Cocky Genius: Ethan Cocker (Cocker Brothers of Atlanta Book 9)

by Faleena Hopkins

  “That’s Hannah. We’re almost as close.”

  “As you and Emma?” She turned around, her back against the railing. My hands slid to hold her hips, and her hands rested on my chest. I loved this. I could stay there all day and be happy.

  “Yeah, the older cousins hung out a lot together. Hannah’s top, first born, then Emma, then Sofia and Ben. I’m right after, Max is right around then, too. Caden and Eric are about the same age. Shit, and Nicholas comes in around that time.” At Charlie’s expression I stopped. “It gets confusing. There are seventeen of us cousins, so I’ll just stop there.”

  “Your siblings are just Emma and Eric?” she slowly asked like she was trying to remember who was most important.

  “Yes, exactly. It’s just the three of us. My sister is the oldest. Eric is the youngest. Mom and Dad chose all E names, which is so fucking annoying. He and his brothers all have J names. None of my uncles did that with their kids, but my dad can be pretty traditional about family stuff. He’s Jake, and his brothers are, in this order, oldest to youngest, Jaxson, Jett, Justin and Jason — they’re twins — then my dad, Jake, like I said, and the youngest is my uncle Jeremy. But I don’t expect you to remember it all. Come here.” I kissed her and murmured against her soft lips, “With it all overcast like this, your red hair and blue eyes are taking my breath away, Ms. Reed.”

  She smiled against my mouth and murmured, “Mr. Cocker, I was thinking you look very handsome when you talk about your family. Your eyes brighten.”

  “They do?”

  “Mmmhmm,” she hummed. She felt the vibration of yet another text in my pocket and glanced down.

  “It can wait.” We kissed for a little while and then I smiled down at her happy face. This woman was so different from the one I met in the break room, so soft and open. “What were we talking about?”

  “Your uncles and how they didn’t name their kids with the same first letter.”

  “Ah yes.”

  “Are they close, too? Everyone gets along?”

  I chuckled, “Pretty much. I mean, their egos are the size of the U.S., so they fuck with each other and sometimes fight but nothing lasting. Uncle Jett and my grandpa don’t get along. My uncle is a biker. Grandpa hates that, but I think even if Jett weren’t one, they’d still battle. They’re so stubborn and both of them always think he’s right and the other is wrong. Like they said in Highlander…”

  Charlie and I both said at the same time the famous movie quote, “There can be only one.”

  My eyes went wide and I called her out on it. “You’re a geek in hiding!”

  “I am not!” she laughed.

  “Highlander was way back in the 80’s! No way you can quote that if you’re not a lover of fantasy!” I squeezed her hips and she just kept shaking her head.

  “No, it has a very beautiful love story, actually a couple of them! The woman he met in Germany who stayed with him all those years hoping he’d choose her…”

  I was ecstatic we had this in common, and agreed, “I know! That scene when he leaves and she hovers under that window killed me. But the…”

  My phone rang and I blinked toward my pocket.

  Charlie felt the change in me, and her voice became concerned. “What is it?”

  “I don’t know, it just feels like that was a lot of texts and now someone’s calling. Hang on. I’m sorry.” I dug it from my pocket and stared at it. “It’s my Mom. She never calls. It’s always Dad. Sorry, excuse me.” I stepped to the side, covering my other ear as I swiped to answer, “Mom?”

  My mother’s sweet Southern drawl came through, full of tension and fear. “Ethan, your grandfather’s had a heart attack. We need you to come home.”

  19

  ETHAN

  My world spun and I locked eyes with Charlie to ground me. She frowned, took a step closer as I choked, “Grandpa Michael? Is he…?” I couldn’t say the word dead. I just couldn’t.

  “He’s in critical condition. Where are you?”

  Running a hand through my hair I wished I had a different answer. “I’m in Scotland, Mom.”

  “Oh, Ethan!” she moaned. “Hurry home! Please!”

  “Right away. I’ll get there as fast as I can. I gotta call my pilot. I’ve gotta go!”

  “Of course! Be safe, but hurry, honey!”

