Cooper watched Vaughn walk over to the blonde then he focused his dark gaze on me.
“Lark is your girl. I know shit and I know that. You know it too, but you let Kristen’s crap make you second guess everything. Lark is yours and you’ll wait. Maybe you’ll whine about being horny or lonely or you’ll write sonnets or some lame shit, but you’ll wait. No reason to keep pretending otherwise. In fact, it just makes you look stupid because I know you and that girl owns you. I suspect you own her too. Chicks just hide their shit better.”
Recalling the way Lark looked when she wished to go home with me the first night, I knew she wasn’t playing. I felt her need from across the table. I’d shivered then and I shivered again. Those eyes weren’t hiding anything. I needed to stop playing mind games. Lark was worth waiting for, no matter how long it took.
“Maddy’s going to pop soon,” Cooper said, finishing his beer and getting ready to head out. “Tucker is attached to her. It’s pretty fucking adorable. The guy about wets his pants every time she makes any noise that might be labor pain.”
“You’ll be an uncle soon.”
“I’m already an uncle,” Cooper mumbled, sliding on his jacket. “I just can’t hold the kid yet.”
“You and Farah still planning on trying?”
“No planning. We’re just trying now. She’s off the pill. Whenever it happens, it’ll be cool. Farah worries she’ll suck at being a mom. Can you believe that shit?” Cooper asked as his dark eyes warmed at the thought of his wife. “The way she takes care of Sawyer and me and everyone else and she thinks she’ll be a bad mom. These girls with their shit families get all fucked up in the head and no logic is going to fix it. They just need to face their fears and see how amazing they are when their idiot parents aren’t around to fuck things up.”
“Should I fix things for Lark?”
“I don’t know. If it was me, I’d go smack her stupid brother and father around. I don’t know if that’d be a good idea though. Those fucks aren’t low life drifters like Farah’s parents. That Larry asshole is a respectable member of the community. If you want to smack him around, you’ll need to do it in a more subtle way. Of course, if he ever fucks with you, we can just remind Mister Upstanding how his kind doesn’t run Ellsberg. It’s us dirty biker types who keep his house from burning down or his head from getting cracked open. If it comes down to it, I’ll help you take him down. Pop says behave. I say I’ve got my bud’s back.”
Grinning, I shoved him away from me. “Crap. I’m worried you might hug me next.”
“I was thinking about it,” Cooper said, smiling. “Farah’s turned me all nice and shit. I’m getting manners too. It’s disgusting.”
“Horrifying,” I teased. “Thanks for the offer, but I feel like Lark needs to make a move. If she needs me to, I’ll burn down houses and crack open skulls. Right now, I feel like maybe she needs to find her way back to me. If she does, I’m keeping her and ruining anyone who tries to take her away.”
“Now, there’s the punk ass jerk I became friends with.”
“Thanks for coming out and giving me a pep talk. I know you hate being away from your woman.”
“Farah’s worth all of the bullshit I had to wade through to win her. I bet Lark’ll be the same way for you. Don’t over think shit man. Just wait for your girl and she’ll be yours. No fucking car salesman is going to stand in the way.”
“Fuck he won’t.”
Cooper grinned then patted me hard enough on the shoulder to make up for any softness we’d shared. I watched him leave then glanced at Vaughn pouting with a blonde who made it all better. I’d had plenty of hookups, but those days were over. Lark was mine and no other chick would do.
Chapter Fifteen - Lark
Bailey punched the bag hard then ducked as it came back at her. She kicked at it, missed, and nearly fell on her ass. Tawny watched this display then nodded as if Bailey accomplished something great. Taking the hint, I nodded at Bailey too. The girl was a lot of fun, but she needed praise like no one I’d ever met. Even small children were more confident.
“Yeah, I kicked its ass.”
“It never stood a chance,” Tawny said, hitting the bag with less force and keeping it from attacking her in return. “Judd says we should hit it lighter and work more on our endurance.”
“Who cares what your man says?”
Tawny just grinned. “We’re getting married in Vegas.”
“You gonna get Elvis to marry you?”
I laughed. “I wouldn’t mind having Elvis marry me. I mean, Elvis would do the nuptials, not that I’d marry Elvis. He’s hella old.”
“The dude’s dead,” Bailey muttered. “I don’t want to call you stupid, but…”
Still smiling, I shook my head. “That’s what he wants everyone to think. No way did the King die on the crapper.”
“A conspiracy theorist? Do you believe in aliens too?”
“Of course. Who doesn’t?”
“I don’t.”