“What are you doing?” I whispered when our mouths finally parted and the ability to think slowly returned.
“Forgetting. Focusing on another dream.”
“We’re in a public park. My daughter’s in a car only a few feet away. This might not be the best time—”
“Jessie going to wake up and need you?”
“She never does. She sleeps like a hibernating bear.”
“Okay then, I want—no, I need you now. Don’t give a shit about a better time. There are never better times in my life.” And with that, his lips brushed over mine again, that time with a little more force. When I felt his hand slip beneath my skirt, I raised my hips to give him space to pull the thin layer of fabric separating us down my thighs.
“Shuffle back a bit,” he whispered against my mouth, and then with a little maneuvering, I felt him pulling a condom from his pocket and unzipping his jeans. He looked into my eyes, paused, and murmured softly, “But fuck, if you want this to stop, worried someone might see us, you tell me and we end this. If you need a better time, a better place—fuck, a better person—I get it.”
I stared at him before I rested my forehead against his again. Then for the second time against my better judgement, I started running my hands underneath his shirt as I settled back into his lap. Our bare thighs were cold to touch, but the heat in his eyes and the warmth between my legs distracted me.
I felt his cock twitch to get inside me, but he didn’t guide it in. Cooper’s hands moved to either side of my face and he kissed me slowly. With each brush of his lips against mine, I felt myself get wetter. I started moving my hips, letting him slide against me. When I finally rose high enough, angling my hips slightly, there was no need to guide anything; he slid inside as if that was where he’d always been.
I increased my pace, slid him in and out while we looked into each other’s eyes. We were moving in complete silence, our connection palpable. We started going faster and I swallowed the need to moan. I felt his hand move to my clit and start rubbing. Harder and Harder.
Before I could scream my release, Cooper’s mouth covered mine and we both let go. I thought to myself in that last moment before I felt his hands squeeze my hips or his mouth cover mine that this was a hell of a lot more than forgetting.
ANTHONY
I WASN’T SURPRISED.
Thankfully, I was prepared for this. After all, the guards and other inmates were all just pawns. They weren’t bright. They weren’t tough. Their only value in society was standing in front of others poised to be beaten and captured. Collecting information and using it against the people in this place wasn’t like watching any real entertainment, not when it posed such a little challenge. I was quite certain that I could walk out of this place like fucking Pablo Escobar walked out of his jail cell. This might not be Colombia, but as far as I was concerned, the people around me were just as incompetent. I just let them believe otherwise.
When the whispers started, the discussions about Cooper on the football field, it took less than ten minutes to hear an entire replay of his athleticism. His victory. The place was crazy for him. One of their own becoming a college football star was like they were all out on the field scoring touchdowns. No discussion of a riot. No mention of an ex-inmate showing his true colors under insane amounts of pressure.
Of course, it took even less time for me to get word out that it was time to deliver the package. My friends on the outside were some of my fastest assets. It also didn’t hurt that I always had a strong intuition and in every circumstance had a plan B.
I knew from the very beginning that Cooper was more like my sons than myself. He had no real ability to play the game, no finesse or skill. A sheep that wasn’t even able drink without leading him to water.
In those first few weeks sharing a cell together, I had the seventeen-year-old completely worked out. He was a ticking time bomb built from lies, bad luck, and pent-up emotion. The drugs were the easiest part of the plan. All I had to do was get one of his friends to offer the boy a means to turn off his emotions on his eighteenth birthday. The boy was so easily convinced after that; he just needed the right direction and trigger.
Of course, I had anticipated his ineptness. I never put all my money on red when it was equally amusing to win with black. I also knew even the best bombs needed some fine tuning before their showstopping explosion.
I do believe I would’ve actually been disappointed if this part of the plan hadn’t been fulfilled. Sure, it would’ve been simpler if the boy had developed more of a dependence on the pills. If Cooper had relapsed just once since his release, I would’ve been able to use it against him. I’m also sure it would’ve made him more committed to the cause. Alas, the boy was single-minded in his actions and rarely strayed off course for individual gratification. Idiot. Although, with his mind clear, he’d understand how I’d been running the show all along. The satisfaction was always sweeter when the other parties involved felt my hand around their throat. Not to mention I made it my business to outmaneuver the rats that scurried in every alley in this town. They always forgot that this was what I did.
Even my stupid son.
It was nice to be able to send a reminder.
I imagined it would take less than an hour before Cooper was regretting the decision he’d made that evening to try and be a star. Victory on a field with children wasn’t anything compared to the war being fought in the streets between men. I wondered how long it would take before my cell was opened to greet my old friend. It would be the first time I didn't greet my old cellmate with tears.
I wondered who I would pretend to be.
How delightful it would be to pretend to be just like dear Cooper’s father for a change.
It was going to be perfect.
COOPER
My body ached and creaked when I woke up. I stretched and adjusted my legs, which were pressed against the passenger seat of Flash’s pickup, when I realized Flash was asleep, her head resting in my lap.
