“What?” Chloe asks.
Vanessa nods, turning to look at Cooper for verification. “You guys have had chemistry forever. I knew this trip would make you guys either face it or kill each other.”
“You didn’t say anything to me.”
Vanessa shakes her head. “I knew if I did, you’d just fight it harder, and I had twenty bucks on the line.” She smiles. “We came up to find you guys because there’s a guy down there who was on one of those dancing shows. He’s so good.”
My hold on Chloe slips free. “You should check it out,” I tell her, taking another look at the apprehension on Cooper’s face.
She stands, making her way over to Vanessa and Coop, where she pauses and holds his forearm as she leans into his side and kisses his cheek. I can’t tell if it’s an apology or a request to be kind. Either way, it’s clear she also senses his unease. She looks back at me, a gentle smile that pleads with me and has my patience expanding.
I nod once, watching her and Vanessa disappear back down to the dance floor.
When I return my gaze, Coop’s looking at me, his forehead creased. “You know she’s my best friend, right? I mean, I’m in no position to tell you who to like, but Chloe’s not just some girl—she’s important to me. She’s…” His voice waivers before he clears his throat. “She’s family, and you’re like my brother, so I just need to be clear that if you’re interested, you’re serious because you can’t hurt her without hurting me.”
I blow out a deep breath, knowing this is exactly what has kept me away from Chloe Robinson for the past two years. I assumed after New Orleans she would tell Coop what a bastard I was, and he’d confront me, and I’d send them to Washington on a plane and finish this trip solo—wanted to because I needed her to avoid me because I wouldn’t be strong enough to avoid her. “I know,” I tell him.
“Just make sure you’re positive. Don’t get caught up in the fact we’re on this trip and staying in a hotel together. Be with her because you like her. Want her.”
I nod. “You don’t have to worry,” I tell him. “I won’t fuck this up.”
He nods, but his expression doesn’t change. “Good. Don’t because it would fuck up everything between us.”
It’s a warning bell. Loud and clear.
We walk to the lift. Vanessa and Chloe are laughing about the dancing they’d seen at the club, distracted as Cooper trails behind. He’s still tense and brooding over the news, but I have to give him credit. He’s trying to accept this change, and considering it’s been less than an hour, he’s doing one hell of a job.
The queue is long, which has me turning to look for stairs, but before I can, Cooper clears his throat. “Give us a cool space fact, Chloe.”
She grins. “Uranus was originally named Georgian.”
“They should have stuck with Georgian because everyone but space geeks pronounce it your-anus, including our third grade teacher,” Vanessa says.
Chloe laughs. “When William Herschel discovered it, he named it after King George III, and the French—and the rest of the world—weren’t fond of this, so Johann Elert Bode, a German astronomer renamed it Uranus after the Ancient Greek god of the sky.”
“That’s actually kind of a cool way to get named,” Cooper says. “Named after a god.”
Chloe nods. “Uranus was the deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god. Actually, all of the planets in our solar system were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses—all except Earth.”
Cooper laughs. “What was Earth named after?”
Chloe shakes her head. “We don’t know. The name derives from both English and German words that mean ground.”
“Ground?” Coop asks. “That’s not nearly as cool as deity of the heavens.”
Vanessa rubs her hands together, glancing at the queue that has barely moved. “Okay. Give us something else that will help us win a game of trivia.”
“Scientists have confirmed more than four thousand exoplanets and are still waiting to confirm another thousand.”
Vanessa shakes her head. “When you start talking about exoplanets, it feels like a vise is squeezing my head, reminding me how little I know.”
Chloe scoffs. “That’s the whole point of science. We learn we know nothing.”
Vanessa laughs. “Then I’m a great scientist.”
I shake my head. “What’s an exoplanet?”
Chloe licks her lips, her smile growing as her gaze dips to my pocket where her underwear are. I know it’s the second drink she and Vanessa drank too fast that has her eyes coming back to my mouth. “Worlds outside of our solar system that orbit other stars,” she says like she’s telling me the time.
Vanessa belts out a laugh, startling the lady in front of us. “Drunk Chloe is smarter than sober Chloe,” she says. “It’s scary.”
Chloe chuckles, shaking her head. “But think about it. It’s pretty cool and mind-blowing to consider there are another four thousand plus planets out there, most of them within our galaxy.”
“My grandma still insists Pluto’s a planet,” Coop says.
Chloe smiles affectionately. “Information is constantly changing. Plus, it’s hard for people to understand that our solar system is a very tiny fraction of the Milky Way Galaxy. We’re tiny in comparison to the vast expanse of our galaxy. Understanding the distance and vast implications can be really difficult for some.”
Vanessa nods. “Me included.”
Chloe flashes a quick smile and shakes her head.
“Are we sure tomorrow’s our last day here?” Vanessa asks, turning to look around.
“I’m excited for San Diego,” Cooper says. “I’ve only been once, and it was for our bowl game last year, and I was so hungover the next day I only saw the hotel bathroom.”
I grin, recalling the sorry shape I’d found him in.
“I could be a professional traveler. How do I propose
