Deception

by K. A. Robinson

  I nodded as Theory of a Deadman’s “Drown” played. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

  Neither of us spoke as I drove toward Shelly’s. Instead, he started singing along with the song. I was surprised at just how good he was. When “Drown” ended, Angels Fall’s “Drunk Enough” started playing. I hummed softly as Cooper sang every single word. I glanced over to see him watching me as he sang.

  “You’re really good,” I blurted out, hoping to break the tension that filled the car.

  He shrugged. “I like to sing, but I’d never want to do it professionally.”

  “I wish I could sing. I sound like a dying goat when I try.”

  He laughed as we pulled up to Shelly’s house. She was standing on the porch, but as soon as she saw us, she waved and ran to the car. I unlocked the door so that she could climb in. She seemed surprised to see Cooper sitting in the front, but she quickly hid it as she settled into the backseat.

  As soon as she was buckled up, I pulled away from the curb. I was taking her to a zoo that was less than an hour away. It wasn’t as big as the one in Pittsburgh, but I knew she’d love it anyway. I’d been there once on a school field trip, but as far as I knew, Shelly had never been to a zoo before.

  “Will you tell me where we’re going now?” Shelly asked.

  I grinned. “Nope. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Oh, man, this isn’t fair,” she whined.

  Cooper turned around to look at her. “You’ll love it. I promise.”

  She grinned, her cheeks filling with color. I wondered if that was what I looked like when Cooper was around.

  “Hi, Cooper. I didn’t know you were coming, too.”

  I’d never heard her talk so shyly. Even when I’d first met her, she’d been bursting at the seams to talk. I couldn’t help but grin when I realized she had a crush on Cooper.

  “I thought I’d tag along, so I could hang out with you again,” he said.

  I giggled at the way Shelly lit up at his words, earning me a glower from Shelly and a chuckle from Cooper. He obviously realized that Shelly was crushing on him, too.

  Shelly chatted about a few of her friends as I drove to the zoo. With her in the car, I found myself relaxing. I was safe with Cooper as long as she was around.

  When we reached the turnoff, she saw the sign for the zoo, and she squealed. “We’re going to a zoo? I didn’t even know one was this close!”

  “Surprise!” I said as I navigated down the narrow two-lane road. “It’s not big like the one in Pittsburgh, but they have tigers and even a giraffe. I know how much you like animals, so I thought it would be fun.”

  “This is so awesome! Do you think they’ll have elephants, too?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t think they do. Sorry.”

  She shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ll settle for a giraffe.”

  Cooper glanced at me as we pulled into the parking lot. I parked the car, and Shelly began climbing out of the car.

  “A giraffe is settling?” he asked.

  “It is to a ten-year-old,” I said as I opened my door and climbed out as well.

  I met Shelly and Cooper at the front of the car.

  Shelly grabbed both of our hands and started dragging us toward the ticket booth. “Come on, hurry up!”

  I laughed as I let her pull me along. Shelly was always so happy. I couldn’t help but smile when I was around her. She’d had a hard life, but it never seemed to bother her.

  Cooper paid for our tickets even though I tried to stop him. He rolled his eyes at my protests as he handed his card over. Shelly was too busy staring at the tiny monkeys behind the glass to pay attention to either of us. Once Cooper paid, we walked over to where she was standing. I watched the monkeys as they chased each other around their enclosure.

  “They’re so cute!” Shelly said as she pressed her nose against the glass.

  “Come on, let’s go find some tigers.” I pulled her away from the glass.

  I was surprised when she kept her hand in mine as we walked through the zoo. We followed the path to where the tigers were caged. Cooper walked on the other side of Shelly, and she took his hand, too. He seemed as surprised as I was, but he tried to hide it. I wondered if Cooper had ever been around younger kids before. Everything Shelly did seemed to surprise him.

  When we reached the tigers, Shelly let go of us and ran to their fence. She got as close as she could as she stared inside. The tigers paid absolutely no attention to us as they lay on the opposite side of the pen in the shade.

