Path of Destruction (Broken Heartland, #2)(59)

“Something like that. Can you handle that? That I might have to duck and run at a moment’s notice if it means doing what’s best for her?” His chest constricted with tension as he waited for her answer.

“I’m trying to be understanding,” she said resting her head on his shoulder. “Kind of like I hope you’ll be when I tell you what happened after prom.”

Cooper’s muscles tensed but he waited for her to continue.

“I kissed Hayden,” she announced suddenly. “Um, more than kissed, kind of made out with. But we stopped before it went any further.” For a moment, neither of them spoke. Cameron leaned back and looked up at him. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“What do you want me to say?” Cooper dropped his arms from her turned away to keep the rage at bay.

“Something. Anything,” she pleaded.

He offered her a shrug. It was the best he could do at the moment.

“You really have nothing to say?”

“Oh I have plenty to say,” he assured her. “But it’s not like you’re mine or anything. You made it clear that this…” He held up a hand, pointing out the fact that they were once again back in the closet. “This was all you wanted from me.”

“That didn’t stop you from storming into the prom and kissing me in front of everyone like you owned me, now did it?”

“I don’t recall hearing you complaining. Though it didn’t stop you from running into Prescott’s arms the second I messed up.” He shook his head. “And for the record, I haven’t kissed anyone else since whatever this is started.”

“It was a stupid mistake,” she told him. “What happened with Hayden,” she clarified. “It meant nothing.”

“Is that right?” He took a deep calming breath. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this angry. “If it meant nothing, then why did you feel the need to tell me about it?”

“I... Because I didn’t want you to hear about it from someone else.”

“That the only reason?” he asked. When she didn’t answer, he turned to walk out the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve got something I need to take care of.” He turned to look at her one last time before leaving. “You might want to figure out exactly what the hell you want from me, because this is the last time I’m coming down here and letting you pretend that what’s going on between doesn’t mean anything.”

“Fine,” she huffed out.

“Fine,” he called back as he slammed the door behind him.



Females had obviously been invented for the sheer purpose of driving him insane. Cooper found himself wishing he could call his best friend up for some advice. But he couldn’t. So he tried to think about what Kyle would do, how he would handle this situation.

He thought about the bonfire. Then he thought about how much he didn’t actually hate Prescott as much as he had that night.

He wanted to.

Hell, he needed to. Some days, that was about all that kept him going. But the way he’d protected EJ at prom plus how solid of a friend he’d been to Cameron and the fact that he really was busting his ass day in and day out on the Hope’s Grove rebuild made it hard to hold on to the anger.

Likable bastard, Cooper thought to himself. In another life, the two of them might have even been friends. But in this life, Prescott’s family represented everything he detested and the dude kept interfering with the two girls he cared most about. So he’d have to pay one way or another.

Cooper took stock of his emotions as he headed down the hallway in search of Hayden.

He was a simple guy. He believed in hard work and honesty. If you pissed him off, kissed his girl—whether she wanted to admit she was his girl or not—you paid for it. Simple as that. He’d let it slide with EJ because that was on him. He hadn’t told her how he’d felt so technically his hat hadn’t even been in the ring. But this was different. Cameron was different.

So when Hayden appeared on the periphery, Cooper made a beeline to where he stood.

“You kiss her?” he asked once he had the other guy’s attention.

Hayden frowned. “Which her are we referring to, Joe?”

Which her kissing Hayden had bothered him the most? Cooper wasn’t sure. Fourth of July had sucked major ass. His heart had been crushed to dust. Hearing Cameron say they’d made out after prom was a knife in his gut. The two feelings were different and the same and impossible to compare. Kind of like the two girls.

Hayden sighed as if he had somewhere more important to be. “I’m really not in the mood for this to—”

Fuck it.

He didn’t bother answering. He just slammed his fist into Hayden’s jaw and hoped that got his point across effectively enough.





Hayden didn’t bother getting up right away once he’d found himself on the wrong end of Cooper’s fist. Instead, he lay on his back, staring up at rows of florescent lights, and contemplated the many, many things that had gone wrong that day.

No seventeen-year-old male should ever have to see his grandmother naked. That’s what he’d learned at six forty-five in the morning when he’d stumbled into the kitchen to find his bare-assed grandma attempting to make pancakes.