The Risks We Take Duet Box Set

43. Cooper

COOPER

W hen I met Aiden Murphy my junior year of high school, I never would have guessed that he’d marry the president’s daughter. Sabrina’s dad was a senator back then, and Murphy ended up campaigning for him when it came time. So this isn’t a new thing, but it’s still hard to get my head around it. When I get to the resort on the island of Kauai, Secret Service agents stop and check me over to make sure I’m not a threat and am on the approved list.

They’ve rented out the entire resort for two weeks. Most of our friends and family have been here for a week already, but I wasn’t able to do that, even if I wished I could have flown out when Carys did. If only to have a few hours with her, stuck next to me on a plane where she couldn’t run for the first time in two months.

Once I’m checked out by security and checked in at the front desk, I walk around the quiet resort to find my room. The white-sand beach is dotted with individual huts looking out over the clear blue ocean. A few huts stand on stilts over the water, and a large boutique hotel sits behind it all, practically empty except for employees and security.

Chloe is the first person I see as I get closer to the huts. She’s closing the door to one of them with a black-and-white bag in her hands.

“Coop.” She jogs over to me and throws her arms around my neck. “Thank God, you made it. Murphy’s been stressing out. Seriously. He’s more of a bridezilla than Sabrina could ever be.”

“You look good, Chloe. I like the hair.” She’s cut her normally long, blonde hair to just below her chin, removing the purple strands she had the last time I saw her.

“Thanks.” She runs her fingers through it. “I promised my mom I’d keep it blonde for the weddings, but I might go rainbow as soon as Brady and Nat say ‘I do.’”

“Well, if anyone can pull it off, it’s you, Chloe.” I glance around the empty beach. “Where is everyone?”

“You just missed the guys. They’re deep-sea fishing. And the girls are having a spa day.” She looks up at me with a coy expression. “Are you going to ask me about her?”

I really wasn’t going to. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t think she’d tell me. “Are you going to tell me anything if I do, or is there a girl code you can’t break?”

“Fuck the girl code. She’s miserable, Cooper. She’s pushing you away because she thinks you’ll be better off without her, not because she doesn’t love you.” This girl I’ve known forever stares me down with a sad look in her eyes. “Don’t let her do it, Coop. Fight for her. She’s worth it, even if she doesn’t think she is.”

“What the hell do you mean she doesn’t think she’s worth it?” Anger licks across my skin like a red-hot flame.

Chloe looks at me like I’m the biggest idiot she’s ever met. “Why do you think she’s pushing you away, Cooper? Jesus. You two are the densest smart people I’ve ever known. If you want answers, talk to Carys. Her hut is down there.” She points to the opposite end of the beach. “Number 10. She should be back there soon. But I swear to God, if you tell her I told you any of this, I’ll tell the world you have a micropenis, Sinclair.” She smacks my ass as she walks away, and I’m left sorting through everything she just said.

How the hell could this woman ever think she wasn’t worth it?

Coop

At the resort.

Murphy

Nice of you to finally join us, fuckhead.

Bash

We’ll be back in an hour.

Brady

Girls are at the spa, if you want to find your sister before she hunts you down.

Declan

Can’t control your woman?

Brady

Fuck off, Dec. Like Belles doesn’t have you wrapped around her pinky.

Murphy

I’ll bet Brady likes it when Nattie is wrapped around his little thing.

Brady

It’s not little.

Bash

That’s not what she said.

Coop

Dude. Stop.

Declan

Want to watch the kids tonight so Belles and I can have a few hours to ourselves?

Bash

Give it up, Dec. You’ve literally asked everyone.

Murphy

He asked the Secret Service.

Declan

I was drunk.

Coop

Sorry Dec. I get two nights and I’m not spending them with the kids. Love ya, but no.

Declan

Whatever. Dad’s reeling in a fish. See ya soon.

W e all gather at the beach later that night to walk through the rehearsal for tomorrow. The wedding coordinator lines us all up at the back of the aisle and laughs. “Well, I’d normally encourage the bride and groom to put you all together according to height, but I believe most of you are coupled up already, and you boys are giants. So how about if you’re married or engaged, go stand next to your significant other?”

Belles and Declan, Brady and Nattie, and Lenny and Bash all move, leaving Carys, Chloe, Belles’s younger brother, Tommy, and me all standing alone. Chloe moves next to Tommy and puts her arm through his.

“What do you say, Tommy boy? You and me?” she asks brightly.

He looks to Belles for permission, then nods, and I offer a silent thank-you to Chloe. I really do owe her one.

I look Carys over and try not to smile too big. “Guess that leaves you and me, mini-Murphy.”

She rolls her eyes at the use of the old nickname and probably at Chloe’s blatant manipulation. “Guess so.”

We’re lined up from there and told to wait for our cue to begin our walk down the aisle. It’s the closest we’ve been in months, and my skin feels like it’s stretched too thin against my body as I ache to reach out and hold her in my arms.

Carys stands next to me, behind Nattie and Brady. Her soft brown hair is held back by a thin white ribbon, and a white lace sundress brushes her knees. All the girls are in different white dresses except for Sabrina, who’s wearing an emerald-green one. Carys’s skin is warm against mine, and I ache for so much more. More of her. More of us.

I don’t think she even realizes her body is leaning toward mine.

Of course, it fucking is because we’re supposed to be together. She might be holding back, but this woman is mine, and she knows it on a subconscious level.

Brady and Nattie are told to walk, leaving the two of us momentarily alone.

“You look pretty tonight, baby.”

The smile she gives me is sad.

“You look nice too, Coop,” she whispers. We’re told it’s our turn and walk slowly down the aisle.

“Can we talk later?” I ask.

“Everyone’s watching us, Coop.” Her words are clipped, and her lips barely move.

“You better say yes then.”

We come to the end of the aisle, and she whispers, “We’ll see.”

What seems like minutes later, we’re done, and everyone is walking to the main resort for a formal sit-down dinner and drinks. And as we make our way there, my girl makes sure she’s as far away from me as possible. She does the same damn thing when we take our seats, and for one of the first times in my life... I wish my friends and family weren’t around.

I need to get her alone.

It’s time to end this game.