Cooper

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “I know, and I won’t ever take that for granted again.”

  “Seriously,” Delaney snapped, walking out of the bathroom. “Put on a shirt before I drag you into my bedroom and force you to perform services for me.”

  Her bedroom door slammed and we both laughed. I turned back to the window and finished drinking my coffee just as old man Marley came around the side of his house with a hose and started spraying water at the kids that ran past his house.

  “Your neighbor is kind of crazy,” Coop grumbled.

  “I know. Delaney told me that the whole neighborhood suspects him of killing his neighbor’s dog.”

  “That guy?” he asked, staring at the old man.

  “Yep.”

  “No way. He’s harmless.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Why does everyone think he killed the dog?”

  I shrugged. “The dog went missing and he hated the dog.”

  “Yeah, but the dog could have run away or gotten run over by a car.”

  “You know how neighborhoods are. You just never know everyone’s secrets or what they’re capable of. Everyone’s a suspect.”

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  After hours of Coop pleading with me to go back to Reed Security with him, he finally left on his own and I got to work. I knew he wanted me to live there with him, but I wasn’t ready for that. After all, with all the revelations this weekend, it really wasn’t a good idea to jump into one more serious element of our relationship. We needed time to grow as a couple before we took that step. But he couldn’t stay. He had been over here all night and his daughter was back at the panic room by herself. She probably liked that, but from his perspective, he needed to be there for her, and I couldn’t blame him.

  “Are you going to the store?” Delaney asked as I slipped on my shoes.

  “Yeah, I was going to get groceries.”

  “Cool. I’ll go with you.”

  She grabbed her purse and we headed out the door, but we didn’t even make it to the car before old man Marley started running across the street to us, yelling at us for something.

  “Shit,” Delaney swore under her breath.

  “What do you think he’s mad about this time?”

  She shrugged. “I ran over his mailbox two years ago. He hasn’t trusted me since.”

  “You ran over his mailbox?”

  “Hey, in my defense, one of the kids ran out in front of me and I had to swerve out of the way. Of course, he’d probably be happier if I had hit the kid.”

  “I know it was you two,” he shouted.

  “What was us?” Delaney asked.

  “My phone is tapped. It’s just like in the old days. I can hear the clicking on the line. You’re trying to listen in on my conversations! You’re spies!”

  “Mr. Marley-”

  “Don’t lie to me,” he shouted. “I know it was you. You’re a hacker. I had you investigated,” he pointed at me.

  “You had me investigated?” I asked in shock. I thought I was the only one on the street that investigated my neighbors.

  “That’s right. I do it to everyone that moves on my street. You used to work for that security company. You know how to do this stuff. It was you!”

  “Mr. Marley, why would I want to tap your phones?”

  “Because you know that I know everything that goes on in this neighborhood.”

  “I know this may seem strange, but I don’t actually care about anyone else in this neighborhood.”

  His eyes narrowed in on me and he took a step toward me. “You know as well as I do that there’s something strange going on in this neighborhood. Someone’s watching us. They’re waiting to make their move.”

  Delaney rolled her eyes. “Mr. Marley, why would anyone want to watch all of us? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I don’t know,” he said frustratedly, “but I’ll figure it out.” He turned and pointed to me. “I want that tap removed from my phone. If you want to spy on someone, spy on that man next to me.”

  “The Bakers?” I asked. “Mr. Baker is a garbage man and his wife has a bakery. What do you think they’re trying to do?”

  “Garbage man my foot! He’s been going through our garbage for years. He steals our information and turns it over to the government!”

  Wow. I just didn’t have time for this today. “I promise not to listen in on your phone calls, Mr. Marley.”

  “You’d better not,” he shouted as I slipped into my car. When he started pounding on the trunk of the car, I peeled out and took off down the street, Delaney laughing beside me.

  “That man has lost his mind,” she laughed.

  “The garbage man is stealing our information?” I said incredulously. “Where does he come up with this shit?”

  “I don’t know, but he’s clearly lost it. Maybe you should call your boyfriend to come over and check it out. He can bring Tony with him and then I can finally get laid.”

  “Seriously, you haven’t even met him and you’re already talking about screwing him. What if you don’t like him or he’s ugly?”

  “Not possible.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He works at Reed Security. Duh.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything!” I threw up my arms in frustration. “It could be that he’s hot to me, but not to you.”

  “Um, I’m pretty sure that any of the guys at Reed Security are hot to everyone on earth, so I’m going with my gut instincts on this one.”

  “He has dark hair that’s longer,” I said, wondering what she would say about that.

  “How long?”

  “He can slick it back. It’s probably down around his eyebrows, maybe longer.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “He’s basically an Italian Stallion.”

  “One that I’m very much willing and ready to ride.”

  I grunted in frustration. “He has blue eyes, and I know you love brown eyes!”

  “I can look past that.”

  “Ugh, you’re so frustrating. If you don’t like him, I don’t want to hear one word about it.”

