She jerked her hand away from him. "He didn't go crazy. He just lost his last family and left town. You have a big family here. Cooper lost his parents when he was young and then lost both grandparents not long after high school."
It pissed her off to hear about the ridiculous rumors. All because someone had seen him break down at the hospital and then the funeral where he ignored everyone. Except her. Funny how she was taking up for him and she’d just finished yelling at him. Was she too hard on him?
"Well, I just figured he didn't do so well, since his scholarship fell through. He got offers from more than one college to play, didn't he?"
"Yes. He planned to keep playing after high school. My brothers didn't want to, but he still wanted to go for it." Seeing him recovering after the surgery had been hard. She never missed their games and the way Cooper's eyes would light up after their wins. He also kept a good attitude when they lost, unlike some of the other guys.
"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to upset you. Let's get in here and see what the guys have cooked up."
Another hour later, she sat there with Seth's arms around her as she blocked out the bickering and joking between him and the other two men on shift.
"Sophia, when are you going to leave this goof and be with a real man?" Big Red rubbed his large belly and winked at her.
He nudged her and laughed. "Yeah, baby, when you gonna do that?"
"You both better watch it before I sic my brothers on y'all." They all groaned and rolled their eyes. Her brothers made it known that if anyone hurt her then they wouldn't survive long. Not that any of the men around her were worried about it, since it was all fun and games.
Seth's hand moved lower down her back when the other men's attention turned back to the movie playing. He traced small circles right above the waistline of her jeans.
Having his hands on her like that wasn't anything new and she always stopped him before anything happened, but how long would he let her get away with it? Maybe it was time.
Well, not right then. There was no way she'd allow her first time to be in the fire house beds, where her brother worked. Gross. And really just not that romantic.
Sophia looked up at his face. It would be his birthday in only three days. Perfect. She had time to prepare and he would be surprised. Oh God, she was about to do it. Ryan was going to die!
"What's running around in that beautiful head of yours?" He didn't move his fingers any lower, but didn't bring them back up either.
If only he knew what was running through her head. He'd be jumping with joy. The poor guy had waited a long time for someone who was used to women throwing themselves at him. It worked for her too, because now she could move on with Seth and forget about the blue-eyed neighbor who made her blood boil and her heart race with just a smile.
Chapter Five
"I can't believe she's pissed enough to just ditch us. I knew it upset her when you left, but I didn't realize it was that bad." Nick didn't remove his attention from his bowl of ice cream.
Cooper could put down some food, but he had to turn down the dessert after eating the huge steak, two helpings of garlic mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and dinner rolls. He was a sucker for potatoes. Cardio was definitely needed in the morning.
"She'll cool off later." Jacob took a swig of his beer. "Did you go inside the house?"
"No. I think I'll wait until tomorrow. I planned on getting a hotel for tonight." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw it was almost ten. "I should probably head out now so I can get checked in."
Jacob shook his head. "You can just stay here. You'll have to sleep on the couch, but it's better than wasting money for a night at a hotel."
"Ha! I would love to see Sophia's face when she comes home to find you asleep on the couch." Ryan held his glass of sweet tea in his hand. He turned down the beer when they offered since he had to drive home.
The guy wasn't so bad. He even found out he used to play in a band and would play on his own some weekends at the local bar. Turned out they both had something in common. Not that any of them knew Cooper was a musician and played nearly every weekend in Texas. He was waiting for a call from his agent about getting the record deal. A long shot, but he still tried. This was his grandmother's last wish and he'd do whatever he could to fulfill it.
"Ryan's right. I think a hotel will be fine. I appreciate the offer." He could use the gym they had too. Probably wouldn’t be the best he'd worked out in.
"I didn't say you had to go to a hotel. I've got a free room at my place. You can use it for however long. I'm sure your house is going to take some work to get it straightened out. No one has used the bed, except for Sophia."
Cooper shook his head when Ryan lifted one brow. Obviously, the man knew more than her brothers did. He checked to see if they paid any attention to Ryan. Mike and Nick seemed to be oblivious, but Jacob narrowed his gaze on Sophia’s friend.
"That would be fine. A bed would be a little more comfortable than the couch." He just hoped Ryan kept his mouth shut and didn't piss him off.
"Hey, I got to work late until Friday. You want to hang out again? Maybe you'll have the house ready and we can drop in and see what you got to work with." Jacob stood, along with Ryan and Cooper.
"I'll let you know." If he could make himself go into the old house and survive the memories that filled it. He followed Jacob out onto the front porch much like the one surrounding his home. It was hard just being at their house, because of the striking similarities. And then remembering his time spent there with Sophia and even the brothers.
"No worries. If not, you can just stop back here, but you'll supply the beer and join us this time."
"Thanks, man."
Jacob watched Ryan head toward his truck and shook his head. "You have to ignore him sometimes. Sophia loves him though, so we tolerate him. Are you sure you don't want to stay here?"
He shook his head. "I can handle him for a good night’s sleep and without waking up with Sophia standing above me with a knife."
