Page 118 of Falling for the Grinchy Bad Boy

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COOPER

Isat in the firehouse kitchen staring at my phone for what felt like the hundredth time that morning, reading Joy’s text message over and over again like the words might change if I looked at them long enough.

I need some space right now. Please give me a few days to think.

Three attempts to call her, two voicemails, and four text messages had resulted in that single, devastating response. She wanted space. After everything that had happened last night—after Lynn’s calculated ambush and Joy witnessing what looked like an intimate moment between us—Joy was pulling away.

It killed me to respect her request, but what choice did I have? If I pushed too hard, I would push her away. If I came on too strong, I’d probably scare her away permanently. But if I backed off like she was asking, would I lose her anyway? Would she use the space I was giving her to convince herself that whatever was building between us wasn’t worth the complication?

Would she think I was giving her the space because I was spending time with Lynn? Shit, I hoped not. That was the last thing I wanted. I felt like I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I had felt so confused. I usually knew what to do.

Why the hell did Lynn have to show up and ruin everything? She was like some kind of evil curse, preventing me from finding love or peace in this life. Every time I started to believe that maybe I could be happy again, she materialized to destroy whatever good thing I’d managed to build.

I had spent the night trying to think of what I did to Lynn to earn this kind of treatment. I thought I had been good to her. But shit, I must have loved her too much. That was my only crime. And it was biting me in the ass.

“Hey, Cooper,” Elijah called from across the kitchen, his voice carrying that particular tone that meant trouble was coming. “I heard you’re quite the ladies’ man these days. Two girlfriends in one small town? That’s pretty impressive.”

Tony laughed, clearly enjoying what they thought was harmless ribbing. “Which one are you taking to the New Year’s Eve party? Or are you going to bring both and let them fight it out?”

“Oh hell yeah!” Elijah laughed. “Chick fight. Jell-o or mud?”

“You’re idiots,” I muttered.

They continued to talk about what they thought might happen. The jokes weren’t funny. At least not when you were the guy in the middle.

It felt like they were trying to minimize what I felt for Joy and reduce the whole situation to some kind of soap opera entertainment. My hands clenched into fists before I could stop them.

“Shut your mouth, Elijah,” I said, my voice low and dangerous.

“Whoa, touchy subject?” Tony continued, apparently too stupid to recognize when he was crossing a line. “Come on, Cooper, you’ve got to admit it’s pretty entertaining. Caught between two beautiful women⁠—”

I was on my feet and moving toward him before I’d made a conscious decision to do so. Pure rage coursed through me at hearing Joy and Lynn discussed like they were interchangeable pieces in some kind of game.

“Cooper!” Matt’s voice cut through the red haze of my anger just as I reached Elijah. Strong hands grabbed my shoulders, pulling me back before I could do something that would definitely result in disciplinary action. “Outside. Now.”

He practically dragged me out to the equipment bay, his grip firm enough to override my desire to go back in there and teach both of those assholes some manners.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Matt demanded once we were alone. “You can’t punch out fellow firefighters just because they’re being assholes.”

“Did you hear what they were saying?” I asked, my voice still rough with anger.

“Yeah, I heard. They were being dickheads. But losing your shit isn’t going to help anyone.” Matt leaned against one of the trucks, studying my face with concern. “Though for what it’s worth, I’m going to have a conversation with those idiots about keeping their opinions to themselves. Next time they want to talk shit, I’ll let you kick their asses. Deal?”

I laughed despite myself, some of the tension leaving my shoulders. “Thanks.”

“Your life is totally fucked up, bro,” Matt said with the kind of blunt honesty that only came from close friendship. “You’re supposed to be the one with your shit together.”

“My life is always in shambles,” I replied, leaning against the truck beside him. “One disaster after another. Me and women are like oil and water. I’m apparently destined to be single or constantly hooking up with the wrong women. I think I need to get a dog. Turn my guest room into a man cave. I am going to step into the forever-bachelor world. Maybe I’ll learn the harmonica.”

“No,” Matt said firmly. “It’s one disaster named Lynn Ziegler. Send that bitch packing and go get the woman you actually want.”

The simple way he said it made everything seem so straightforward, like the solution was obvious and I was just too tangled up in bullshit fears to see it clearly.

“I don’t know if she wants me, though,” I admitted. “Things were just starting between us, and Lynn scared her off before we could figure out what we were doing.”

“You think Joy asked for space because she doesn’t want you, or because she’s confused and hurt and needs time to process what happened?”