  We hung up and I locked eyes with Charlie. She looked as helpless as I felt, her face contorted. “Your grandfather?”

  “He’s in the hospital.” My chest twisted in pain as my fingers trembled as I dialed my pilot’s phone and muttered to myself, “Why couldn’t I have invented a fucking teleportation machine—”

  “Hello?”

  “Todd! It’s me. I need to get back to Atlanta right away. It’s an emergency. We’re heading back now to grab our bags, and we’ll meet you at the airport right after. Have the plane running.”

  “Copy that.”

  We hung up and Charlie and I ran for the stairs. We saw the older couple and it hit me. I wanted Grandma Nance and Grandpa Michael to be able to travel more. I didn’t want this to be the end of their love story.

  We got to the street as a cab was approaching. I shouted at it and rushed forward to open the door for Charlie. She remembered the address and told the driver where to go before I’d even shut us in. I appreciated that more than I could voice.

  She took my hand and I watched our fingers lace together in slow motion. The pain I was going through amplified every passing second. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears. All I wanted was to be at that hospital. “If he dies before I say goodbye,” I rasped.

  Charlie squeezed my hand as the driver took off like a New York cabbie. He kept the engine running as she and I rushed inside and packed.

  On the way to the airport, she said, “I’m so sorry, Ethan.”

  “Don’t say that yet. He’s going to be fine. He’s got to be.” Pulling out my phone I saw Emma’s picture lighting up the screen. I answered in an instant. “Hey, you there already?”

  Emma sounded just as panicked as Mom had. “I’m on my way to the hospital. Mom said you’re flying back now?”

  “Yeah. What about Eric?”

  “She called him. He has a game today.”

  “Of course, Sunday football. Is it a home game or away?”

  “Away. Falcons are playing Tampa Bay.”

  “So it’s just Florida. Quick flight.”

  “He told the coach he can’t play. He’s taking the first flight home.”

  “Good. Good.”

  “You’re panting, Ethan.”

  “I’m fucking pissed I’m all the way over here! I want to be with you guys!”

  “I know,” Emma whispered. “But you couldn’t have known this would happen. He takes such good care of himself!”

  “How’s Dad? He okay? He’s gotta be losing his shit right about now.”

  “I asked Mom to speak to him, and she said he can’t talk. So you know he’s wrecked.”

  “Fuck,” I muttered, rubbing my face with my free hand. “Grandma Nance has to be worse.”

  “And Grams, Ethan!”

  “Oh God, Grams, I hadn’t thought about that yet. Grandpa Michael is her pride and joy. She can’t lose her husband so young and now her only son.”

  “I know! Hey, watch where you’re going you stupid jerk!!”

  I heard horns honking through the phone. “Emma, focus on driving! What the fuck are you doing talking to me right now?”

  She whispered, “Because I’m scared.”

  “I’ll be there soon. Focus on the road. We don’t need you laid out in the hospital, too.”

  “You’re right. When I get there I’ll tell you what I find out, okay?”

  “Yeah, Emm, okay, the phone’s ringing again. Hann’s on the other line. Drive safe!” My sister agreed, and I hung up to switch over to my cousin. “Hannah, you at the hospital?”

  “We’re leaving now. We had the phone off since it’s Sunday morning and I didn’t see my dad’s calls
until I turned it on. You want us to pick you up on the way?”

  They lived right down the street from me. I winced because nobody had told her. “I’m in Scotland, Hannah.”

  “Oh no!” she gasped. “Tobias, Ethan’s in Europe.”

  I heard him utter a few swearwords for me. He’s new to our clan but he knows how tight we all are. He felt my pain.

  “I’m heading to the airport now, Hann. Tell Uncle Justin I’m coming, that I’m sorry I’m not there.”

  “Of course I’ll tell Dad that for you. Don’t feel guilty. You couldn’t have known, and it’s not going to help anybody.”

  I knew she was right but it didn’t change how shitty this felt. I asked the one question I’m sure everyone was asking each other, “Did anyone call Uncle Jett?”

  “Dad said he’s on his way. Aunt Luna and Sofia Sol are coming with him, too.”

