Cooper (Wild Boys After Dark, #4)(2)
“Schedule change,” Tegan said with an air of mischief. “You’re going to go downstairs to that dark, sex-infused bar you told me about and face your fears. Have a glass of wine, see that you can be perfectly confident this weekend without being weighed down by memories, and then you can settle in with a good book.”
“Teg—”
“Seriously, sis. Hell, I think you should get laid just to wash those memories away. Take some handsome guy by the ear, drag him to your room, f*ck the hell out of him, and then toss him away and go on with life. It’ll make you feel better. More in control.”
Cici laughed. “That would give me heart palpitations. Besides, that’s how I got in trouble the first time.”
“Oh my God, that’s totally not true and you know it. You turned Cooper down twice before you went out with him, and you gave in because he was relentless and romantic and hotter than hell, and as I remember, masterful at everything sexual. At least that’s what you told me.”
Cici nibbled on her lower lip, mulling over her little white lie. She hadn’t known how her sister would react to her uncharacteristically wickedly naughty behavior with Cooper, so she’d fudged the truth a little.
“Cici?” Tegan’s voice cut through the silence. “Ohmygod. Did you lie to me?”
“No. Not really. He was the most amazing lover a girl could ever hope for.” She clenched her eyes closed as her sister gave her hell and pictured Tegan’s piercing blue eyes—the same vibrant blue as Cici’s, narrow and angry as she fumed over her sister’s fib.
“Seriously? So you didn’t turn him down twice? I’m the one person you can tell that shit to.”
She remembered the way she and Cooper hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other practically from the first second they’d met. “Watch your language. Where’s Mel?”
“She’s in the kitchen. Don’t worry. I’d never corrupt my niece by cursing in front of her. I’m outside on the back deck. Cici, you’ve kept that from me for this long? Why? Have you kept other stuff about him from me, too?”
Cici sighed, thinking of all the things she’d kept to herself. After Cooper had gone back to New York and she hadn’t heard from him again, the memories she’d coveted were too intimate to admit out loud. She didn’t want anyone to disparage the memories that, despite her broken heart, she still cherished. That was her right, wasn’t it? To tuck away the very best of him all for herself?
Of course, that wasn’t really true, either. She’d given birth to the very best of him.
***
COOPER WILD SAT in the dimly lit hotel bar watching the entrance. He sucked back his drink and ordered another, listening to his brother Jackson and Jackson’s fiancée, Erica Lane, talk about their wedding plans. He was happy for them, he really was, but each of his three older brothers had fallen in love recently, and Cooper was the last single one of the bunch. He didn’t want or need to hear one more word about love. He knew all about the emotion that could wipe a man’s brain clean and make him do things he hated himself for.
They had no idea that Cooper had been the first one to fall in love—and then life had torn him to pieces and his chance for love had gone up in flames. He’d become numb to everything around him. So f*cking numb that he’d tried to f*ck himself into feeling again, but even that hadn’t worked.
“Coop.” Jackson waved a hand in front of him. “Dude, you’re totally zoning out. You okay?”
He ran his gaze over his older brother’s serious blue eyes and chiseled features, both common traits of the four Wild brothers. Jackson was sitting with his arm draped possessively over Erica’s shoulder. Exactly where it should be. From the time they were teenagers until a month ago, Jackson and Erica—Laney, as Jackson had always called her—had been no-strings-attached f*ck buddies. Cooper and their other brothers, Logan and Heath, had known Jackson and Erica belonged together, but Jackson was a stubborn son of a bitch, and like Cooper, he’d lost himself in between whatever sexy pair of legs was currently spread before him. That was, until Erica received a marriage proposal from another guy and Jackson realized he was about to lose the only women he’d ever loved.
“Yeah, I’m cool.” He eyed a group of women settling in at the bar, wishing the only woman he’d ever loved would appear. It was Jackson and Erica’s recent engagement that had pushed Cooper out of his long break from reality and into accepting this photography assignment—and finally reaching out to Celeste Fine. Watching his brothers’ happiness unfold had tripped memories he’d been burying deep inside ever since a random home invasion had left his father dead and his mother blind. To say the last four years had been a big mind f*ck would be putting it lightly, but witnessing the love between Jackson and Erica and seeing Jackson almost lose it forever had sent Cooper’s mind traveling back to Bay City and the woman he’d never been able to forget.
Jackson furrowed his brow over his sharp gaze and glanced around the crowded bar. “She’ll be here, Coop. Just chill, man.”
Cooper had come to Bay City alone the first time, and he hadn’t told anyone about the week he’d fallen head over heels in love with the kindest black-haired beauty on the planet—except his mother. He’d mentioned Celeste to her only once, when he’d been hurting so badly he couldn’t see straight. It was about a year after the attack, and Cooper had been in no shape to even consider a relationship, but he’d wanted to reach out to Cici to apologize for falling off the face of the earth. It had been at his mother’s urging to follow his heart that he’d made the call. Even if you’re not ready, let her know you care, she’d said. But she’d never returned his call.