Damaged and the Cobra (3 page)

Cooper had been my best friend since middle school.
Even knowing him since first grade, my tolerance level didn’t allow a
friendship. He was loud and rude and I thought he sucked. On the second day of
seventh grade, I saw a disabled kid getting hassled by the school dipshits and
stepped in. They weren’t impressed. After I threw a few punches, they were more
impressed. However, I was on my way to getting an ass-kicking. Playing hero, Cooper
arrived and made such a mess that the rich boy was suspended for a week. When
he returned to school, I thanked him. Not in an overly friendly way because I
still thought he was jerk. Cooper looked at me then glared at one of the guys
down the hall.

“Who picks on a disabled kid like that? Sick
fucks.”

Seeing him all protective of a kid he didn’t know
made me like him more. Seeing me take a partial beating for the kid made him
respect me more. By the next week, we were friends. Unlike girls, we didn’t
make a deal of it. Instead, we just started hanging out and we were hanging
even now.

Cooper didn’t need to do anything in our shared
business. I handled the clients, billing, and everything financial. In the
past, he’d show up to chat with my pretty apprentice Jade. Now, Jade was a full
fledged artist and in a relationship while Cooper was married. No more
flirting, but he still dropped by, acted like he gave a shit about taxes and
bills, then took me to lunch at the nearby sandwich shop.

“What’s up your butt, man?” he asked after his
first sandwich.

“Nothing. I’m just tired.”

“You seem sad. Do you need a hug?” When I flipped
him off, Cooper’s grin widened. “You’re hot for a girl. Hmm…let me guess which
one.” Cooper tapped at his forehead. “Does it rhyme with Noah’s boat?”

Frowning, I leaned back and ignored him. Cooper
refused to be ignored and continued, “At the wedding, you gave yourself away. I
doubt anyone else noticed, but they don’t know you like I do.”

“Gave myself away how? I didn’t even talk to her.”

“No, but whenever she came in your vicinity, you
got really quiet like a predator on the hunt. Besides, you brought that hot
redhead. As much as I know how you love redheads, you acted like you were on a
date with your sister or something. No heat. The only way you don’t get hard
for a redhead is if a girl’s got your heart wrapped up.”

Frowning, I didn’t want to admit he was right.
Cooper was too fucking arrogant as it was.

“She’s a cute chick,” Cooper said when I remained
silent. “Sweet too. A girl like that will swoon for you like Tawny never would.
The way a bitch like Kristen never would either.”

“I don’t even know her.”

“But you want to.”

“She’s beautiful, but that’s the end of it.”

“A lot of girls are beautiful, but Farah is
beautiful in a different way,” he said, getting that dreamy look when talking
about his girl. “She made me see her and not want to look at any other chick.
Farah didn’t have to try either. That’s the thing about you and Lark. You two
were breathing in rhythm at the reception dinner and never even said more than
hello. Maybe you did at the wedding too, but I was sort of busy staring at my
hot wife.”

“Yeah, you were drooling all over the wedding
reception. Hell, I saw a few people slip on the fucking dance floor. It was
pretty disgusting.”

“Nope. You’re not changing the subject. I’m sick of
you hooking up with stupid bitches you don’t want because you’re afraid of
getting played like you did by Kristen. Lark isn’t that bitch. She’ll treat you
good and you need a chick to swoon over and write poetry for and paint and…
Shit, you’re already painting her, aren’t you?”

“Fuck off, Coop.”

“Is she dressed in these paintings?” he asked,
wiggling his brows.

“How would I know what she looks like naked?”

“Use your imagination. You know the parts on a
chick.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“An idiot in love and it feels good. Feels solid
like I have a part of my life that just fits. I didn’t even know I needed that
part. Farah’s my girl and I think Lark could be yours. Even more than me, you
need a girl, man. You need it because you’re a guy who has all that soft
romantic shit in you and you have no place to put it. Get yourself that girl
and make your life solid.”

“I don’t know her. I could have built up an idea of
her that she can’t live up to.”

