Page 35 of Begin Again
“Aw, Katy, don’t be like that. I know you missed me, too.” Cooper touches where his heart should be, offering the blonde what I think is meant to be a sincere smile, but it looks pretty antagonizing if you ask me.
“In your dreams, Hayes. C’mon, Char, let’s go.” Katy grabs Charlie’s arm and gives Jackson and me a look that tells us tofollow. Cooper steps in front of her, blocking our path to leave, and the discussion is starting to gain the attention of onlookers in the crowd.
Great, this is great.
“What are you doing withhim?”Cooper hisses at Charlie, motioning toward me.
Charlie crosses her arms. “Not that it’s any of your business, but we were just dancing.”
“No one dances with my girl,” Cooper says, taking a step toward her, and I do the same. His eyes meet mine before a smile spreads on his lips and his tongue swipes across his teeth. Shit, this is about to get ugly.
“I am notyourgirl, Coop.” Charlie stabs a finger into his chest. “Get a fucking life.”
Cooper grabs Charlie’s arm when she tries to push past him, but I take hold of her at the same time and pull her to stand behind me. “Dude, you need to back off,” I say.
“And what are you gonna do about it?” Cooper laughs, and I feel like I’m talking to one of those high school bullies who’s finally being stood up to. God, is that what this is? I can’t be the first person who has stood up to this asshole.
“She wants to be left alone. I don’t know how many times she needs to tell you.” I watch his fists clench and unclench at his sides before he rolls his neck. Shit, I am not in the mood for a fight, but it looks like I’m about to get one. “Maybe you were dropped one too many times as a baby, but when a girl tells you to leave them alone, that means leave them alone.”
“Oh, looks who’s playing heroagain,” Dakota says, stepping through the crowd and catching my attention. Did he say again?
“You don’t want to get in the middle of this, city boy,” Cooper adds.
Why does he keep calling me that?
“Back off. There’s no reason to start something when everyone is here to have a good time,” I say.
“I don’t know.” Cooper shrugs, glancing toward his counterpart. “What do you think, Koda? I think this place could use a pick-me-up.”
“Cooper, no,” Charlie pleads.
“Oh, definitely,” Dakota says. A sick smile tugs his lips upward. He and Cooper start to move closer, but their encroachment isn’t enough for me to back down.
What you might call stupid…I call innate stubbornness.
“Xavier, no. Do not let them bait you into this,” Charlie says, clutching my arm. She uses her other arm to try and push Cooper away. “Cooper, stop it!”
“You sure you wanna do this, city boy?” Cooper asks, stepping into me, his chest pressed up against mine. His breath is rotten enough to make me want to take a step back, but if I back down now, I don’t think it will end well for me. Not that it’s going to end well anyway. “I promise you, she ain’t worth it.”
I don’t know why it bothers me, but that last blow toward Charlie makes me want to punch him square in the face.
From the corner of my eye, Jackson moves closer at the same rate Dakota does, much to Katy’s dismay. Hey, at least it won’t be two on one. Both girls look at the scene with horror, and now we have even more onlookers. Shit, there’s no way Joseph won’t find out about this now.
Cooper starts to say something else, but a deep voice cuts through the tense air: Chief Sloan. “Alright boys, break it up!” The Bezer chief of police cuts through the crowd at the same time Cooper’s handler, Old Man Red, does. “Cooper get the fuck out of here. We don’t need any trouble tonight. Go on!”
Cooper is about to argue when his handler gives him the same look he had outside Sullivan’s a few days ago, and it shutsCooper up immediately. With a huff and an eye roll, Cooper stalks off into the crowd, Dakota not far behind.
“You got him?” Sloan asks Red.
“Sure. They won’t be causin’ any more trouble tonight.” Red glances my way, eyes narrowing slightly, before he tips his cowboy hat toward the group of us and disappears in the same direction his boys went. When I met his stare, I got the same feeling I did outside Sullivan’s. There’s something familiar and dangerous in his eyes. Something that tells me maybe there is more to Cooper, Dakota, and Red than meets the eye.
“Get them home,” Sloan says to me, meaning Charlie and Katy.
Charlie tries to argue—she doesn’t want to leave yet—but I give her a look to shut up. Katy isn’t as upset about the news, clinging to Jackson, who wastes no time leading her through the crowd. I plant a hand on Charlie’s lower back and guide her. The night is over, and so is this date.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I DRY THE WATER from my head and step out of the shower. When we arrived back at the ranch, I only wanted to crawl into bed, but I needed to wash away the day. The hot water helped loosen my muscles, still tight from the altercation with Cooper and Dakota. The ride back didn’t help—Charlie gave me the cold shoulder the whole way back from town. She’s mad. Who exactly is she mad at? I don’t know. I was getting mixed signals, but her irritation rolled off her in seismic waves, making me more tense. She practically tucked and rolled before I could park the truck outside the house, ignoring my calls from behind to wait up. I wanted to apologize for how the day had turned out, but she wasn’t in the mood, letting the door slam behind her.
