Path of Destruction (27 page)

“We need to talk,” she said, standing and stepping toward him. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

Hurt rippled across her features. He could only imagine how difficult that was to say and how much pride she’d had to swallow to come here and wait for him. His fingers twitched at his sides, aching to touch her. All of her. Any of her. Her silky skin, her tousled hair, her perfectly plump lips.

“Didn’t really think you’d notice.” Or care, he started to say but thought better of it. She’d followed him home and waited over five hours in an empty, dark barn. He had no idea why, but she definitely cared.

“There was a drill on Tuesday. You didn’t…you didn’t come. Guess I deserved that.”

She wrapped her arms protectively around her body, causing him to flinch.

Cooper clenched his jaw shut. There was a lot he wanted to say. He had plenty of questions for her. The most prominent one being
what do you want from me?
But hearing it all in his head, he knew none of it would come out right.

He’d never been good with words. And the truth was that he was angry. Angry that he’d let himself become some dirty secret to hide in the janitor’s closet, angry that he’d been stupid enough to think she could ever want more than a good time with a guy like him, and damn near insane with jealously that, when she’d needed someone, it was Prescott she’d turned to instead of him.

No, none of that would come out well.

She took another step closer and his willpower broke. He knew he should take a step back instead of one toward her, but he ignored his instinct.

“I’m not very good at guessing games, Cameron. Feel like telling me why you’re here?”

Her gaze met his, a storm of emotions he didn’t have names for swirling in those depthless brown eyes.

“I heard you punched Hayden in the face. Must you be so barbaric all the time?”

Cooper shrugged. “I am who I am. Been this way most of my life. If you’re here to tell me I need to change to be with you or—”

“I’m not.” Cameron tugged her bottom lip with her teeth. “I don’t want to change you.”

“So you just wanted to hang out in the loft then? I mean, it’s not the Ritz and it doesn’t quite have that antiseptic scent of the utility closet, but I like it well enough.”

“Brantley,” Cameron began quietly. “I came here because I have to tell you something. Something really important. Once I do, though, you might never speak to me again.” She sighed and tilted her head a little to the left. “So I’m mostly stalling for time by admiring your abs.”

Cooper choked on a laugh. “I see.” His stomach tensed under her blatant attention.

Her eyes trailed slowly up his body, lighting him on fire everywhere her scrutiny met his flesh.

“I wish this was one of those moments where I could make you promise not to be mad or that you wouldn’t kick me out after I say what I need to.” She bit her lip and he focused on her mouth, trying to make sense of the words despite the steady hum in his head her perusal of his body had caused.

His dick jerked in his pants, making everything around them go fuzzy as all the blood drained south of his brain.

“Cameron,” he managed to get out despite a painfully dry mouth. “I already know Prescott kissed you after prom. And yet, you’re here. So I can almost guarantee that no matter what comes out of your mouth next, I will not be kicking you out.” More like begging her to stay.

They’d kissed, he’d had his bare hands on several intimate places of her body in a darkened closet, but right then, he wanted to scoop her up and carry her over to his bed, where he could strip her bare and explore every inch of her perfection with the lights on.

Cameron Nickelson wasn’t the kind of girl you just hooked up with—she was the type you got down on your knees for and worshipped.

“Promise?” Her lips formed the word then fell into a soft pout that almost made him groan.

He missed that mouth, missed having her in his arms. The tension was so tight between them he didn’t know who moved first, but before he could answer, their bodies met chest to chest.

She tilted her head to look up at him. “I’m so afraid that you’re going to hate me. God,
I
hate me.”

He didn’t know if it was the lighting or her eyes were becoming moist. Cooper was confused. His hand slid behind her neck. “Babe, I could never hate you.”

She sniffled and the audible pain she was in cracked against his chest, effectively shattering the reinforced armor he’d put on to protect himself from bending to his need for her.

“You could. And you will.”

A million possibilities raced through his lust-fogged brain. Did she do more than kiss Prescott? Did she punch Ella Jane in the face to get even with him? Even if she had, he was pretty sure EJ could handle herself, so he couldn’t understand the tears.