"True. She's a feisty thing sometimes." Jacob's smile faded and he eyed him. "The others didn't really notice, but I knew Sophia took it hard. She broke down when I woke her up after you were gone. I'm not really surprised to see how upset she is now, and you're my friend, but if you hurt her again, then things will be a hell of a lot different. I don't know if there was more than a friendship in your head for my sister. What I do know is that she felt more than just a friendship."
It proved so damn hard not to look away. "I didn't mean to hurt her. Please just tell her how sorry I am again."
He didn't say anything else. How could he share what he really felt with Jacob? He still had no clue in the first place.
"Just follow me." Ryan started up his own truck and waited.
Tomorrow, he needed to get over his fear of entering his old house. Another night with Sophia's friend might not be the smartest thing. He jumped into his truck and followed behind Ryan. During the nearly thirty minute drive, he sang along to the music on the radio, trying to get his mind off everything else.
It didn't work when an old song came on. One of the songs he sang to Sophia on that last day. She probably didn't realize he had been singing to her that day in the truck, but every time he heard it on the radio, her beautiful green, sometimes blue, eyes appeared in his head, and then her smile. A smile that could knock a man to his knees just to see over and over.
Cooper would stay on his knees for the rest of his life just begging her to be with him if it would work.
A knock on his window brought him back to reality and to the fact that he was parked in a strange driveway. Crazy how you could be in such a daze that you don't even remember how you ended up some place or how you didn't wreck the car along the way.
He got out and ignored Ryan who was watching him with a big smile on his face.
"You seemed to be somewhere else just now."
"It happens." Cooper grabbed his bag and the black guitar case that h
eld the only possession that meant more to him than anything. Except for Sophia.
"You play?" He walked up to the door and unlocked it. "I don't remember Sophia ever mentioning it."
Cooper walked into the smaller home and sat his bag down beside the couch, but held tight to his guitar. "No one knew. It's not much of a secret as it was when I lived here. Only my grandparents knew."
"Awesome! Maybe we can play at the bar in town then." Ryan yawned and then laughed. "Man, I'm exhausted. This has been an interesting day."
Wasn't that true? "If you'll just show me where to go, I'll head to bed, too."
He followed Ryan to the back room and carried his stuff into the room.
"Sorry, the bed isn't very big. Sophia stayed a couple nights ago and she's the only one I ever planned on staying over, so I didn't worry about a bigger bed. She's a tiny thing and doesn't need much room." Ryan pointed down the hall. "There's the bathroom and you don't have to worry about waking me up or anything, I'm a heavy sleeper."
"Thanks again." Cooper waited until Ryan was gone before removing his clothes, except for his underwear. The bed called to him and he was just too damn exhausted to resist. His feet nearly hung off the end, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was that he could still smell Sophia in the bed. Damn asshole probably knew that.
Sophia's honeysuckle scent lingered on the pillow case. Just that and the thought of her caused his dick to harden. He wasn't going to give in.—not in Ryan's house, and it just felt disrespectful to her.
He had some shitty issues, that was for sure. It wasn't long before he drifted off and the dreams of her that came just added to his problems.
Chapter Six
Pitch black, Sophia managed to get the key in the hole and walked in. Thanks bunches for making my life so simple.
Not that Ryan knew she was coming over. After ditching them all, she figured it best just to stay the night in his spare room. It wouldn't be the first time she showed up unannounced just to get away from the others.
She grabbed a water from his fridge and then walked down to the spare room. It was dark, but she didn't waste time trying the light, since it was always burned out. He never changed it and she always just used the bedside lamp. She removed her bra by unsnapping and pulling it through her shirt sleeves, then removed her boots and pants. T-shirt and panties was the most comfortable get up to sleep in.
Sleeping in the buff just wasn't for her. It seemed risky. Not that Ryan was going to take advantage of her, but if the house caught on fire, she didn't want to be caught completely naked. All the firefighters knew her, along with everyone else in town.
"OW!" She kept her voice as low as she could after stubbing her toe on whatever he'd left in the middle of the floor. After bending over and running her hands over the object, she realized it was his guitar. Maybe she should've turned the lamp on sooner, but it didn't matter since it stood beside the bed she was about to get into.
She lifted the cover and crawled in. Well, as best as she could with a huge body already taking up the whole bed. On a scream, she jumped back out just as quick. If not for falling backwards on her ass over the damn guitar, she'd have been out of the room already.
"Shit!" A male voice cursed, then the lamp flicked on and she covered her eyes from the attack of the bright ass light. He shot up and stood above her.
If things weren't bad enough, they just got a lot worse. "Cooper?"
He didn't speak but kept his eyes glued on her chest.
"Oh crap! Don't look!" Her yelling must've snapped him out of his daze, because he slapped his hands over his face as she stood to pull her clothes back on. It was pointless to try and put the bra back on so she just threw it out of sight. "What are you doing here?"
Why had she not been warned by Ryan? If she found out he did it on purpose, then he was most definitely a dead man.
