They’d probably think he’d done it to me. I tried to sit up further and everything around me began to spin. Nausea rose within me and I collapsed backward, breathing slowly in through my nose and out through my mouth, trying not to throw up.
After a moment Cooper returned with another cold cloth and he placed it on my head, running his fingers gently along my forehead and brushing my hair away from my face. He leaned down and kissed my lips softly. My eyes closed, but after a second, I opened them, and he was staring at me with his lips pressed to mine. I tried to open my mouth to ask him what he was doing, but something in his eyes stopped me.
Another few seconds passed and his breathing evened out. He sat back, breaking the contact between us, rubbing his hands over his face.
“God, this is so fucked up,” he spat out, his voice breaking, stood up, and walked out of the room.
I lay on the couch with my heart racing and my lips burning as I thought about how as soon as I’d heard his voice in the kitchen, my body started to relax and a ball of tension unwound in my chest despite John still having a hold of me. My eyes burned as his words after our kiss echoed in my head.
I stayed there for a few hours until I could sit up without feeling dizzy and eventually managed to walk slowly to the stairs. I met Cooper coming down the stairs, and he had changed into a green top, with faded and ripped stonewash denims. My eyes lingered on the parts of him I could see and when I raised my eyes to his, a hard look was in them and I blushed worried about the look in his eyes and the fact that he’d caught me staring at him.
He moved, hissing as he passed me.
“I’m going out. Don’t wait up.”
I nodded in his general direction, and as he moved towards the door, the scent of his aftershave lingered in the air. I breathed in deeply and the smell gave me butterflies in my stomach. The door banged closed and I climbed the stairs slowly, holding on to the banister to steady myself.
A few seconds later the front door reopened, and Cooper rushed by me, sprinting up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door. My heart thudded painfully, and I continued to climb the stairs, hurrying down the hall towards my room as fast as I could. As I passed Cooper’s room his door opened, and he plowed into me. His arm shot around my waist and his eyes dropped down to my stomach and as his eyes roamed over my body my skin tingled and burned as I realized I was still only in my swimsuit.
His fingers tightened on my waist, and he raised his eyes to mine, licking his lips as he looked into my eyes. Hunger flickered in them along with pure, unadulterated lust. For a moment we stood together, frozen in time, and then his cell rang, breaking the spell. He stepped back from me and answered the call. A girl’s voice rang out and my heart shattered into pieces. I moved away from him, walking backward with an inaudible gasp of guilt as I remembered David and how we were together.
Cooper’s eyes widened, and he looked away from me, opening and closing his fist. I reached my room door as he ended the call and I tried to open the door behind my back. Cooper turned towards me and stalked down the hall.
“You’re with David now?” he asked, his eyes darkening as I nodded.
He paused at the top of the stairs and looked back at me with glassy eyes. “Fine. I mean”— he paused and took a breath as I managed to get the door to my room open— “that’s good, right?”
The draft on my back told me that my bedroom door had swung open, but I couldn’t move; I was frozen like a mouse trapped under a cobra’s spell. Coop took a step forward and then turned, rushing towards me. He ran straight into my arms and I rubbed my arms up and over his back. His body fused to mine and his lips pressed into mine, hard and demanding. As he slipped his tongue inside my mouth, he moved us into my room and kicked the door shut with his heel as he ran his fingers down my spine. My sore lip throbbed, but I ignored it, focusing on how kissing Coop made me feel.
His hands went around my body to my ass, and he moaned into my mouth as he picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he rocked his rock-solid boner into me. I groaned and ground down onto him unashamedly.
“Coop, that feels amazing,” I stuttered as he dropped his lips to my neck and sucked on my skin, biting as his hands moved me over his erection. My bikini bottoms rubbed against me deliciously and his lips dropped down further to kiss the top of my breasts that were poking out of my bikini top.
He kissed back up to my lips and then down to my neck all the while pulling me against him and pushing against me. The feel of his rough denim against my clit was driving me wild and we moved faster and faster against each other, both chasing the release we so desperately needed.
His breath was ragged and a second later my body clenched around his as I came, and he followed a second later.
