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“Right. Shut up, little women. Got it.” Jamie sat back and crossed her arms.
Lila’s brow arched. “Not sure if you’ve noticed my gender, but I’m just going to ignore your latest show of pique.”
Jamie’s jaw worked, but she was silent. For the first time probably ever.
“Let me spell this out for all of you, in graphic terms. Since general warnings don’t appear to hold any sway.” Lila looked at each of us in turn. “Teagan’s home nearly burned down. The next evening, her drink was spiked with enough chemicals to make a man Zane’s size act completely erratically and lose hours of the night. Imagine what could have happened if Teagan drank that drink. She’s half his size. She might have ended up in the hospital—or much worse.” Her voice softened as she glanced at me. “I’m not trying to scare you. Or any of you,” she said to the band. “But somehow you’re still failing to grasp the gravity of what’s happening right now.”
Lindsey wrapped her arm around me and pulled me into her side. “We won’t let her get away with this. Along with whomever else is involved.”
“I’m glad it was me,” Zane said quietly. “I’d rather deal with it than Teagan.”
My eyes dampened, and I rose to go around the table to him. He pulled me into a hug much as Lindsey had.
I held on tight. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” He kissed the top of my head. “It’s going to be okay.”
Swallowing hard, I crossed the aisle and went to Cooper. He seemed so solitary, standing alone by the window. So hard and stoic.
And no matter what he did, even if his heavy-handedness annoyed me at times, he always acted with me in mind. For my well-being. For my safety. Because I was more important to him than just about anything else.
He didn’t need to say those words. I knew it just gazing into those eyes I loved so much.
I stepped up to him and grabbed his belt, drawing him to me with a hard yank. “Next time you want to plot with someone to make sure I’m safe, clue me in first. Or at least right after. Like I did with my phone call. Got it?”
“Got it.” He searched my eyes. “I just want to make sure you’re protected. That’s all I care about.”
“I know. That’s why I’m not using a melon baller to render you sterile.”
He blinked. “That’s…specific.”
“Go Teagan,” Jamie said in the background, although I barely heard her.
I was too fixated on Cooper’s l
ips.
“So’s this.” I leaned up on my tiptoes and grabbed a handful of his T-shirt to drag him down to me.
Our mouths collided, hot, hungry, and wild. Every time, it was the same. That eager fumble of my hands to touch more of him, the urgent slide of his tongue, our bodies pressing close. As if our whole lives up to this point had just been going through the motions.
This was what we’d been waiting for.
Too slow? Nope.
Too fast? Nah.
We were exactly on time.
Distantly, I heard whoops and laughter and clapping explode behind us. I didn’t care in the slightest. I loved my band, but something was even more crucial.
Cooper was the center of my world.
Then.
Now.
Forever.
