, you keep calling. I want to touch you. It’s eating me alive how much, and I don’t think I have the strength to hold it back anymore.”
Noah’s cock jerked, hardened to the point of pain. “I need to make sure you know what you’re asking, Coop. I can’t lay down there with you, and not do more than hold you. I’m going to want to do more than touch you. You need to make sure it’s what you want. I know this is hard for you, but I can’t just get up and walk away this time. Are you hearing me?”
“I am.” Then, Cooper pulled again. This time, Noah went down. He lay next to every hard inch of his friend, their bodies aligned, muscle against muscle. Heat against heat.
Noah let his hand slide from Cooper’s grasp and brought it up to his face, rubbed his thumb over Coop’s bottom lip. “You are fucking sexy. I want to taste you, Coop. Are you going to let me kiss you?”