The Risks We Take Duet Box Set

92. Cooper

COOPER

One Month Later – Thanksgiving

“ C an you tie this for me?” Carys walks into my office on the first floor of the lake house and spins around in front of me. The black sweater she’s wearing sets off her pale skin and scoops low in the back with no bra strap in sight. Instead, two lace ribbons hang down from her shoulders, waiting to be tied.

My girl loves her ribbons.

I stand from my chair and run my fingers down the soft skin of her spine, enjoying the goosebumps breaking out over her flesh. I press my lips to her bare skin as my dick jumps in my pants. “Baby... Do you want your brother to try to kick my ass during dinner?”

She tilts her head back and smiles. “ Can my brother kick your ass, Coop?”

“Maybe in his dreams. But he’s sure as hell going to try when he sees my eyes all over you today.”

She huffs, then turns her head away from mine. “Tie the ribbon, Cooper. We’re going to be late as it is.”

My smile stretches, thinking about how Carys looked riding me earlier. We were playing with a very different kind of ribbon then. “Yeah, we are. But it was worth it.” I tie the ribbon on her sweater in a bow, and she turns in my arms and brushes her lips over mine.

“Totally worth it.” She drags her teeth over my bottom lip, like a little tease, and smiles.

When she backs away, my eyes slowly drag up the knee-length black-leather skirt, hugging her curves, to the short black sweater that I know doesn’t cover a bra. “So fucking sexy, Carys.”

Her smile could light up the entire city. “So fucking yours, Cooper.” Then she walks away, yelling, “Now get off the computer and let’s go.”

I’ve been working with Hudson’s team for the past few weeks, and I love it. The physical outlet has been just what I needed, and being part of his team has definitely been an eye-opening experience.

But it’s not enough. Yes, it’s helped me work through the PTSD as much as my counselor has, but it’s never going to be something I want to turn into a career.

I’ve been doing research on financial planning and investments. I was working on my business plan before Carys came in earlier. It may be a completely different direction than I originally planned for my life, but it works for Carys and me. And I like the idea of running my own business at some point.

Rook and I have talked about me potentially doing contractor work in some capacity for Phoenix. But Carys and I aren’t ready for that right now, though we haven’t ruled it out completely for the future.

I close the lid of my laptop and push my homework aside, then follow Carys to the kitchen. She’s already pulled the appetizers out of the fridge. “Do we need to bring anything else?”

“Nope. Belles and Sabrina are bringing dessert, and Nattie and I were assigned appetizers.” She grabs a bottle of wine from the counter and hands it to me. “And we’re all bringing wine.”

“ Great . Because your brother getting drunk would definitely be a good thing today.” She doesn’t seem to pick up on my sarcasm as we step outside and climb into my new SUV without an eyelash in sight. “Is he making the turkey or is your mom?”

Carys shrugs. “I guess we’ll find out.”

I t’s complete chaos when we step into Dad’s house. Everly and Gracie chase Callen, who’s screaming while he runs away, holding a decapitated Barbie in one hand and swinging her head by the hair in the other. They fly by us, and I pull Carys back, so she isn’t caught in their path of destruction.

Dad and Belles’s brother, Tommy, are sitting on the couch in the family room, watching football on TV, so we stop and say hello before heading into the kitchen, where everyone else is crowded together.

Carys sets out our food and hands the wine over to Declan to open, while Katherine and Murphy argue over something in the oven.

“You’re not twenty-one yet, Carys Murphy,” Katherine scolds.

Carys quickly takes the glass of wine from Declan and scans the room. “Yeah, but I’m also not pregnant like the rest of them, so I think I earned one glass, Mom.”

“Hey, guys.” Nat turns to hug me, and her big belly blows my mind. From behind, my sister still looks like a normal-sized human. But from this angle...

“Nat, are you sure you don’t have triplets in there?” I lean in to kiss her cheek, not realizing what I said until she lunges for me.

Oops .

Brady grabs her by the waist and pulls her back. “No fistfights today, Natalie Grace. Your balance sucks. I don’t need you going into labor two months early because your brother’s a moron.”

