“Bailey, get out of Cooper’s bed now.” He came towards me and grabbed my arm, pulling me roughly across the bed.
Coop moved like lightning and ripped his dad’s hand away from me. “What the hell is your problem?” he shouted at his dad and his dad glared at us both.
“You cannot be sleeping in the same bed. You cannot be in…” He paused sucking in a breath before speaking again, “In a relationship, because like it or not, you are related, and I will not tolerate you being together.” He glared at us and Cooper lost it.
“How many times do I have to tell you? BAILEY AND I AREN’T TOGETHER! WE’VE NEVER BEEN TOGETHER. SHE’S A LITTLE GIRL!” He shoved his dad’s shoulder and stood breathing hard with his back to me. Shawn stood glaring at us and Cooper shoved him towards the door. “Now get out of my room. She can stay in my bed as long as it takes because it was MY BROTHER who attacked her, and I convinced her not to press charges.”
He hadn’t needed to; we hadn’t even talked about any of that, but he knew I wouldn’t want to do that. It wouldn’t help. I tried to move, and I gasped holding on to my throat. Coop turned to me and gave me a hard look. His meaning was clear—stay still while he spoke to his dad—so I stopped trying to move.
“Fine,” Shawn murmured, “but if I get so much of an inkling you two are together, I won’t be responsible for my actions. Colleges will be out, any financial help gone. I will end your futures before they begin. You understand?” He glared and Cooper nodded at his father’s retreating figure.
“Bails,” he whispered as soon as the door closed. He turned to me and shook his head. I knew what he was meaning without him having to say it. He spun around and walked to the bathroom, slamming the door hard behind him. There was nothing for a second and then a loud crack sounded. I crawled up from the bed and tried to go to him, but I was slow and sluggish, and it took me a few pain-filled moments to cross the room.
I opened the bathroom door and he was running his hand under the faucet. Blood was running from a cut on his hand. His shoulders were slumped, and the mirror was cracked. His face splintered into hundreds of pieces in the reflection.
“Bailey, get out, it’s over. I can’t do this anymore,” he hissed and I stepped back in surprise. I paused by the door, and he glanced around. “What are you waiting for? Just go. I never should have started this shit, you’re not worth all this…” His eyes tightened as he spoke, but other than that he didn’t react to his words and I knew we were over.
I gasped and turned away from him holding my hands around my waist as I tried to stop the tears from flowing. Everything hurt, my neck, my face, my heart, my soul. I moved slowly to the bathroom downstairs and as I passed the mirror, I caught a glimpse of my face. I was a wreck, my lip was cut and swollen and my eye was black and blue. Not to mention the array of colors on my neck. My legs gave way and I sobbed in the bathroom at the turn my life had taken. He’d ended us. We were over.
The next few days passed quickly; my birthday went uncelebrated. No one felt like celebrating and I’d asked my mom to just let it pass. I couldn’t manage to plaster a pretend smile to my face around Cooper. We avoided each other completely and as soon as Nixon cleared me, I spent my time at my grandparents’, hanging out with Jay.
He didn’t ask about Coop and I didn’t tell him. We talked about senior year, college choices, and what he was going to do with his trust fund when he had access to it. Everyone, including Coop, assumed we were a couple, and I didn’t have the energy to correct them.
August arrived quickly, and I started my senior year, settling into the routine of school. I found out that Jay was attending my school for his senior year which made me so happy. Coop was dating again, but I ignored it, and anytime I saw him I didn’t acknowledge the twisting of my gut at the sight of him.
Time passed quickly and too soon it was the night before Cooper was going to college, Shawn had arranged a family dinner for us, minus Zane, who’d disappeared with ten grand and some jewelry of Cooper’s mom’s.
I didn’t want to go. In fact, I never wanted to go to anything less, but I knew I had to at least try. I missed Cooper so much, but I also hated him and I couldn’t stand being around him. I’d protested to my mom and she’d told me that I had to be there. It wouldn’t be okay for me to miss it.
I dressed carefully in an off the shoulder black top with dark skin-tight trousers, a silver belt, and a silver necklace. I did my makeup light and took my hair down from the plait it had been in all day which left me with loose curls.
Once I deemed myself presentable, with an ever-present ball of dread sitting in my stomach, I slipped my feet into my boots and went downstairs. Cooper was standing by the window looking more handsome than ever in a dark grey shirt with black slacks on. He turned as I entered the room and a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.
The car ride was awkward as Cooper and I were forced to sit in the back of his dad's car. I was squished into the door and refused to even look across at him as him and his dad spoke about Harvard and how excited Cooper was to start school. I tried to keep my expression neutral, but my heart hurt every time Cooper spoke.
Dinner was strained, and we didn’t look at each other at all. As dinner ended Shawn toasted Cooper going to Harvard and I tried to smile and join in, but I wasn’t feeling it. It still hurt that he’d ended us, and he’d been screwing around. On my birthday in June I walked into the sitting after going out for a walk to find some girl giving him oral.
The knife that stabbed into my heart seeing that was like nothing else I’d ever experienced because I’d never expected him to stoop as low as that on my birthday. I stood frozen as my mind took a minute to make sense of what I was seeing. He glanced up and raised his eyebrows and I wanted to throw something at him. He sneered at me and I spun on my heel, stuffing my hand in my mouth to stop the sob coming out.
After that day, I’d completely avoided him. I didn’t speak to him at all. I hated him so much, but I missed him so badly I ached. I couldn’t sleep at home, so I stayed out much more.
The morning Cooper left for college, I’d been up since five a.m., hoping to get out before everyone else was up. It was the first Saturday in September, and I was hoping to go sit at Louis’s grave until I could go to Jay’s. I made my way downstairs and walked into the kitchen to find the coffee pot brewing. I walked out onto the deck and prayed he’d leave without me seeing him, but no such luck. He was at the water’s edge looking over the water, but as my eyes made out his form in the early light of dusk, he turned, and his eyes pinned me to the deck.
He nodded at me and turned back to face the water. I didn’t acknowledge him as I turned and went back into the kitchen, grabbing a muffin as I sat down and waited for the coffee pot to finish brewing. A cold draft washed over me, surrounding me in Cooper’s scent as he walked into the kitchen. He stood at the coffee pot and waited until it finished, pouring coffee into my leopard print travel mug.
He brought it over and set it down in front of me brushing my fingers as he moved away from me. The shock of his light touch sent a frizzle of desire through me and I glanced up meeting his eyes for the first time since the end of June.