Move (Club Kitten Dancers Book 1) (6 page)

Cooper

My words hang in the air between us, but Bailey looks confused: not scared.

“Um, so?” She asks, cocking her head.

“So? I just told you I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone, and your response is ‘so’?”

“Yeah, so what? You’re in the military. Isn’t that kind of your job?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“But what? You thought you could just dump me because you’re going to be gone for a few months?”

“It could be several months.”

“So what?” She steps forward and wraps her arms around my neck. “So fucking what, Cooper? Are you telling me you don’t want to come back to me, baby? Are you telling me you don’t want to be with me anymore? Are you telling me this was just a fling?” She whispers in my ear and I feel her hot breath against my skin.

Fuck. My dick is already hard. This is a serious conversation and I’m so fucking hard I’m going to break.

“Or are you telling me you’re scared, Coop?”

“I want you so fucking much, Bailey.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

I pull back now and look in her eyes: really look in them. She doesn’t look like she’s afraid of me or my job. She doesn’t look like she’s ready for a way out. She doesn’t look like she’s irritated or annoyed I have to go away.

No, Bailey looks completely confused.

Baffled.

“I can’t ask you to wait for me,” I say finally, and she rolls her eyes.

“Oh? You got some other sugar on the side, Coop? You gonna get yourself a deployment girlfriend?”

Now it’s my turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah. I know all about what guys do on deployment. Well listen up, you.” She pats my chest playfully. “No cheating. No kissing. No girls. Email me as much as you can. Call me when it’s possible. Think of me every day. Write to me.”

She lowers her voice and looks up at me with those big, beautiful eyes I’ve come to love.

“Miss me.”

“I already miss you,” I tell her honestly. “And I haven’t even left yet.”

She kisses me then, and keeps kissing me, and soon I forget what we were talking about because the only thing I see is her.

***

Bailey’s mother lives in a two-story blue house with white shutters and a tiny porch. Her yard is perfectly manicured with bushes that line the front of the house. A small sidewalk leads from the porch to the driveway where I park with a frown on my face.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” I ask.

“I’m sure,” she says.

Only Bailey doesn’t make a move to get out of the car. Instead, she sits and stares at her mother’s house.

“Bailey?” I ask carefully. “Do you want to get out of here? There’s no reason we
have
to be here.”

“It’s fine. I’m probably just overreacting.”

“What is it?”

“I’m nervous.”

“But why?” I pat her hand and rub her leg softly. “What is it that you’re worried about, babe? You think she won’t like me? ‘Cause let me tell you: I’m quite lovable.”

I wiggle my eyebrows at her and she erupts in giggles.

“It’s not that. It’s just that nothing I ever do is good enough for my mom. Kasey was right.” She furrows her brow. “I should have known a long time ago that I couldn’t please her.” Bailey takes a deep breath, but she’s on a roll now, and she continues. “I don’t want her to ruin this.” She waves her hand between us. “Whatever this is that we have going. I don’t want her between us. I don’t want to lose us.”

“Nothing that happens today will ruin what we have, honey.”

“Are you sure?” My poor Bailey looks close to tears, so I hug her tightly and kiss her tiny little nose. “We can go. We can go far away from here.”

I hate the idea of her mom hurting her feelings. I hate the idea of anyone being rough or careless with Bailey. In such a short time, she’s come to mean so much to me. That’s why I hate her asshole ex-boyfriend so much. It’s not that I’m jealous of their time together. I’m not. We all have people in our past we’ve spent a lot of time with, shared a lot of ourselves with.

What I hate is the fact that no one in Bailey’s life, except maybe Kasey, seems to appreciate her.

“It’s okay,” Bailey puts on a brave face. “It’ll be okay. We should just do this. I want you to be in my life for a long time, Cooper. You’ll have to meet her eventually. I’m just being stupid about this.”

Finally, we get out of the car and walk quietly up to the door. A woman – Bailey’s mother, I presume – opens the door when we reach the porch.

“Well, I was wondering when you’d finally get out of the car and come inside,” she says, but her voice isn’t playful.

