Before I could do more than give him a whisper of a kiss, Ryan was on his feet and he wasn’t happy with me. “How much have you had to drink?”
I frowned. “I don’t know. Not much.”
“Uh huh.”
“I’m not drunk, so if you’re worried about taking advantage of me, don’t be. Kiss me.”
“Don’t be shy, man. Give the girl a kiss,” a guy behind me said.
I whirled around to see Cooper. He looked a little worse for wear today in jeans and a T-shirt with his dark hair tousled. His blue eyes were ice cold and his expression tense. I wondered what was going on with him.
“Cooper,” Ryan said, and the two bumped fists. When Cooper moved his arm, I saw several dark tattoos that looked like angel wings with words in the center of them that I couldn’t read.
“Heard there was some shit with Chanos.”
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Ryan said.
“If it turns into something, call me.”
“Yeah, thanks, man.”
Cooper’s gaze swung to me, raking over my figure from head to toe before he raised an eyebrow at Ryan. They had some kind of secret communication that I didn’t understand.
“Coop. No.” Ryan didn’t say anything more, but Cooper’s expression changed and he nodded. He walked over to the kitchen counter and helped himself to a beer. Twisting off the cap, he threw it toward the garbage can.
I figured out what he’d meant with the raised eyebrow look at Ryan. He’d thought I was one of the girls in line for Ryan’s revolving bedroom door. “I’m Ryan’s friend,” I stressed the word friend.
He grinned, clearly not believing me. “If that’s your story.”
I crossed my arms. “I didn’t know Brooklyn invited you.”
“She didn’t. I’m crashing the party.” Cooper gave Ryan another look.
“Think he’s here?”
Cooper took another swallow of the beer. “Could be. I’ll take a look around.”
Fear jackknifed in me. “Are you two talking about Chanos?”
“No. We’re talking about someone who shouldn’t be here, that’s all,” Ryan said.
“I’m not the little woman that you have to protect, Ryan. I know the world can be an ugly place sometimes.”
Cooper’s face twisted. “The ugliest thing in your life is deciding what to wear. You don’t know the first thing about ugliness.”
My mouth dropped at the anger radiating from him.
“You need to step back. She’s not the problem.” Ryan slapped his friend on the chest in warning and Cooper blinked as if he was coming back to the present. “I’ll kick your ass if you fuck with her.”
Cooper shot me a look. “Sorry.” Then he muttered at Ryan, “Didn’t you learn anything from my life, huh?”
Tired of the conversation I didn’t understand, I stepped away from Ryan. “You want to get a plate? Unless you changed your mind about the blonde?”
“Jealous?”
I scoffed. “Of that skank? No.”
“I don’t know. You sound jealous to me,” Cooper said. He took another drink of his beer.
I gave him a dismissive look, then told Ryan, “I’m going to grab some food.”
Ryan set his cup down. “I’ll walk with you.”
To my surprise, he put his hand on my back and guided me through the crowd. I liked the strength in his hand. The nearness of his body. Spending time with him felt like our lives just fit together, that we belonged to each another and always would. No matter how far away I went to school, there would always be a part of me that stayed behind with Ryan.
*
RYAN
I walked with my hand on Tana, needing that connection as we headed toward the patio where the food was set up. I needed to know she was within reach so that I could protect her. Cooper suspected someone from his past was at the cookout. The same someone who was the reason why he’d ended up on probation. He’d nearly beaten the guy to death for raping his older sister. She’d committed suicide and Cooper had unraveled. The only reason he hadn’t done hard time was thanks to a sympathetic judge. The sadistic asshole liked to pop up every now and then to torment Cooper. I was afraid that one of those times, Coop would blow and kill the bastard.
If the guy Cooper was looking for was here, I didn’t want Tana to get caught up in what Cooper was going to do to him. We went outside and ate and while she chatted with her friends, I kept searching the yard and glancing back toward the house.
Tana took the paper plate out of my hands and leaned in close, making my jeans grow tighter when her lips brushed my ear. “I haven’t seen Brooklyn in a while. She’s had a lot to drink. I’m going to look for her.” She straightened up and tossed the plate into a black garbage bag.
I stood and walked back into the house with her. “Try calling her.”
Tana tried, then shook her head. “No answer.”
“Brooklyn’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.” I’d seen Brooklyn fight at school. I knew for a fact she could hold her own but I said that more to ease Tana’s mind.
“I guess you’re right, but I’m ready to go and I’d like to at least tell her goodbye.”
“She said she wanted to get drunk and have sex, so she might not want to be found.”
Tana raised her eyebrows and grinned. “Oh. Okay. Guess she’s moving on to Four.”
“What?”
“Never mind.” Tana waved her hand.
We headed to the door and Cooper followed, clearly pissed off. He jerked his head to one side when I looked at him. I touched Tana’s arm to get her attention. “Hang here, okay? I’m going to talk to Cooper for a second.”
He and I walked out front to the sidewalk and Cooper said, “He’s here. One of the guys told me he’d seen him dancing with Brooklyn.” His jaw was locked, his eyes burning with vengeance. “Do you have my back?”
“Always, man. Let me get someone to keep an eye on Tana and I’ll help you get him.”
“Hang on.” Cooper held up a hand and turned to face the side of the house. “Did you hear that?”
I listened and heard a muffled noise coming from beside a house next to Brooklyn’s. The noises sounded wrong, like someone was scared. We ran toward the sound and dove around the side of the house.
“C’mon, man. Get her panties off.” Two shadows hovered around her, panting, their voices excited.
I recognized one of the assholes as the guy who’d danced with Tana. Sam. He had his hand over Brooklyn’s mouth while another guy, the one Cooper had history with, was trying to take off her clothes.
Cooper launched himself at the guy holding her down. His first blow snapped the guy’s head back and when he tried to stand up, Cooper took him back down.
Anger pouring through me, I took on Sam. My fist connected with the side of his jaw and he flew away from Brooklyn. I went after him and jerked him to his feet. He put his hands up defensively. “Man, she wanted it. In the house I heard her say she wanted to have sex. Then she said no and faked being scared. She’s a tease.”
I hit him with a jab to the mouth hard enough to loosen his front teeth. Blood and spit spurted. He ducked his head too late and I hit him again. And then again with all the darkness and fury that I had in me. I didn’t stop until someone grabbed my arms from behind.
Like the coward he was, Sam took advantage of the hold and punched me hard right under the eye. It hurt like a sonofabitch. Twisting my body, I rotated free and the guy who’d held me was down in two hard right hooks. He crawled along the ground, shaking his head. Wobbling, he managed to make it a few feet away before he collapsed, moaning and writhing on the grass.
I wiped the side of my mouth with the back of my hand and walked over to tap Cooper’s arm. “C’mon. Not here.” He sat back on his haunches, breathing hard, blinking, then glanced at Brooklyn.