Redamancy (n.)
the act of loving in return.
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"I love you, mom," Kingsley said as she hugged her mother outside the restaurant. The rest of lunch had gone rather well and thankfully neither of them had spotted my mother.
"I love you, too, sweetie," her mother said before she turned to me. Accepting her hug, I tried to make it brief as the guilt from my earlier encounter was weighing heavily on me.
"It was good to see you again," I told her as I pulled back and threw on a fake smile. She nodded her head and gave Kingsley one last kiss to the cheek before she disappeared down the street into the crowd.
Releasing the breath I was holding, I turned to look at Kingsley and saw her standing there with her arms folded over her chest and an eyebrow cocked.
"Where the hell did you run off to earlier?" She questioned as her eyes instinctively narrowed in on me.
"I just wanted to give you two some privacy," I lied as we started walking toward her car. "Thought it was a mother daughter moment."
"Well, you are practically her daughter, El. You didn't have to vanish like that," Kingsley informed me which only made me feel more guilty.
Sliding into the car, I kept my eyes trained out the window as I felt them start to well up. I could feel the pressure of the lies starting to weigh me down but there was no one who could help pull me up for air.
We drove in silence back to the apartment and when we pulled into the lot, I noticed Cooper's car was still there. Biting my lip, I tried to reign in my disappointment before sliding out of the car. At this moment, all I wanted was some time alone but it looked like that wouldn't be happening any time soon.
Following Kingsley up the stairs, we stopped outside the door when she noticed the note tapped there. Peeling it off, a large smile came to her face before she turned to look at me with an apologetic look.
"Looks like I've got someplace to be," she said as she showed me the paper with an instruction on it. "You two have fun. We'll see you tonight."
Not giving me an opportunity to respond, she took off down the stairs. Sighing as I closed my eyes tightly, I tried to relax before I threw on my fake smile and opened the door. What I saw there caused a genuine laugh to escape my lips.
Cooper was standing in the kitchen in front of the stove, shirtless, covered in flour. Mia laid on the floor by his feet with flour in her fur as she stared up at him intently. The kitchen looked like a tornado had hit it and Cooper turned around once he heard me but Mia was more interested in the possibility of food falling to the floor.
"Hey, baby," he greeted with a smile as I walked over to the island. "How was lunch?"
"It was fine," I lied as I bent down to pet Mia briefly. "If I didn't know any better I'd say Kingsley was trying to make pancakes again. Why does my kitchen look like a war zone?"
"Well you see," Cooper started to say as he pointed a spatula at me which made me giggle. "I wanted to make you a nice dinner but my homemade noodles didn't really work out so then I thought I could make dessert but between you and me, Mia isn't the best cooking partner when you have crackers."
Laughing through my nose as I glanced down at Mia, I rolled my eyes as I closed the gap between Cooper and I. He smiled down at me mischievously before he gave my lips a quick peck.
"Well now we know to use boxed noodles, make sure you have a su-chef and don't snack while cooking," I teased as I tried to brush the flour off his chest. "You know this means we need to give her a bath now, right?"
"Oh, goody," he replied sarcastically as he turned back to the stove. "Isn't that technically your job though? I mean, she is your dog."
"And seeing as my boyfriend is the one who got her dirty, I think it's only fair he throws in a little assistance."
Cooper laughed loudly as he started stirring whatever it was he had in the pot. Grabbing my phone, I turned on my speaker that sat on top of the fridge and started playing some music.
I sat on the counter top as he worked away at some dessert that I'm positive he made up on the spot. Once he poured it into a pan and put it in the oven, he grabbed my sides and helped me off the counter before he reached for my hand and lead me down the hall.
Mia thankfully followed close on our heels as we entered the bathroom. I knelt down on the tile floor as she walked up to me and gave my cheek a kiss while Cooper checked the temp on the water. Once he was content, he climbed in and called Mia in after him.
Chucking softly as she sat comfortably in his lap, I grabbed the dog shampoo that Cooper had bought me from under the bathroom sink and squirted some in my hand. As I started working through her thick coat, I caught Cooper staring at me. Raising an eyebrow at him, he shrugged me off before reaching for my body soap and dripping some on his chest.
Once we got all the soap out of Mia's fur, I slipped into the hall to grab a towel when I heard Cooper yelling. Running back to the bathroom, I saw him desperately trying to hold onto Mia's bottom as her front paws were out of the tub. Before I could reach her and cover her with the towel, she slipped out of his grip and began to shake out her fur.
Laughing uncontrollably, I finally got the towel over her once she stopped. Cooper was chuckling as he shook his head before he watched me with a small smile on his face. Giving up on trying to dry her off, I grabbed the towel and threw it in the hamper as she disappeared back toward the kitchen.
"Not going to help me dry off?" Cooper questioned as he stood up from the tub in just his boxers. Rolling my eyes as I smiled softly, I went to grab another towel. Coming back into the bathroom, I saw his boxers now sitting on the floor.
"Was this a dry off or a rub down?" I teased as I slowly walked over to him. Wrapping the towel around his back, I pulled his bare front into mine, not caring that my clothes were getting wet.
"It's up to you, baby," he retorted with a raised brow as his finger slowly started to trail up my side under my shirt. "But I've definitely missed you."
"Show me how much," I tempted as I started placing soft kisses on his chest. Before Cooper could put both his hands on my sides, I quickly spun on my heel and darted for room as I laughed loudly.
"Oh you're going to pay for that," Cooper laughed as I heard him come running after me.
"Maybe that was the idea," I told him as he entered the room to see me sitting on my bed, waiting for him. He bit his lip to suppress his smile as he sauntered over to me and wasted no time in stripping off my shirt before he pushed me down onto the bed.
I know, I know. People want smut scenes. And you will get them, just not in this original version. I will post the smut scenes from the published version at the end of this story, however, for you to see if you're interested.