Love on the Line (Beaumont Legacy #2)

30. Cooper

Chapter thirty

Cooper

B ang. Bang. Bang.

Someone was pounding on the door, and Cooper was not happy about it in the slightest. He used the arm slung around Maya’s waist to pull her closer to him, nuzzling his face in her hair and praying that one day this could be his every day.

Minus the door banging.

Maya began to stir, and Cooper squeezed her once, whispering, “Shh. They’ll go away.”

She sat up quickly, displacing him. Cooper’s eyes blinked open, taking in the dimly lit room. What time was it? It couldn’t have been later than six.

Then he remembered he’d agreed to lift with Colton this morning. And that Colton had probably found his door open and him gone .

Maya was already standing, shaking him from the other side and pulling him off the bed. “Coop!” she whispered urgently. “Get in the bathroom and close the door. Hurry. And take your clothes.”

Cooper quietly groaned, grabbing the clothes she thrusted at him and pulling them on. Maya was still naked from her waist up, and he groaned again at the knowledge that he’d been robbed of his chance to kiss every inch of her body this morning. By his damn best friend.

“Maya, what’s taking so long?”

“Sorry!” she called, worried eyes pleading with Cooper. “Just putting on a shirt.” She must’ve realized she actually needed to put on a shirt, because she searched frantically, running past him into the bathroom and picking one up off the ground.

Cooper held in a laugh at the state she was in but put up his hands in surrender and began walking to the bathroom when she fixed a glare on him. He stepped behind the bathroom door and listened to them speak.

“Hey, Colt! What’s up?” Her voice was far too high-pitched, and if she was going for subtle, she was failing miserably.

Cooper hadn’t realized his heart was pounding until both the Beaumont siblings were silent for a second.

Hiding in his best friend’s guest bathroom after sleeping with his sister was quite possibly the worst way for Colton to find out about them.

“Can you come out here for a sec? ”

“Oh! Sure. What’s up?” she asked again, only slightly less suspiciously. Cooper watched her close the door, but it was slapped back open, like Colton had placed his hand on it.

“And tell Cooper he can come out too. But he better be fully clothed and not say a goddamn word.”

Maya let out what sounded like a squeak, and Cooper closed his eyes, grimacing. “What! Is he not in his room? Maybe he left early.”

All this because he’d fallen asleep and forgotten to go back to his room.

“I will come in there,” Colton threatened.

Cooper cleared his throat, trying his best to keep his expression neutral as he walked toward his best friend. Colton led them into the living room, where Lucia was clearly trying to hide a smile behind her mug of tea.

“Good morning!” she exclaimed, chipper, like her boyfriend wasn’t about to massacre Cooper in her beautifully furnished house.

Maya wouldn’t even look at him, her wide eyes fixed on the couple in front of them. Colton placed a hand on Lucia’s waist like she would steady him, then turned to face them, anger and hurt clear on his face.

Maya let out a forced laugh. “This? See, this I can explain. Cooper knew that I…um…He knew that I needed help getting out of my—” She cut herself off with a sigh. “How did you know? ”

“Cooper and I were supposed to lift this morning. When I found his room empty, I figured he’d left, but the cameras around the house showed nothing, which made me wonder.”

Even when he was being short with his sister, he was still kind, his eyes softening when he looked at her. He knew Colton’s anger lay mostly on Cooper’s shoulders, and Cooper hated that they’d allowed this to happen.

They’d been hours away from telling Colton anyway. How stupid did he have to be to forget to close his door, or to get up a little early to get back to his room?

Though he couldn’t say he regretted waking up with Maya in his arms.

Lucia set her mug down on the dining table, a smile still clear in her eyes, even if her face barely showed it.

“Somebody better start explaining, and if it’s Cooper, my fist has a mind of its own.”

Maya stepped in front of Cooper, her hands up like she’d protect him. “Woah, okay, woah. There’s no need for threats, Colt.”

Colton looked at her expectantly.

“Okay. So, we’re…seeing each other. It’s new, but with the time we’ve been spending together for the charity, we’ve gotten a lot closer. And I can only speak for myself, but I like him a lot and…it’s been really good.” She turned and smiled at him, and Cooper smiled back, shoving his hands into his pockets to prevent himself from reaching out to pull her into a hug .

He knew Colton didn’t want him to speak, but he also wanted to affirm what Maya was saying. “I like you a lot too, sunflower.” He looked right at Colton, hoping to convey sincerity. “And it has been great.”

Lucia let out a short squeal, clapping her hands twice like she was overjoyed at the news.

“Luc,” Colton groaned exasperatedly, the anger disappearing when his eyes landed on her. “United front, remember?”

“Oh, right, right.” She cleared her throat. “Bad, very bad. We do not condone this at all.” And then she winked at them.

Cooper chuckled, but Colton’s eyes were fixed on him.

“Why didn’t you tell me when I asked what was going on with the charity on my birthday? I asked if you were okay working on the charity, and you didn’t think to tell me you were sleeping with my sister?”

