Page 10 of Ending the Game

“Cooper, I try not to meddle. Especially considering I love you both. But I have to say this one thing.” His posture loosens, and he takes a step closer. “Love is messy, son. Carys was knocked down hard with her diagnosis. She knows pushing you away was wrong. You owe it to her to hear her out, at the very least.”

“Like she talked to me?” I bite back.

I still love her.

I always will.

But when all this is over, I’m gonna spank her ass for pushing me away.

Dad stares at me, waiting me out for a better answer.

“We’ll talk at some point, Dad. But it won’t be here, and it can’t be now.” There’s no way for me to protect her here. “You guys have already been here too long. You’ve got to go home.”

Dad wraps his arms around me in a tight embrace. “I love you, kid. I want to hear from you as soon as the doc comes in with another update. Got it?”

“I’ll call as soon as I can.” He moves the rolling table over until it’s next to the bed, then hands me my phone.

“Make sure you answer your sister. She’s driving me crazy.” Dad shakes his head like all of us do when it comes to my persistent twin when she gets mad.

God help the man who gets in her way.

Guess that’s Brady’s problem now.

“No electronics, remember?” I really don’t think I can handle getting into it with Nat yet. Not when my brain still feels like scrambled eggs.

“Coop, she’s pregnant with twins. If she doesn’t hear from you soon, she’s getting on a plane and flying over here to see you for herself. Will you please just call her?” He turns and grabs his coat from the chair, then waits.

“Fine. But if she yells, I’m hanging up.” She’s going to yell. We both know it. Nattie is never quiet.

Dad crosses his arms over his thick chest and tries to act annoyed again but fails. “Love you, son. I’ll call when we land.”

“Dad... take care of Carys.” I hope one day she understands why I did this.

Dad shakes his head. “Don’t underestimate her, son. That girl is stronger than you think.”

There’s a knock on the door, followed by Ford’s head sticking in. “Hey, brother.” He glances between Dad and me. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You’re not interrupting,” Dad claps Ford’s back, as he shakes his hand. “Just do me a favor and make sure he calls his sister before you’re all stuck having to deal with her.” He looks back at me one more time before walking through the door, and the immediate relief I have, knowing that he and Carys will be on a jet within a few hours, has my shoulders sagging.

Ford laughs as Rook and he stroll into the room in their full uniforms.

Rook closes the door and leans against it with his hands shoved in his pockets. Ford clears his throat. “Listen, Rook and I are being sent stateside later today.”

The words he left unsaid are that Trick and I won’t be going back to base with them.

The injuries to Trick’s leg are severe and could take months of physical therapy. That’s a one-way ticket back to Coronado. And head injuries are tricky. My vision isn’t even back to 100 percent yet.

The wordspotential medical dischargestill echo in my shaky brain from my conversation with the neuro doc they brought in yesterday.

Potential permanent partial loss of vision.

I haven’t told the guys yet. I want to know more first.

“We’re needed for debriefing and...” Ford trails off.

“And?” I prompt.

He looks between Trick and me. “For Linc’s funeral.”

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