Kisses of Fire (boyxboy)

Chapter 48 - Valentine's Day

It was Valentine's Day, the day of love, and Cooper's dad was generous enough only to hold freshman practice after school so they could hurry up and rush home to get ready for their night. His parents were going out for practically the entire night, which gave him more than enough time to be with River and do whatever they wanted. Coincidentally, it was a day before their two-month anniversary, so the two of them agreed to celebrate both at the same time. Although it was their first Valentine's Day and anniversary, nothing too special was planned; going out was a big no for multiple reasons, and it was a school night, so they both agreed to make the best of it for the night.

While waiting for his parents to leave, Cooper cleaned his room, trying to make it look presentable when his mom came in wearing a pretty red dress, "You have a hot date tonight?" She said, curious. "You never clean your room."

Too busy to talk, he continued gathering trash and putting it in the garbage bag he'd brought in. "Yeah, well, it's been bothering me, and I have nothing else to do," finally looking up, he noticed she seemed to be ready. "When are you guys leaving?"

"Are you sure you don't have someone special? Why are you so eager to get rid of us? Is she cute? Wait, you better not have anyone over."

Rolling his eyes, Cooper threw some dirty clothes in the hamper. "No one's coming over; I'm not even talking to anyone." They didn't really seem phased when he told them he'd broken up with Riley. For support, they'd both gave him encouraging words about how there's plenty of fish in the sea, and at least she was a nice girl, but Cooper brushed it off, not caring about it.

He knew deep down they'd totally forgotten he was dating anyone.

"Well, good, you're too young to be dating anyway," his mom preferred if he didn't date until he was a junior or senior but knew she couldn't stop him from doing anything. Her best bet was to give him the best advice she could. "Do me a favor and not have sex until you're married. If you feel like you absolutely must do it before you're married," she paused to roll her eyes, "at least make sure it's with someone you actually love."

"Ew, how did you get to sex?" Cooper loved his mom, but sometimes she said the absolute most random stuff.

"It's Valentine's Day," she shrugged. All of a sudden, she started helping him clean while continuing with her speech. "That's another thing, never do any big relationship gestures on Valentine's Day; it's tacky, and you're sharing it with everyone else who did the exact same thing," she paused to think, and Cooper was ignoring her too focused on finishing. "Unless it's jewelry, always give a girl jewelry on Valentine's Day, and flowers, maybe a box of chocolates, compliment her, always pay for dinner, but for when you're older— don't.let.it.lead.to.sex, we don't need any more Scorpios."

Cooper speed cleaning to look at her. "I'm a Scorpio."

His mom also stopped to think about it, "Oh yeah."

Cooper thought about it for a second and did the math, instantly getting disgusted. "Was I conceived on Valentine's Day?"

She crossed her arms and stood up straight, "I don't see how that's any of your business," she finally walked out, yelling to his dad, asking if he was ready.

All three met in the kitchen where Cooper's dad took out his wallet to give him money, "Alright, we'll be back later tonight. You know the rules, no girls, no parties, no opening the door to strangers, no going out," it was the same speech he'd been given for the past three years.

"Yes, dad, I know." He took the money, and his parents went to the front door, ready to leave. "Can I go to the skatepark?"

In unison, both of them said no, his dad adding, "I just said no going out."