Cooper shook his head. “No, nothing had happened then. We—It wasn’t like that then.”

“So, when? How long have you been hiding this from me?” Colton looked between Cooper and Maya.

“About a month. Since the gala, but we’d been moving toward it for weeks before that,” Maya responded quietly.

Colton scoffed. “I asked you why there was so much speculation about you two right after the gala. Why didn’t you tell me? You had so many opportunities to just talk to me about it. I don’t…”

Maya began to say, “ Colt—”

“Wait, is this why you’ve been skipping team dinners and not coming with us to Frankie’s? Why you haven’t been coming to lift with me as often? Why I’ve barely seen you the last few weeks, even when you’re in town?” Colton took a step back, right into the dining table. “When I asked you if you were looking to date someone specific, you lied and said no . Why wouldn’t you have just told me?”

Cooper could see the hurt clear as day on his friend’s face, and it only made him feel worse. Lucia’s hand rubbed circles on his back, her eyebrows furrowed like her analyst brain was working overtime.

God , he was the worst friend.

“We were planning to tell you today, actually.” Cooper looked down at the floor as he spoke, ashamed.

“It’s my fault. I wasn’t ready for anybody to know about it,” Maya chimed in.

It was a lie, and one that Cooper was about to correct, but Colton forged on like he hadn’t even heard them. “You guys lied to me. So many times. Maya, I can almost understand. She doesn’t tell me about what’s going on in her life much, and I can see how she’d be uncomfortable bringing it up, but you? You’re supposed to be…”

Guilt slammed through Cooper so hard, he almost staggered back. He knew what Colton wasn’t saying. They’d been friends for years , and Colton had taken Cooper under his wing when Cooper had first joined the Sabers.

This was the worst way to repay him .

When Cooper looked back up, Colton’s jaw was clenched, and he looked angry, hands balled by his sides.

“And to find out about this in my home ? For you to come here and keep it a secret in my own house…” Colton shook his head, seeming to only grow angrier by the second. “Look, I’m glad you’re trying to change things for yourself, I really am. But I’ve known you for years, and I don’t see this ending in any way but Maya getting hurt.”

Cooper’s heart lurched into his throat, and tears pricked his eyes, both angry at being spoken to like he was using Maya and hurt that even his own best friend felt this way about him. For Colton to talk to him like this proved Cooper’s own best friend didn’t even see him.

And maybe it was his fault for only expressing his feelings once, and only recently, but he’d be damned if he was going to let his past change how things were going with Maya. She was far too special, and maybe his prior mistakes meant he didn’t deserve her, but he was willing to do anything it took to get to the point where he did.

Cooper had deleted every single woman out of his phone who wasn’t his family or Sabertooths affiliated months ago, the moment he’d realized he wanted to be with her. He’d put countless hours into funding and helping with a charity, fielded endless press questions, to show he was capable of more.

And he would continue to do anything she needed for as long as she needed because he needed her .

Maya’s hands were on her hips, and Cooper knew she was about to defend him, but he needed to clarify how far Colton would take this. Cooper set his hand on her shoulder, stepping beside her.

“So what does that mean, exactly? You want to dictate who I can and can’t see? Who Maya can and can’t see?”

“Well, I’m sure as shit not okay with this. Maya is my little sister, man. You know how much she means to me. You can have anybody you want. I just…She’s already had one guy who wouldn’t commit and…she’s not temporary, you know?” Colton’s voice broke on the word ‘temporary,’ like the betrayal was starting to sink in and overwhelm the anger.

“I know tha—”

“ Enough .” Everyone snapped their heads to look at Maya. “Stop talking about me like I’m not in the room. And stop talking about Cooper like that. You of all people should know not to talk about him that way, especially when he’s expressed that he wants to change. Cooper deserves far more credit than you’re giving him. Just because he has a past doesn’t mean it has to be his future.”

Hope bloomed warm in Cooper’s chest at her words. How she made him feel seen, like a real person and not some prized horse or dirty animal. Maya was speaking up for him in a way he had never expected anyone would, and something like love wiggled inside of him, opening its eyes and taking a breath.

“Mai, I just…” Colton sighed.

“I know you mean well, but stop treating me like a child. I’m a grown adult who can date who I like. If I want to spend my time with him, I will.”

Colton hung his head. “I know you’re right. I—I think I just need some time to think.”

Cooper was already moving toward the front door at the words, his hand brushing Maya’s as he went. “I’ll go.”

Giving his friend space to process this was the least he could do.

Before Cooper closed the door behind him, Maya appeared. She placed her hand on his cheek, her thumb rubbing soothing circles.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I’ll fix it. I’ll apologize. It’s my fault.”

Cooper shook his head, taking both of her hands in his and kissing all ten of her knuckles. “Don’t apologize, sweetheart. It’s not your fault. I was the one who wanted to hide it at first. He’s right to be upset with me. He needs to process, and then I’ll apologize to him.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

Maya nodded, and Cooper called a car, at a loss for how the best twelve hours of his life had gone south so fast.