November

Chapter Sixteen

-Oliver-

The morning of Thanksgiving, I dressed in the outfit I'd brought for the occasion. Since I thought I'd be having Thanksgiving with Brad, I'd packed my nicest sweater - a soft, cream colored cashmere - and a pair of tan pants. I was looking at myself in the mirror and frowning when Cooper came into the bedroom.

"You look amazing," he said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me.

"Is it too much? I don't want to stick out when I'm with your family."

"It's perfect. The only downside is now I have to dress up. My mom got me a sweater last Christmas and if I show up with you looking this nice and I'm not also wearing a sweater, that's all I'm gonna hear about the rest of the day."

I laughed. "Then we better find that sweater."

Inside Cooper's closet, I looked through his clothes while he found the sweater. His closet was mostly filled with jeans, outdoor work pants, and flannel shirts, but I saw some dress pants and a button down shirt in a corner.

"You've got some nicer pants you could wear with the sweater."

"Yeah, and I'll probably bust the ass right out of them if I try and wear them. I've put on a little weight recently."

I laughed loudly and then hugged Cooper. "I think you have a great body. And I love your ass, even if it's not playing nice with some of your pants at the moment," I told him, making my point by grabbing his ass with both hands.

Cooper grinned and backed away out of my grasp. "If we start, we're not going to get to my parents' house. Hands off."

"You better get dressed then," I warned with a smile on my face. "Standing there in your underwear is not helping the situation."

I watched Cooper pull on a nicer pair of jeans and a knit olive green sweater. The color complemented his dark hair and beard perfectly and brought out his hazel eyes. "You do clean up nice," I said. "I knew you would."

"Before I let all your compliments go to my head, we should get going. Being in front of my family will force me to behave around you."

-

When we pulled up to Cooper's parents' house, I took a deep breath. I knew I shouldn't be nervous. We weren't dating. I was just a new friend who had nowhere else to go for Thanksgiving, and it shouldn't matter if I impressed Cooper's family or not. But for some reason, I wanted to impress them. I wanted them to like me.

I followed Cooper inside, carrying some sparkling cider we'd picked up from the store. The house was like Cooper's, except bigger. It had the same warm, homey feel, and the air smelled of vanilla and a hint of cinnamon. I assumed Annabelle had been baking.

"We're here!" Cooper called out.

He led us to the kitchen where his family was gathered. I recognized Annabelle and Rhett from the pictures he had shown me, and I assumed the dark-haired and bearded man was his dad and the woman with red hair like Annabelle's was his mom.

"Everyone, this is Oliver. Oliver, you can probably guess who Rhett and Annabelle are. And these are my parents, Andy and Eileen."

I stepped forward and shook everyone's hand. "It's great to meet you all. Cooper has told me a lot about you, and I really appreciate you including me on Thanksgiving."

His mom smiled at me and I noticed she had the same warm, hazel eyes as Cooper. "Cooper's friends are always welcome. I wouldn't allow anyone to be alone on Thanksgiving."

"Well, I'm looking forward to it." I glanced over at Annabelle. "Did you bake something for dessert? Cooper gave me some of the s'mores cookies you made and they were amazing. I loved them."