“Don’t cry, Prom Queen,” he said, giving in to the urge to stroke her hair. “Whatever it is, I bet it’s not nearly as bad as you’ve made it out to be in your pretty head.”

“It’s worse,” she whispered. “And I can hardly believe I’m admitting this, but I’m even going to miss that stupid nickname. We both know I wasn’t the queen of the prom, Brantley.”

He grinned. He had no idea who’d been crowned prom queen because he’d left to chase after EJ. “You were the queen of my prom, sweetheart.”

God, any other time, he’d want to kick himself in the nuts for such a mushy line. But it was true. That night played again and again in his head. Seeing her standing there, glowing and alone in a red dress. Holding her in his arms, her body against his. It had possibly been the single best night of his life. Ever.

The look on her face, the way her entire presence seemed lighter from his praise, he’d compose a hundred of those stupid-ass sonnets his English teacher rambled on about if took the haunted look out of her eyes.

Before he could comfort her any further, she lifted onto her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his. He drank her in greedily, taking her lips and tongue into his mouth until his head swam. Walking her over to his dresser, his hands gripped her waist and lifted. She made a soft noise into his mouth and he accepted it readily. Now perched on his dresser, she wrapped her legs around his waist and held him to her. Her hands danced across his stomach and caressed his chest before landing on his shoulders where she held on for dear life. His fingers threatened to tear through the denim covering her thighs.

Don’t break her,
his subconscious scolded him. He tried to ease his grip a bit, but she growled like an angry kitten in protest so he slid his hands roughly up her back.

Cooper drove his tongue into her warm willing mouth, tasting her sweet strawberry lipgloss and minty chewing gum flavor until he was drunk on it.

“Brantley,” she said breathlessly when she pulled back for air.

He panted right along with her. “Yeah, babe?”

“We have to stop. I have to tell you…” Her gaze had fallen to the side and landed on a binder on his dresser. “Where’d you get that?”

His body throbbed from the abrupt turn of events. Backing up a step and running a hand through his hair, he shot a quick glance at the object in question.

“The garbage. You threw it out.”

She frowned and a sharp stabbing pain assaulted his lower stomach.

“In the fall. I threw it out because I didn’t need it anymore. Raquel took over the plans for prom and I—”

“There’s some good stuff in there, Cameron. Stuff you worked hard on. Not to mention a few modeling pictures that some freshman would’ve happily used as jerking material had he found it.” Cooper didn’t mention that the bikini ones had inspired some inappropriate images of his own. “I wasn’t trying to be a creep. It just seemed like you threw it out in the heat of the moment and I thought you might want it back some day. So I saved it.”

His answer seemed to infuriate her for some inexplicable reason. “Some things you can’t save. Do you get that? Some of us are lost causes that you would be better off giving up on.”

Her mouth turned down at the corners and he couldn’t help but kiss her frown. “People might say that. Hell, half the town is probably saying that about this farm right this very second.” He placed a chaste kiss on her lips and leaned forward until his forehead rested on hers. “Look at me, Cameron.”

She complied, that profound sadness deepening her expression once again. He wanted to make it his life’s goal to keep that look out of her eyes.

“I wasn’t raised to give up, to back down. So I don’t.” He used both hands to move her hair behind her shoulders. “Now, then. What did you wait all this time in the dark to tell me?”

Something flashed quickly in her eyes, almost so quick he missed it. He leaned his head to the side while he waited. She took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around his waist, causing his skin to tingle where she touched.

“I don’t know how we got here or if we have anything in common or if you even know how much you mean to me.” She gave him a small smile and he returned it. He didn’t know either, but he wasn’t complaining. “But I know that I wouldn’t have made it through this year without you. You’ve been my life preserver, literally. And I am terrified that one day someone will tell you something about me that will make you hate me—or worse, make you wish you never met me.”

“Cameron,” he started, preparing to repeat his
I could never hate you
sentiment, but she rushed on.

“I don’t want to lose you, Cooper.” It was a whisper and from the way it sounded, the honest to God truth.

