Cocky Roomie: A Bad Boy Romance Novel (Cocker Brothers of Atlanta Book 1) (13 page)

“God! He’ll be back!” Our Uncle groans.

“I’m a big boy, Grams. Jaxson doesn’t have to rescue me. I need to get away from all of you anyway.”

She cocks a slender, grey eyebrow at me. “Never heard such a stupid thing in all my life.”

When we all sit down to eat, easy conversation flows throughout the meal. I’m reminded several times of Drew’s selfless act of giving me this time with my family, and the respect I’ve got for her, grows.

But when Jax and Justin laugh loudly over Jason accidentally saying, “How’d we run out of mom’s ginger-ale already? Fuck me!” and Grandma slapping the side of his face so hard we all hear it, I grin with only one thought in my mind:
I wish Drew was here. She’d get a kick out of this.

This is when I stand up. “We’re gonna be here a while, yeah?”

Everyone looks up at me with different forms of questioning. “You have someplace you need to be?” Mom asks me with sarcasm.

Bracing myself, I explain, “I was gonna get my roommate and bring her over. She doesn’t have any friends in town. She’s alone, and I feel bad with us all having a good time. All this food.”

Everyone is staring at me.

“Well, go get her!” Mom calls to me with a wave to hurry up. As I head out, I hear them quietly filling each other in.

Mom asks my brothers, “Is he living with a girlfriend and didn’t tell us?”

Uncle Don says, “No. Just a roommate. Nice girl. Just moved to town.”

“Don gave her a job,” Marie says.

“He
wants
her to be his girlfriend,” Jason says.

“I heard that!” I call back, turning around and jamming a finger at him. “I just don’t want to feel guilty when I come home and find her watching some dumb movie all by herself.”

“He’s bringing her here for me, Ma,” Justin says, loudly.

“Fuck you, Justin!” I call back and head inside.

“LANGUAGE!!” Grandma yells.

DREW

S
urprised, my head swings over to the sound of the key turning. Jake walks in wearing grey jeans and a light blue, short sleeved, form-fitting button-up, his hair perfect as usual. He frowns as he locks eyes with me and heads over to the couch, glancing to the flat screen. “What the fuck is this?”

“The Danish Girl.”

“No no no no no. Get up. Put on that yellow sundress. You’re coming with me.”

Blinking at him, I slowly pick up the remote and turn off the movie. “The one I wore to the farmer’s market?”

“Is that where you went?”

“Yes, the Saturday you were making a mushroom omelet.”

His brain scans the memory, and he nods. “Yeah. That day. That dress. Go put it on.”

“Where are we going?” As I pass him, I take in how good he smells. Like charred coals and freshly cut grass.

“BBQ,” he says, simply.

I freeze. “Your family’s BBQ?” He nods with a look that says arguing is out of the question.

When I resurface from putting on a little makeup, combing my hair, changing clothes and wracking my brain over how this happened, Jake appraises me. “Beautiful.”

My body lights up as his gaze lingers on my hips. A flush rises to my cheeks. He notices and his eyes narrow. “C’mon. They’re holding dessert for us.”

In his car, we are silent for most of the way. I can feel my heart beating in every part of my body, even my hair. I can’t stand the question racing around my brain a second longer. “Why’d you change your mind?”

“About bringing you?”

“Yeah.”

He shoots me a look before focusing on the road. “You’re the one who said you didn’t want to come, Drew.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to. I said—” A wicked smile flashes from him. “Oh, you jerk.”

He laughs then reaches over and lays his warm, wide palm on my thigh. “I didn’t like the thought of you sitting at home by yourself when we were having fun. Didn’t feel right.” He releases my leg, and I stare at the spot where his hand was.

“That’s very sweet.”

“It’s just decent, that’s all,” he mutters like it’s no big deal.

Truth is I was feeling lonely. I’d tried to study some of the self-help books I got, but my mind kept wandering. Then I went to check out that movie, but a slow-moving period film isn’t a good idea when you’re feeling like you don’t have any friends.

“Thank you.”