  “Good. Good. Where were they? On a mission?”

  “No. I called Sofia. Thankfully they were all home at the plantation in Louisiana so they’re riding their motorcycles over since the next flight doesn’t leave quick enough for their tastes, plus the time to and from airports.”

  “Yeah, it adds up. You called Sofia first, huh? So I’m second best?”

  There was no smile in her voice as she joked back, “You’re fourteenth on the rung. Get used to it.”

  A short, pained laugh escaped me. “That’s two better than sixteenth. I’m guessing Gabriel and Elijah hold those pathetic spots.”

  Her turn to chuckle, and it sounded just as hollow as mine. “Exactly. It’s all of my cousins, you last of all, then my brothers. They are always last.” I heard Tobias ask her a question and she answered, “You’re first, babe. Always first.” To me she smiled, “My husband is jealous of our family.”

  “Tell him he’s last and see what he says. No, tell him I said he’s last.”

  “Ethan says you’re last.”

  Tobias called out, “Tell that to my face, computer nerd!”

  I smiled and glanced over to find Charlie was biting her lip, elbow on the armrest, as we pulled onto the airport’s long cement driveway. I reached over and took her hand, entwining our fingers. “Hannah, I’ve gotta go.”

  “We’ll keep you informed.”

  “Emma’s going to call. She’s my phone-vine person now.”

  “Okay, I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  We hung up and I blinked at the phone as I brought Charlie’s fingers to my lips to kiss them. The cabbie asked me which was mine, and I pointed. He drove up to my jet and stopped a safe distance from its roaring engines. Charlie and I flew out, and she went to help me with the suitcases.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve got these,” I told her.

  She nodded and tipped the cabbie, because I’d forgotten about him already. Casting a look over her shoulder, she told me, “Let me help,” before I could voice irritation for having forgotten his tip.

  We strode quickly to the plane. My legs were longer so at the bottom of the stairs I waited for her.

  “It doesn’t have to be ladies first at a time like this.”

  “Let me be the man.”

  She smiled a little and shook her head. “Okay.”

  As soon as we were inside, my pilots informed me everything was in order. I didn’t alarm them with my news because I wanted their focus to be steady. When emotions are involved, you never know what people are going to do.

  20

  CHARLIE

  As the staircase was wheeled away by an airport attendant, Captain Gardner sealed the plug-door shut with a skilled turn of the latch, making it appear effortless. He paused before returning to the cockpit. “When you called we were having lunch at our hotel, and we were already packed.”

  Storing our carry-ons, Ethan mumbled a distracted, “You’re always prepared, thank you.”

  “What I mean to say is that since you had to return to your hotel and we had a little extra time, we took the liberty of ordering a couple meals for the two of you, plus some snacks in case you’d run out. It’s all in the kitchen.”

  Ethan straightened up. “You’ve gone above and beyond, Todd. I appreciate it.”

  The captain nodded, “Anytime. We’ve got your back,” and disappeared, the cockpit door quickly closed.

  I headed for the kitchen immediately as Ethan sunk onto one of the couches and rubbed his face with both hands, groaning in frustration.

  Unwrapping gourmet sandwiches, I tested a french fry to see if it tasted terrible cold. But it was one of those that are delicious even when it’s lost its heat, the perfect amount of salt on it, plus shaved Parmesan. I slipped some napkins under one of the plates and carried them to him. “Here, eat something.” I wanted so badly to help him.

  Dark brown, long eyelashes floated up to me as I set everything down on the table between us. His phone vibrated and he quickly answered, “Emma? Is he…?” He listened and his shoulders went slack. Meeting my eyes he told me, “He’s still in critical care.”

  I exhaled and Ethan’s gaze went distant as his sister recounted the latest news. I stayed quiet and still while they talked.

  Seeing how impacted he was by his grandfather’s heart attack, how quick he was to act, and how lovingly he talked with his family, my feelings had deepened. He was so protective of them, and wanted to be there with a desperation I found incredibly admirable.