“This is mine,” he whispered brokenly as he dropped me onto my bed and stormed from the room. He slammed the door as he left, and I lay where he dropped me, staring at the ceiling wondering how we could have this when we were in one, big happy family. At least that’s what we were according to my mom and Shawn, but it wasn’t even partly close to the truth.
Another few minutes passed and I finally stood up to go for a shower. My vision swam as I got to my feet and every ache and pain rushed back to me. I moved slowly towards the bathroom but froze when I heard a thumping sound echoing from the next room.
I grabbed a loose dress and pulled it over my shoulders as I rushed from the room, ignoring the pain wracking my body. I reached Coop’s room to see the door was open. He was standing in the middle of the room, hitting a punching bag over and over again. It wasn’t that which stopped me on the threshold of his room; it was the fact he was only in boxer briefs and my eyes drank in his tight ass as he moved around punching again and again.
“Coop?” My voice was barely above a whisper and I swallowed and tried again. “Cooper?” His eyes swung around, and he sneered at me.
“What, Bailey? What could you possibly want from me?” I stepped back as he stalked towards me. “I’m disgusted by what just happened between us. Stay away from me from now on.” He lifted his hand to shut the door and my eyes dropped as I saw cuts on the knuckles.
As the door slammed in my face, I stood there for a moment reeling when I heard a shout, “FUUUCCCKK,” and a crash of glass. I spun around and ran back into my room with tears in my eyes, closing my door softly behind me. I leaned against it, sliding down to the floor, sitting with my hands wrapped around my knees.
After the night we’d gotten each other off, Cooper and I were cold and aloof with each other. I was hurt at how he had treated me afterward, and he was just ice-cold. I’d walk into a room, and he’d walk out. He couldn’t bear to be touched by me at all. One day I accidentally brushed his arm as I went upstairs and his whole body stiffened. His teeth clamped together with an audible snap and his brown hair, longer than he usually wore it, hit me as he whipped round to look at me.
“Don’t touch me,” he snapped as he stormed away.
“S-s-sorry,” I stuttered out, “it was an accident.”
His gaze turned back to me and I shrunk back at the look he was giving me; it was one of pure hatred and it cut me to the bone. I rushed back to my room and closed the door, leaning on it as I took my shoes off and there was a knock at the door. Zane was standing on the other side, holding his bleeding nose.
“Jeez, Zane, what happened?”
I pulled him into my room, straight into the bathroom and had him sit on the toilet with his head down and my waste bucket under his nose. I ran a cloth under some cold water, dampening it and I cleaned his face off. He had a fat lip and there were tears in his eyes.
“My dad happened; he’s been on the coke again.” His voice was low and crackled as he spoke.
I didn’t know what to say to him, but my eyes widened in surprise that Shawn took that stuff.
I wiped at the blood on his cheek, and he pressed his cheek into my palm without speaking for a moment. My room door opened and a huff of breath from behind me
told me someone had entered. I glanced over my shoulder and Cooper was standing behind me. He stared at us in horror for a moment. Zane was looking down again and missed it, but as he looked up, he caught Coop’s expression.
“Dad’s on the blow again,” he muttered, and Cooper sighed and then shrugged and part of me wondered if he already knew.
“Yeah, I thought as much.” His eyes lingered on my hands as I wiped at the blood on Zane’s face and for a moment his eyes blazed but before I could read his emotions he spun on his heel and moved away from us. Zane shrugged without saying anything as I looked back at him.
“Stay here,” I muttered to Zane as I walked after Cooper. Raised voices sounded in the hall and I rushed out to see Cooper pinned to the wall by Shawn. His face was so red and there was a vein popping in his forehead.
“What. Were. You. Doing. In. Her. Room?” He pushed against Cooper’s neck and Cooper’s face turned a shade of purple. I was completely frozen to the spot and Coop’s eyes met mine. “I. Told. You. To. Stay. Away.” Coop’s eyes rolled and I ran over.
