“I don’t have it in me to keep fighting this. Hell, I don’t want to. You’ve always trusted me before. Do it now too.”
Noah smiled against his mouth. “You’ve always been a persuasive motherfucker.”
“We had fun though. Jesus, we had a lot of fun. Then, and now.”
And they had. There wasn’t anyone else he had liked raising hell with, more than Noah. Noah, who now ran his finger against Cooper’s skin, on the edge of his underwear. Cooper stood up straight to make it easier for Noah to touch him.
Leaning forward, Noah pressed his lips to Coop’s stomach. “I’m trusting you to know what you’re doing. To know what you want.”
He knew exactly what his friend was saying. Noah didn’t trust easily, but he was giving that to Cooper. Putting his faith into him, to not do something that would screw up their friendship. He hoped he deserved it.
“I’m trusting you, too.”
“You think I don’t know that? You’re putting yourself out there, man. That’s brave, but you always have been.”
Cooper wasn’t so sure about that. What he did know, was things were much too serious for him. “Does it make me an asshole that I let you blow me last night, and now I expect you to help me finish the deck today?”
Noah laughed and playfully pushed him away. “I’m not doing anything until I finish my coffee. And no…you’re not an asshole, as long as you know, soon I’m going to want to see my dick slide between your lips too.” Noah touched Cooper’s mouth.
A thrill of excitement ran through him. Cooper figured that meant they were doing the right thing.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Noah and Cooper spent the morning sanding the deck. They went straight from that to staining. It was as if this morning or last night, didn’t happen. They were back to two friends working together in the yard. Still, it didn’t stop the wheels from turning in Noah’s mind. He trusted Cooper. He did. But that didn’t stop him from stressing out that he was getting himself right into the kind of relationship, he wouldn’t want to be in. Where David hadn’t wanted to come out, Cooper just wasn’t gay. Or at least, he never had been. That made it hard for Noah to see this going anywhere. It made him feel like he was doing the exact thing he said he would never do after David. Hide.
“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.