“Not a complete moron,” Carys defends me. “But he sure is pretty to look at.”

“Hey...” Yeah. I got nothing else. I’m lucky my sister didn’t kill me.

Carys kisses Nat and Brady’s cheeks, then tugs Nattie over to the table where Sabrina and Annabelle are sitting.

I move behind the island and stand next to Brady and Declan. “It’s like an OB-Gyn office exploded in here.”

“Dude, I don’t know about Belles, but your sister is a fucking psychopath when she’s pregnant. She can cry over a tissue commercial one minute and then be ready to throw a kitchen knife at me the next because I forgot to get her the right soy sauce. It’s fucking scary.” Brady smiles and waves at Nat across the room before she turns her pissed-off glare to me.

“So are you telling me I should hide the knives?” I really don’t feel like getting stabbed today.

“Here.” Declan hands Nixon over to me. “She won’t stab you if you’re holding Nix.”

“He’s a year and a half old. Doesn’t he want to be with the other kids?” Brady plays peek-a-boo with my chubby nephew, just as Callen runs in and hides behind the counter.

He pulls on my pant leg. “If the twins come in here, you didn’t see me.”

I nod. “I gotcha, kid.”

Brady slides over to block Callen from Everly’s view. “Okay, maybe don’t let Nix play with the twins just yet... They’re a little scary.”

“How are Carys and Chloe doing with the shop? Will they be able to open on December first like they want? Chloe hasn’t answered my calls all week, so I figure she’s stressed.” Brady moves to the side so Callen can dart away.

I glance over at Carys, feeling so proud of her. “Yeah. It got a little crazy there last week, but the shop’s scheduled to open its doors in just under two weeks.” They signed the lease for the building six weeks ago, and it’s been full speed ahead since.

Murphy joins the three of us and passes us each a bottle of beer.

“What the fuck are you wearing, Murph?” I re-read his ridiculous apron. Master Baster is printed on his apron with a picture of a turkey in a roasting pan below it. “Dude. No.”

“Come on. It’s funny, and you know it.” Murph looks over at the table full of girls. “Sabrina made me promise I’d stop with the innuendos before the kids are old enough to read, so I gotta get it in while I still can.” He lifts his beer to his lips. “Just wait until you see next year’s.”

Carys moves next to me and kisses her brother’s cheek before I watch her check in with her mom.

Damn. Her ass looks fantastic in that skirt.

A roll smacks me in the face. “What the fuck?” I glare at Murphy, who’s laughing like an ass, with Brady and Declan trying to hide their faces.

Murph picks up another roll. “Stop looking at my sister’s ass.”

“In all fairness, she’s his sister too.” My eyes snap to Nattie, who just grabbed a piece of pepperoni bread from the island.

“You little traitor.” I glare at my evil twin, but she shrugs her shoulders, then gives me the finger. “How about you come up with another way to say I’m the size of a house, and we’ll see what else I can come up with?”

One point, Nattie. She definitely won that round.

Dad steps into the kitchen and pulls two root beers from the fridge for Tommy and him. “What’s got you guys laughing so hard over here?”

“Just busting Coop’s balls, Coach.” Murphy throws an arm around my shoulders, and Dad eyes it cautiously.

My gaze swings to Carys across the kitchen. “She’s beautiful, asshole. And I’m allowed to look whenever I want.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to know, let alone see, what any of you are looking at,” Dad teases.

Declan glances around the room. “More than half the women in here are pregnant, Dad. It might be a little late for that.”

Dad takes the beer out of Declan’s hand, takes a sip, then hands it back. “There’s knowing, and there’s seeing for yourself. Two very different things, son.”

Murphy sprays the beer in his mouth out through his nose as he chokes. “Yeah, Coach. Pretty sure I found that out the hard way.”

The rest of us laugh. “Yeah, Dad. That kitchen table looks new. Doesn’t it, Murph?” I goad him. The tales of Murphy walking in on Dad and Katherine having sex on the table will never get old.

