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)
She’d never told him. “No.”
“I doubt anyone does. Maybe not even Lou. I know because I’m a sneaky bastard who won’t let her be alone even when she thinks she should be. The poetry was her outlet. She wrote one last poem about a week after she got home, and then she never touched that journal again. She thinks she threw it away, but I have it. One day I’m going to ask her if I can put them to music because her poetry is an insight into a truly beautiful and unique soul, and it should be heard if she allows it.” Seth stared down at him. “My parents put her in therapy and didn’t talk about getting her tested again. I’m pretty sure the therapist told them she’s on the spectrum but functions so highly she wouldn’t need anything but emotional accommodations, and here we are. By the way, no one gives anyone emotional accommodations. We think everyone’s brains must obviously work the same way and anyone different has problems. My sister is perfect the way she is.”
“She’s not,” Cooper argued. “She is perfect but her life isn’t, and it can’t be without me. I know I sound like an arrogant prick when I say that, but no one in the world is going to love your sister the way I will. No one. I might not have a technical word to describe how she thinks, but I studied it and I learned how to talk to her, how to give her what she needs in a way she can accept. I was stupid in high school, but I’ve changed. All I want is her. Do you think I want to be an Agency operative? Dude, I barely hold my shit together when she’s out in the field. I’m there because she’s there, and that means it’s the only place for me to be.”
“All right,” Seth said with a long sigh. “Then I should tell you what she’s said about what happened to her.”
Cooper shook his head. “Abso-fucking-lutely not. That is her story, and you’re not telling it. If I find out you’ve told anyone, we’re going to have a problem.”
Seth’s lips quirked up. “And that is the right answer. The truth is I don’t know. I know it still affects her. She still wakes up scared sometimes, but she sleeps with Lou now which is good because it would seriously cramp my style.”
She was going to sleep with him from now on. He would take care of her, and eventually she would tell him her secrets. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of her. I’ll figure out a way, but you are going to give that journal back to her when she’s ready.”
“Journal?” Kenzie walked back in. “Who has a journal?”
Seth’s entire expression changed. Gone was the intensity, and in its place the aw-shucks smile he was known for. “I’ve been using a notebook I stole from Kala to write some lyrics.”
“Dude, she’s been looking for that,” Kenzie complained. “We’ll deal with that another day. You need to leave. Kala’s tracker says she’s three blocks away. Lou must have convinced TJ he’ll get a stomachache if he eats too much.”
Seth smiled his sister’s way. “Then I should get the old man home and tuck him in. It’s way past his bedtime. Cooper, you got a nice set of balls on you. They’re very well formed.”
Cooper’s eyes rolled. “And you say you’re not like your father.”
Big shoulders shrugged. “I never said that at all. ’Night.”
One problem walked out the door and another strode in. Brianna Dean-Miles had a bottle of champagne in one hand and a bunch of daisies in the other. “This is all I could find. We need to up our decorating game.”
Cooper closed his eyes. It was going to be such a long fucking night.
* * * *
“’Night,” Kala said as TJ took Lou’s hand.
Lou turned slightly before they got to the door to her and TJ’s room. It used to just be Lou’s, but now there was no way to deny TJ lived with them. His boy stuff was all over the place, though she would give it to her cousin. The Army had trained him to be neat. “You sure you want to sneak in tonight? You could come in now. It’s pretty late.”
Kala snorted. “No. We’re good, Lou. Besides, he’s going to want to do stuff to you.”
TJ’s head shook. “Nah. We did that earlier, and I ate too many waffles. I got a pooch going. But I think you should sneak in. We have an excellent routine where I can pretend my cousin isn’t sleeping with us most nights.”
“I agree with TJ.” What would she do when she wasn’t living here? Would she move to DC and deal with it? She could do it. If she lived alone, she would learn to not need anyone. Maybe that was the problem. She was codependent. Or just dependent, since it wasn’t like Lou snuck into her bed. “Why fix it if it isn’t broken? Thanks for the waffle. I had fun watching the waitress taking bets on when TJ would explode.”