He glances over and holds my grateful look a hot second. He shrugs, but a smile is in his eyes as he turns back to the road.

“Am I going to meet all your brothers today?”

His lips go tight. “Jett and dad don’t get along. Jeremy, he’s the youngest.”

“I remember.”

“Well, he just finished the thirteen weeks of training in Parris Island.”

“That’s right. He joined the Marines.”

“Right. We saw him at family day right before you moved in, then he got deployed to Syria.” Jake glances over to me with pride. “He’s going to be a hero.”

“He already is.”

Jake nods. “You’re gonna love Mom’s chili.”

The house is immense and gorgeous, yet homey. From the deep front yard and grand expanse of windows, I expected to find a museum-like décor, but it’s not that way at all. It looks lived in. The furniture is welcoming you to sit down and take a load off. I guess with boys you wouldn’t want a place you can’t get rowdy in.

“Is this where you grew up?”

“It is. They’re all in the backyard. This way.”

He leads me through a kitchen that bears signs of a feast being made. It’s fairly tidy though. Now I understand where Jake got his urge to clean up right after cooking. The smell alone causes my stomach to growl. Jake smirks at me.

“Guess I was hungrier than I thought,” I whisper.

“Nah, that’s my mom’s cookin.’ Your stomach would make that sound here even if you’d had a seven course meal before you came over.”

He opens the back door and the view hits me like a sunset you accidentally catch during a drive in the mountains. I fight the urge to go wide-eyed and awestruck. The yard is beautiful with trees as the frame, rather than a fence. Flowering bushes are tucked under a canopy of huge trees. There’s a stone dolphin fountain to the right. The perfectly cut lawn has several walking paths through it. It slopes down the further you go in. In the forefront, on the flattest surface of grass, is a long table where everyone sits, talking easily amongst themselves under strings of lights held up by four poles. Some people are laughing, others are deep in serious debate. Off to the left sits a half-devoured buffet, all the dishes covered in pretty, little, netted tents to keep the bugs away.

As Jake and I arrive on the back porch, everyone looks over. The discussions are abandoned as they rise to meet me.

I am beyond terrified.

I don’t know if Jake can tell, but he takes my elbow and leads me down the steps to the grass, where everyone is heading to meet us halfway. I use his support and force a smile.

Justin and Jason greet me like we’re old friends, and I catch a wink Justin throws my roommate.

Don introduces me to his wife, Marie, and I instantly see the resemblance between her and the man behind her who’s sizing me up from a polite mental distance.

“I hope my husband isn’t too hard to work for,” Marie says with a smile.

“I’ve just started there. I’ll call you if I have any trouble.”

She laughs, and my eyes dart back to the man. Immediately I know he is Jake’s father. They have the same eyes. His mother is standing next to him. She has the darker complexion that Jake has, but the green eyes of the twins. In other respects they’re like their father.

A nice woman introduces herself to me. “I work for the congressman,” she says with a nod behind her. Inwardly I stiffen as my eyes flit over.

“Oh!” I thought he’d looked familiar. Thank God Jake told me to wear this particular dress.

He walks over with his hand out. His wife is with him, staring at me like she’s trying to see my soul or something.

“Michael Cocker. Nice to meet you, Drew.”

“Nice to meet you, too, sir. I never put that together, that you were…I guess if your name started with a ‘J’ I might have.”

He laughs, “That’s Nancy’s doing. She likes ‘J’ names.”

“It’s not just me!” Mrs. Cocker objects, reaching out to shake my hand. She clasps it between both of hers and tells me in a confidential tone, “My sister Anna loves ‘J’ names, too. We both took all the best ones for our children.”

“Is she here?”

“No, they’re in Savannah.” Nancy looks at Jake. “Oh, I didn’t tell my sister! She’s going to be so mad.”

“I won’t tell her if you won’t,” Jake says.

Justin laughs, “I’m calling her tomorrow.”

“You better not!” Nancy Cocker admonishes him.

Jake’s grandma calls over from the cushioned seat. “Come here, child.”