Her red curls were spread out over my legs and under her face. Even if I had been bleeding internally, I wouldn’t have moved or disrupted her.
It had never been part of my plans to bring Flash out to this park, tell her everything about Jake, lose myself in her, and then climb into the back seat to fall asleep. It wouldn’t have even occurred to me that something like this could’ve happened.
Staring at her, I wasn’t sure I wanted to make any other plans in my life that didn’t involve us coming to this park, talking, fucking, and falling asleep. As I contemplated what it was I should do, wake her up or go back to sleep, I heard cheerful gibberish beside me.
When I looked to my left and was caught in a little girl’s smile with big green eyes sparkling at me, I flinched. “Mine,” the cheerful toddler muttered, her big brown curls in loose pigtails made messy from sleep. I had no clue what she was talking about, but I was certain that whatever it was she owned, she wasn’t wrong.
My slight movement and the clear word reverberating around the pickup for the second time was enough to have Flash’s eyes snap open.
“Fuck,” she said softly before sitting up and stretching her neck. “I feel like someone ran over my body with a bulldozer.” She took one look at me and another at her little girl, currently waving at us both. “Oh yeah, I’m definitely winning Mother of the Year at the next parenting convention.”
“Yeah, maybe sleeping in the back seat wasn’t our smartest idea,” I replied, feeling like a deer caught in bright green headlights. I couldn’t help it, I started waving back at the bubbling little girl. “She keeps saying ‘mine.’ Should I give her something?” I wondered out loud.
“Even if you gave her everything in the car, she’d still keep saying it. I’m slowly suspecting she believes she owns the world.” Flash ran her fingers through her hair.
“Do they really have parenting conventions where they crown the best mother?” I asked.
“God, I hope not. Geesh, if I’d realized ho
w much of the seat you would take up, I would’ve just driven us home,” Flash complained as she tried to move her leg off my thigh unsuccessfully.
“You fell asleep on me on the bench.”
“I still could’ve driven after you woke me up.”
“You were a zombie. I think you fell over twice getting from the bench to the truck.”
“You could’ve driven, then.” Flash blushed.
“My legs were cramping. It’s a blow to the ego to admit, babe, but gashing the Wolverines’ defense for 482 yards and following that with us on that bench, my body was on strike,” I replied, chuckling. Then I noticed the scowl on her face, which made me ask softly, “You regretting last night?”
“No. No, not at all. My body just hurts. And okay, I’m going to have to admit that I’m not the best morning person. And maybe I’m also a little prissy before I’ve eaten.”
“If I get you coffee and food, you’ll stop staring at me?”
“Coffee and food would be amazing,” she almost moaned.
“Great.” I watched her adjust her little girl’s pigtails and kiss her on the forehead. “Does Jessie like pancakes? There’s an IHOP a short drive from here, and the waitress always gives me a discount.”
“Pancakes would be great. Although I’m sure you walk in there with me and a toddler, you’re going to lose your discount,” Flash laughed.
“Babe, after last night, losing my IHOP discount would be worth it. Although, the girl behind the counter has to be like fourteen, so she could just be sweet to everyone.”
Flash rolled her eyes. “I’m sure she’s been dreaming about the tough biker since you first pulled your motorcycle into the parking lot. Not that it matters, because I can cover Jessie and me.”
“Flash, I’m paying. Don’t even think about pulling out your wallet. I nearly made some really shit choices last night, but didn’t because of you, us, and sleeping here. I know I come from nothing, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to work hard to ensure that I have enough in the bank to cover breakfast.”
“Okay then, let’s go disappoint your IHOP girl.”
We didn’t just disappoint the IHOP girl, we made her cry. Thankfully, Jessie smiled at her and muttered some gibberish, and the girl could no longer hold on to her dashed dreams. Flash informed me under her breath as we walked to our table that no female could be sad around her smiling little girl in pigtails.
After Flash inhaled her first pancake and cup of coffee, I felt safe enough to ask, “What are your plans for today?”
“Besides getting us both out of these ridiculous outfits?” She gestured to their football game skirts and socks. “Not much.”
“You okay if I stick around with you guys for a bit?” I wasn’t sure if I was avoiding the pills I had back in my apartment or if the previous night had truly changed something between us and I was eager to not burst the bubble. All I knew was I wasn’t ready to leave her.
It took her a moment to reply, and I could feel the uncertainty pulsating from her body. I knew she was contemplating the risks she was taking standing on the edge of the cliff and jumping off completely.
I took a breath and prepared to tell her to forget about it, that I remembered her words from the last time we’d shared our secrets: “We shared a few shitty stories each. I don’t think it means we know each other.”
I almost didn’t hear it when she whispered, “You can stay with us.”
MILLIE
I didn’t know what I was doing.
I was freaking out.
I wasn’t only on a weird pseudo-date, I was on a weird pseudo-date with my daughter.
When I watched him pull faces at Jessie until she had milk coming out of her nose and then make a quiet apology to the teenager with her first crush when she delivered our menus, I was lost for words.