“I never had a clue with Farah. She didn’t make
sense and I would get pissed when she did what I didn’t want her to do. Why
couldn’t she just be my puppet? Even though she wasn’t what I thought she
should be, she was perfect. She’s still perfect.”

“You really thinking about working on a kid? You
just got married.”

“Want to do stuff now. Why the fuck wait?”

“When Jade’s sister had a kid, she couldn’t fuck
for six weeks afterwards. Doctor’s orders. You going to wait six weeks?”

Cooper frowned like I was batshit crazy. “That
sounds wrong. I can’t imagine my pop going six weeks without getting laid and
the guy has four kids. That’s twenty four weeks without pussy. No, there must
be an exception.”

Laughing at him, I couldn’t tell if he was kidding
or not. Cooper finally stretched his arms along the back of the booth.

“Farah and I can play other ways. She’s really open
to playing. Curious too.”

“I don’t need to know all that.”

“I’m proud of her, is all. Can’t a husband give his
girl props for getting over her issues and loving all that I have to offer?”

“Again, too much info.”

“If you don’t make a move on Lark, I’m going to
hook you two up. Don’t make me stoop to that shit, man. Bad enough I’m helping
Tucker find a decent fuck for Bailey. I really don’t need to play matchmaker
with you too.”

“I’ve got it handled.”

Cooper smirked. “Lark’s coming to your shop to get
a tat fixed. You’re welcome for that.”

“What?” I muttered, frowning even if this idea
interested me.

“She’s got a lame worm tat and needs it fixed. She
works at that Denny’s and can’t afford it, so I said I would pay. I like paying
for chicks to get nice tats. Makes me feel charitable.”

“It’s a worm?” I asked, wondering why Lark would
have a fucking worm tattoo.

“Looks like one. I think it was supposed to be a
butterfly. I can’t remember. Farah got all territorial and I about jizzed my
pants.”

“Too much fucking info, man,” I said, emphasizing
each word.

“Whatever. Just make sure you look your best when
she shows up. I don’t want you scaring her away. She’s cute and available and I
don’t want Vaughn messing with Lark. He’s trouble and will eat her alive.”

Even though I said nothing, Cooper started
laughing. “You’re jealous.” Exhaling hard, I flipped him off again, but he just
kept laughing. “Yeah, well, you better get that girl or I might set her up with
someone from the club. Judd still gets weird around Mac. Need to get him a
woman so Judd won’t kill him on accident one day,” Cooper said, air quoting
“accident.”

Leaning back, I doodled on my napkin until I
realized I was drawing Lark again. Cooper didn’t seem to notice. He was too
busy frowning at his phone.

“Problem?”

“More shit from the Devils. They’re pushing and
we’ll need to push back. Might need to call someone in to go to Tucson to handle the problem at the top.”

“Someone?”

“Don’t you worry. Business shit.”

“Now, you’re secretive. Where was this when you
were talking about jazzing your pants.”

Cooper grinned, but I could tell he was tense. “I might
need to get someone out of Memphis to handle the president of the Devils.
Finish this shit for good. Don’t want to go that far, but they’re making our
club look bad. Making me look bad and that makes Pop look bad.”

“You’ll figure it out. You know, being perfect and
all.”

Cooper grinned. “It’s a burden, but I manage.”

I shared his smile. “Thanks for sending Lark my
way.”

“She was looking for an excuse to talk to you. I
just gave her the money to use her tat as that excuse.” Cooper sat forward and studied
me. “I know you’re a good guy. Probably the best guy I know, but Lark’s got
something wrong with her. Something broken maybe. I see it around the edges and
maybe you saw it too. Just be careful with her.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Kristen fucked you over and you didn’t see it
coming. You think you read people and you do read them well. You just
overlooked Kristen being a lying whore. Don’t let that shit make you weird with
Lark. She’s a good girl and won’t bounce back if you mess with her head or make
her jump through hoops proving she’s not Kristen.”

“I’m not going to mess with her head.”