  “Look at that one, Claire. It’s white.” Shelly pointed at the one farthest away from us.

  There were three tigers total. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. Their cage was large, but still, I couldn’t imagine being caged up in such a small space for my entire life. Out in the wild, they would have had miles upon miles of space to roam and hunt.

  “Why are you frowning?” Cooper asked quietly so that Shelly couldn’t hear.

  “I was thinking about how awful it is to be cooped up like that in a cage, unable to roam around.”

  “But they don’t have to hunt or worry about surviving. They’re safe here.”

  “I know but still.”

  “I guess I see where you’re coming from. Just because you’re safe and have everything you need doesn’t mean you’re happy.”

  I glanced over at him, wondering if we were still talking about the tigers. The hidden meaning in his words wasn’t lost on me.

  He looked away and turned his attention back to Shelly. “She’s a good kid.”

  “She is. I’ve never seen someone as happy as her. She’s grown up in the system, so I know her life hasn’t been the greatest, but you’d never know it.”

  Cooper looked back at me. “Some people are stronger than others. I think Shelly’s a fighter. No matter what happens, I think she’ll be okay.”

  We spent the rest of the afternoon going from pen to pen, watching the animals as they played—or in most cases, lay in the shade. Several of them were asleep even, but Shelly didn’t seem to mind. The zoo had a lot more animals than I remembered. They had chimpanzees, bears, lions, tigers, wild boars, spider monkeys, lemurs, leopards, goats, snakes, bobcats, camels, and even a donkey.

  When we reached the giraffe enclosure, I laughed as Shelly tried to bribe the giraffe with food so that it would come over to us. It finally did, and I couldn’t help but giggle as she squealed when it lowered its head and ate the food from her hand. Cooper pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures as she petted the giraffe. When it finally lost interest in her, the giraffe headed over to a new group of people.

  Cooper threw his arm around her shoulders and herded her toward the gift shop. I hung back as I watched the two of them together. Shelly hung on Cooper’s every word, her eyes lighting up as she listened to him. The poor girl had it bad, but I couldn’t really blame her. Cooper was so good with her. I wasn’t sure what to think about that. There were so many sides to him, but my favorite was the way he acted around Shelly. He listened to everything she said, and he made the effort to truly spend time with her. I doubted if many adults had done that for her. Very few of my foster parents had paid much attention to me.

  We left the gift shop with two stuffed bears—one for Shelly and one for me, courtesy of Cooper’s credit card.

  We decided to stop at a local diner for dinner before dropping Shelly off at her house.

  I’d never been to the diner, but Cooper swore they had the best hamburgers around. That was all it took to convince Shelly that was where she wanted to eat. Apparently, Cooper’s word was gold.

  Shelly fell asleep only a few minutes after we climbed into the car. While driving to the diner, I glanced at her in the rearview mirror as she slept peacefully. I felt my heart being ripped apart as I thought about the fact that I’d have to take her home soon. I didn’t want to. I wanted to pack all her belongings and bring her home with Cooper and me.

  “Turn left her
e and then take a right into the parking lot,” Cooper said, pulling me away from my thoughts.

  I did as he’d said and parked the car in front of a bright yellow building. I gave him a skeptical look.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Yellow? Really?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t care if it’s shit brown. Their food is to die for.”

  I rolled my eyes. I climbed out of the car and opened the back door. I gently shook Shelly to wake her up.

  Her eyes sprang open, and she looked around. “I wasn’t asleep. I was just resting my eyes,” she said quickly.

  Cooper laughed from behind me. “We know, kid. Everyone has to rest their eyes once in a while.”

  I grinned at him as Shelly climbed out of the car. I watched as she took Cooper’s hand and led us to the diner’s front door. I let out a tiny laugh. Obviously, Shelly didn’t need me as long as Cooper was around.

  A waitress seated us and took our drink orders before leaving us alone. Shelly had literally pulled Cooper down in the booth beside her. I hid my grin with my menu, pretending not to notice how much she liked him. Cooper gave me a look that told me he knew exactly what I was laughing over.

