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“And the other?” I ask.
“Connor. He’s three years younger than me. We were together most of our childhood. Sometimes we were in good homes, sometimes we weren’t. But as I got older, more and more families were apprehensive to foster me. I don’t blame them. Teenager with drug addict parents. Then the Coopers came along. They already had two adopted children, but always wanted three. Connor was chosen.”
“Were you jealous?” I ask him.
“No, of course not. I love Connor. But I was afraid. I was growing out of the system. As hard as I tried to keep my head up and do my best to be a good kid, the odds were against me. Not only was my future uncertain, but I was to be separated from what little family I had. My parents were dead, my sisters left without looking back, and now he was being taken away. I couldn’t allow that. Somehow, in my teenage mind, I convinced myself that if given the chance, I could take care of him myself. I brought it up to my social worker, had even drawn up a plan. She didn’t laugh at it, but I could see it amused her. Which pissed me off.
“The day they took Connor was one of the worst of my life. ‘Raising a child costs a lot of money, Dean,’ Denita told me. So, I thought, if I could somehow come up with a lot of money, they’d let me raise Connor. We’d stay together. Besides, who better to take care of him than someone that loved him?”
“So you stole.”
“I was staying at a house near a shopping center. There was a pawn shop where a girl about my age helped her parents. She was my first crush. I’d sneak out to see her every day. Felicity Grant. She’s the one who helped me come up with the solution. She gave me watches, jewelry, and my first kiss.” He smiles as he says it, and I can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy, even though I know they were only kids.
“She sounds nice,” I say sarcastically.
“She was. As I ran, thoughts of how much trouble she’d be in and how hard her parents worked and how kind they’d always been to me, stopped me. I turned around. The police were already at the shop when I came back. I was so full of shame, dying seemed better than walking in. But I had to. The moment I did, they arrested me.”
A tear streams down my cheek and I wipe it away annoyed that I couldn’t hide it. “You were trying to keep your little family together.”
“My parents, Marissa and Charles, got wind of what happened. Denita will never admit to it because it can get her into trouble, but I know she called them. They bailed me out. The charges were dropped, and my record expunged. The arrest isn’t available to everyone. Looks like your sister has some pull somewhere.”
“Guess she does.” I look down at my lap, embarrassed. “Sorry she snooped into your past. You’ll probably like her even less now.”
“Not at all. It shows how much she cares about you. And it got you interested in me beyond my dick.”
My eyes snap up at his words. “You don’t really believe that’s all I’m interested in, do you?”
“I don’t think you’d have reacted the way you did if I meant nothing,” he whispers.
“I want you to sleep in my bed tonight, Coop.”
“Just tonight?”
Nervous, because it’s been so long since I’ve given someone more than a night, I say, “And the night after that, and the one after that, too.” His lips pull up as he nods. “But, Coop, this doesn’t change anything. Just because I’m letting you in, doesn’t mean I’ll let my guard down. I am still going to win.”
He nods. “I wouldn’t expect you to say differently.”
“I’m not ready to label this. And I don’t want anyone to know we’re sleeping together. There can’t be any doubt, even in my own head, that I won this fair and square. And if after I win, you still want something, we will talk.”
“If you win, you’ll know that you won of your own merit, because I promise to do everything I can to keep you from it,” he tells me seriously.
“Good. Now, go mingle. I’ll see you at my house at nine.”