  “The way you described him leaves me one hundred percent certain that when we meet, there’ll be fireworks and it’s going to be spectacular.”

  “Well, now that Coop and I have worked things out, we can set something up, but I have to warn you, he only agreed if it’s a double date.”

  “That’s not a problem,” she said with a grin on her face. “By the time we order dessert, I’ll have him begging to take me home.”

  “God, I wish I had your confidence,” I chuckled.

  “Are you kidding me? You walked out on that sexy-as-fuck man and had him crawling back to you and giving you everything you needed. Trust me, you have everything it takes to keep him wrapped around your finger.”

  God, I hoped she was right. I had him and it was amazing, but part of me wondered if he would backpedal like he had several times before. I just didn’t think I could take being rejected again.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Coop

  I whistled as I got ready for the day. I didn’t really have to go anywhere or do anything, but why the hell not? What else was I going to do? I was in such a great mood that nothing could defeat me right now. I was on top of the world and no amount of shit was going to make me feel anything less than what I was right in this moment. I flung the door open to Kayla pacing nervously around the room.

  “What’s wrong, Kayla?” I asked a little too jovially.

  “Um…okay, I have this favor to ask, and please try to remember that-”

  “Kayla,” I grinned. “Whatever it is, you can tell me, sweetheart.”

  She nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay, so I met some of the other girls that are going to be working with me and they invited me to go shopping with them today.”

  I spread my arms wide with a huge grin. “Perfect! Look at that. You’re getting out and making friends. This is great.”<
br />
  “What?”

  “Yeah, I mean, I was skeptical at first, but look at you! You’re getting a job and making friends. This is amazing!”

  “It is?”

  “Of course. You didn’t really think that I’d want to keep you under lock and key your whole life, did you?”

  “Uh…yeah?”

  “Well, shit.” I rubbed at my chin, disappointed in myself for having let my daughter down. But no need to feel bad for too long. It was a new day and she still had plenty of time to live her life and forgive me for being an ass. “Hey, you go have some fun.” I pulled out my wallet and handed her all the money I had. “Buy yourself whatever you want and have a great day.”

  She stared at all the money in shock and then back up at me. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I have never felt better. In fact, I think that next weekend we should go find you that car. What do you say?”

  She nodded dazedly, like she couldn’t fucking believe what was going on. I wasn’t that bad, was I? I shook it off and walked over to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

  “I’m gonna be out doing shit today, so have fun and try to remember to call me and check in.”

  “Sure,” she said, still staring at the money.

  “Hey, you’d better get ready if you’re gonna go hang out with your friends.”

  “Right.” She nodded and slowly walked to her room, still staring at the money like it would bite her.

  I opened the door to my suite and whistled as I walked down the hallway. Storm was just coming out of his room, but he didn’t look nearly as happy as I did.

  “Hey, man,” I said, jerking my head in his direction. “Why so glum, chum?”

  He shot me a weird look. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  “I don’t have a problem. In fact, I’m not sure how anyone could have a problem on such a glorious day.”

  “We’re in a fucking bunker. How the hell do you know if the day is glorious?”

  “How do you know it’s not?” I shot back with a smile. “It could be fucking raining and it would still be an amazing day.”

  “Why the fuck are you smiling?” he asked.

  “Because the world is an amazing place. I love it and everything in it from the birds and the bees to the fuckers that we get to hunt down and kill. It’s all fucking amazing.”

  He stared at me like I was crazy. “Stop fucking smiling. You’re creeping me out.”

  I slapped him on the back and then slung my arm around his neck as we walked toward the main building. “Don’t you just love it when everything goes your way?”

  “Nothing ever goes my way,” he grumbled.

  “Not true, man. You’ve got a sexy as fuck woman by your side and I’ve heard you at night with her. There’s definitely some dirty talk going on. You don’t even realize how good you’ve got it.”

  “I guess,” he grumbled.

  “Hey, seriously, what’s going on with you? You’re not your usual self.”

  He sighed as we continued through the tunnel to the main building. “I don’t know. Jessica’s been…talking a lot lately.”

  “Women always talk. What’s new?”

  “She…she’s talking about the future.”

  “And?”

  “And…I don’t fucking know…why does it all have to seem like so much fucking pressure?”

  “Because you’re making it feel that way. Tell me what the real problem is.”

  He sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know. I know she wants more. She wants to get married and move out of the bunker. I know that. It’s the natural progression of a relationship.”

  “Did she tell you that?”

  “No, but she’s been hinting at it. Saying things like, where is this going? Or is this all you want out of life.”

  “Right. I’ve gotcha. So, you’re not ready?”

  “I think I am. I mean, I love her and things are going good between us, but it hasn’t been that long yet.”

  “And that scares you.”

  “What fucking scares me is that I’m getting older and so is she. I don’t want to rush into things, but I’m scared that if I don’t put a ring on her finger, she’s going to start talking about ghosts again.”