  “Do I have to order off the kids menu?” Shelly asked.

  I shook my head. “No, you can get whatever you want.”

  Her eyes lit up.

  “Actual food. If you’re still hungry after that, we can get dessert,” I added.

  She fist-pumped. “Yes! They have brownies here—with ice cream.”

  She seemed to think that was the most marvelous thing since running water.

  “You can have it after you eat actual food, missy,” I said, pretending to act stern.

  “You’re no fun, Claire. You act like a mom. I bet Cooper would let me have nothing but ice cream and brownies if you weren’t here.”

  I expectantly raised an eyebrow at Cooper.

  He looked back and forth between Shelly and me, obviously trying to decide which side to take. “Claire’s right, Shell. You gotta eat.”

  “Whatever,” she grumbled as she flipped to the front of the menu. Her eyes lit up again. It didn’t take much to excite this kid. “They have corn dogs! Can I have those?”

  I nodded. “Go wild.”

  When the waitress came back with our drinks, she took our orders. Shelly made sure to say that she’d need brownies and ice cream once her food was finished. The waitress glanced at me to make sure. I nodded, and she wrote Shelly’s order down.

  Shelly kept Cooper busy as we waited for our food. I watched them as Shelly told him one story after another. Her face was so open. She trusted Coop completely. It made me wonder if I should trust him, too. I pushed the thought aside as the waitress put our plates down in front of us.

  I dug into my burger, moaning in pleasure as I took my first bite. “Oh my gosh, this is the best burger ever.”

  Cooper grinned. “I gathered that from the way you were moaning.”

  I blushed before taking another bite. Once it was gone, I stuck my tongue out at him. “Shut up.”

  “That’s a bad word,” Shelly scolded me.

  I stuck out my tongue at her, too. “Sorry.”

  Once our food was gone, the waitress brought out Shelly’s brownies and ice cream. I smiled when I noticed that the waitress had put half an extra scoop in the bowl. She winked at me before dropping our bill on the table and walking away.

  I watched in amusement as Shelly shoveled ice cream and brownies into her mouth. She was such a tiny thing. I had no clue where she was going to put it all.

  “This is, like, the best thing ever! You guys have to try it!” Shelly said between mouthfuls.

  “I’m good. Besides, I wouldn’t want to take any of it from you,” I teased.

  She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Coop. Try it.”

  He grinned at her as he picked up a spoon and dug in. Shelly seemed just as excited over the fact that he was eating her ice cream as she was over actually having it.

  “Isn’t it good?” she asked him.

  He nodded. “Not too bad.” He looked up at me. “Try some, Claire.”

  I shook my head. “I’m good, really. After that burger, there’s no way I could eat anything else. I’ll explode.”

  “Come on. Please,” Shelly said.

  Cooper scooped another spoonful and held it up. “Try it, Claire.” The tone of his voice deepened.

  My eyes widened in surprise as he leaned forward so that the spoon was right in front of me.

  “Open up for me.”

  I parted my lips, and he slipped the spoon inside my mouth. The taste of the rich chocolate and creamy ice cream barely registered as I stared at Cooper. His eyes were glued to my mouth as he slowly pulled the spoon away. The hunger in his eyes caused my body to tense. His eyes found mine as he licked his own lips, and I shuddered.

  “See? I told you it was good,” Shelly said.

  My eyes never left Cooper’s. “Yeah, it was.”

  After we left the diner, I dropped Shelly off. Rick was out of town, so we didn’t have to worry about him catching me around. I kissed her forehead before watching her walk back to her house. I couldn’t help but smile at how slow she was walking. I had no doubt that she’d crash as soon as she made it to her room.

  “Thank you for being so good to her today,” I told Cooper as I drove back to our house.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You actually made an effort to spend one on one time with her. That meant more to her than you realize.”

  “She’s a good kid. It’s impossible not to like her. It’s too bad that we have to give her back.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, it is. Maybe one day I won’t have to. I’ve thought about asking Robert to see how hard it would be to adopt her. I’m sure he’d be okay with it.”