Jason warns me, “Don’t you dare swear in front of Grams, Drew!”

Appalled, I look at him on my way over, with Jake holding my elbow again. “Why would I do that?”

Everyone laughs and I realize I’ve stumbled onto an inside joke. They all sit down and resume their conversations.

“This is our Matriarch,” Jake tells me, introducing her. “May Cocker.”

“See, Nancy got that from me. I named my children Marie and Michael, only I used
my
letter, because I’m egotistical.” She winks at me. Instantly, I like her. “I don’t know about this living with a man you’re not married to, though. You women today don’t know how to look out for yourselves!”

On a soft smile, I tell her, “Jake’s very scary. I lock my bedroom door at night.”

He laughs loudly. Her eyes dance and she wags a finger at him. “You hear that! She’s watching you.”

“She has nothing to worry about,” he smiles.

I try not to snort.

“You get her something to eat, Jake.”

“I will, Grams.”

There are two children off running around the bushes at the far end. I point to them and ask, “Are those your older brother’s?”

“No, they’re…where is Jaxson?” Jake says, under his breath. He turns around and asks the group, “Did Jax leave?”

“I’m here!” a deep voice calls from the house. A man appears and strolls down the back patio steps onto the grass, smiling at us. “Just had to make a call.” His eyes flash to the Congressman and I catch a silent exchange where he nods as if to say,
the deed is done.

Jaxson Cocker is ruggedly handsome, sun-kissed in both hair and skin. His eyes are a darker shade of green than his twin brothers, and very wise. He’s an old soul, as they say, and I feel myself relax in his presence as he shakes my hand. “Hi. I’m Jaxson, but a lot of people call me Jax.”

“Drew. Nice to meet you.” I glance to Jake and find him watching me with an expression I can’t read.

Jax nods to the table. “Have you tried Mom’s chili yet?”

“No, but I hear it’s amazing.”

Jake says, “Understatement,” with a shake of his gorgeous head. He leads me over and hands me a plate. “These are brown sugar sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping. That’s apple-smoked bacon in the green beans, and red onions to sweeten the taste. And this right here, this is what you’ll never want to stop eating.”

“Jake, you’re exaggerating!” Nancy calls over, genuinely annoyed. “I can’t meet those expectations!”

He tells me, “She’s modest. Ignore her,” loud enough for her to hear. She huffs and they share a look that he has won the battle, but she’s not happy about it.

“Lookin’ good. But you’re missing out on the best part, Drew.” Jason tells me over the other’s conversation as we walk to the table, my plate piled high.

“What’s the best part?” I ask Jake.

“He’s pissed the fucking ginger ale is gone.”

“JAKE!” May shouts.

“You know you love me, Grams.” He pulls out a chair for me, and takes the seat beside mine.

He’s watching as I take a bite of chili and close my eyes with awe.

“Right?! What’d I tell you?”

My cocky roomie didn’t exaggerate, not one bit. “It’s amazing, Mrs. Cocker.”

She smiles, but then glances to her husband. “If only Jett were here to enjoy some.”

His jaw tightens. He shoots her a look. She holds it.

Jake told me Jett and his father don’t get along. Seems sad when everyone is so nice like this, and gets along so well. I wonder what happened between them.

JAKE

I 
feel good as I unlock the front door and hold the door open for Drew. We’ve been talking for the past three hours and finding all kinds of things we have in common. We both camped as kids with our families, not the rented cabin type of camping, but the sleeping under the stars in a sleeping bag kind. We both saw a bear once, both nearly crapped ourselves. I told her my favorite band is The Doors, and she started humming Crystal Ship. That was the song I love the most of theirs, which I told her. She just nodded and said, “Me too.”

It was really comfortable being with her there. I was nervous for her at first, with how my parents were looking at her. I found out later that they’d asked the twins about her when they discovered we’d all gone to the Gardens. The thing is, I don’t bring girls home to my family. Outsiders earn their way in, and so far no woman has with me. I almost brought a girlfriend home in high school but then I found out she’d fucked one of the teacher’s while we were dating. Grew even more careful after that.