“Yes,” I say in a shrill voice of frustration. “That’s exactly what I thought you’d do. You cheated on me. I told you we’re over. Why in the world you’d think I’d want to talk to you, or even film a movie with you, is beyond me.”
“I have the right to explain what happened,” he yells at me. He’s posturing, drawing himself up to his full height and leaning toward me. I’ve never been afraid of Brad; he’s generally not a violent person, but I don’t like being here alone with him when he’s clearly very pissed off, and I’ve never seen him this way. “I have the right to try to make this better.”
I take a quick breath, let it out, and say, “Brad…you don’t have any right to anything with me. I don’t want to hear what you have to say. There’s nothing that you could say that will make it better. So please…just go on with your life and forget about me. Because that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Brad’s lip curls up in a sneer. “Yeah…saw the photos of you and your new boyfriend. Didn’t take you long to hop in someone else’s bed, did it?”
“At least I wasn’t unfaithful,” I snarl at him. “You and I were over when I started seeing Coop. You were fucking around behind my back after we got engaged, you piece-of-shit, little-dick, two-bit actor, and I had the right to go fuck the entire population of LA if I wanted to.”
Brad growls and steps toward me, pointing his finger. “You see…if you’d been better in bed, I wouldn’t have had to fuck around on you. You’re pathetic, actually.”
I know that shouldn’t hurt me, but it does. No woman likes to be told that, and it causes self-doubt for sure. Still, I don’t let him know his arrow struck. I try to maintain calm and order. “Brad…you need to leave. This is unproductive and nothing’s going to change. You wasted your time in coming out here and I’m sorry for that. But you should have heeded my text to you that it was over.”
The crunch of tires on gravel and the rumble of an engine catches my attention and I tilt to the right to look around Brad. Coop’s truck is coming up the driveway and I’m both grateful and fearful he’s here. At a frat party once while we were in college, some drunk guy grabbed my ass and Coop beat the shit out of him. He’s insanely possessive and easily offended if you touch what he treasures.
Brad turns and his eyes narrow on the truck.
“I suggest you leave, Brad,” I say quietly.
“Why?” he sneers without looking at me, keeping his eyes locked on the truck when Coop brings it to a stop right at the base of the steps. “That your boyfriend?”
I don’t respond, because there’s no need to. Coop gets out, stalks around the front of the truck, and heads straight up the stairs with no hesitation. His eyes come to me briefly to ensure I’m okay, and then back to Brad.
When Coop hits the top step, Brad takes a step back, as Coop has him by several inches and a few more pounds of hard-packed muscle.
Without taking his eyes off Brad, he asks me, “Did you invite him here?”
“No, he just showed up,” I tell him.
Coop points down to the car that Brad clearly drove here from the airport. “Get off our property. You’re trespassing.”
“I’m not leaving until Eden talks—”
That’s as far as Brad gets, because Coop has his arm twisted and locked between his own in a spinning move that looks straight out of a martial arts movie. I wonder if he practices MMA like me. Brad grunts in pain and drops to one knee.
As Coop looms over him, his words are menacing and to the point. “Let’s try this again…get off our property. If I have to tell you again, it’s going to hurt worse.”
Coop immediately releases his hold on Brad and takes a step back. Brad’s no fighter, more blustery talk than anything, but I’m completely surprised when he turns and charges at Coop. His face is red and his eyes are burning with rage.
“Brad,” I shout in surprise as he lowers his shoulder and attempts to drive it into Coop’s sternum.
Coop merely turns to the side at the last minute and Brad goes sailing by him. Adding insult to injury, Coop raises his foot, encased in steel-toe work boots, and kicks Brad in the ass, which propels him forward even faster. He can’t stop the momentum and goes crashing into a wrought-iron plant stand that holds a fern, then he flips over a white rocking chair.
For a heart-stopping moment, Brad lies still and I think Coop killed him, but then he groans and rolls over. His face is covered in blood that’s gushing from his nose. He sits up, brings his hand there, and says, “Jesus Christ, you lunatic. You broke my fucking nose.”
Coop’s not moved, although I’m feeling a little sorry for him.
“Get off our property and don’t come back,” Coop repeats to him for the third time.
Brad pushes up off the porch with a groan of pain and wipes his nose on the back of his sleeve. More blood runs out.
“Fuck,” Brad complains. “Can I get a towel or something?”
Still not taking his eyes off Brad, Coop says, “Eden…grab a towel from the kitchen. And the shotgun from the cabinet in the hall.”
I roll my eyes because now he’s just putting on a show. I run into the house, grab a kitchen towel from one of the drawers, and run back out again. I toss it to Brad, who immediately puts it up to his face and pinches his nose.
Coop looks at me. “Where’s the shotgun?”
“Stop it,” I hiss at him, and his lips quirk upward.
Brad turns and starts down the steps. When he reaches the driver’s door of his car, he looks back up at us. “Eden…if you change your mind—”
“She won’t,” Coop cuts him off gruffly. “She’s got all she needs right here.”
Yup. Possessive.
I remain silent and eventually Brad gets into his car. We don’t move or say anything until his car is out of sight.
Coop turns to me and asks, “You all right?”
“Yeah,” I tell him with a sly smile. “Totally fine. But why are you here? Some supersense that I needed to be rescued?”
“I couldn’t stop looking at the damn photo you sent of the condoms in the garbage can,” he mutters as he curls a hand behind my neck. He jerks me to him, gives me a swift, hard kiss. “Went ahead and took off work a little early. Got more important things to do.”
Tingles down my spine, tingles between my legs, tingles deep in my nipples. “Yes, we definitely have more important things to do.”
Chapter 18
You had me at toys…
Coop
I’m on my back in the middle of the king bed. Eden is laying three-quarters of the way on top of me, her long hair fanning out over my stomach and her face turned to me. Eyes barely closed, mouth soft with a dreamy smile, and slow, calm breaths.
My chest moves slowly too, but that’s only because we’ve had time to come down off the simultaneous explosive orgasms we just had.
Not fucking with condoms is like the best thing ever.