He pulled one hand away slowly and then the other once he saw her clothes were back on. It wasn't hard to see his disappointment. "What am I doing here? What the hell are you doing? Ryan invited me to stay here tonight, instead of going to the hotel. He said you stayed sometimes, but he didn't mention you just showing up to sleep over. Surely he wouldn't have let me stay if he knew you were coming."
It wasn't like she could blame either one. Next time she'd just text him to make sure it was okay for her to stay. "He didn't know I was coming. I have a key and he's okay with me staying some nights. I never thought you'd be here."
She didn't mean for the 'you' to come out as hateful as it did, but he got out of the bed and scanned her up and down. Being that close to him felt damn near impossible, with him in only his boxer briefs. She'd only gotten a glimpse of them when he hurried to her. Too much to handle. Fire spread fast through her body.
The warmth from his naked flesh made its way past her thin shirt and her nipples tightened against his chest. She ignored it and just attempted to breathe normally and not peek down between them. He pulled her closer. As tight as he held her, she couldn't do much more than lift her hands to his waist.
"I'm so sorry for everything, Sophia. I know you don't want to hear it and I sure as hell don't deserve your forgiveness. Please just understand how much I care about you." His voice broke at the end.
She moved her hands slowly around him until they rested at the bottom of his spine and too close to his butt.
"I'm really going to have to apologize if you move your hands anymore."
"What?" As soon as she asked, she wanted to slap herself. "Never mind."
He laughed and his whole chest bounced against hers. It didn’t take long before he quit and jerked away from her with his gaze glued to her chest. "Damn it, Sophia! You don't have a bra on?"
There was no way she’d answer that question. "I need to go."
She ran out the door and stopped in the kitchen, so glad that waking Ryan was almost as bad as waking the dead. At least she didn't have to listen to him laugh at her.
"Sophia? I'll sleep on the couch and you can have the bed. You don't need to go home this late."
She expected him to touch her, but he didn't. Warmth against her back told her he wasn't far behind her. She couldn't look at him. "I'll be okay to drive home. It's not that late and I didn't get to tell my brothers where I was anyways. I don't think I could sleep right now."
"I don't want you to leave."
The words forced her to close her eyes and then open them up as she turned to glimpse up at his face. She wasn't sure if he didn't want her driving late, or if he really didn't want her to leave. "I don't get you, Cooper."
"I'm a complicated man." That smile popped up and she couldn't stop her own.
"I'll stay, but you keep the bed. I'm too wound up to go to sleep now; I'll watch some TV until I can." She walked over to the couch, sat down, and grabbed the remote. Before the television flicked on, Cooper was sitting beside her. She just watched him.
"I don't think I can sleep yet either and I don't remember seeing a TV in the spare room." She didn't believe his innocent look one bit.
Fine. Two can play that game. She flipped the channels and grinned when she found the sappiest movie on. Then she pulled both bare feet up on the couch, only a mere inch away from his thigh. She swallowed when she realized that not only was he still shirtless, but he only wore his boxer-briefs. Short, dark hairs dusted his heavily muscled legs. Even relaxed, she could see the definition.
She shook her head and went back to teasing him instead of the other way around. Not that he seemed to even notice what he was doing to her. She squeezed her thighs together and focused back on her task. It wasn't hard when she still didn't have a bra on. She stretched her arms high above her head, jutting her breast out to give him a nice long view.
A curse spat from his lips and he grabbed one of the sofa pillows to cover his lap.
Sophia turned her attention back to the movie on the screen. Teasing him seemed fun at first, until she thought about Seth. It shouldn't have turned her on so much that Cooper w
as attracted to her. She decided to quit the game she started. Seth sure as hell wouldn't find it hilarious that Cooper had already seen more of her than him.
Damn Cooper for coming back home.
****
Damn him for choosing to stay at Ryan's. He sure didn't mind getting the eyeful he did of Sophia, but that was something he could never forget. If he thought he wouldn't get over her before, it became even harder with the image of her perfect little nipples poking through her shirt.
His dick strained against the soft cotton of his underwear and he regretted not pulling his pants back on. The pillow hid him well, but he saw her smirk when he pulled it over his lap. She knew what she did and that confused him. No matter if he wanted to see where their relationship could go, he wouldn't do anything until she was single. He'd messed up by kissing her already and he couldn't do it again.
He was royally screwed if her relationship turned up to be serious. There might not even be a chance in hell of getting another shot at being with her. He'd lost that chance the first time he left.
He watched her eyelids close slowly before popping back open. He wasn't about to let her sleep on the uncomfortable couch. It wasn't even good enough to sit on. Ryan needed better taste than that. "I really want you to take the bed. Sleeping on the couch isn't a problem."
It took her a moment before she nodded, too tired to deny him. "Thank you. Goodnight."
He followed to grab his bag and guitar. The puzzled look on her face tugged at his heartstrings.
One brow lifted and her lips pursed. "That's not Ryan's?"
"No. This is my baby." He walked out before she could question him anymore. It was a hell of a long story and he felt way too exhausted to explain what his life was like now.
Chapter Seven
Lost Chances Page 4