Melissa Gill—I still don’t know how you can handle my insane mind. LOL! I’m so lucky to have you as my graphic queen. All you need is a few seconds chatting and you deliver an image/design like you plucked it straight from my head. And you put up with my crazy PM’s throughout the day and all hours of the night. Hehe! <3
Brenda Wright, Oh, B! Book four and you’re still by my side and I know I’m lucky as hell to have such a great friend in you. You never stop showing me just what it’s like to have a real friend willing to drop anything to help. I love you!
Angela, Katie and Kelly—Really . . . do I need to express the ways I love you? HA! You girls have been with me from the beginning and beyond that. I couldn’t imagine doing this without y’all and our daily messages . . . and facebook stickers, those really are a must.
Debi Barnes, Jessica Adams, and Julie Bales—thank you for letting me pick your brains about twins! <3 <3 I’m sure it’s completely normal to get random messages asking about your sex life while pregnant! (Julie—I totally love you in a way that is probably lesbehonest.)
Heather Horton—You made preemie research so much easier! Thank you for sharing your story with me!
Dr. Erin Ricker—Thank you!! I love that I was able to get help from you with my doctor research! Who would have thought, 28 years ago playing Barbies and listening to Paula Abdul that we would be here! HA! Thank you so much for helping with all the medical questions!!
To the bloggers, reviewers, authors and readers that take the time to read my books. Every review, message and post means the world to me and I can’t thank you enough for continuing on my crazy train. <3 <3 <3
My street team, for believing in these boys and me. You’re pimping and encouraging means the world!
Chelcie, I love you. So much. True friends are hard to find, but we found each other and I’ll be forever thankful for that.
To the girls of the IRAC. Do I have the right words to express my love for you? Nope, I do not. But, I will say that our group is amazing and each day you ladies show me just how lucky I am to be apart of it.
And to everyone that loves Greg, Melissa, AND especially Cohen Cage as mush as I do . . . This book is for y’all.
My readers rock . . . I’m so blessed to have y’all in my life and I can’t thank you enough for loving my Corps Crew as much as I do. Until next time . . . MUUUUAH
COOPER PLAYLIST
Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton What Now by Rihanna
Beam Me Up by P!nk
Slipped Away by Avril Lavigne All of Me by John Legend Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran Small Bump by Ed Sheeran 6’2 by Marie Miller
Breathe You In by Dierks Bentley Hey Brother by Avicii Rude by Magic!
Broken Ones by Jacquie Lee How Long Will I Love You by Ellie Goulding Wherever You Will Go by Charlene Soraia
To Angela Druck, Kelly Knott & Katie Benson.
You ladies have been with me from day one—before Axel was even a thought—and I know without a doubt that I wouldn’t be here without you.
So . . .
I love you.
And . . .
Thank you. For everything.
PROLOGUE
Asher
“Come on, Coop,” I whisper. It’s dark in the closet, but I can still make out his huddled form in the back corner. “Come on, Coop. Please. Mom will be back soon and you know she’s gonna be mad if she hears us.”
I shift my body so he can see the cracker box I grabbed from the barren kitchen. Mom never brings us food anymore. I’m lucky that my best friend, Joel, lives close and shares his snacks with us or we wouldn’t eat.
He doesn’t ask questions.
Not anymore.
“I’m scared, Ash.”
I ball up my fist when I hear his broken and weak voice. My brother is so small. I just turned ten last week, but I’m bigger. I know Coop is small because he is always scared. Too scared to come out of the closet our mom always makes us stay in.
“We gotta hurry. Move over, ‘kay?”
“’Kay.” His weak voice cracks.
“Are you still cold?” I question.
“Yeah,” he replies weakly.
When I get to the back of the closet, closing the door tightly behind me, I reach out and hand Coop the box. It only has seven crackers in it. They’re old, and I had to get a few roaches out of the box before I brought it back. Coop doesn’t like the bugs that live in the kitchen.
“Don’t you want some?” He holds the box my way, and even though my stomach rumbles, I shake my head no. “You need some too, Ash,” he tries again.
“I’m okay, Coop. I had some before I brought them back. You gotta hurry before mom gets home, okay?”
He nods his head and starts to eat sluggishly. I grab one of the bottles of water Joel gave me last week and hand it to him. His head falls to rest against my shoulder while he takes turns eating and drinking slowly.
He’s getting weaker. He couldn’t get up this morning to go to school. He just kept sleeping, so I stayed home. Mom didn’t even notice. I could hear her throwing up this morning. She’s always throwing up. And drinking the nasty stuff.
I don’t know how long we have been sitting here when I hear the front door bang shut and the sounds of feet stomping around the house. Coop drops the crackers and pulls his legs up to his chest.