Taking you Home by Cooper Davis

Author:Cooper Davis
Language: eng
Format: epub

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163

Taking You Home

by Cooper Davis

"How about Havana's finest?" John asks. He's standing on the edge of the picnic gazebo, extending two gorgeous looking Cuban cigars toward me. Yeah, it's bribery, plain and simple. I wonder how Maxwell sent him home that fast.

"Maxwell's?" I ask, lifting an eyebrow as I lean back against the picnic bench. I've only had about ten minutes to sift through my wildly careening emotions, and so far I haven't made much progress.

"I brought them along in case we needed them. I hear you have a wicked appreciation for a good smoke." He hands me a nicely trimmed cigar. "You want this? Or should I save it for Leah?"

That actually manages to get a snort out of me. "She smoke these things very often?"

"Oh, man, all the time. She's worse than me," he says.

"But then again, she's a Daniels. They're all pretty intense, don't you think?"

Intense. Not a bad way to describe my sweetheart, even though Max seems to possess a more lighthearted side than his twin does.

Then we kind of start gabbing about the loves of our lives, comparing notes like a pair of girlfriends. It would be comical if I weren't so depressed.

"Did Max send you over?" I finally ask, going on a strong hunch.

White teeth flash against that very dark skin. "He's concerned, that's all."

"Did he send the cigars, too?"

164

Taking You Home

by Cooper Davis

"No, those are all me."

"Cool," I say, taking a long drag. God, nothing tastes better than a smoke on a cold, gray day like this one.

I'm about to voice that thought, when Max says, "You love smoking when it's cold." He steps into the cabana, and I can tell he's wondering if I even want him around me at the moment. My heart clenches tight, and I urge him closer.

"Baby, you can share."

"Oh, I've got one for Max, too," John volunteers. "I brought them along figuring we would need a decent Leah escape."

"God, I feel like I owe you both some huge cosmic apology for Leah's Christmas mania," Max says, dropping onto the picnic bench, close beside me. His jean-clad thigh brushes very close against mine, way closer than a mere friend. It's so freaking cool that we can be real around John.

"It makes her happy and that's all that matters to me,"

John says.

Max glances at me, a heavy-lidded look into my very soul.

"Yeah, when you're in love, that's all you want." Bingo, the boy just nailed me good. "For them to be happy."

Max brushes his fingers against the back of my hand. He won't actually reach to hold it with John here, no matter how open his brother-in-law is. But the subtle gesture tells me everything about how much Max wishes that he could.

I take another long drag on the cigar, staring into the distance at the Santa village. The pregnant mother and little boy have finished with the pictures; now they're walking 165

Taking You Home

by Cooper Davis

across the park. She holds his tiny hand within her much larger one.

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