  “No.”

  I nearly pulled something in my neck as I looked over at him. The anger in his tone surprised me.

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t want her around my dad. He can barely stand to speak to me, and I’m his own blood. I can’t imagine how he’d be with her. You’re not bringing her into a household as fucked-up as ours.”

  I bit my lip to keep from telling him to fuck off.

  He obviously noticed because he sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like an ass. Look, we had a nice day. Let’s try not to fight before we make it back to the house, okay?”

  I nodded, but I refused to speak for the rest of the drive. Cooper had been amazing the entire time we were out with Shelly, but the minute I’d mentioned his dad, he had flipped to pissed off. Actually, anytime I mentioned Robert, Cooper would get angry.

  “Do you hate your dad?” I finally asked when we pulled into the garage. I shut off the car and turned to him.

  He hesitated, obviously thinking about how to answer my question.

  “I hate who my father is. I hate the things he’s done. Once you know the real him, you’ll understand why I am the way I am.”

  “You’re not telling me something, Cooper. I’m not stupid. You know you can trust me,” I said softly.

  He shook his head. “No, I can’t. You’re with him, and since you have no plans to leave anytime soon, that puts us on opposite sides. I’m sorry, Claire. I’ve tried to help you, but you refuse to listen. I’ve said all I can say.”

  He climbed out of the car, and I followed. Going inside the house, he didn’t stop until we were at the top of the stairs.

  “You’re not being fair, Cooper!” I said angrily.

  “You want to talk about fair?” He laughed. “Every time you look at me, I can see exactly what you want from me. When I try to give it to you, you literally run the other way.” He stepped closer to me so that only a few inches separated us. “You run because you’re so damn scared of what would happen if you stayed.”

  I shook my head in denial.

  He laughed. “You’re unbelievable, Claire. Even now, I can tell you want to run from me before I
do something that you want me to do.”

  He stepped closer to me until his body brushed against mine. He reached up and grabbed the back of my head, pulling me to him. His mouth slammed down on mine. I wasn’t even surprised this time. I let myself kiss him for a moment, tasting brownies and ice cream on his tongue and savoring the way he felt, before I shoved him away.

  “I’m tired of this game we’re playing, Cooper. I’m done.” I turned and walked away.

  I was proud of myself because, for once, I didn’t run.

  It was too bad that I hadn’t looked back. If I had, I might have noticed Robert standing in the doorway to the kitchen. I might have known he’d seen Cooper kiss me. That might have changed everything.

  Cooper plagued my dreams again. I knew I was dreaming, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. All I wanted and all I craved was Cooper’s touch. So, when the feel of someone tugging down my shorts awoke me, I still thought I was dreaming. I smiled to myself as Cooper finished pulling my shorts off and climbed on top of me. I might have even said his name.

  When I opened my eyes, I saw that Cooper wasn’t in bed with me. All I could do was stare, openmouthed, at Robert. He smiled before lowering his lips to mine and kissing me. He pulled away after a moment.

  “Robert?” I asked, still confused, “Am I dreaming?”

  He laughed. “No, I’m real. I can promise you that. I made it home a little while ago. All I could think about was how you were sleeping in my bed. I need you, Claire. I need you right now.”

  His fingers found the hem of my thin tank top and slid underneath. Seconds later, they found my nipples. He pinched roughly, and I moaned, unable to stop myself. My body was still on fire from the dream he’d awoken me from. I didn’t even have time to think about the fact that I was lying in bed with Robert only hours after Cooper had kissed me. Instead, I watched as Robert leaned over me and grabbed a condom from his nightstand drawer.

  He ripped open the package and rolled on the condom, his eyes never leaving mine. “We still need to get you on birth control.”

  I only nodded as I watched him position himself over me. I was still wearing my tank top, and he was completely naked as he slammed into me. I gasped at the twinge of pain as he shoved his way inside me. Compared to last time though, this pain was nothing.