“It actually is, Cooper.” Dad leans in close and drops his voice. “Because the old one wasn’t sturdy enough to do what I wanted to with your girlfriend’s mother.”

He takes my beer bottle and taps it to the top of Murphy’s so the foam rises and spills over the sides.

Dad walks away while Brady absolutely loses his shit because he’s laughing so hard. “And that, my friends, is a mic drop moment.”

I tap Murphy’s shoulder, after the dinner dishes are done, and motion for him to follow me outside.

His shoulders deflate, like a kid about to get yelled at. “Come on, Coop. You can’t be pissed. It was a funny joke.”

I keep walking until we’re far enough away from the house, then turn around to face him. “I didn’t even hear the joke, Murph. I brought you out here to tell you I’m going to ask your sister to marry me.”

One side of Murph’s mouth pulls up in a shit-eating grin. “Is this you asking for permission?”

“No, asshole. I asked your mom for permission. I’m telling you out of respect. But don’t say anything to anyone else yet. I want to make sure it’s a surprise.” I pull the box out of my pocket and show him the ring I bought weeks ago.

He whistles long and low. “Damn, man. That’s beautiful.”

“Thanks. I hope she likes it.” I stuff it back in my pocket and ignore the goofy grin growing on his face.

“Do you know when you’re gonna pop the question?” I shake my head, and he holds his bottle of beer up, waiting for me to do the same. “To my favorite sister marrying my favorite brother.” He taps his bottle to mine, and I shake my head.

“You really are an asshole,” I laugh.

“Yeah well, are you gonna be my brother-in-law or my stepbrother?”

I ignore his stupid jokes. “I’m going to be the man who loves your sister every day for the rest of her life.”

“Good answer, Cooper. Good answer.”

I sit in our bed later that night with the ring in my hand, still unsure of when I want to ask her. I thought it might be easier after I talked to Murphy, but it’s not.

I’ve put so much thought into the how and when, but nothing’s seemed right... until now.

The door of the bathroom cracks open, so I shove the box back into my nightstand drawer and watch as Carys steps out.

She takes my breath away, walking toward me in lacy-blue lingerie and spinning in a circle. “Do you like it?”

I don’t answer her because the words are stuck in my throat. She walks across the room and climbs up on the bed. “Hey, you feeling okay, Coop?”

I lift her onto my lap and gather her face in my hands. “You are the love of my life, Carys Murphy. The air I breathe. I’ve tried to figure out how to do this about a million times over the past few weeks, but nothing seemed right.”

She tilts her head and wraps her fingers around my wrists. “What are you talking about, Cooper?”

“We’ve done everything differently from the very beginning. It’s always just been us. We didn’t need anyone else, so I wanted to do this in private. Just you and me.” I wrap an arm around her waist and kiss her softly. “Sixty years from now, when we’re old and gray, sitting outside on this lake, I want to look back and know I’ve lived a good life. A worthy life. I want to be a good man who’s worthy of you. And if I only do one thing right in this life, I want you to know that I love you completely. Fiercely. No holding back. With no regrets.” I reach inside the nightstand, pull out my feather, and hand it to her.

“The feather?” She runs her finger softly over the vane and smiles a sad smile. “I’m not sure it was exactly the good-luck charm I hoped it would be.” She spins it in her hand, then looks back up at me.

I lift the diamond ring from my drawer and slip it on her finger. “I don’t think it was the feather, baby. I think you were the good luck. I held on to that feather because you gave it to me, but you were what I was holding on to. What I was coming back for. And when I didn’t know if I was ready for all this, you stayed by my side until I opened my eyes to what was right in front of me.”

A single tear falls down her cheek.

“Marry me, baby. Walk by my side for the rest of our lives. No matter what that looks like. The good, the bad, the crazy highs, and the awful lows. Marry me, so we can take care of each other forever.” I lift her hand to my lips and kiss her fingers.

She nods her head as more tears spill freely. “Of course, I’ll marry you, Cooper Sinclair. I love you.”

“More than the air I breathe, Carys.”