“Shawn, what’s going on? He just wanted to borrow a CD.” He spun to face me, releasing Cooper and grabbing me by the arm. His hold tightened, and he turned his body, blocking Cooper from my view as he stared down at me, rage all over his face.
“I warned him and now I’m going to warn you.” He dragged me away from Cooper and pulled me into his office. He pushed me onto the desk and grabbed my pants and underwear. He yanked them down and as he held me down, took off his belt. He pushed me further over the desk holding me down with a strong arm so I couldn’t move.
Shock coursed through me at how awful this situation was and as the first blow hit me, I screamed loudly, the room echoing my voice back at me. He hit me a further six times, the pain of each worse than the one before. When he stopped, he spun around and left me lying over the desk, my bare ass exposed.
I heard him storm upstairs and as I struggled to bend down to reach my clothing, I heard a crash. Coop’s hoarse voice, crying out, reached me. I managed to pull my pants up, ignoring the pain that lanced through me and moved towards the stairs wincing with every step. Even though walking up the stairs was complete agony, I forced my feet forwards to the top.
As I reached Cooper’s open door I looked inside, and he was lying flat on the bed, his pants around his ankles, as his dad hit him over and over again with the belt. Nausea rose inside me at the sight, but when Cooper’s eyes opened, and he saw me frozen in horror watching, he moved his eyes. I knew what he meant; I had to move, or it was going to get so much worse for both of us.
Zane was still in the bathroom when I walked into my room slowly. He was hidden in the shower stall, and I knew that he was trying to hide from his father. I locked my bathroom door behind me and sank down onto the cool tiles, letting them soothe my aching ass.
I must have nodded off because when I awoke, I had a blanket over me and a pillow behind my head. The shower stall was empty and the door to my room was open. I wanted to crawl out into my room, but my body was aching from my beating, and I couldn’t move. Giving up trying to move, I nodded off again. When I woke up again it was the early hours of the morning judging by the darkness. There was someone beside me, their body heat helping keep me warm as I still sat on the cold tiles. The familiar scent told me it was Cooper.
“Hey,” his hoarse voice whispered in my ear, “my dad took off with your mom for the weekend. He doesn’t want you to be able to tell her what he did to you.” His hands slipped around me, and he pulled me into him. His gentle breathing on my neck soothed me, and he pulled me closer.
“I’m so sorry, Bails. I didn’t know he’d be up here. I swear. I’m so sorry he hurt you. It’s all my fault and I’m really, really sorry.” His sleepy voice relaxed me, and he pressed his lips softly to my neck making me shiver all over. “Stop shivering and go back to sleep.”
I smiled and snuggled down in his arms, thinking about how safe I felt in them. After a few minutes, I drifted back off. When I woke up the next morning, he was gone. I wondered if I’d dreamed it, but his scent was in my hair. As I tried to stand, my ass stung so badly that tears nipped my eyes and I pushed myself onto my knees with difficulty.
The door to my room was closed almost all the way and I shuffled towards it, closing it completely behind me as I flipped the light on. I turned around and pulled my pants and underwear down and stared in horror at the color of my ass in the mirror. It was black and blue, with lines of black criss crossing over and there were a few cuts where the buckle had caught me. I swallowed the horror and pain and just stared at myself for a few minutes.
As I stood looking at my injuries, a soft knock sounded on my bathroom door.
“Bailey?” Cooper’s voice called through the door. “You okay in there, baby?” I snatched my pants up, wincing at the sharp pain that shot through me as I opened the door to Cooper. He took one look at my face and pulled me into his arms. As I started sobbing, he sank to the floor gingerly, pulling me into his arms. “Shh, it’s okay, it’ll be okay.”
His voice was hollow, and his words empty, but he held me until I cried myself to sleep again. I woke up as Cooper picked me and he carried me across the room. He gently placed me into my bed, he kissed my head and pressed his lips to mine before taking off. I didn’t see him for the rest of the weekend and when school started back, I had a brand-new shiny cell phone, courtesy of my guilty-as-sin stepfather, but if he thought buying me gifts would make up for the fact that he’d beaten me up, he was sorely mistaken.
