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Handle? What—
“You stay away from her!” A new voice snarled.
Cooper jerked back, surprised. The intensity in the hall hitched up about a hundred degrees as Emma Leigh stepped between the arguing couple, grasped her twin’s arm, and pulled Jo Ellen protectively closer. Coop realized he wasn’t the only one watching their drama unfold anymore. Everyone else had either paused to gape or was turning their heads toward the trio as they passed. Not that the three mixed up in the tense moment seemed to notice.
“If I ever see you trying to talk to her again, I will personally remove your worthless testicles with a pair of pliers,” Emma Leigh growled.
“Em,” Jo Ellen tried in a weak voice, tugging on her sister’s arm but not succeeding in pulling her back.
“What do you expect me to do?” Untermeyer’s voice grew defensive. “Y’all are leaving anyway. What else was there for me to do?”
Leaving? It was true then; she was going away. A painful thump slammed against Cooper’s chest; but why?
“So you just thought you’d add to her misery by breaking her heart on her way out the door, huh?” Emma Leigh accused.
“I told her we could start back up once this was all over and past. It’s not like—”
“Don’t even try to justify what you did, you measly excuse for a—”
“Stop it!” Jo Ellen finally screeched. “Both of you. Just…stop it.” Her shoulders heaved as a dry sob consumed her. Covering her red face with both hands, she spun from the arguing pair and raced down the hall, brushing past Cooper as she fled.
He watched her go, and then glanced back at Emma and Untermeyer. He knew he should stick around and pull his gal pal off Pretty Boy in case she went for Untermeyer’s face with her claws, which looked to be her next plan of action. But seeing Jo Ellen so upset was more than he could take. Spinning around, he hurried after her, leaving every other gawking student to handle Emma Leigh in case she turned violent.
Murmuring, “Excuse me,” and dodging between gossiping huddles, Cooper picked up his pace, worried he was going to lose sight of Jo Ellen and even more afraid she’d duck into a girls’ bathroom where he couldn’t chase. Relief came when she pushed her way through an exit that led out to the back of the school.
He followed.
She wept into the building, pressing her face and hands against the warm brick siding.
Heart cracking, Coop edged closer. “Jo Ellen?” His voice broke as he said her name.
She gasped and whirled to face him. Her eyes grew big, and she mopped at her cheeks as if to hide the fact she was crying her heart out.
Compassion flooded him. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “N-nothing.”
Her body language screamed at him, telling him how much she wanted to be left alone. He fully got that. But for the life of him, he just couldn’t abandon her.
“What can I do?” he asked. She could ask for anything. He didn’t care how morally wrong or illegal it might be; he’d do it, for her.
She shook her head again and opened her mouth. No words came out.
He waited, his eyes burning as he watched her suffer.
“Cooper,” she finally said, though her voice was so hoarse, he read the words on her lips more than he heard them. “I need to know…”
Nodding, he patiently waited for her to continue, but her emotions overwhelmed her, she ended up burying her tearstained cheeks into her shaking hands.
His heart screamed for him to hold her. The demand roared through him until he actually took a step closer. She lifted her face and trembled, her eyes wide, and scared, and full of something else that looked a lot like hope. He took another step, and she just watched him. He was going to hold her. He was going to put his arms around her and tug her close, cradling her face on his shoulder until every tear in her dried up.
But before his third step came, the back door slammed opened, and Emma Leigh flew outside, breaking the spell.
“Joey,” she called, dodging past Cooper and yanking her twin into her arms. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe that bastard. Do you want me to have Coop break his arms?”
The inner beast in Cooper perked to attention. Break Pretty Boy’s arms? He’d be honored.
But… “No!” Jo Ellen wailed as she buried her face into Emma Leigh’s shoulder and began sobbing with renewed energy. “I just want…
