Page 19 of The Final Temptation (Men of Honor 3.5)
The sound of a familiar truck pulls in next door and I immediately get the urge to run into the house, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. I’m glad his parents get home tomorrow and I won’t have to see him so often anymore. I tense in surprise at the sound of my gate opening, and my heart races anxiously. Why the hell is he coming over here?
I feel his gaze on me as he makes his way over and I curse my body’s reaction to it. “Hey,” he greets quietly.
“Hi.”
I hear him take the seat next to me but I keep my eyes forward and don’t look over at him. “How have you been?”
“Fine.”
In my peripheral vision I see him shift uncomfortably. “We didn’t get a chance to talk about what happened with Mark the other night.”
I tense, not wanting to have this conversation with him. “I don’t want to talk about it, Cooper. Especially with you.”
He releases a frustrated breath. “Then will you at least go to the station tomorrow and talk to someone else? Leave a statement? He was arrested that night for having drugs on him, but he needs to pay for what he did to you, Kayla. For whatever the fuck happened. And since I can’t punish him with my fists, I will make him pay with the law.”
I take a moment to think about this. I haven’t told my parents yet about what happened with Mark, but Cooper is right, I do need to make a statement. The last thing I want to happen is for Mark to do this to some other girl because I never spoke up. Hell, who’s to say he hasn’t already done this to someone else. They just may not have been as lucky as I was. “I’ll go tomorrow.”
I hear him expel another breath, this one sounding more like relief. “Good. Thanks.” When I stay silent he clears his throat. “So I heard you went and saw the Vails today.”
Of course he did. “Yup, but don’t worry, I didn’t say you caught us. I left yours and Julia’s name out of it.”
I feel the intensity of his eyes as he watches me and I desperately want to look over at him but I don’t, knowing it will only make it harder. Even his delicious scent is getting to me right now, making it difficult to hold on to my resolve, and that just jacks my annoyance up another notch.
“I didn’t think you would have.”
“No?” I question, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my tone. “Then why are you bringing it up? Shocked that I have a decent bone in my body, Cooper?”
“Jesus, no, that’s not it. I—”
“Save it. I don’t care, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“The hell it doesn’t! Would you fucking look at me?”
I shake my head and stand, not wanting to be around him right now. I’m still too upset to talk to him. He grabs my wrist with a frustrated growl and electricity shoots through my arm like a bolt of lightning. I look at where he has me grasped, then for the first time I look up at him and, like I thought, just the sight of him hurts. “Better be careful, Cooper, there’s only so much poison someone can take before it kills them.” I know it’s a bitter thing to say but I can’t help it, I’m still so hurt by his words. Words I will never forget.
I ignore the guilt that washes over his expression. “I didn’t mean it, Kayla.”
“Yes, you did. Because, unlike me, you aren’t irrational, and you only ever say what you mean.”
I rip out of his grasp and rush into my house, ignoring him when he calls me back. It hurts like hell but I know in the end it’s better this way. I can’t let myself love him anymore; he already made it clear that I’m not good enough. Prolonging this will only end up breaking me in the end.
CHAPTER 6
My heart races and my stomach twists anxiously as I pull up in front of the banquet hall. My phone buzzes like crazy but I don’t look at it, knowing it’s probably Julia. I feel so guilty for telling her last minute that I would just meet her here and not go to her house first, but I just couldn’t show up with her and Jaxson. I would have felt like a complete idiot. Though maybe it wouldn’t have mattered, because as I get out of my car and see all the couples laughing and walking up to the front doors, I still feel like an idiot.
I feel a panic attack coming on and second-guess the decision I made to come here. So instead of heading into the hall I dart to the right and follow the stone path that leads to a beautiful garden lit up with white lights. I come to a sudden stop when I see a couple kissing, thinking they’re in privacy. I’m about to turn back around but they end up breaking apart and start leaving first.
“Hey, Kayla.” Suzy greets me with a blissful smile. “You look amazing, I love your dress.”
I glance down at my dress, the one my mom and I shopped hours for. At the time I had hoped to find something that would knock Cooper on his ass. The soft, black silk hugs my body in all the right places and falls effortlessly in others. The trim of rhinestones lay delicately along the swells of my breasts then follows a path along the straps and outlines the seams of the open back of the dress. Yup, it’s pretty fucking epic and I have no one to impress with it. Ugh, get over it, Kayla. I paste a fake smile on my face. “Thanks, I love your dress too. You guys both look great.”
“Thanks.” They head to the back entrance and I hear the music faintly as he opens the door for her and they enter the hall.
