The Risks We Take Duet Box Set

20. Cooper

COOPER

“ I ’ll be there, man. I caught a military flight to a base in Delaware, and now I’m sitting in traffic, trying to get to you guys.” I haven’t even crossed the damn bridge to get into New Jersey yet, and traffic has been at a standstill for nearly an hour. “Did you really have to propose on a holiday weekend? It’s like the shore traffic is on roids, it’s so bad. I saw a grandma flip somebody off for trying to get in front of her.”

Brady laughs like he thinks I’m kidding, but that little old, blue-haired lady looked pissed. And I’m betting that big old boat of a car she’s driving could have done some serious damage to the Prius that was trying to cut into her lane.

“Take your time, Coop. I didn’t tell anyone you were coming. They’re going to freak when you get here.”

A horn honks in front of me as the light turns green, and somebody doesn’t move fast enough. “I gotta go, Brady. See you in a few hours.” I end the call in time to navigate the bumper-to-bumper cars with a stupid smile on my face. I’m happy for my sister and my best friend.

It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since they met and everything changed.

Will Murphy be able to be happy for Carys and me the way I am for my sister and Brady?

When I finally drive over the old rickety bridge into the tiny shore town that our family and friends have slowly begun to take over, I roll down the windows on my rental car and breathe in the salt water and marshy bay air. Brady told me once it was his favorite smell in the world because he knew for a few days he could relax. I get that. Training has been intense. It always is. Not anything out of the ordinary, but I hate being away from the team. Even if improving this skill will only help me keep us safer and make the team better.

It takes another thirty minutes to get through the tree-lined streets of the tiny town. Flags hang from each telephone pole, and red-white-and-blue bunting has exploded all over the streets full of tourists eating lunch at outdoor bistros, weaving in and out of small shops, and pulling wagons full of toddlers to the sandy shores. Dad’s house is at the other end of the island, where the properties have views of the beach and the bay. Dad, Declan, and Brady’s parents own three houses next to each other on the beach, and they take up an entire block of prime real estate, forming some version of a compound.

I park in Dad’s driveway and shoulder my duffle bag before letting myself through the back gate. The doors are locked, but the key is still under the mat—where he always keeps it when they’re down here—and I let myself in.

Not the safest move, Dad .

Callen’s toys are scattered throughout the house, mixed in with a few dolls that belong to one or both of my nieces, judging by the sparkly pink ballet shoes and matching tutus they’re wearing. Gracie and Everly are one week younger than Callen. Technically, they’re his nieces, but more often than not, his tormentors. A half-eaten birthday cake sits in a pink Sweet Temptations bakery box on the counter, and an English Comp II book is lying open on the island next to it. I know Carys is trying to get through as many of her core classes as she can this summer, but I cringe, looking at it, and know I made the right decision in skipping college.

I walk down the hall to the bedrooms at the back of the first floor and throw my bag into the first empty one I find. There are three bedrooms down here, two more on the flight above this, and the master takes up the entire top floor. I kick off my sneakers, grab my flip-flops out of my bag, and check the other two bedrooms to see if anyone else is staying down here. The first one’s empty, but Carys’s sweet scent clings to the air in the second. A few bikinis are thrown haphazardly on the bed that she’s left unmade, and a suitcase lies open and full of clothes on the floor.

My mind runs a little rampant with everything I want to do to this woman when I see her again.

We’ve both hated this time apart, but it’s forced us to slow down and get to know each other in a deeper way than we did before. It’s incredible how quickly she’s become the person I want to talk to every day. The one I call the second I can to share the little things and the exciting things with. The way that I’m desperate to see her face at night, and listen to how band practice went, or what she’s working on for Le Désir. She’s slowly becoming everything to me the way I’m pretty damn sure she was always meant to be.

And it fucking sucks that I have to remind myself—as I walk down the crowded beach to the tents my family has set up a few minutes later—that I can’t even reach out to her.

Not here.

Not now.

Not since we agreed this weekend wasn’t the right time for that.

I may have agreed with her when she said she wasn’t ready for the family to know, but I fucking hate the idea of hiding how I feel about her. I’m not sure anything in my life has ever felt this important. And it feels wrong to hide it like a dirty secret. But I’m following her lead... for now.

Everly is the first one to see me coming. My two-year-old niece makes me feel like a fucking giant when she drops her bucket and giggles with joy, then runs toward me with her blonde curls bouncing around her face. “Uncle Cooper,” she squeals.

I move a little faster to scoop her up before she falls flat on her adorable face. Tiny arms circle tight around my neck as she plants a sloppy kiss on my cheek. “What are you doing here, Uncle Coop?”

“I didn’t want to miss your birthday, princess.” I blow a raspberry on her cheek and squat down for Callen and Gracie to add themselves to the group hug, wishing all three of them happy birthday.

Man , I missed this.

“I didn’t know you were coming, son.” Dad holds me tight to him for a moment before my stepmom, Katherine, places a kiss on my cheek.

I take a minute to say hi to Murphy, Sabrina, Lenny, and Bash. Then reach for my beautiful sister-in-law, Annabelle, who’s holding my two-month-old nephew, Nixon. I’ve only gotten to see this little guy on the other side of a screen till now.

“He’s perfect, Belles.”

“It’s so good to see you here, Cooper.” Annabelle places him gently in my arms, and wide blue eyes stare back at me, studying me like only a baby can, until a familiar voice yells.

“Coop!”

Belle’s brother, Tommy, has grown from a shy nine-year-old boy, when I first met him, to a teenager who will undoubtedly be bigger than all of us eventually. He leans his head on my shoulder, a big sign of trust from this awesome kid who doesn’t like to be touched.

“I’ve missed you, Coop.”

I wrap my free arm around him. “I’ve missed you too, buddy.” Nixon scrunches up his face and grunts before the stench hits my nose, and I pass him right back to his mother. “That’s all you, Belles.”

I look over and see Carys standing next to my brother and Belles, watching me. Big brown sunglasses are pushed up into her long dark hair. A black-triangle bikini with bright-pink straps is tied around her neck and at her hips, and an open white button-down shirt covers her sun-kissed skin. She’s a sight for sore eyes, and I want to do more than look.

One of the hardest things I’ve ever done is step forward to hug her without touching her the way I want to.

Without enjoying her the way I need to.

I keep my hands on the outside of her shirt and awkwardly squeeze. “Hey.”

She blushes as she bats those long inky lashes up at me. “Hey, Coop.”

We’re forced to pull apart way too soon, and I scan our group for my sister and Brady. “Where’s Nattie?”

Murphy tosses me a football and tips his chin toward the ocean, where Brady and Nattie are kissing at the edge of the water. I might have chosen to go into the Navy, but football will always be my first love. With a Cheshire-cat grin, I throw a perfect spiral through the air, missing Brady’s head by inches before I walk down and join them at the water’s edge.

“Stop kissing my sister!” I’ve never actually minded Brady kissing Nattie. I mean, I don’t want to see it. But I couldn’t have picked a better man for her, even if it’s fun to torture them.

Nattie spins around in shock. “Cooper.” She runs and collides into me. “What are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t come this year.”

I hold her close while she cries and tell her what I can, which isn’t much. “I got three days’ leave. I basically get a few hours today. And most of tomorrow. Then I’m back on a plane. But I didn’t want to miss the family weekend.”

Brady smacks me on the back. “It’s good to see you, man.” He hands me the football. “Nice shot, but you missed.”

“Got you two to stop kissing, so you get to live.” Lucky fucking bastard. No guy will ever love my sister more than him.

I wonder if Murphy will feel the same way.