Page 94 of The Love Lie
“Dad.”
Sam has the distinct impression she should be helping him out somehow, but she’s got nothing as Frank Kelley tips his hat and walks away.
Cooper glares at his friend. “We’re not going to the fucking Barn.”
“Yes.” Wes grins. “We are.”
“Hold up,” Sam interjects, looking between them. “If this is some weird initiation thing where I need to stick my hand up a cow’s asshole, you can count me out.”
“Not the barn,” Cooper says with a sigh as he rubs at the wrinkle in his brow. “The Barn.”
“It’s a bar,” Wes adds.
“Ohhhhh.” A sudden spark of anticipation flares at the prospect of booze and music and Cooper’s arms wrapped around her as they slow dance in the center of a crowded dance floor. “I’m in.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
cooper
This is a bad idea,Cooper thinks for the hundredth time today. He and Wes are waiting for Sam in the foyer.The fucking Barn.
He sighs again, then scrubs a hand through his hair before resettling his hat on his head.
“Relax.” Wes nudges him with an elbow. The asshole hasn’t been able to wipe that shit-eating grin off his lips all day. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“You need to call her Emily.”
“I know.”
“I mean it, Wes.”
“I know.”
“And tell everyone no pictures.”
“Will do, boss.”
“If the truth gets out…”
“Breathe, man,” Wes says with a laugh. “I’ve never seen you wound so tight. You’ve got a stick the size of Nebraska up your ass right now.”
Cooper rolls his shoulders. “I know. I just—”
“Answer me this,” Wes interrupts as he glances around the corner toward the bedroom door to make sure it’s still closed. “You love this girl, right?”
“I think I might.”
“You want her to move here?”
“I think I do.”
“So what does it matter if the truth gets out? Don’t you want it out?”
“Ido.” He resists the urge to run a hand through his hair again. “But she doesn’t. Not yet. And until she does, I can’t break her trust like that.”
“Okay.” Wes nods, then leans closer. “But between you and me, I don’t think she’ll care all that much. In fact, I think she might want the truth out just as much as you do.”
Cooper’s heart skips a beat as he cuts his gaze to the still-closed bedroom door, imagining the woman on the other side. He hears her voice again.I have everything I need right here.Fuck if hearing that didn’t make his entire damn year. He’s been playing that little piece of audio on repeat in the back of his mind all day, trying to decipher just how much of it was true and how much was Sam needing to beat his father. She’s competitive as hell. He knows she’ll say and do whatever it takes to win an argument. But if there was even a small part of her that meant it, a sliver he could work with…he has to know.