Like the fourteen-year-old girl, I was afraid I was gone for him. It was a lost cause. I could no longer fight whatever was happening between us.
It didn’t help that he was a total contradiction. There was the rough biker with a scowl that caused grown men to move away from him. With so many issues swirling inside his head, he could almost compete with me and mine. Then he was this knight in shining armor, willing to cut himself down if it meant protecting the ones he loved. He was walking up to and talking to strangers to ensure their safety if he felt that they were endanger.
The night before, I’d told him how I tried to distract myself from the pain in my past. How I focused on other dreams so the picture I’d once painted in my head of the future didn’t haunt or feed off me. I didn’t tell him that until I met him, as hard as I’d tried, I’d sucked at it.
It had occurred to me briefly that night, but now staring at him, I knew for sure that I was no longer at risk of going home to ghosts. No, I now had a whole new future painted in my head.
A future that had started and might end with a damn park.
I wasn’t sure what I should fear more: him doing something to make that picture I was painting disappear, or become brighter.
COOPER
“THANK THE LORD, SHE FINALLY hired someone.”
I heard the words, but with a nail between my lips and my hands filled with timber and a hammer, I wasn’t able to turn around immediately. Once I had the next-to-last piece secured tightly to the porch, I finally looked up into the warm brown eyes of an older lady. Her brown hair framed her face like a helmet, and she had these little black glasses perched on her nose. She was pretty in a soccer mom sort of way, and I had no idea what to say to the likely owner of the house I was working on.
“Don’t let me stop you. I know you have your work cut out for you. Do you think you’ll have enough time to look at our gutters? If Millie hasn’t asked you to do them and you have another job, I completely understand, but I’d be willing to pitch in and pay you more if you manage them.”
“Um, Millie isn’t paying me, ma’am,” I managed while trying to wipe away some of the sweat coating my forehead and make myself more presentable.
“Why would you be fixing our rotten porch if she isn’t—oh,” she murmured softly as she took in my appearance. “I understand,” she continued moments later, apparently seeing something in my sweaty jeans and dirt and sweat covered black sweatshirt.
“We met in Art 101,” I explained. “We were hanging inside watching a Disney movie, but I couldn’t keep staring at this eyesore without fixing it. I didn’t like the idea of the little girl running out here and touching it.”
“You and me both, young man,” Tahnee agreed before taking a seat on the porch swing. “I’m just going to have a little sit down out here with you before I go inside if that’s all right. Don’t mind me. If I go in, I’ll be tempted to ask her a billion questions, and Millie is a little sensitive where I’m concerned. She’ll likely think I’m sad about my son and will reevaluate having you here. That girl is constantly trying to repay me for helping her out when her parents forgot how to be parents. And seeing as I’m glad you’re here, fixing our porch and taking care of my girl well I’m just going to take a moment. Maybe ask you some of my questions if that’s alright?”
“Ask away, ma’am,” I grunted. “I’ve just got another piece to fix. You okay if I answer while I hammer?”
“Hammer away.” When she saw a tray with an empty glass as well another that appeared to be untouched lemonade, she asked, “Do you mind if I have this one?” before bringing it to her lips.
“No, don’t—”
Unfortunately, it was too late. She’d already sipped and consequently spat the disgusting lemony liquid onto the ground. “Sorry. I did try and warn you.”
“Millie made these, I take it?”
“Yeah, she was trying to thank me for fixing the porch. I don’t think she knows you need sugar or something to actually make it nice.”
“Gosh, I adore that girl. It seems that whatever she sets her mind to, she can achieve—that is as long as it doesn’t occur in the kitchen,” Tahnee laughed.
Taking another look at the tray and the empty glass, she asked, “Did you manage to secretly tip yours into the garden?”
“Nah, I drank it.”
“A whole glass?”
“When she brought them out, she clearly had no clue what she was doing and she was nervous about having tried. I thought drinking it was the least I could do.”
“Are you going to drink this one after I go inside?”
“It’s just a glass of lemon and water. I’ve drunk worse,” I told her uncomfortably.
“And I’m done with my questions. I’m going to leave you to finish your lemonade and protecting my girls while I go see what trouble they’ve got themselves into while I’ve been at work. Even if Millie says otherwise, I want you to know, you’re welcome at this house whenever you want.”
As I finally made my way up the stairs to my apartment, the putrid smells and sounds didn't even register.
I was exhausted.
I didn’t know if it was because less than twenty-four hours before, I’d started in my first college football game, or because in one night I’d told Millie more crap than I’d even shared with Lizzie, or because spending the day with an energetic toddler was actually harder than dealing with my fellow inmates in prison. But when I kissed Flash goodbye, breathing in her scent of spices and flowers, it turned me into a guy who forgot he had problems.
If being worn out was the price I had to pay, I was ready for it.
I just needed to collapse now. Sleep away at least one whole day and then maybe I would be better prepared for the look I’d seen growing in Flash’s eyes.
Flash (Penmore #2) Page 15