“Not on purpose. Like I said, you’re a good guy.
Still, you got hurt. Now, you don’t trust yourself. I just don’t want you
fucking things up with Lark because you got suckered by a bitch. Lark could
make you happy and I want you happy. It kills me that I found my girl before
you. You need this, man. Just be careful of your issues so you don’t make them
her issues.”

“Got it.”

Cooper grinned. “You’ve drawn her naked, haven’t
you?”

“No.”

“Dork.”

Laughing, I threw my pencil at him. Cooper didn’t
even bat it away. He just laughed harder at my lame attempt to injure him.
Marriage made him happier than I’d ever seen him. It also made him think he
knew everything about relationships. Like he needed another reason to show off.

After ditching class and grabbing a bus, I walked into
Bluegrass Tats. My breath was minty, hair decent, and I felt pretty confident.
Mostly, I was just dying to see Aaron again.

A woman was behind the counter, looking bored. She
glanced up at me when I entered then looked back at her magazine.

“They’re busy.”

“I can wait.”

“No.”

“Cooper Johansson said I should talk to Aaron about
getting my tattoo finished.”

“I don’t care if President Obama sent you,” the
girl said, still looking at her magazine. “They’re busy and you don’t have an
appointment.”

“Melissa,” a woman snapped, exiting one of the
backrooms. “Stop being rude.”

The second woman was black or a dark skinned Hispanic.
She was beautiful with long dark hair and big black eyes. Her arms were covered
in tattoos and she wore a tight vest and black jeans.

“I’m Jade,” she said, smiling and erasing much of
the tension from Melissa’s attitude. “What did you need, sweetheart?”

“I have an unfinished tattoo and Cooper said I
should talk to Aaron about getting it fixed. He said he would pay.”

“Let me see,” Jade said, coming around the counter.

“Don’t you have a client?” Melissa muttered.

“She needed a break. Is there a reason you need to
know my business, employee?”

Melissa frowned, but kept her mouth shut. I turned
to show Jade the wingless butterfly. I expected her to laugh, but she just ran
her fingers over it.

“Aaron can fix that easy,” Jade said as I turned
back around.

“Fix what?” Aaron asked, appearing in a white tank
top and sending every nerve in my body into heat.

Jade smiled. “Her poor butterfly has no wings.”

My face flushed with embarrassment which was stupid
since I knew he would see it. Aaron studied me in a really focused way then
smiled. His grin sent me from beat red to a weird purple. At least, this was
what it felt like.

“Hey, Lark,” he said.

“From the wedding.”

Aaron gave me a half smile like I was being dumb.
“I remember.”

Jade looked back and forth between us then shook
her head. “Not a good time to discuss fixing it. I mean, with our clients
waiting. You’re not done, are you?”

“No,” Aaron said in that wonderful deep, yet gentle
voice.

“Why don’t you two meet somewhere to discuss the
details?” Jade asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Since you know each
other and all, I mean.”

Nodding, I stared into Aaron’s beautiful blue eyes.
He said nothing, so Jade continued.

“Where could you meet?”

“I get a discount at Denny’s.”

“That would work,” Jade said. “Aaron will meet you
around when?”

I thought about when I could get away from Dylan’s
constant observation. On Wednesday, I usually studied at the library with my
friends. Dylan dropped me off and picked me up hours later. I could ditch the
library, catch the bus, and get to Denny’s to meet Aaron.

“Would seven work?”

“Oh, that would be fine,” Jade said, giving Aaron a
wink. “He’ll meet you then.”

“Are you sure?” I asked Aaron.

“I’ll be there.”

Smiling, I felt awkward with the three of them
watching me. Even Melissa stopped flipping through her magazine to frown at me.

“I’ll see you on Wednesday,” I said, stepping away
from Jade. “Thank you for your help.”

Nodding, Jade crossed her buff arms and smiled
knowingly. Aaron watched me go. He was still watching when I glanced back
before crossing the parking lot to catch my bus. Even if we barely exchanged
words, I felt like the visit couldn’t have gone better. Wednesday was going to
be amazing as long as I could ditch Dylan.