I realize at that moment that we should leave, but for some reason, Bailey really wants to talk to her mom today. I think she wants to fit in, just for a little while.

So we go inside.

Bailey turns to her mother, who is staring at me.

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing a guest,” she says.

“Mom, this is Cooper. Cooper, Lucille.”

“Nice to meet you,” I hold out my hand, and she stares at me for a moment before shaking my hand, then turns back to Bailey.

“I didn’t know you were bringing someone.”

“I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“Well, you should have told me,” Lucille hisses, and I wonder why it’s such a big deal to Bailey’s mom, but then another person joins us in the living room, and suddenly, it all makes sense.

“Hey, is that Bailey?” The man is wearing a goofy grin until he spots me, then it falters. “Who the hell is this?” He glares at me.

“Dominic,” Bailey squeaks out. “What are you doing here?”

She tenses next to me and I know she’s as caught off-guard as I am. As far as I know Bailey hasn’t spoken with Dominic since he and her cousin got together. Well, at least since Bailey found out about him and her cousin getting together.

“I think we should talk, Bailey.” Dominic’s words are cautious, guarded, and I know exactly what the fuck he’s about to say. He wants to get back together with her. Why else would he be here? What? Things didn’t work out with her cousin, so now he wants her back.

Bailey’s mom keeps glancing nervously at me, like she thought this would work, like she thought things would magically fall back into place between Dominic and Bailey.

I’m the wild card she hadn’t counted on.

And she has no idea how wild I can be.

“Why are you here?” Bailey repeats, then she turns to her mom. “Why didn’t you tell me Dominic would be here? You invited me to have dinner with you and Scranton.”

“Professor Scranton is in the kitchen making the potatoes,” Lucille says coolly. It seems like she’s gotten control of herself. She runs her hands over her smooth pastel skirt, getting rid of invisible wrinkles, then looks back to Bailey.

Dominic speaks.

“Can I talk to you alone?”

“No.”

“Bailey, I think you should hear what I have to say.”

“If you have something to say to me, you can say it in front of Cooper.”

Dominic shoots me a wary glance, but seems to weigh his options and realizes that I’m not going anywhere.

“Bailey, I forgive you for everything that happened between us.” Her jaw hits the floor, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Things are over between me and Pumpkin. Really over. I realized she was just a fling, that I was only using her because you hurt me so deeply, but I forgive you, Bailey, and I’m ready to try again.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Bailey practically screeches.

“Bailey! Language!” Her mother frowns.

“I, I forgive you,” Dominic repeats, as if that explains everything.

“You cheated on me, asshole,” Bailey whispers. “Did you forget about that?”

“Well, but that wasn’t my fault,” he fumbles, and it’s all I can do to keep from laughing out loud at this jackass. Is he for real? “It’s because you were such a prude in bed, you know. I didn’t have a choice. I had to get satisfaction somewhere, and now that you’re taking those classes about how to be a better lover, well, I think we should try again.”

I’ve heard enough.

Bailey looks like she’s in shock and Dominic takes a step forward to touch her, but I insert myself squarely between them.

“Leave,” I tell him.

“What? You can’t-“

“Leave,” I repeat. “Before I punch you in your piece-of-shit nose. You cheated on her, fucker. Do you understand that? You fucked somebody else. She doesn’t want you back. You’re scum, Dominic. Bailey deserves someone who will love her no matter what. She deserves someone who is going to put her needs first for once in her life,” I shoot Lucille a pointed look, but then I keep talking.

This is the most fucked-up family dinner I’ve ever been to, but there’s no quitting now.

“Hey, now, just you listen to me,” Lucille’s face turns red, and I wonder how Bailey has put up with her mom’s crap for so long. No wonder Kasey can’t stand the woman: she’s a beast. “I will not tolerate that kind of language.”

“And I won’t tolerate this kind of ambush. I love Bailey. I plan to spend the rest of my life with her, if she’ll have me, and I will not put up with you treating her like she’s somehow not worthy of true, honest love,” I tell Lucille. Then I turn back to Dominic. “And you need to leave. You’re a dick. You fucked her cousin, then blamed her. Why the hell should she be with you? She doesn’t take pole dancing to be a better lover, dipshit. She takes classes because she loves it, because she’s graceful, and because she cares about her own mental and physical health.”

