Page 39 of Bound by Family
It’s not that I don’t want to be buried inside her—that’s always on my mind. It’s that Bristyl isn’t a fuck or someone I want to leave the moment we’re done. No, I want to hold her, fall asleep with her, and find out what it’s like to wake up with a woman I care about beside me. Each of those actions is so foreign, yet feels so right … with her.
“You’d better go,” I tell her reluctantly.
“I don’t think I want to.” She licks her lips, her hands coming to the front of my T-shirt and gripping me tightly. “Say this won’t be the last time I see you. Say that we’ll meet each other again. Maybe in a different life or something. Just don’t say this is the end when I feel like it’s just the beginning.”
Instead of saying anything, I lean down and take her mouth once more, giving her the words she does and doesn’t want to hear from me. When I pull away, I open her car door for her, and she gets in.
“Bye, Cooper,” she says on a huff of breath before I close the door, and she drives off like a bat out of hell. Little does she know, she took a piece of me with her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
BRISTYL
There’s no use stopping the tears falling from my eyes. In my gut, I knew it was a bad idea to see him because of this simple reason. When his lips touched mine, I was lost in a way I never wanted to be found again. What was bliss for a few hours is now heartbreak for many more.
The drive is uneventful. The music doesn’t help with the feeling of loss inside of me. After getting into my house and locking the door, I text Cooper.
Made it.
I don’t hear anything back from him until the morning, when I get:Home.
I called him this morning, but it went to voicemail. The pit of loss hit me because he has never let it go to voicemail without telling me he wouldn’t be available. I shouldn’t have any fears, but maybe it’s over. Maybe seeing me that once is enough for him and he’s done. Or maybe I’m being an idiot.
“Hey! Where have you been? I’ve, like, called you a billion times,” Leah says from my doorway as I step to the side and let her in. She has called me several times, but I didn’t want to hear for the billionth time how sorry she is.
“I’ve been busy.”
“Busy doing what? Besides working.”
I wring my hands and wonder if I should tell her about seeing Cooper. Trusting her isn’t the problem. It’s just nice to have something that’s truly mine. Not my father’s or brothers or the club’s, but mine. It’s not that I want him to be a secret, but I guess I do in a way. It’s like, if my life is unknown, it won’t taint what Cooper and I have together. Damn, I’m confusing.
I wave my hand dismissively. “Just work.”
“Yeah. Sorry about …” she starts, but I hold my hand up to stop her.
“No more, Leah. Stop with this shit. As long as he’s not in your business, then don’t worry about it. Stop apologizing, because it’s bugging the ever-loving shit out of me.”
She sighs deeply and falls onto my couch. I sit next to her.
“I know. It just sucks that I was that stupid. But never again.”
“Good.”
She sighs, and I can tell she just wants things to be normal again.
“So … I was listening to this radio show this morning, and you’re never going to believe this.” She turns toward me excitedly, and I try to give it back to her, but I’m sure I fail miserably. It sucks, because my best friend is here, yet my head is hundreds of miles away, wondering why Cooper didn’t answer his phone.
“This radio show has people call in for these second chance date things. Like, they go on a date with someone and then the other person doesn’t call them back and they want to know why. Now, why someone would actually do this is totally beyond me because—hello—you already went there once and got burned. Now you want to know why and go on another date with them?”
I just smile and let her continue.
“Okay, so this guy Dave calls in. He went on a date with Stacy to a club where they danced and had a good time. While they were dancing, another guy came up and cut in on Stacy. Dave stepped back and let this happen, going to the bar and drinking. Stacy comes back, and they have an okay time, but Dave feels Stacy is off. Stacy tells Dave at the end of the date that she will be gone for two months and won’t be able to be reached. I mean, hello, man, red flag! Well, Dave thinks that Stacy doesn’t want to go out with him again because he didn’t defend her honor by telling the guy to fuck off when he cut in.”
“I can see that.” My brothers wouldn’t allow that to happen one bit. I can see them kicking some serious ass for anyone attempting to cut in when they have a woman, or hell, even cut them in line somewhere.
“Okay, so this radio show calls Stacy, and she literally groans when she hears Dave’s name and does the whole,I’m not going to talk about it on the radio showthing. Which, who can blame her, putting all her shit out there like that? Anyway, the radio guys tell her why Dave thinks she hasn’t called him. She bursts out laughing, saying that it’s the total opposite. The radio guys are likewhat?all questioning and stuff. So, Stacy then proceeds to say that, after she got done with her dance with random dude, Dave pulled her over into the corner of the bar and started whispering in her ear.”
“That’s never a good sign,” I say on a chuckle.
