Stranded

by Nicole Dykes

  I laugh at that and shake my head, loving how comfortable we are with each other. Nothing is off-limits. We talk about everything. And we give each other a hard time as often as we can because fuck easy. “You cannot go to your father and say, ‘Hey, Dad, I’m going to use my trust fund for my girlfriend’s little flower shop.’”

  His lips pull up in a beautiful, devilish smile, and my heart starts pounding so fast in my chest, I struggle to catch my breath. “That’s not what I said.” My eyebrow arches as I look down to his hand, seeing a sparkling diamond ring between his thumb and finger. “I went to my father and told him I wanted to fund my future wife’s flower shop.”

  “Coop.” It’s a gasp. It’s weak and embarrassing, but it’s all I can get to come out.

  He pulls my left hand down from around his neck, his eyes on me. “Everly. Even though I think marriage is a little outdated, and it’s caveman-esque of me claiming you . . .” He slides the ring onto my finger, managing to get it on even though my hand is shaking. “I definitely want you to claim me for the rest of my life.”

  My eyes meet his, and I can’t hold back the grin on my face. “You want to get married?”

  “Yes,” he answers with no hesitation.

  “You expect me to put up with your sloppy and cocky stubborn ass?”

  He smiles and holds my hand with ring in place and in front of my face. “Forever.”

  “I think I can do that.” I wrap my arms around his neck again and kiss him. “And for the record, I think I’m getting the better deal. You have to put up with my moody, stubborn . . .”

  “Beautiful.”

  “Ass.”

  He laughs and kisses me. “I can’t fucking wait.”

  “I can’t either.”

  “I also told Liam’s mom we’ll go to her New Year’s Eve dinner.”

  My heart stutters, and my body stiffens. “She has to hate me.”

  “No one could hate you, Ev.” He holds me tightly as I shake my head.

  “I dated her son and immediately started hooking up with his best friend.” He raises an eyebrow at me now. “Okay, so that’s the simplified version.”

  “She’s the last person to judge. She just wants us happy.”

  We walk over to the bed, and I lay down with my head on his shoulder. “Do you still feel guilty?”

  “Part of me does, but I don’t regret being with you, and I never will.” He laughs quietly, “I do wish he could punch me though. Just once.”

  “You need some physical abuse?”

  He cracks a smile. “I think it would just feel better if I got to feel his rage and move forward. We aren’t ever going to get that.”

  “I know. It’s not fair.” I cuddle closer. “But if you want, I can totally punch you.”

  He pulls me onto him. I sweep my hair over my shoulder and sit up, straddling his thighs. “Make it hurt, Ev.”

  I lean down and kiss him with a smile on his face.

  We’re past punishing ourselves for what we never had any control over in the first place. Because love is absolutely out of control.

  I cannot shake the feeling that Liam’s mother has to hate me, but I also know I can’t shy away from this dinner either. It’s like we need this for closure.

  We’re getting married.

  And all I want to feel is joy when it comes to that.

  Cooper’s fingers thread through mine as we wait at the front door in the cold winter of Kansas, having just returned from our vacation. “It’s going to be fine.”

  I smile, loving and hating at the same time how well he knows me.

  Liam’s mother opens the door with the same comforting smile I remember as she embraces us. “I’m so happy you’re here!” She hugs us both tight, and I do an awkward patting of her back as she squeezes us.

  Coop laughs, “We wouldn’t miss it.”

  She releases us and lets us inside where we remove our coats and go to the dining room table to find Liam’s father, sitting there and surrounded by food that makes my stomach rumble.

  I push my hair behind my ear, and Liam’s mother grabs my hand excitedly. “She said ‘yes’?”

  She’s looking at Cooper, and I follow her eyes to him. “You told her?”

  He winks. “Of course, I did. I thought it would make us both feel better.”

  Damn him. I look sheepishly at Liam’s mother. “I . . . um . . . I did.”

  She smiles and brushes a hand over my hair, leaving it on my shoulder. “That’s wonderful. Just like I told Cooper, I know it probably feels a little strange, but I know Liam is watching and he’s happy for you.” I stiffen even more because I’m not sure he could be happy.

  “I hope he’s not watching all the time,” Coop jokes, and my eyes widen as I look at him and shake my head in horror.

  He just laughs, and remarkably, so do Liam’s parents.

  Jim stands up and motions for us to join him. “I’m starving. Can’t we talk about this over dinner?”

  I smile at him and walk over for a warm inviting hug before we all sit down to eat the delicious food. It’s strange being here with Liam’s parents without him, but at the same time, it’s not. I do feel him here. And Aria.

  I don’t think Liam would have been too happy for us to be together, but maybe he could find a way to forgive, like we have.

  At the end of the day, Coop and Liam were brothers in every sense of the word. Cooper is the most selfless person I know, letting his brother have me for so long.