School passed in a blur and David met me afterward, asking me to go for something to eat. But I had to tell him I couldn’t. My mom was taking us all out to dinner because she’d won a huge client at work. My mom was an insurance rep and Shawn was her CEO, so it was big news.
“I can’t tonight,” I said through gritted teeth as he put his hand on my ass, squeezing gently. Tears sprung into my eyes, but I managed to roll them away and when I looked at David he was staring over my shoulder. I turned and Cooper was standing at the end of the hall glaring at us. He moved towards us.
“Keep it PG in school, sister” His voice was tight as he nodded at David with a tight smile and ignored me completely. His taunt echoed in my ears and I wanted to punch him but he was gone before I’d decided to smack him.
I shrugged at David’s questioning look. He rolled his shoulders and walked away without a goodbye. As I walked to the parking lot, I remembered I’d gotten a lift with Coop this morning which had been awkward because we didn’t know how to be around each other. I walked with my shoulders slumped towards the lot. As I stood looking around for Coopers silver Toyota, I couldn’t see it.
Someone shouted something and as I glanced around, a ball hit me full force on my head. My head rang in pain and I collapsed to my knees.
“Jesus, kid, are you alright?” a male voice asked. I tried to look at him, but there were four of him. I tried to speak, but my words wouldn’t come out and my eyes rolled back in my head as I blacked out and my face hit the ground with ringing ears.
Suddenly the air around me crackled with tension.
“Walker,” a teacher’s voice asked, “what happened?”
“She didn’t move, I shouted at her to move. It was an accident, I swear. Cooper threw the ball and I missed it.” I heard his panicked tone and my mind clung on to one thing; Cooper had thrown the ball that hit me.
A second later Cooper was standing beside me.
“Cooper, did you hit Miss Walker with the ball?” My head throbbed and nausea rose in me like a giant wave. I turned my head to the side and vomited all over Coop’s shoes and heard his shout of disgust. My eyes closed and I lurched forwards, but hands grabbed at me.
“Bailey?” Coop’s voice sounded in my ear. “Can you hear me?” The panic in his tone made me want to answer him, but the darkness was so inviting. It was warm and cozy and I wouldn’t be sore anymore. I wanted to go to the darkness.
“Miss Walker?”
I heard a teacher’s voice speak and I moved closer to the darkness as the hands holding my arms tightened.
“Bailey.” He shook me and I opened my eyes to glare at him. The darkness receded and his face lightened in relief.
“I should take her home,” he spoke as my eyes opened and I blinked, raising my arm to shield my eyes. The teacher looked at Coop dubiously.
“I think she may have a concussion. The ER would be better.” Cooper nodded at him and although he looked calm, I could feel his hands shaking. “Cooper, tomorrow morning report to my office, and we’ll discuss the rules of throwing balls into crowds of innocent parties.”
“Yes, sir.” Cooper helped me up and a dizzy spell had me falling into him. He sighed and put his hands under my arms. He moved towards the car and I followed on shaky legs, my head swimming as he finally sat me down in the passenger seat. He walked around the car stopping to open the trunk and grab something before slamming it shut. The sound of the trunk slamming was like a sledgehammer on my skull.
He opened the driver’s side door and sat in his seat, facing away from me as he removed his loafers and put his sneakers on. He put his loafers in a shopping bag and threw them over his shoulder. I watched him for a couple of moments, but my head hurt too much so I leaned back and closed my eyes.
As he closed his door, he clicked his belt into place. The sound made me wince and he reached over gently touching my fingers. My eyes shot open and I turned to face him, trying to ignore the nausea the movement caused.
“Seat belt,” he mumbled. I passed him my seat belt, he clicked it in place and took off out of the parking lot. We were about halfway home before he spoke to me again.
“Bailey, are you okay?” he asked, as his hold tightened on the steering wheel.
“You know we can’t go to the ER right? My dad’ll kill me if he finds out.” There was real fear in his voice and I opened my mouth to reassure him when he glanced over at me, stealing my breath. His eyes were brimming with tears as he watched me, and the sorrow etched on his face burrowed into my soul. I smiled at him.
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