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"I was about to run soood" He didn’t look at Noah when he spoke It wasn’t until he got to the door that Cooper’s voice stopped hi, he turned to look at his friend "Yeah?"

"I’ht of those words in his chest Felt them, because he knew Cooper took responsibility for so s in his life that he didn’t need to Noah didn’t want to be one of them And hell, he didn’t want to feel Cooper so deeply at all But he did Probably always had

"You didn’t fuck anything up Never have"

Without another word, Noah walked out the door

Cooper hated being weak, though he guessed that’s exactly what he was Calling it off with Noah like that Caving into the, what? Urge, desire, head fuck, in the first place Whatever it was, it was over now, the way it should be

They continued to watch football together and work on the house Noah left often and Cooper didn’t ask where he was going Didn’t know if he was looking for a building for his store, or h it drove Cooper crazy not to know Maybe that was best, anyway Things would get twisted real quick if Noah brought a guy ho someone home

In the weeks since his visit with his fa on the far side of his property He wasn’t sure what it had been used for, and it needed a lot of work, but it gave him an escape, a reason to not be in the house with Noah too much, which made him a real bastard

Coop sat on the couch at the firehouse, when Braden came in and joined him "Why do you look like sohed

Cooper shook his head "Fuck you"

"Slow night"

"Slow nights are good" Had it been a slow night when his house caught fire? Had the rateful for that feeling until that bell rang?

"No shit I was just saying"

It was a little over a week until the anniversary of his parents’ death He fucking hated that day The night hi up in the