Damaged and the Beast (Damaged #1)

With the way the locals feared the Johansson family, I doubted I would ever get negative advice about the relationship. Yet, I nodded anyway.

“Boys like Cooper come in two sizes. One is like his pop. He probably fucked every woman in the state and couldn’t find a single one who interested him. He just didn’t have it in him yet to settle down. By the time he met me, he had a need no easy fuck could satisfy. Kirk grew into commitment. Some say he got too old to fuck, but trust me he hasn’t slowed down any.”

Jodi and I shared a smile.

“Then, there are guys like my boy. He isn’t ready to be committed. He needs time and to fuck everything that walks past him. Instead, he found you. Now, he can’t let that feeling go. Sometimes, a man grows into an ability to love. Sometimes, they just wake up one day in love whether they’ve grown enough or not. Cooper hasn’t grown shit, but he’s in love. He doesn’t know it yet because he’s an idiot. Men his age are all idiots, but Cooper’s especially stupid. Mostly because he’s the smart one in the family. It makes him think he doesn’t have to think. He just assumes he has all the answers. With you, he doesn’t because he’s not ready for you. He thinks he is, so he’s going to fuck up all over the place. You best prepare yourself for that.”

“We just met,” was my idiot reply.

“Every time you two butt heads, he comes whining to me. His pop tells him to fuck someone else and it’ll be fine. I know though. I saw the stupid in Kirk’s eyes when he realized he was in love and wasn’t walking away. Cooper’s got that stupid look now, but he’s too stupid to understand. He just wants what he wants. When it ain’t easy, he gets pissed. Then, he whines about how getting pissed didn’t fix anything. Then, he wants to dump you and move on. Then, he realizes he can’t because he needs you. Then, he figures he’ll make things happen like he always does. When it doesn’t work immediately, he’s pissed again. The fucker is in a downward spiral, but he’s a good boy and will eventually figure things out.”

In those last few minutes, Jodi said more to me than my mother had in the last two weeks. I felt an odd need to impress this woman. Maybe not so odd since my need for a mom was why I grabbed onto Mrs. Prescott so tightly. She was everything Amy wasn’t.

Now, Jodi was sharing with me. Before I could get too comfortable with the idea of bonding with her, she continued, “My boy deserves the best. I don’t know that you’re good enough, but you’re what he wants. If he can’t have the best, he deserves to have what his heart needs. You better be kind to my boy because I’d hate to go mama bear on you.”

Jodi smiled like she was kidding, but I knew she wasn’t. I didn’t know much about the Johansson family, but I knew they caused scary people to get out of the way. Like those guys at the party who roofied Bailey and I never saw again. It was a small college and I’d seen one of them every day at school before the incident. Afterwards, he was just gone. People who could make that happen would have no problem disappearing me too.

“I understand,” I said.

“You’re a smart girl. Coop says you want to be a teacher. That’s a nice job for a young woman. Then, when you give me grandbabies, you can stay home and teach them.”

Nodding, I glanced at Cooper who had Tucker in a headlock. The brothers were both eating hot dogs, but Cooper wouldn’t let Tucker go. Yet, his younger brother didn’t even care. He was too busy flirting with Maddy who had a bad case of the giggles. I think she liked seeing him in the headlock, but would never admit that fact. I didn’t blame her. The Johanssons were a scary family.

Once Jodi left to turn on a Heart CD before joining Kirk at the grill, Cooper finally dumped Tucker next to Maddy. He strolled to me with a hotdog covered in ketchup, mustard, and relish.

“Is someone hungry?” he teased, pressing the hot dog against my lips.

“Thank you.”

Cooper stepped close enough for me to lean against and I did because his mom had scared the shit out of me. What happened if Cooper and I had a fight? What if I didn’t put out? Anything could happen to me and who would even care?

“Did she threaten you?” Cooper whispered in my ear as his arms wrapped around me.

“No.”

“Really?” he said, smiling. “I thought she loved me?”

“I’m doing my best.”

Cooper’s smile disappeared. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t upset you on purpose,” I lied.

“She’s teasing you, Farah. Or maybe not, but she just wants me to get what I want.”

“Maybe we should, you know?” I asked, biting into the hot dog even though my stomach churned full of anxiety.

“Should what?” Cooper asked, taking the burger Bailey handed him.

“You know?” I whispered. “Go to your apartment and be together.”

“Oh, yeah, we’re already doing that.”