  “Well, she already met your parents. She knows how fucking weird you are. Not many other women could let a man talk to her like you do in the bedroom and get away with it. Frankly, I think you’ve got a winner on your hands. You want to snatch that up before it all goes to shit.”

  “You think so?”

  “Hey, who’s the king of fucking up?” I asked.

  “I would say me, but I have a feeling you think it’s you.”

  “Come on,” I said jerking my head back toward the bunker. “Let’s get this shit taken care of now.”

  “Now?”

  “Of course, now.”

  “But, I don’t have a ring.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Just pour your heart out to her and everything else will fall in place.”

  “This doesn’t sound like a good idea,” he muttered.

  “Trust me.” We stood outside his door and I slapped him on the shoulders. “You’ve got this. You’re a strong, virile man. Nothing can stop you from getting what you want.”

  He nodded once and took a deep breath. “I’ve got this.”

  “You’ve got this. Now, go take it by the balls and get your woman. I’m right behind you.”

  “You’re…coming in there with me?”

  “Would I let you down?”

  He grinned slightly and shook his head like he was shaking off his worries. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

  He opened the door and called out to Jessica. Their suite was a little different than mine, but the overall concept was the same. I followed him back to the bedroom, but he stalled outside the door. Not wanting him to pussy out, I shoved the door open and guided him through. Jessica was still in bed and obviously naked judging from the way she tugged her sheet up to her chest.

  “What are you doing here?” she shrieked.

  “Hey, Rabbit. My man is a little nervous, so I’m here for moral support.”

  She stared at me incredulously and then flicked her eyes to Storm. “You need someone here to talk to me? Oh my God! Are you breaking up with me?”

  “What?”

  “After all I just let you do to me! You asshole!”

  She grabbed the lamp and flung it at Storm’s head before he had a chance to explain. He ducked just in time, but did the stupid thing and tried explaining as she continued to find things to throw at him.

  “Go grab her!” I shouted over the noise.

  He leapt for the bed and pinned her down, but while he was strong, he didn’t cover all his bases and got a knee to the groin. I winced, wishing I had told him to cover his junk.

  “Would you listen to me?” he shouted over her screaming. “I came in here to ask you to marry me!”

  She stopped struggling instantly and stared up at him wide-eyed. “You…you what?”

  “I came to ask you to marry me.” He took a deep breath and rolled off her, cupping his balls as he laid back on the bed. Jessica shot me a glance, but I just motioned for her to continue. I didn’t want to miss love in the making. It was beautiful.

  “You…you want to marry me,” she repeated.

  “Well, sort of. I mean, I did, but then you kicked me in the balls, so now I’m wondering if I was wrong.”

  “I thought you were breaking up with me. Who brings another man with them to propose?”

  “He’s my moral support,” Storm groaned.

  “You need moral support to ask me to marry you?” she shrieked.

  “You’re a lot of woman to take,” Storm said, rolling toward her. He sighed and ran a hand over his head. “I don’t think I’m ready for this.”

  “Neither am I. Why would you think I want to get married? We’ve only been together a little over six months!”

  “Because you were talking about moving
forward and all that shit. What else was I supposed to think?”

  “Maybe that I would like to get out of a bunker! You know, most people don’t live in windowless houses. They live in regular houses where the sun shines and they can see people out their windows!”

  Storm sat there for a minute and then flopped back down on the bed. “Thank fuck.”

  “Thank fuck?” she shouted. “So, now you don’t want to marry me?”

  “You don’t want to marry me either!”

  “Not yet, but you’re the one that came in here and said you wanted to marry me. Now, after two minutes, you’ve already changed your mind and you’re backing out?”

  “Look, it was a mistake! An accident. It’s all Coop’s fault. He’s the one that convinced me to go for it.”

  “Oh, sure, blame Coop.”

  “Thank you,” I said in agreement. I wasn’t sure why I was being blamed for this whole debacle.

  “He’s not the one that walked in here and proposed without a ring. That was all on you. Is this the way our life is always going to be?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about you screwing up all the important moments. You screwed up sex and now you’re screwing up a proposal!”

  “But I didn’t actually propose!” Storm shouted.

  “Well,” I said, clapping my hands together. “I’m glad we’ve got this all worked out.”

  “What are you talking about?” Storm said incredulously. “Nothing’s worked out. Everything was fine before you convinced me that I needed to just propose and get it over with.”

  “And now you know. You would have been driving yourself crazy for weeks trying to figure out what you were going to do. I just solved that for you. All your problems are over.”

  “No, now I have a new problem,” he grumbled.

  “I’ll give you a clue on that one.”

  “Yeah?” he sneered. “What’s that? Slit my wrists?”

  “Of course not.” I stepped forward and tried to whisper to him without Jessica hearing, which, of course she could hear. “Shirley Temples.”

  “What?”

  I nodded. “Just ask Chance. I’m telling you, man. Shirley Temples.”