Why was she not freaking out about this? How was she so calm? There was so much I wanted to know, so many questions. I couldn’t understand how any person could walk away from Ladasha and not look back. She was too special.

“She was strung out. Drunk, high, God knows what else.” Ladasha’s smiley face faded as she thought on what she’d witnessed. “She didn’t know me. She didn’t know my name. She didn’t know my age. But she knew my face and I knew hers.”

Ladasha’s long eyelashes blinked as the tears formed and were prepared to fall. “And a knot formed in my gut because I am her. That’s who I am going to be in a few years.”

“That’s not true,” I hissed at her. It wasn’t. Ladasha was a strong woman. She was a friend. She was a sister to me. And she was nothing like her mother.

“Isn’t it? Look at me. I’m a f**king stripper, Andrea! With no family. No one. There’s not a lot I got going for me.”

“You got me,” I said. I wiped her falling tears and reminded her she wasn’t alone. As long as my heart would beat, she would never be alone.

“Meow.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at my friend, confused. “Excuse me?”

“Oh…that wasn’t me.” Ladasha opened her jacket and revealed a beautiful orange and brown cat resting against her chest. “I found her at my mom’s. She looked hungry and there was no food over there. So I brought her home with me.” She paused and looked at me with worried eyes. “That’s all right isn’t it? I didn’t want her to go hungry…”

I laughed, took the cat into my hands, and listened to her purr. Ladasha was considerate. She was loving. She was talented, smart, and compassionate. She was nothing like her mother. I asked the name of the cat, and she grinned.

“Freckles.”

Welcome home, Freckles.

I glanced at the time on my cell phone next to me and looked to Ladasha. “So I thought you were working tonight?”

“Roger gave me the night off. Turns out the ass kinda has feelings.”

Placing Freckles on the ground, I cleared my throat. “Oh that’s nice.” I checked the time again and bit my bottom lip.

“Why are you acting weird?”

“What? Me? I’m not acting weird. So do you have any plans tonight?” I quickly asked, and she looked at me as if I had three heads.

There was a knock on the door and Ladasha narrowed her eyes on me. She turned towards the door and back to me. “You’re not wearing Derrick’s cologne.” She whispered as she continued to sit on my legs.

“I know, I forgot—”

“No.” She cut me off quickly and sniffed the air around me. There was another knock on the door, but Ladasha didn’t care. “You’re actually wearing perfume.”

I laughed and shook my head.

“No. You are. And...you are not wearing Derrick’s sweats. You’re wearing a dress. A red dress.” Knock Knock. I should be answering the door but Ladasha was still holding my legs down against the couch.

“It’s no big deal,” I said as I tried to get up. Jesus Christ, Ladasha is strong.

“You’re wearing your sexy panties, aren’t you?” She mocked me as my cheeks turned as red as my dress. She shot up, went over to the door, and opened it. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Cooper standing there, camera around his neck. Ladasha’s eyes landed on him and the camera before lightly shoving his shoulder. “What kind of weird shit are you two into?”

I covered my face with a pillow as I erupted into laughter. I watched as Cooper turned even redder than me and tried to explain how he took his camera everywhere. Which was true! Ladasha just wasn’t buying it.

“I don’t think we’ve actually met each other. I only witnessed you leaving my best friend in a sheet.” Ladasha grinned with her tongue in her cheek. Cooper looked like a young guy who just met his girl’s parents for the first time. I wanted him so bad when he was sexy and aggressive, but the timid, shy guy was just as yummy.

“I’m Cooper.” He shook her hand and Ladasha held his grip for a moment, staring into his eyes.

“I know you, don’t I?”

He grew a bit uncomfortable and I watched as his body stiffened. “I don’t think so…”

“You’re from that reality show! The Davidson’s Weddings,” she exclaimed as Cooper nodded like his biggest secret had been revealed.

Ladasha let go of his hand, walked into the kitchen, and grabbed a couple beers. She proceeded to toss one to me and tossed one to Cooper, who sat his down on the counter. “I hate reality shows. It takes away from the real actors. I mean, why would I watch some reality bullshit when I could watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Ryan Gosling for two hours? Reality television is ruining real talent.” She opened her can of beer and sipped at it. She shifted her eyes to Cooper. “I mean, no offense.”

“None taken. I completely agree with you.” Cooper’s nervousness began to subside as he got a feel for the type of loud personality Ladasha held inside of her small frame. I stood up from the couch and looked over to him, still standing by the door. I mouthed an apology to him for the sudden change of plans, and he smiled and winked at me.

“You look amazing,” he said as he approached me and displayed his dimples.

“What? This? I just tossed it on.”

Ladasha grunted loudly at the idea of me just tossing on a dress, and I shot her a stern look, which silenced her giggles.

“So what about your wife? Are you two not together?” Ladasha asked. She walked over and made herself comfortable in the chair. I had a feeling this was going to be a long night. Cooper sat on the couch and I sat next to him. Ladasha’s question was pretty personal, and I could feel my heart start beating faster.

“Panda?” I whispered his way.

He grinned and shrugged. “It doesn’t count if she asks.” He turned to Ladasha and answered the best way he knew how. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated? Like Nicholas Sparks complicated?” she questioned. My gosh. Dasha was on tonight. Question after question.

