Authors: C.T. Nicholson
She raised a brow at him. "I really hope so, too."
Cooper had all three brothers sitting around their living room. Jacob sat in the recliner, while Nick sat with his leg thrown over on one side of the large couch and Mike lounged back on the other side. There was another chair, but it seemed easier to stand. As much as he’d practiced how he would tell them, none of it seemed right.
"What did you need to talk to us about?" Nick and Mike both watched him with curiosity, and Jacob just sat there with a slight smirk on his lips.
Asshole. He knew exactly what Cooper had to say and it amused him. "Okay, I'm just going to say it. I've been seeing Sophia. I didn't want y'all to find out before I could tell you how I felt about her. She means the world to me, and I want to prove it to her. I know she's your little sister and we've always been friends and that this might affect our friendship. But I also want you to know I'm not giving up the chance to be with her. No matter if y'all want to kick my ass or whatever."
Nick and Mike both jumped to their feet, and Cooper waited for the attack… until the laughter started.
"Look, we'll never be excited for our sister to date, but if anyone is right for her, then it's you." Mike slapped a little hard on the shoulder. "If you hurt her, then you know what to expect."
"Same here. Plus, I think we all figured it out after you played that song at the camp fire. It was pretty damn obvious you were singing about Sophia and you never once removed your eyes from her while you played." Nick slapped his other shoulder. Painfully.
The slaps had to be their way of warning him, and he'd take it. They already handled it a lot better than he ever imagined they would. "I'm glad my nose is still intact."
"For now." Jacob spoke up for the first time.
The front door opened and they all turned to see Sophia. She froze in place and focused on Cooper. By the way her brow lifted, she probably wondered if he'd already had the talk.
"They know."
Her shoulders dropped and it seemed like a weight of stress and worry left her body as she lightened up. "At least you're not bleeding."
Mike gave her a hug and laughed. "I think we'll hold it in, unless he hurts you. Then there might be some cons
equences."
"I don't expect anything less than that." Damn, his heart finally picked up its normal pace after seeing her walk in. She always caused it to stop for a beat or two. If that wasn't love, then he sure didn't know what was.
Her brothers all made their exits, but not until they gave their last warnings. "Are you getting ready to meet Ryan?"
"Yep. He made it back late last night. Are you sure you don't want to come along?" She linked her arms around his neck and played with the back of his neck with her finge
rtips.
"I don't think I'd be able to keep my hands off you and that wouldn't give you a lot of time with him. Plus, I've got a lot to do today and tomorrow." He wanted to make it obvious that he was going to be busy. After talking to Ryan that morning, Sophia would be busy too. The plan to have Ryan take her to the bar on Friday was in the works. Cooper planned on going there to practice with the sound equi
pment while she hung out with him. That way, everything would be perfect when he surprised her Friday by performing on stage for her.
He shuddered when she slipped her fingers further up into his hair. "If you keep doing that, I won't let you go anywhere."
"Like you could stop me." He lifted a brow at her and she grinned. "Well, maybe you could, but you wouldn't force me. I'm sure I could talk you into letting me go."
She sure as hell was right about that. "I don't think there's much you couldn't talk me into. Though, I guess I shouldn't admit that to you."
"Probably not." She gave him a lopsided smile and winked at him. "I'm going to leave now and meet Ryan. He should be about ready to go to lunch."
Her phone buzzed. She looked down at it and frowned. "Did you say you were busy tomorrow, too?"
"Yes, why?"
"Ryan asked if we had plans and if we wanted to meet at the bar tomorrow night." She tucked the phone back into her pocket.
"I can try, but you should plan on going with him and I'll let you know if I can. But I want you all to myself on Sunday. I should be finished by then." He could tell she was putting too much thought into him being busy. It didn't matter, because she'd know soon enough it was all for her.
"Okay. I'll see you later then." She kissed him and then left.
Only a few minutes later, he also got a text from Ryan, saying all was set to go. He left the Johnson's house and headed straight to the bar driving slower than normal to keep from catching up with Sophia.
****
Something was off with Cooper. Sophia didn't know what was going on, but tried to ignore the feeling that he wasn't being completely honest with her. She was just being paranoid.
Ryan already stood outside waiting on her when she pulled into his drive. He got into the car smiling and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I'm glad to be back home."
"Really? I would love to get out of town every once in a while." Not that she didn't love it and her family, but some change would've been nice. Having Cooper around was a pretty big change and she couldn't complain about that.
"Did your face just turn as red as the shirt you're wea
ring? What in the world could you be thinking about?" When she didn't say anything, he laughed. "I've obviously missed a lot in only a week. Please, don't leave out a single detail."
She told him about the first date and disaster and then the second date that had to be the most romantic moment in her life. Even though he got the point of just how far Cooper and she had gone, she didn't give him complete details. No matter how comfortable she felt talking with Ryan, there were just some things she couldn't talk about. Thinking about what they did had her whole body heating up in embarrassment.
"Interesting. So things are working out well between you two. I'm glad you got away from Seth and if I was a woman, I'd be all about kicking Michelle's ass. What a complete bitch. I just can't wait to give her the look when I see her around town." The look he gave was not one you wanted being aimed toward yourself.
He was so cute. "What about you? Did you meet an
yone out of town?"
The smile left his lips and he looked out the wi
ndow. He wasn't upset though. The slight twinkle she caught in his eyes before he turned told her that much.
