The Risks We Take Duet Box Set

13. Carys

CARYS

A nyone who says they can’t find what they want in Target is blind or lying. Emerson and I managed to fill two entire carts, and we probably could have kept going if we had a little more time and room in the car to get it all home. Unfortunately, it’s basically where your sense of time and your original to-do list go to die.

I’m not even sure how many hours later it is before we get home. Our blankets and sheets have been washed and should be done drying soon. I set my bathroom up first because I was in desperate need of a shower. If the guys weren’t coming back for dinner, I’d have taken a long bath in the claw-foot tub calling my name, but I’d have never been dressed in time for dinner if I’d given in. I’ve missed soaking in a bath since I moved to San Diego. Obviously, that’s not something I got to enjoy while I was living in the dorms. But here, my bedroom has its own en suite bathroom with a black-and-white subway-tiled standing shower and a white clawfoot tub.

Knowing that and with that tub in mind, I went a little goofy at Target, and I now have three oversized apothecary jars filled with bath salts, bath bombs, and bubble bath sitting pretty on the counter next to my favorite island mango candle.

All I need is a book, and it’s my own version of self-care.

I can’t wait to soak in that tub for hours, lost in a book.

But tonight isn’t going to be that night.

Instead, I showered quickly and ran a towel and a wide-tooth comb through my hair, then stared at my lingerie drawer. A sense of pride washes over me as I look at the beautiful pieces Chloe and I’ve created. After a minute, I decide on a tiny, silk black-and-white thong and a white silk push-up bra with contrasting black lace cupping the top of my breasts. No one will see my lingerie, but having them on is like wearing a shield. I feel stronger and more confident knowing they’re there.

As I turn and look at myself in the full-length mirror, I can’t help but wonder what Cooper would think if he saw me in this. I shake off the goosebumps that break out across my skin at that thought and throw on a pair of hip-hugging black leggings and a cropped, ribbed, charcoal-gray tank. It’s casual but cute, and after a night spent packing up my room and very little sleep, it’s as good as it’s going to get. A swipe of mascara and some Chap Stick, and I’m good to go, just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

“CC, can you get the door?” Emerson hollers from her room. “I’m naked, and I think it’s the pizza.”

What would she have done if it wasn’t the pizza guy at the door? Answered it naked? If she knew it was Linc, she absolutely would have. Without question.

Em has no shame.

She’s one of the most confident women I know.

I’m trying to be more like her.

However, Linc won’t be alone tonight. And whoa momma—does the idea of Cooper Sinclair seeing my roommate naked make my stomach churn.

I skip down the steps and hurry to the front of the house, but when I peek through the peephole of the arched wooden door, it looks like I already missed the pizza man. I open the door and step to the side.

“Hey, guys.”

Cooper stands on the other side of the door in a plain gray tee with NAVY written across the front in black font. His black Philly Kings ball cap sits backwards on his head as he steps through and offers a wide smile.

“Pizza guy showed up at the same time we did.” He lifts the boxes a little higher with a shrug, then looks back at the guys while they share a secretive laugh. “I think we might have scared him.” He drops a quick kiss on the top of my head as he passes by with four pizza boxes in his hands, headed toward the kitchen.

In the span of six days, we’ve become people who touch... who linger.

And I’m all for it. But I’m also a woman who knows how she feels and has felt this way for years.

The question is, do I try to talk to him about it before he leaves for his training?

My gut says yes, a resounding yes. But I’m not sure my nerves will allow it.

Linc follows Coop in, holding two takeout bags and leading the way for Axel and Trick, who both carry beer.

“Thanks, guys.” I shut the door and lock it before joining them in the kitchen.

Cooper’s eyes warm my skin as they linger on the bare stretch of my stomach exposed between my leggings and my tank.

I fight the urge to cover up and hope I’m not turning ten shades of red. Damn fair skin. Every time I get the least bit embarrassed or excited, not to mention drunk, I turn into the living embodiment of a tomato.

Hoping no one will notice my reaction, I busy myself finding the paper plates and napkins we bought earlier. When I open one of the upper cabinets, the plates sit on the top shelf. Emerson has no concept of what short people can and can’t reach. But before I can stretch up on the tips of my toes to grab them, Coop moves behind me, crowding me but not touching me. Close enough that his warmth engulfs me when he grabs the plates above my head with ease.

His lips brush over the skin of my ear, and a shiver rips down my spine when he whispers, “I should buy you a step-stool as a housewarming present.”

I spin slowly around, and he takes a small step back without looking away. “Maybe I like having you around.”

His face changes from goofing around to more guarded. But there’s something there. “I won’t always be able to be here, Carys. Not with my job.”

“I know what your job is, and I know what it means to you.” If he’s trying to warn me, it’s not working.

With an almost imperceptible tip of his chin, his face relaxes, and a small smile slips into place before Axel calls his name. Then, with lightning-quick speed, Cooper’s hand grips my hip and moves me an inch away from him before he catches the beer tossed his way.

“Dude, Axe.” Coop chuckles. “How the hell can you have such great aim with a gun and such bad aim with a beer?”

“Fuck off, Sinclair. Let’s see if you can touch my numbers when you get back from sniper training. Then we’ll talk.” Axel grabs two slices of pizza, adds some onion rings to his plate, then takes his beer and follows Linc and Emerson through the door to the back deck.

I reach out and fist Cooper’s t-shirt while my heart lodges in my throat. “You’re going to sniper training?”

“I’m just gonna...” Trick motions toward the door the others just walked through. “I’m gonna... Yeah.” He looks from me to Coop. “Good luck, man.” And he’s gone with the rest of them.

“Doesn’t that make you a target?” I’ve read everything I could about SEALs since Cooper went to boot camp with the intention of making the teams, and I know what this means.

He puts his beer down, then wraps his hands around my waist and lifts me easily to sit on the counter, and before I even realize what he’s doing, he’s positioned himself between my legs. In any other circumstance, I’d be all for this, but not when I can’t stop picturing him hurt or worse.

“Coop—” I try to force my voice to sound calm but fail miserably before he cuts me off.

“Nope. My turn.” Cooper rests his hands on either side of my thighs, crowding me again. “I need you to listen to me, Carys. I need you to really hear me. Okay?”

With shaking hands, I reach up and remove his cap.

Needing to touch him.

Unable to deny the connection there.

“Yes, I’m going to sniper training. You can never have too much training. Can never be too skilled. I have the best training the United States government has to offer, Carys.” His voice is firm and leaves very little room for question.

He stands between my dangling legs. His strong, callused hands rest on top of my thighs. This is the closest we’ve been since the night of our parents’ wedding, and I love it and hate it all at once.

“Every time we go down range, there’s a risk. But my team is the best of the best, and we’re gonna do everything to make sure we all get home safe.”

Emotion clogs my throat at the mention that it won’t always be safe, and I have to swallow the threatening tears.

“Promise?”

He tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear and holds the back of my neck in a possessive grip like earlier. A move that is so perfectly Cooper, and God, do I want him to be possessive of me.

“Yeah, baby. I promise.”

If he didn’t already own my heart, this moment right here would be the moment that sealed it. But just when my heart soars, thinking he might kiss me, the back door opens, and Axel walks in, abruptly ending whatever could have been in this moment.

“Come on, future baby momma. Pizza’s getting cold, and your girl sent me in here to get the two of you.” Axel grabs the pizza boxes with a shit-eating grin on his face as he winks. “Now hurry it the hell up.”

Coop offers me his hand as I hop off the counter, his eyes still holding me captive. “We’re not done yet, Carys.”

“We haven’t even started yet, Coop.”

But I think we’re finally about to.