  “So, when’s the wedding?” Liam’s mother asks as we dig in.

  I answer because Cooper’s mouth is full of food. “This summer. Probably something really small.”

  She smiles. “That’s very lovely. I’m happy for you two.”

  I know she is too. It’s strange the things that can be forgiven, the things we can survive.

  I look at Cooper with a smile on my face, and I’m so damn happy I stopped fighting this thing between us.

  He’s all I need to overcome it all.

  Eight Years Later

  * * *

  “Whoa!” I lift my little girl up in the air just as she runs into my arms. “You’re getting huge!”

  “I know! I a big girl.” I laugh and kiss her head.

  “Not too big. Not yet.”

  “I four.” I smile at my daughter and love that she has Everly’s eyes. Right now, they’re a dark shade of stormy blue.

  “I know.” Her brother toddles into my office, carrying his favorite bear and grinning. I kneel down with one arm still around my daughter and grab my son up in a hug. “Hey, buddy. Where’s Mommy?”

  “I’m right here.” Ev walks—okay, maybe waddles—through the door, eight months pregnant with our third. “They’re trying to kill me.”

  I laugh and release my kids, walking to my beautiful wife and grasping the sides of her head before kissing her lips. “They better not. I’ll have to follow you, and then they’d be orphans.”

  She grins at that and scrunches up her nose. “So romantic.”

  “Always.”

  “We’re completely insane, right?”

  I don’t have to ask her what she’s talking about. “Completely.”

  Every year, we fly out of Kansas for a three-week trip to the beach house we purchased for a really great deal. I’m a cardiologist, and I care about my patients. But my family is my number one. They always will be.

  It was a promise I made to her on our wedding night and one I’ve kept. One I always will because I am nothing like her parents, and I needed her to know that.

  She sits slowly down in the chair at my desk. “Ugh.”

  “We can skip it?”

  She shakes her head. “No way.”

  “Well, I mean we could postpone it until the little one is here.”

  She shakes her head again, just as stubbornly defiant as always, and I fucking love it, maybe even more now. That fire in her still makes me aim as high as I can to be the best husband and father I can be. Ev know
s what she wants, and she gets it. And if I can make it happen, I do.

  Just like that flower shop. The one that’s, in fact, thriving, which I knew it would. The nice touch, the thing I think that made it so successful is that Everly insisted it also be a bakery in tribute to my mother who she never got to meet. A one-stop feel-good shop, and she’s killing it.

  My dad doesn’t say it, but I know that it means a lot to him. And surprisingly, he’s been her best customer and a pretty decent grandpa. Maybe Liam’s mom was right, and my mother was the love of his life and her dying broke him.

  Which I can understand. I miss Liam every fucking day. And Aria. But if I would have lost Ev . . . I don’t think I could have ever come back from that.

  The shop stays open the three weeks we’re gone, with Ev calling in to check on her employees several times a day. But still, more than anything, I look forward to these three weeks, trapped in a secluded beach house with the loves of my life.

  There’s no part of me that craves anything else. They’re mine to love and protect. That’s all I need.

  With them, I have everything I could have ever wanted.

  * * *

  THE END

  I really hope you enjoyed Cooper and Everly. I know, I know—it won’t be for everyone, and of course that’s totally fine! I love them so much though. For me, they’re so real. I really, really hate the snow, so getting an idea for a couple being stranded in a blizzard was quite annoying . . . But man, did it work.

  I’ve been obsessed with these two for so long!

  Thank you all so much for reading this book! Thank you to my Novelties and to my betas and friends. I love and need you all.

  Don’t forget to read what you love and do what’s best for you. Stay strong, you all. It’s amazing what we can survive!

  Like what you read and want some more heartbreak? Here’s a sample of Regrets that I think will give you what you want . . .

  Linc

  * * *

  “God, you’re so sexy. I love the ink.” Please shut up.

  Her voice is fucking cringeworthy, and I can already tell that keeping my dick hard is going to be a chore. Maybe I could gag her.

  The blond currently straddling me lifts off her dress, tossing it to the side and showing me a decent pair of tits which could be worth the godawful commentary. My hands move up her sides slowly before cupping her tits in my hands and squeezing slightly.

  Her head falls back, and she moans while rubbing herself against my cock.

  There we go. That’s what I need. Just shut the fuck up.

  Her hands slide over my bare torso, her fingernails digging into my skin but not deep enough. Come on. Draw blood. “Wow, that view is absolutely incredible.”

  Fucking really?

  The house I’m renting—okay, my parents are renting—while I’m in college isn’t a typical college house near campus. It’s located on the outskirts of town on the lake. And I mean, right on the lake. My large bedroom window looks out on the sparkling lake surrounded by trees. I flip the chick over so she’s under me and pull my pants down, just wanting to get this shit over with at this point.

