Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
“How long?” Alex McKay asked. He wore some kind of leather pants and the T-shirt he’d left the house in earlier.
When he couldn’t find Kala, he’d panicked and called Tasha again. It didn’t matter how much trouble they were going to be in. He had to find her. He couldn’t leave her alone. Despite Kenzie’s protestations, Tasha had driven him to all Kala’s haunts and when they found nothing, they’d come here to the club their parents spent so much time in. Sanctum.
He knew what happened here. He understood the lifestyle his parents were involved in. They were open about it. But this wasn’t how he’d thought he would see the club for the first time.
“She’s been gone about three hours, Uncle Alex,” Tasha said.
Tash and Kenzie and all the other kids called his dad Uncle Alex. All of them except Kala. Years before she’d insisted on calling him Mr. McKay until his dad had given in and told her to call him Alex.
It had taken him a long time to figure out why she’d done it. Because they weren’t cousins. They weren’t related at all. Their feelings were not familial.
But she’d known long before he did.
Sometimes he felt like he was nothing more than the himbo who’d caught her eye, the dumb pretty boy who could never match her intelligence or ambition.
His father’s eyes never left his. “I meant how long has she been sneaking in the house and how far did this go? You want to play adult games, son, you can answer adult questions. I need to know how far you took this so I know if Ian’s about to murder you.”
It took him a moment to realize what his dad was asking. “Dad, we didn’t… I mean we kissed and stuff but…”
“That fucking better be all you did,” a deep voice said.
It took everything Cooper had to turn and face the one freaking man in the world he wanted to face less than his dad. Hers. He’d kind of hoped his dad would handle this part. “It never went past a make-out session, Mr. Taggart. That’s what we were fighting about tonight.”
Ian Taggart stood at six foot five. Cooper himself was almost six two and wasn’t done growing, but right now the three inches between them felt like the highest mountain. “Fighting? Do I want to know?”
Tasha moved beside him, standing with him. “Nope. You don’t.”
Ian’s face flushed a deep red, and his jaw tightened. “She is fifteen fucking years old.”
“You know she can be stubborn when she thinks she’s ready for something,” Tasha said.
Cooper realized what was happening. He hadn’t meant to bring any of this up. He hadn’t thought about anything but the fact that she was out there and she was alone. She would be horrified if her parents knew what happened. He was going to hurt his parents, but maybe it was better than hurting her this way. “It was me. I wanted to go all the way, and she said no.”
Tasha’s eyes actually rolled. “Dude, she stole condoms.”
Alex groaned and slumped down to the chair. The infamous club Cooper had been so curious about looked a lot like a conference room. At least this room did. “Teenagers. We’re not going to survive them.”
Ian paced, looking like a caged lion. “All right, let me get this straight. My fifteen-year-old daughter tried to sleep with you, you turned her down and she walked out in the middle of the night alone and you let her.”
“She wasn’t serious,” Cooper tried. “She was joking.”
Ian turned like he was scenting pray. “If she was joking, she would still be at your house, and I wouldn’t know a whole lot of things I don’t want to know. So if she was joking, Cooper, then what was the fight about?”
He felt queasy. He fucked everything up, and the truth of the matter was she was probably going to be home at any minute. Kala could be a little on the vengeful side. She was probably hiding out.
“Cooper,” his father sent him a stern stare.
This. This is what he’d always feared. He was letting his dad down. He had to be honest, had to take accountability. “She wanted me to be her boyfriend, and I don’t think I want that right now. I like her. I like her a lot. She’s my friend but…”
“You don’t kiss your friends, Cooper.” Ian bit out every word. “You don’t have make-out sessions with your friends.”
“Dad,” Tasha began.
Ian shook his head, his fingers coming down on the conference table. He held himself there, looking like he would attack at any moment. “No. I understand Kala can be stubborn. I understand she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but he led her on. What was the play, Coop? Did you think you could see her in private? Did you think you could get your hands on her and no one would have to know you thought the freak was hot?”