“Yeah.” He rubbed a hand over his chest. Cooper wondered how it felt when Noah rubbed his piercing and then promptly stumbled a little. Why the fuck am I wondering that?

“I wasn’t thinking at first,” Noah continued. “But I can see where her thoughts are going and I’m trying to avoid something awkward.”

“That easily? Jules hasn’t paid attention to any man since she left the prick.”

“I have that affect on people,” Noah winked at him, and Cooper found himself smiling.

They made it back to the table by then, and Coop automatically gave Noah a cover. “Hate to be the downer of the night, but I need to head back early tonight. I have some shit to take care of early tomorrow and Noah’s driving me home.” He hit his friend’s arm.

“Drink a little too much?” Russ asked.

Cooper nodded, figuring that was as good an excuse as any, even though he wasn’t acting drunk.

They said their goodbyes, and Coop watched as Noah told Jules it was nice to see her again. Her eyes skimmed up and down Noah like he’d seen women do to him a million times. Cooper looked at him too. He was about two inches taller than himself. Noah’s muscles were long, lean and defined. His hair had dried sticking up in different directions, like he’d run his hands through it. Stubble covered his square jaw, making Cooper wonder why he hadn’t shaved.

He shrugged. The guy probably had women falling over him all the time. And why the hell am I thinking about this stuff?

“Why did you shrug?” Noah asked.

Coop took a step back. He didn’t know. Hell he didn’t even know why he’d been looking at Noah. “I’m drunk, remember? I do random shit for no reason when I’m drunk. Let’s get going.”

It was still hot as hell when they stepped outside. The parking lot was darker than it should be, one of the lights having gone out.

“You really need me to drive? I’m sober.” Noah asked him.

“So am I, and I don’t trust anyone enough to let them drive my truck. She’s my baby. We’d be sitting here to sober up before that happened.” Cooper pulled the door open, and climbed it. Noah did the same on the other side.

“I forgot you used to want one. Even when we were kids you talked about how you wanted a big-ass truck one day, so you could run everything off the road. Little did I know that seventeen years later, that would be me.”

“Holy shit.” Cooper started the truck. “I forgot about that. And I’m never going to live this down, am I, Stretch?” he teased.

“Not until you do something else I can talk shit about.”

Even when they were kids, Coop remembered Noah always had a comeback for whatever he said. They used to give each other hell all the time, trying to see who could outdo each other. It was a toss up on which one of them would win. Tonight he decided to let it go.

As they drove through the dark toward the house, he asked, “What happened with Jules?” Cooper rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if it was okay to ask that.

“Nothing really. It felt good to visit with an old friend but…hell, you know how it goes? She started getting closer to me and touching me. I could see it in her eyes but then I was kind of stuck. I would have come off as an asshole if I said, ‘oh, and by the way, I like cock as much as you probably do.”

Cooper’s stomach dropped out at that.

“Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Coop didn’t reply, because he wasn’t sure what to say. Noah talked about men the way he did women. He was used to it from the guys but again, it was usually about the opposite sex.

Noah sighed. Coop noticed him lower himself in his seat. “I forget sometimes. When we were kids, you were the only person I really told shit to. I’ve only been back a little while, and my mind jumped right back to seventeen years ago. I don’t think before I speak.”

That made Cooper’s stomach drop even farther. Noah could talk to him however he wanted. That’s what friends were for. “You and me? We’re cool, man. You don’t have to watch what you say. I just…I guess I forget sometimes, too. I’ll get used to it.”

A question popped into his head then. Coop almost didn’t ask it but hell, he didn’t really work that way. He just went for it, no matter what it was. “About Jules…have you ever?”

“Fucked a woman?” Noah asked.

“Yeah.” Coop had no idea why he wanted to know.

“Sure, I have. Didn’t change anything though.”