“I can’t say. I’ve never read his books or seen his movies,” he confessed. Was I surprised a twenty-five-year-old male hadn’t taken to reading Nicholas Sparks novels or watching his movies? Not really. But Ladasha was shocked. Her mouth dropped to the floor and she shot up, disappearing into her room.

While she was gone, I turned to him and he pulled me into the curve of his body. I fit perfectly and it felt good to be near him. “I’m so, so sorry. I thought she would be at work, and she had a really hard day so I can’t really ask her to leave, and I totally understand if you want to call Panda and hit it out of here and—” I rambled on and on until my words were silenced with his kiss.

“I don’t mind.”

Oh my gosh…I was so glad he didn’t mind. Ladasha reentered with a collection of movies in her hands. I quickly removed myself from Cooper’s hold and smiled as my best friend wiggled her way to sit right in between Cooper and me.

“Okay. We can start easy with it. We’ll start with A Walk to Remember. Then lead into The Notebook.”

A double feature night was happening with the three of us. Cooper wrapped his arm across the back of the couch and chills ran through me as he lightly caressed my arm without Ladasha noticing. His eyes were glued to the television. And I couldn’t be certain, but I was pretty sure he was tearing up during a couple of scenes.

Halfway during The Notebook, Freckles entered the room and walked across the television set. Cooper shrieked as if he had seen a ghost. “Holy shit! You have a cat!?” he shouted with his green eyes widened.

“We got her today. Isn’t she sweet?” Ladasha grinned as she picked up our new housemate.

“I—I’m not really a cat person,” he stuttered.

“You’re afraid of cats?” I asked. He cleared his throat and said no. Ladasha brought Freckles near him and Cooper dramatically went flying over the back of the couch. “Holy crap,” I giggled. “You’re afraid of cats.”

Cooper frowned. “I had a bad experience once. Remember my cousin Michelle’s cat? Oscar?”

“Yeah.”

“Remember when it went missing one summer night?”

Yeah. I remembered. Eric, Michelle, and I spent weeks hanging up flyers in search of that cat.

“Yeah. I kind of took my uncle’s car and drove him to a different city after he attacked me in the kitchen.”

I cracked up laughing. “Bullcrap.” The look on Cooper’s face was priceless; he appeared as if Freckles was a lion ready to kill him. He lifted his shirt and to show Ladasha and me the marks from his fight with Oscar the feline.

I narrowed my eyes to zoom in on the marks Cooper was certain were there, but I didn’t see anything. He glanced at his side and pointed. “Come on, I know you see that!” Higher his shirt went.

Ladasha raised an eyebrow as she looked at Cooper’s abs and murmured, “Meow.”

Cooper let out a small chuckle and lowered his shirt as he mumbled to himself. “It must be the lighting in this room.”

Right. The ‘lighting’ is to blame for his invisible scars. How come I didn’t think of that?

Ladasha’s eyes met with mine and she gave in to a fake yawn with Freckles in her arms, “I’m so tired. I hope you two don’t mind me dipping out on the movie…” She winked at me and walked into her room. “It was nice meeting you, Cooper.”

“You too, Ladasha.” He grinned.

Door slammed. Ladasha was gone.

“Afraid of cats?” I smirked as Cooper came over to me and sat on the coffee table directly across from me. Whenever he came near me, I could feel my insides become twisted. He made me so nervous in the best possible ways.

“You don’t understand. Oscar liked you. You were pretty.”

“Were pretty? Past tense?”

He leaned in and took my hands into his. He kissed my palms. “You know what I mean.”

I shook my head and stood up. “I’m going to go take a shower and head to bed. Sorry this night fell apart.” Walking to the bathroom, I could feel his eyes glued to my body. I knew he thought I was more than pretty.

When I peeked back at him, I could see him running his hands over his face. “All right well, I’ll talk to you later.” He walked to the front door and opened it, but quickly closed it once he heard me whisper.

“Join me.”

THE HOT STEAM filled the room, fogging up the bathroom mirror and windows. “Cooper…” I moaned as he pinned me against the wall and ran his fingers across my back. I watched as the water hit against our wet bodies and delivered us with more passion than we had yet discovered. He lifted my lips to his and slid his tongue into my mouth, allowing his to cover mine.

“Coop, please…” I begged as he lifted my right leg up and lightly massaged my upper thigh. My moans were growing louder and he lightly whispered how much he longed for me, making me hotter and hotter.

The water dripped down his nose as I kissed his chin and whimpered for more. As he reached to run his fingers through my hair, his arm accidently hit the soap shelf and sent it to the ground, making a huge crashing sound. I burst out laughing. He joined in on my laughter, and Ladasha started banging against her bedroom wall, which was on the other side of the bathroom wall of course.

“Keep it down, freaks!”

I couldn’t stop laughing. It was clear soda pop wasn’t in the program for tonight’s events, so it was best the two of us let that idea go.

The water kept showering down over us as we sat down in the tub. Cooper’s body behind mine felt so right. We didn’t speak. We just lay there with our eyes closed. Cooper kissed my shoulders, sending a coolness down my back. I was slipping in and out of sleep as he whispered to me. I nodded, stood up, and stepped out of the shower as he followed my suit, shutting off the faucet.