  I kick my jeans off all the way and reach for a condom in the table next to my bed. She lays under me in only her pink, silky panties. I briefly wonder what’s going on in her head. What makes a girl like her go home with a guy she just met at a party? She’s intelligent enough, at least she’s currently going to college. Although, book smarts certainly don’t equal street smarts.

  “Oh fuck, baby. You’re so fucking hot for me, aren’t you?”

  Goddammit, P.

  The manly growl came from one bedroom over. The girl below me sits up on her elbows, her large, doe-eyes widening even more. “What was that?”

  A loud, feminine moan floats through the thin wall. “Don’t stop. Right fucking there.”

  Then, the unmistakable sound of the headboard banging against the wall follows. “That would be my roommate getting laid.”

  The sounds grow louder, and the girl I’m with seems to be listening intently, her ear turned toward the wall. “Well, it sounds like he’s not too bad at what he does.” Her hand slides up over my stomach. “Let’s hope his roommate knows what he’s doing too.”

  I place my hand on her shoulder, urging her to lay back down, and she does. “She. And she has never fucking known what she’s doing.” I lean forward slightly. “And I don’t like to be questioned.”

  She looks puzzled. “She?”

  “Yup.” I’m really fucking tired of this chick. I’m not sure what the fuck I was thinking. She didn’t stop talking the entire drive back to my house. I should have dumped her ass before we got away from campus.

  Now, her confusion just continues to brew, and she still can’t shut the fuck up. “You live with a woman?”

  I grip the thin straps of her panties. “I don’t want to talk about my roommate.” I don’t want to talk at all.

  But apparently, she can’t give me what I want and just keeps going. “Are you sure she’s just a roommate? I’ve never heard of a guy and girl living together and not fucking.”

  “And who says we’re not?”

  The girl covers herself with her hands as she looks up at me, now looking less curious and more horrified. “What is this? Some kind of weird orgy thing?”

  Christ. I sit up and pick her dress up from the floor, handing it to her. “You should just go.”

  “What?” She sits up, clutching the dress to her chest, her face full of shock. “You want me to leave because I asked a damn question?”

  If fucking only it was one question. “Questions. You asked many questions, and I’m not here to talk. You want a boyfriend, run back to campus and find yourself a nice tech major.”

  “You’re a dick.” The girl stands up, slipping back into her dress and sandals, grabbing her purse before slamming the door behind her. I’m sure an Uber will get her back to campus where she belongs.

  I look at the wall my bed is pressed up against, listening to the constant thump, thump, thump, coming from the other side.

  Fuck this.

  I pound a quick fist to the wall, annoyed and beyond pissed-off, before I pull on a pair of black sweats and walk out to the grand living room of the lake house and take a seat on the sofa.

  Moments later, I see a shadowy figure slink out the front door and another I’m familiar with standing in front of me. Penelope is wearing only a plain, black tee, thin from years of wear. And although it’s too large for her, when I lift my head, I see smooth, tanned thighs in front of me.

  I look up as she pulls her disheveled dark hair up into a ponytail. “What the fuck’s your problem? You almost fucked up my orgasm with that loud banging on the wall. Scared the hell out of me.”

  “Good.” I lock my cold eyes on her blue ones. “You fucked up my sure thing.”

  “And how, exactly, did I do that?” She folds her arms across her chest, pulling the tee up slightly, revealing more of her shapely legs. “Sounds more like that had to do with your sparkling personality, Linc.”

  I sit up, my hands gripping her ass as I pull her to me. “She asked too many fucking questions. And you and whoever-the-fuck were busy making the world’s cheesiest porno. It was a real boner killer, P.”

  She doesn’t pull away from me, her hands resting on my bare shoulders. “Don’t get pissed at me because you had a talker and I had a doer.”

  I lean back against the back of the couch, taking her with me, her strong thighs straddling my lap, my hands holding onto her hips as my chin tips up to look at her. “The way I see it, you owe me an orgasm.”

  Her hands move to my hair, sliding her fingers through the styled brown locks before they slide down the trimmed beard over my jaw. Her face dips down, her full, red lips hovering above my own, her blue eyes full of something sinister, something that’s been there for years, festering under the surface. “You’re right.”

  That’s odd. She never doesn’t fight back. Her voice
is a soft whisper. “I’ll be right back.”

  My hands slide under her shirt, my fingers burying into the flesh of her slender hips. “I think we have everything we need right here.”

  She shakes her head, pushing my hands away as she climbs off me. “Not quite.”

  She leaves the room, leaving my heart to thunder in my chest and my mind to race. What the hell could she be getting? Sexy lingerie? Toys? Lube?

  She walks back into the room, having my curiosity ramped up until she tosses me a bottle of lotion and a box of tissues.

  What the fuck? “That should do it.”

  She blows me a kiss and leaves.

  Bitch.

  I growl, throwing the lotion and tissues away from me.

  Penelope fucking Jones. It’s my fault she’s here to torture me.

  * * *

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