The Perfect Stroke (Lucas Brothers #1)(52)

“Oh, that’s right. Cammie was telling me you run a garage?” Brayden says.

“I own it, and I’ve let it go for way too long, really,” CC says. “Way too long,” she says again. She reaches up to place a cold kiss on my cheek and then leaves. I should be chasing after her, but I feel like I just been sucker punched.

She’s going back to Kentucky?





“Where have you been?” I ask CC as she opens the door to our hotel. I’ve been sitting here on the couch staring at the door since I got back. I tried to rush out and catch her at the restaurant, but she disappeared much too quickly. I came home to find an empty hotel. She didn’t answer her texts and her clothes were still here, so I’ve just been waiting. It’s a f*cked-up feeling and I’m pissed off she ran instead of facing this head on.

She looks at me but doesn’t respond. In fact, instead of answering me or talking to me at all, she ignores me and walks into the living room. I follow her like a damn dog, and that just pisses me off more. When the hell did I start chasing a woman?

“I asked you a question,” I tell her, standing. I watch as she gets her overnight satchel she’s been using and starts pulling stuff out of the dresser drawers and shoving clothes into her bag.

“I heard you,” she mutters, not bothering to look up. I walk over, and when she turns to go back to the dresser, I pull the clothes out.

“An answer would be nice,” I tell her as she comes back to the bed. She looks at the clothes laying on the bed and then back at me. Then, she throws the clothes in her hand at me.

“You want an answer? You’re a selfish *!”

“I’ll admit to that. You want to tell me why you’re leaving?”

“Because you’re a selfish *!”

“I’ve been that from day one and you’ve still hung around.”

“Because I was stupid!”

“Sweet lips…”

“Don’t you ‘sweet lips’ me! I can take a lot of shit. But you made me trust you and then you turned around and lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie exactly.”

“You did! Lying by omission is still lying. You let me walk into that den of vipers unprepared!”

“You wouldn’t have gone otherwise!”

“That was my decision! Which is why you should have told me!”

“I wanted you with me!”

“So you voluntarily made a decision that threw me to the damned wolves?”

“I wanted to prove to you that—”

“Prove what? That you’re a selfish prick? Are you even listening to yourself? You aren’t even apologizing! It’s all I want. Let me tell you what I want, Grayson Lucas. I want a man who respects me and realizes that I put my whole damn life on hold to support him. All I wanted was you to be honest with me.”

“I didn’t lie!” I growl, but I know it’s weak.

“Fuck you.” She’s finished stuffing the clothes back in the bag, so she throws the strap over her shoulder and moves to walk around me… away from me.

“I was an idiot. I’m sorry, CC. I didn’t mean for it to go down like this.”

“What on Earth did you think would happen? Hasn’t the past shown you that I’m oil and water with the Rivertons by now?”

“I wanted to show them that you’re mine. Shit, CC, I don’t know. I knew they would be crawling tonight, asking me to reschedule into the bigger tournaments and I just… I wanted you there to share that with me. I wanted us to be there together like a team.”

She studies my face and I let her. I want her to see the truth there. I didn’t mean for this to go bad. I wanted to show that we were a team. I f*cked up.

“If you wanted us to be a team, you should have told me the truth.”

“You aren’t telling me the truth,” I tell her before I can stop myself.

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s something between you and the Rivertons. More than just you and Cammie hating each other. If tonight showed me nothing else, it showed me that.”

“There’s a difference between lying and just not telling you something because it’s none of your business.”

“You are my business,” I tell her.

“Not anymore.”

“Wait, just like that you think it’s over? Fuck that shit, Cooper. We’re having this out, then I’m stripping you bare and reminding you just how well we match up.”

“Sex is just sex.”

“The hell it is. What we have is special, Cooper. You have to admit to that much.”

“What I have to admit is that I can’t trust you!”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake! I made a mistake, I admit it! But—”

“It was a big damn mistake. You kept something from me that I needed to know. I walked into that restaurant and got blindsided!”

“What do Cammie and her dad matter? They’re idiots! They aren’t worth this shit.”

“You just don’t get it!”

“Then explain it to me, Cooper, because I’m missing something here.” I take a step back and bottle the frustration I’m feeling. I want her to stay. I don’t need to give her more reasons to run because I know my woman and she has that look in her eyes that tells me she’s close to running.