November

Chapter Two

-Oliver-

A bump of turbulence jolted me awake. The side of my face was resting against something warm and solid. "Brad?" I mumbled.

"Nope, not Brad."

Quickly, I pulled away and sat up, rubbing my face. "Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."

The corners of Cooper's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "It's okay. I've been told I make an excellent pillow."

"I can believe it. Do you have a girlfriend or wife waiting for you to come home and be her pillow?"

"Nah. I haven't found anyone who will put up with me being gone for months at a time. There also isn't a huge selection of gay men on the peninsula."

I whipped my head around to stare at him. "You're gay?"

Cooper grinned. "Sure am."

"I thought you were just extra friendly and strangely tolerant of another man sleeping on you."

"Well, I'm that too."

I felt myself blushing. "Thanks, you know, for everything. I was prepared to sit here and sulk for the whole flight, but I got lucky having you in my row."

"Those are words I've never heard come out of anybody's mouth," Cooper laughed. "I'm grateful you're tolerating me invading your space. It wouldn't be fun to have someone cursing my existence the whole time."

"I'm grateful for your existence," I replied, knowing I was flirting a bit. I knew I shouldn't be doing that, but I was having a hard time feeling guilty about it. I leaned forward and grabbed my smaller backpack from underneath the seat in front of me and pulled out a bag of peanut butter cookies.

"Do you want some?" I asked, showing them to Cooper. "I baked these for Brad and I to eat on the plane, but he's probably got a meal included with his seat."

"I'd love some. It's going to be a long drive back home after we land, so I could use a snack."

After he took a few, I offered some to the woman sitting in the window seat. When I turned back, Cooper was smiling at me.

"How did someone as generous as you end up with a guy who booked you a cheap seat away from him?"

I knew Cooper didn't mean any offense, but I felt like I had to defend Brad. "He's not that bad. It's his money and he works hard for it. He's not obligated to spend it on me."

"What does he do?

"He's a consultant for a software company. He manages projects and flies all over to meet with clients."

"And what do you do?"

"I'm a research assistant. I enter data for clinical trials and give the trial drugs to patients in the study."

"So you're in the medical field?"

"Kind of. I have a nursing background but want to get into the research side. I'm hoping to manage clinical trials someday."

Cooper raised an eyebrow. "Seems to me like your job is hard work too. And more meaningful."

I shrugged. "Maybe. Depends on who you ask."

"What do you like about Brad?"

"He's charming and smart. A great dancer and great in bed. And he always looks amazing."

"All good things," Cooper replied. "But generous didn't make the list."

"He's generous when it counts. You know, at Christmas and my birthday. And every once in a while he gets the check at dinner. I'm not expecting anything more than that."