  When he and his cousin Hannah were joking around earlier, I’d closed my eyes knowing my family had never been like that, and I wished we had. I thought the humor was so beautiful amidst the pain. My grandfather would’ve turned his nose up, called it disrespectful at such a time, when really it was just love finding another way to support itself.

  While I sat on the couch across from Ethan and watched his expressions, I thought that a man who loves his family is a beautiful thing to watch.

  It made me miss my father, because while we weren’t silly, and we didn’t tease each other, he was kind and loyal. He would have liked Ethan.

  My heart caved in as that thought occurred, because I was getting ahead of myself, that was for sure, assuming the two would ever have met if my father were still alive. It was just one more example of how I was falling for Ethan in a way I wouldn’t be able to bounce back from if this ended.

  If tragedy hit his family, Ethan would disappear from me. I wouldn’t fault him that or try to fight it, or attempt to hang on. I would let him go, because family is blood and his was thicker than most. I resigned myself to accepting whatever came next. I didn’t have hope for happiness anymore. The seconds ticked toward our separation, I knew that. The last twenty-four hours would become like one of those great dreams you couldn’t hold onto once the alarm sounded.

  The food sat ignored as Ethan hung up and said, “She’s going to act as my voice. We have such a big family that the grapevine can get confusing. Too many phones to call, the ringing endless. So Uncle Justin came up with a method where one family member speaks for the rest. Emma’s ours. Hannah always calls her brothers, etc.”

  “That’s what you meant by phone-vine person. Your Uncle Justin found a way to fix it.”

  “Yeah, he always hated the grapevine. When I was a kid he used to grumble about it all the time. It’s not always perfect, but when someone announces, ‘Phone vine time,’ then all calls go to just that one person. They gather the information and spread what needs to be shared. You call that out and it’s like laying down the law. Otherwise right now I’d be getting calls from Eric, Max, Caden, Lexi, Nate, Nick, Hunter, Samantha, etc. etc. etc. and I’d throw this thing into the toilet and let the suction take the thing into outer space.”

  “How fascinating, such a huge network.”

  Ethan frowned, gaze dropping before he rubbed his face. “And Grandpa Michael at the pinnacle. I’m not ready to say goodbye. They live right by me. I picked that house mostly so I could be near them. I mean, I could have chosen anywhere to live! Anywhere!” He dropped his hands, distrau
ght. “But I chose there because we’re so close. They’re such good people. And Grandma’s chili, holy shit, it’s so good, Charlie, you’d just die if you tasted it.”

  “I’m sure it’s amazing.”

  “It is,” he sighed, then asked me, “Are your grandparents still alive?”

  “My grandmother is, yes, but my grandfather passed last year. That’s when I took over his business. He started Wyntech before computers were in everyone’s homes. Said he knew they had a greater future than everyone realized at first, and he continued to evolve with their ever-changing world.”

  Ethan was staring at me with glazed eyes like he was trying to listen, but was having a terrible time of it. I didn’t care if he never remembered a bit of this later on. I was talking just to get his mind off his troubles because we had a ten-hour flight ahead of us and nothing was going to shorten that, save for distraction.

  So I continued, “When clouds were first just a whisper of an idea he jumped on it. I remember when I was a kid he told me his story. I had no idea what he was talking about, and I’m not stupid so it wasn’t an easy concept to grasp for most of the population, this whole data stored in the clouds thing, but my grandfather had seen the potential when it first began. He explained how he became a hosting company and then he saw a greater financial opportunity in connecting hosting companies to all of the corporations that needed massive amounts of online data storage. He knew that competition would be fierce so why not connect the competition, rather than be it.”

  Ethan’s eyes flickered, “When you lost him, how did you cope?”

  Embarrassment and pain twisted my chest as I glanced to my lap. “I wasn’t that sad. I know it’s awful and you can’t understand it, but we didn’t have what you guys do. It was when I lost my parents that my world crumbled, but my grandfather, I will never miss him.”

  Ethan’s weight shifted on his chair and I knew he was surprised by my confession, and about how little we knew of each other. “Your parents are gone, Charlie?”

  “They died in a car accident.” I met his eyes. “I was sixteen.”