Beach House Reunion (Beach House #5)(12)

He only grunted in reply.

“Mama’s going to kill you.”

“She knows.”

Linnea felt frustration bubble in her veins. If she’d dared stay out all night in high school, she’d have been disowned.

“I went fishing.” Cooper turned to his side. His dark curls fell over his thick brows, covering his bloodshot eyes.

Linnea smirked. She knew fishing and hunting weekends at the lodge were nothing but excuses for the boys to go out to the country and drink themselves senseless. God help anyone fool enough to put a gun in their hands. She hated to think what would happen.

“Well, come on, then. You need some food in your stomach.”

He groaned and fell back on his stomach. “Can’t. Sick.”

Linnea looked around the darkened room. Clothes were strewn upon the floor, drawers were spilling over, and dirty dishes cluttered the desk. It smelled like a sty. A flicker of worry brought her closer to sit on the edge of his bed.

“Hey,” she asked in a gentler tone, “are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Look at me.”

“Go away.”

“I’m serious. Look at me.”

Cooper groaned again, more from annoyance, but he complied, raising himself up on his elbows and opening his eyes. He stared at her with bug-eyed exaggeration.

“See?”

Linnea peered into them and was satisfied the pupils were not dilated. “Okay,” she said, “but slow down on the drinking. You look like shit.”

He smiled lazily. “I love you too.”

She shoved him gently, smiling. “So,” she said, trying to start a conversation. “How are you? Really.”

Cooper pushed the thick curls from his face and shifted to sit back against the bed frame. “Okay,” he said on a long yawn. “Glad to be out of school. I need a break. Soccer was tough. Basketball was the bomb.”

Linnea knew sports were important to Cooper, so she feigned interest. “Go Cyclones. What college sports will you play?”

Cooper’s face darkened. “I don’t know. I was recruited by USC for soccer.”

“That’s great!”

He shrugged and picked a nail. “I’m going to the Citadel.”

“Oh, well then, go Bulldogs.”

“Yeah.”

He seemed despondent, but it could’ve just been the hangover. “Are you excited to begin college? Get out of the house?”

“No.” He snorted. “I’ll just be on the other side of town.”

“Yeah, but you’ll still be out.”

“I’ll be a knob.”

Linnea couldn’t help her outbreak of laughter. “Sorry,” she said, covering her mouth. That was the term for freshmen at the Citadel. He’d have his head shaved and live a military lifestyle. And the hazing of knobs was legendary. This was the first she’d heard that he’d chosen the Citadel. She’d been asking her brother about his college decision for months, but he’d been evasive.

“What made you decide on the Citadel?”

Cooper stared at his hands. “Dad decided.”

The humor fled. “Oh. But you agreed, right?”

“I did what I was told.”

“Oh, Coop,” she said.

Linnea studied her baby brother. He looked like the perfect jock and privileged boy, but he had a soft underbelly. Under his nonchalant fa?ade, she knew he felt things intensely. And he avoided confrontations. Cooper was a team player, a trait that helped in sports and popularity, but took its toll in his personal life. Sometimes, though, like now, she wanted to give him a swift kick in the butt.

“It’s your life, Coop. You’re not a kid anymore. I mean, you’re the one going to college.”

“Not college. The military. I’m going to the Citadel.” He spat the name out with venom.

She stared at him. “You don’t want to go there?”

Cooper’s face flushed with anger. “No, I don’t want to go there!”

She was taken aback. Cooper was slow to anger. “Then why did you apply?”

“I didn’t choose it. Dad did! I wanted to go to USC and told him that. Even got some scholarship money for basketball.” He released a short laugh. “If you could go there, why couldn’t I?” He shook his head. “That’s when I got the long lecture about how Rutledge men go to the Citadel. How he went, and Granddad went, and how I damn well was going too.”

Linnea felt her blood boil. She’d thought she had it bad when she fought to go to a university out of the South. The battle had been fierce but Linnea didn’t give in and had enlisted Aunt Cara’s support. Cara always had a special influence over her father.

“Coop, you should’ve fought harder. Just tell Daddy you want to go somewhere else.”

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”

“Why not? I told him. He had a hissy fit but he came around in the end.”

“You were always able to go toe-to-toe with him. I just . . .” He shrugged. “It’s not my style.”

“They would’ve come around.”

“You don’t get it.”

“Get what?” She heard the challenge in her voice.