"Fine. I tell you about my week and you just leave me hanging." She turned onto the highway heading toward the mall. "I guess I won't let you help with picking out my lingerie for the big night with Cooper. This is probably the only time I can get out to the mall and figured it would be the best time to pick something out."
"Whatever. Why don't you just wear the outfit you bought last time? It's not like he remembers anyways." That made him laugh, but he sobered up quick when she didn't laugh with him. "Oh, Sophia, I didn't mean it like that. I've been drunk enough to not remember things that happened. Not fun."
She elbowed his arm gently. "I could do that, but I can't find the underwear. Plus, I figured we'd have fun picking out something new."
"Fine by me. I like to shop."
Like no one knew that about him. The guy dressed better than anyone in town. Jacob got pretty close when he wasn't at work. "And I'm glad that's the case or I'd be clueless myself."
"You were pretty bad when we met. I love you anyways."
"Right." She pulled off the highway and made her way through the ridiculous traffic that she only saw when she left their small town. Her mind wandered off, trying to figure out why Cooper had acted so weird.
She got out of the car and looked up when Ryan gave her a funny look. "What?"
"Nothing. It's just I was sitting there talking and I think you missed every bit of it." He linked his arm with hers and they headed through the food court entrance. "I was asking if you wanted something to eat now or do a little shopping."
"I'm sorry." It was so stupid to let the thought of Cooper being busy to worry her.
"Are you going to tell me what has you quiet all of a sudden?"
"It's just that Cooper has been a lot about spending time together, but he just said he was going to be busy for the next two days. I don't know. Obviously, I don't expect him to want to spend every second together. I've never been a clingy girlfriend."
"It's because he didn't explain. I get it. You don't need to worry. From what you told me about the picnic at the lake, the guy probably has something planned, even if you don't know it. I don't think he's going anywhere. And I really don't think he's anything like Seth."
"I never even worried about that with Seth. No matter what the signs were. I think I'm too scared to lose him again. Never mind. You're right and I just need to make the best of our time together. We don't get to do this much and I can't wait to hang out at the bar. Are you playing?" She needed a night out and to get her mind off the worry. It was still hard not to remember Cooper leaving the first time. Even with her being young, she could still feel the pain of that day and the years after.
"Not sure." He grabbed her hand and walked a li
ttle faster. "Let's eat first and then shop."
"Okay." She wasn't really paying attention when he r
eleased her hand and she bumped into him. They were barely past the door. She glanced at him and caught him staring at something. Looking around led her to Jacob. "I thought he had a business meeting. This is hardly the place for that."
"A meeting, huh?" He starting walking again straight to where Jacob and his very good looking male compa
nion sat.
The suit he wore had to be tailor made for him and his blonde hair was gelled and fit his looks well. What the heck was he even doing in the mall? The man seemed to have walked straight out of GQ magazine. He reached over and patted Jacob's hand. That had her pausing and grabbing Ryan's arm before he walked any further.
"I don't think we should bother them." She went around the escalators located behind Jacob's seat. Even though she told herself not to, she looked back at the table again and caught her brother and the GQ model nearly kissing. She jerked her head away and walked faster until she was completely out of sight.
"Sophia?" Ryan pulled her to a stop and twisted her to look at him.
"They were going to kiss. My brother and that guy. I can't believe this." She'd never caught on to it. Not once.
It took her a moment to realize that Ryan was just sta
ring at her and had let her go completely. Pain filled his eyes and it didn't make sense until he spoke. "You don't seem to have any problems with my lifestyle, but if it's your brother…"
Oh. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, tears brimming in her eyes. "No! I love you so much and you know I accept you completely no matter what. I was just shocked and upset that he hid it from me. I know you want everyone in town to believe you're straight, along with my brothers, but I'm pretty sure my brothers have a good idea you're gay. That means Jacob knows how I feel about it and he could've come to me an
ytime."
"I'm sure it's more than that. Maybe he's just figu
ring it out himself. I've known for a long time, but it doesn't mean I took it easily." He wiped away the tears that still clung to her cheeks.
"That guy was really cute." She figured Ryan would agree and have a dirty comment; instead he just nodded.
"Let's go ahead and do some shopping. I'm really not too hungry anymore."
From his sudden mood change, Sophia knew it was best to drop the topic. They needed to get their mind on something else. Like trying to find that perfect outfit to grab Cooper's attention completely. Whenever she saw him again.
She'd have to talk with Jacob soon about what she saw. It came as a huge shock, but didn't bother her one bit except for him not telling her. She'd make sure he knew just how bad that hurt. Maybe she was overreacting about him keeping something so big silent. She'd try to take it easy on him when she kicked up a fuss.
Cooper watched Sophia walk in with Ryan. The back room wasn't large, but the perfect place to sneak up on the stage once the time came. He smiled when Ryan sat her facing away from the small stage. It was the hardest thing to just stand there and not run out to pick her up and kiss her until he couldn't breathe.
He hadn’t seen her since the morning after talking to her brothers. How he managed to go that long was a damn miracle. All three brothers walked in too and sat around the same table. They knew about his plan and said they'd help out if needed.
Once they were all settled and the noises from everyone coming in around the same time calmed down, he stepped out. He froze when Sophia started to stand until Nick stopped her. He shook his head and got up to go to the bar.
Maybe she was planning on getting a drink and Nick caught her just in time. Cooper tilted his hand in silent thanks and got up onto the stage. Everything was ready to go; all he had to do was start playing his guitar and pray she liked it. He'd practiced the song over and over and now it was time to play it for Sophia. No one else's opinion mattered to him. The song was something he always considered theirs.