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)
Fuck, he could still see her in Ben Parker’s arms. He’d walked out of that burning mansion with her body, and Cooper had been sure she was dead. He’d known his whole life was over because she was everything. Everything.
When he held her, felt her chest moving and realized she was alive, he’d known he was done being patient with her.
He’d given her time to heal. Time to deal.
You’ve given her like a week, dude.
He shut down the reasonable part of his inner voice. The angelic voice that told him to be patient.
Get her in bed and everything will fall into place. That’s all you need to do. Fuck her. Give it to her better than she’s ever had it. Prove to her you’re not the kid who broke her heart. Show her you’re a man who can handle all that darkness. With your dick.
Yeah, the devil was pretty much in charge and had been since he watched her almost die.
Kenz was giving him a big-eyed stare that let him know she thought he was being a weirdo. “I forgot you guys make appointments. The rest of us kind of go with the flow.”
Sometimes he missed being on teams where he hadn’t grown up with his teammates. When he’d been strictly Navy, he hadn’t had to deal with people who remembered him at the age of five.
“To get back to the point, all I’m saying is Huisman is out there, and we have to be ready,” Tristan reiterated.
“And Zach.” Tasha walked into the conference room, carrying a laptop. Behind her, Cooper could see her fiancé, Dare, walking back to his office.
Zachary Reed. Damn, it hurt. He wasn’t even sure why. He’d only recently gotten close to the captain. Zach was closer to Tristan, but the last few months he’d taken to hanging out with Cooper. He’d even given Zach flying lessons, helping him get his license. Only days before Zach had sat across from him at a diner. He’d brought along TJ’s sister, Devi, since they seemed to be a couple. Or had been. Cooper had sat beside Kala, and he’d felt like they were on a double date. Like they’d done when they were in high school, sharing meals and movies with Tris and Carys and Aidan.
I thought we were hanging out.
Would his fifteen-year-old self follow him always?
“Zach wouldn’t hurt Kala,” Tris argued.
“We don’t know that.” TJ suddenly seemed interested in something besides his girlfriend—or a snack. TJ was mostly muscle and often slept through these meetings. “I do think Devi might need a bodyguard.”
“He’s not going to hurt Devi.” Tris turned TJ’s way. “There’s something going on that we don’t understand. I know Zach.”
“Well, if you know him, why don’t you tell us all why he skipped out on us?” a husky voice said.
Just the sound of her voice made his dick go tight. Kala walked into the conference room wearing her normal uniform of stylishly ripped jeans, an old concert tee, and combat boots, her newly pink hair in a high ponytail. She had her leather jacket over her arm and started walking toward the seat Lou had held for her.
He was going to break her of the habit. Someday she would look his way and know her place was at his side. Okay, even the little devil inside him said that kind of thinking would get him in serious trouble. His place was at her side. Yeah, he would put it like that.
There were definitely days he wished he was wired differently, wished he could give her the submission she seemed to need. Instead, what he could offer was to be the king at the side of the queen.
She stopped and then turned, coming his way. She sank down next to him, and every eye was on her. “What?”
Kenzie’s lips turned up, and she shook that perfectly identical head. They’d been strawberry blonde for the last mission, but two days ago they’d shown up for work and the magenta-colored hair they’d gotten their handle from—Ms. Magenta—was back. “Nothing. Just wondering if the therapist is still alive. You look weirdly calm for having to talk about your feelings for an hour.”
“Oh, she doesn’t,” Lou assured them. “I’m pretty sure she sits there and has a stare off with Lena. I kind of don’t blame her. I’m going to be honest. I didn’t like the woman. She told me I’m trying to turn TJ into my dad. I don’t know what that means. She said I have abandonment issues, but I don’t. My bio dad died. Do you think she means I’m trying to turn TJ into him? Because he was an asshole from everything I know, and honestly, TJ’s not great at math.”
Cooper snorted. Louisa Ward was considered a genius by most of the people who knew her. She was an engineer and inventor, a true innovator, but in this she wasn’t very self-aware. “She’s not talking about your bio dad. She’s talking about how TJ is slowly morphing into Boomer.”