Dominic doesn’t make a move to leave and neither does Lucille. They just stare at me and Bailey, open-mouthed, and then Professor Scranton comes into the room wearing oven mitts and a bright pink apron.

“Hey, did I hear some shouting in here?” He says with a big, stupid grin. “Would some fried potatoes make everyone feel better?”

“Feel free to call Bailey when you’re ready to apologize for your behavior,” I tell Lucille, completely ignoring Scranton. Then I take Bailey’s hand and pull her from her mother’s house.

She deserves so much better.

Bailey

I sit in silence, crying quietly until we get back to my apartment. Cooper parks the car, then looks at me.

He strokes my cheek and asks if I’m okay, but I’m completely caught up on just one thing.

“Did you just propose?”

“That’s what you’re thinking about, honey? That I want to marry you?”

I nod.

“Does it scare you?” He asks.

I shake my head.

“Does that mean you’ll be my bride, Bailey?”

“What about your deployment, Coop? What about your career?” I shake my head. My whole world is spinning right now and I’m afraid that I’m going to wake up at any second and find out this has been a long dream.

In what world does a girl like me get the guy?

In what world does a girl like me get the happy ending?

“What if I hold you back? We’re both so young. What if you find someone better?”

“I’m not scared of our youth, Bailey. I want to grow old with you. Hell, I want to grow
up
with you. I don’t want you to quit school and be a housewife or give up on your dreams. My job might mean we have to move in a few years and it might mean a few deployments, but I’m willing to work it through if you are.”

All I can do is nod.

All I can do is be shocked I’m so lucky.

All I can do is kiss him, hold him, promise him that everything will be fine, promise him that I’ll be his for always.

No one has ever stood up for me the way Cooper stood up for me today with my mom. No one has ever made me feel so perfect, so loved, so adored. Cooper managed to take a situation that was about to become completely unbearable and out of control, and he made it okay.

He makes everything okay.

“I love you, Cooper,” I whisper.

“I love you too, Bailey,” he says.

We go inside my apartment and I lock the door.

“Hey, Kasey?” I call out, but there’s only silence. “I think she’s at pole class.”

“Good,” he says. “I want you all to myself. I need you, Bailey. I need to be inside you.”

“I need that, too.”

We start kissing and soon our clothes are off. There’s nothing between us, nothing separating us. There’s nothing keeping me from touching Cooper completely, from giving myself to him.

He runs his hands through my hair and down my spine, over my soft skin and down to my bottom. He grips me, pulls me into him, and I feel his length against my belly.

My pussy clenches, aching for him. I’m already wet. I need him. I need all of him. I want him.

Cooper is the only one who has ever lit me up like this. He’s the only one who has ever made me feel this urgency when it comes to being with him. I need him now and nothing will satisfy me until he’s buried deep inside of me.

We don’t even make it to the bedroom.

Instead, he bends me over the back of the couch and I place my hands on the cushions. Spreading my legs, I feel him press at my entrance.

“Fuck, baby, you look so sexy like this.” He runs a hand down my back and cups my bottom. He squeezes, then runs his nails over my skin. “You have such a great ass.”

I’ve always been sensitive, touchy, about my backside. It’s just never been part of my body I thought was attractive, so hearing his dark words makes me excited, aroused.

“Cooper,” I murmur. He fists my hair and bites my neck hard as he thrusts into me. He’s no vampire, but being bitten like this makes me feel dominated, owned, complete.

It makes me feel like I’m totally, absolutely, his.

Our relationship isn’t going to be easy. His deployment is going to suck. Being apart after we’ve finally found each other is going to be hard, but we can do it. I fully believe we can do it.

When he comes, he flicks my clit and I explode along with him, crying out his name, hardly daring to believe that this is really happening.

We’re together.

It’s us against the world and with Coop by my side, I’m unstoppable.

I’m free.