He grinned. Her calling him Brantley always felt so formal. Knowing that she’d finally relaxed enough to call him what everyone else did made him happy. And the way her mouth formed around it made him damn near ecstatic. “You called me Cooper.”

She smiled back. “So I did.”

“So that’s what you came to tell me? That you don’t want to lose me?”

Her eyes clouded over again. He struggled to keep up with her ever-changing expressions and the turbulent emotions behind them.

“I came to tell you something completely different, but I can’t. I’m too selfish and I can’t make myself let you go.”

“Then don’t.” Lifting her once more, he contemplated taking her to his bed. But she wasn’t ready for that. Hell,
he
wasn’t ready for that. So he deposited her on the couch where he kissed her until his lips went numb.

It was even better than prom.

C
ooper loved his younger brothers, and he truly didn’t mind looking after them while his parents were on the road figuring out a way to finance their farm, but sometimes Will and Sam could be major pains in his ass—particularly when he was hiding a girl in the barn. Well, sort of hiding.

Cameron had started coming by after her therapy sessions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Just the fact that she’d confided in him that she was seeing a therapist about her storm anxiety made him feel special. He’d have been happy to just be in her presence, but, surprisingly, she was helpful to have around and didn’t even complain about hanging around helping out while he did his chores. Though it wasn’t long before Will and Sam had noticed her and lured her in the house to order them pizza and play video games instead. It was there that Cooper found them the Friday night his parents came home from a trip to Colorado unexpectedly.

“Brantley,” his mother began when she stepped into the house looking weary and drained and took in the group in front of the television. “Can we speak in private for a moment?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, pulling himself up from the couch where Cameron had been tucked in beside him.

He followed his mom outside to where his dad was unloading a trailer they’d used to sell what few cattle they’d had left.

“I’m beyond ready for a hot shower and bed, so I’m going to get to the point, son.”

Cooper nodded, bracing himself for bad news.

“Will said you’ve been hiding a girl in the barn. While that girl in there didn’t look like she was hiding, I don’t recall you mentioning that you’d be having female company while we were gone.”

Cooper almost laughed in relief. This was what she was so worried about? Cameron?

“I haven’t been hiding anyone. Cameron is a friend and she hangs out over here a lot because her parents are jerks. It’s not a big deal.”

His mom pinned him with her trademark I-know-and-see-all glare. “Uh huh. And does hanging over here include sleepovers in the loft?”

Cooper glanced away to keep from melting under her stare. “Um, she has, on occasion, fallen asleep here. But it’s not what you think. I swear.”

“And what do I think?” Mrs. Cooper asked with a raised brow.

“You think we’re bed buddies and that I’m setting a bad example for Will and Sam. We’re not and I’m not. She’s a friend. Yes, I like her as more than that. And no I’m not having unprotected sex and sharing the details with my younger brothers.”

His mom sighed. “So tell me about this Cameron. Where do you know her from?”

“School. She’s from the Bluffs.”

His mother’s eyes tightened visibly. “Please tell me her last name isn’t Nickelson.”

“Uh, okay. But I’d be lying.”

“Dear Lord, Brantley. What in the world are you thinking? The Nickelsons are not the kind of people you want to be involved with in any way. Did she mention that her dad was school board president? The one running for mayor?”

Cooper shrugged. “No. But I told you. Her parents are dicks. She can’t stand them.”

“Don’t say dicks in front of your mother,” his dad said as he walked up.

“Your son is dating Derek Nickelson’s daughter,” his mom announced. “She’s in there on our couch right now. So he should be here to wring Brantley’s neck any minute now.”

His dad regarded him with a look that held a small amount of awe. “I see.” He stared intently at Cooper for a full minute. “That happens, we’re not going to stop him. Just so you know. There’s not a day that passes that I don’t thank God he blessed me with three sons and no daughters.”

“I think you’re missing the point,” Cooper’s mom broke in. “This is the kind of family that could convince Kevin to—”

“That’s hardly Brantley’s problem, now is it?” his dad broke in. “Come on. Let’s go inside so we can meet this girl who’d rather hang around with these guys instead of at the mall.”