Page 35 of Bound by Family
“Cooper,” I interrupt.
“Yeah?”
“I’m honored that you want to tell me this, but it’s heavy, and I really don’t think we should do it over the phone.” I pause, feeling like an idiot. Here is this man, about to open up to me, and I’m shutting him down. Nevertheless, I have this urge to protect him, which makes it semi-okay … I think. “It’s not that I don’t want to know, because I do. I seem to want to know everything about you, but over the phone just doesn’t feel right.”
I wish I could see him and read his body language. Is he shocked I stopped him? Is he pissed? Does he want to hang up on me and never talk to me again? Or does he respect that I’m trying to keep his secrets as private as possible?
Getting up from my bed, I pace the room and gnaw on my thumbnail when he says nothing. Just dead air over the phone. Shit, I already screwed this up. We should have kept to texting. Then I wouldn’t have inserted my foot in my mouth. Dammit.
“I respect that, Bristyl. Thank you.”
“You’re not pissed at me?”
It sounds as if he’s moving on the other end of the phone with the static, maybe getting up or walking somewhere. I’m not sure which.
“Not at all. It’s smart. I like the way you think.”
I drop to the floor, back against my bed, pulling stray hairs from my face, relief filling me. “Thanks.”
“So, tell me, Bristyl, you work at the laundromat and a storage unit. What else do you do? College? Out partying at rallies? Clubbing?”
“Clubbing? Are you serious?” Clubbing? This man … I shake my head.
“Hell if I know what you chicks do.”
Chicks. Well, at least it’s better than some of the other terms I’ve heard over the years.
“What this chick does is work. I didn’t do college. Well, I take that back. I did try out of high school, but realized quickly it wasn’t for me.”
“Why’s that? You seem like a really smart girl.”
I stare up at the ceiling. “Thanks. I did okay, but doing school on top of work just didn’t pan out well.”
“So, you hated it?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“College was never a goal for me. I was born Ravage. I’ll die Ravage. That’s always been the plan.”
That pit of unease creeps back. How soon I keep forgetting that he’s in a club and probably feels the same way my father and brothers do. I hate to even think it, but the idea of it rides me hard. Why does he have to be the one that I want to talk to.
I try to push the insecurities down.
“Your brother and sister, are they younger? I’m assuming yes because you called them kids earlier.” Way to change the subject, Bristyl.
“Yep. They’re fourteen.”
“Do you get along with them?”
“For the most part. There’s such a huge age gap that it’s different. It’s like, maybe I’m their cousin or something instead of their brother. But we roll with it.”
Our conversation lasts throughout the night, and I fall asleep, still clutching my phone and onto a small bit of hope. Hope that maybe Cooper is different.
CHAPTER TWELVE
COOPER
“What the fuck are you doin’ in your room every night? You’ve bailed on us,” Ryker accuses from the passenger seat of the small box truck. We just dropped off a shipment to a client and are on our way back to Ravage.
