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Page 21

 Riley Hart

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He hadn’t needed to say all that. It pissed himself off that he did.
Cooper grabbed the new beer and took a couple long pulls. “I want my hands on you. Come dance with me.”
She smiled and set her drink down. Cooper joined his hand with hers and led her to the dance floor. The song was fast but he still pulled her tightly against him, moving slowly, letting his hands skate up and down her back. Soft, soft, soft. That’s what I want.
They danced a few songs, Adrianna exploring as much as Coop. Afterward, they took a break and he ordered another drink, bullshitting about life and whatever else they could think to talk about. Anytime they went out, Adrianna never drank more than one.
The conversation continued on for a while. Each time Cooper went to ask her if she was ready to leave, he asked her another question instead. I’m putting off going home with her. Why isn’t Adrianna turning me on like she always has?
Finally it was Adrianna who prompted, “Not that I’m not having a good time here with you, Coop, but you have to remember, I need to be home early for my daughter. She has a soccer game in the morning, and it’s highly frowned upon for me, as the coach to be late.”
His pulse spiked. “I thought your daughter was with her dad tonight, so we were going to your place?”
She shook her head. “The soccer schedule got changed and she has the early game. It’s not fair to her dad to lose time with her, and have to get her home early. He’s taking her next weekend instead. I got a sitter for tonight.” Her nose wrinkled, and he could tell she wondered what the big deal was. It wasn’t as if she’d never come to his house before.
Coop shook his head. What the hell was his problem? It shouldn’t be a problem. He had the right to bring a woman home, just like Noah had the right with a man.
Coop pushed to his feet, the chair accidentally falling backward. “Shit.” He bent and picked it up. He needed to relax. Coop had no idea why he was so on edge.
“Let me go pay and we can go.” He took care of the tab and then met Adrianna by the door. They had taken her car. There wasn’t a place for Coop to hide his truck at her house, so she often drove. She always pulled her car around by the shed at his place.
“Ready?” he asked, as he held the door open for her.
“Always.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I’m hungry, and the food here is shit. There’s a little diner about a mile east called Reds. I’ll be there for the next half hour or so, grabbing something to eat.” The brown-haired guy—Wes, who’d sat next to Noah at the bar—stood, and walked out. Noah didn’t watch him go. Didn’t have to, to know he’d enjoy the view. He was sexy as hell, strong jaw with the right amount of stubble that Noah liked. He loved the way stubble felt against his skin.
He also knew that even though he rarely picked someone up at a bar, that’s exactly what he would do tonight. It’s what he came out for, after all.
It hadn’t been ten minutes that he’d been here when he’d noticed Wes looking at him. At first he’d turned away each time Noah met his eyes. When Noah let his gaze linger enough, Wes got the message—Noah was gay too. He’d come right up to the bar and took the stool next to him, and ordered a drink. They bullshitted a little, not too much, because the last thing he wanted, was to risk shit going down, but now Wes had solved that problem for them.
Raising a hand, Noah signaled the bartender over. “How much?”
He closed-out his tab, not that it was large, and he paid before climbing into his Mustang to find Reds. As soon as he pulled in, he saw Wes through a window, sitting in a booth alone.
“Hey,” he said, a few minutes later as he approached him.
“Hey.” Wes nodded to the seat across from him, and Noah sat down. “I’m only getting coffee and a piece of pie.”
That sounded about perfect to Noah. Would fill the hole, and be quick, too. The waitress approached them at that, and they both ordered their coffee and apple pie.
“Lived around here long?” Noah asked. He’d headed closer toward Denver, though not too far from home, figuring it would be much easier to meet someone. He’d almost gone all the way to the city to find a club downtown, but that wasn’t really his scene. He didn’t mind going if he had someone with him, but wasn’t much into going alone.
“Nah. Not from around here. I live in California. I’m spending time with my sister while she’s sick, helping her take care of her kid and all. I needed a night away though.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure where to go.”