Page 23 of Liberty

That was when I decided it was time to talk to Cooper.

I put on a swimsuit and headed down to the beach, eager to take a dip in the ocean. He was out there, wrapping up a surfing lesson.

When he saw me, he smiled and waved.

I waved back.

He came to shore soon after, approaching me. “Hey. Is it cool if I chat for a second?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I actually wanted to talk to you.”

“What’s up?” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

I hadn’t seen Cooper look nervous yet. It was a little jarring.

I sighed. “I really like you, Cooper.”

He nodded. “I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

“There is. I really like you, but we have to slow down.”

“Okay. Slow down how?”

“No more sex.”

“Oh.”

“It—it was good. It was really good. But it was too soon. I need to back off.”

“Okay.”

“But I want to hang out with you more. Get to know you and see if, you know. There’s something real here.”

“Okay.”

I nodded. “Yeah. That’s all.”

“That’s not so bad.”

I smiled. “It’s not. It’s really not.”

Cooper smiled, too. “So, can I ask you to be my ride-along in the parade?”

I’d forgotten all about the parade. I nodded. “Yeah, I’d love to! What should I wear? What are we riding in?”

He grinned. “A ‘66 Chevelle.”

I had no idea what that was, but it sounded impressive. “Okay. Um, the other part? What should I wear?”

“I liked that outfit you wore for our date.”

I liked it, too. “Okay. I’ll wear that again. It’ll be fun.”

“It will be. The Cruise-In is awesome. You’ll love it.”

I was sure I would. After all, it was more time with Cooper. There was one issue, though. Kylee.

“What are you thinking about?” Cooper asked, his brows pulling together in concern.