Cocky Genius: Ethan Cocker (Cocker Brothers of Atlanta Book 9)

by Faleena Hopkins

  Emma, Charlie and I head down one of the paths deeper into the backyard. It has a slight declining slope the further you get. An outline of trees was planted ages ago that tower above us now, and they serve as a fence bordering the property.

  A Rottweiler comes bounding toward us and I bend over to give him a rub down. “What a good boy! This is my Uncle Jeremy’s dog, Aslan III. He’s only one year old, can you believe it?”

  “He’s huge!” Charlie smiles, bending to pet him, too. “Oh my God, so beautiful.”

  “Aslan, come!” Aunt Meagan calls, waving to us. “Hi Ethan! Hi Charlie!”

  We wave as Aslan takes off.

  Emma points to the faded dolphin just up ahead. “When our dad was little this fountain used to work, Charlie.”

  “Did you know Ethan had us get him a replica of this for his office at Wyntech?”

  Emma’s eyes go wide as she looks at me. “God, you’re so spoiled!”

  “I am.”

  “And such a sap.”

  “Nah, it wasn’t sentimental. I was pissing off an old frenemy from high school. It was the most annoying thing I could make him get for my office. Here they come.”

  Emma discovers that both Mom and Dad are approaching. “What’s going on?”

  From a distance Eric sees it’s not just he and Emma I’ve asked to come over here, and he realizes something serious is happening. He jogs up and matches the pace of our parents.

  I think the reason I saw him as a boy when Grandpa was in the hospital, was because when you’re faced with something huge in your life, like a family member’s mortality, or the birth of a child, things take on a brilliant light.

  It’s like that again for me today. Eric used to be so tiny, the baby, and now he’s taller than Dad. Mom’s dark brown hair has grey in it now and her blue eyes have lines. Dad’s greying at the temples and his laugh lines are sharper even than Mom’s. But in this very moment I picture them all walking to me the same as how they were when I was kid.

  Worried, Mom asks, “What did you want to talk about, Ethan? Are you moving away?” She hasn’t gotten over the purchase of my jet, and is convinced Georgia will become too small for me.

  Charlie and I exchange a look and I bring her fingers to my lips. “I wanted you guys to be the first to know that we’re pregnant.”

  Mom and Emma grab each other.

  Dad is shaking his head, smiling and relieved. “You scared us there.”

  Eric grins, “You virile sonofabitch.”

  Mom smacks him. “I take offense to that.”

  “Not you Mom!”

  “He is my son.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Got you!” Her anger transforms into a smile. “I’ve been waiting years to pull one over on you.”

  “Jeezus,” Eric mutters, running his hand through his hair.

  Charlie is watching them, “I’m so glad my baby is going to be raised in this family.”

  Mom’s hand floats to her chest before she comes over and hugs Charlie. “Oh, you sweet girl. I’m so sorry your parents aren’t here to get this wonderful news. But we are! And Nancy and Michael are! And you haven’t met my parents but you will next weekend when we all go down to Dublin, right? They will love you! And if you need anything, just let me know because I will be there faster than you can shake a lamb’s tail!” Clapping her hands Mom exclaims, “I’m going to be a grandmother!”

  My Dad says, “Drew, I think they want to keep it quiet for now.”

  “Oh no, sorry! Do you?”

  Interlacing my fingers with Charlie’s I explain, “It’s only been a couple months, and we’re not married. We don’t want to rush that and lie later. So…”

  “Ethan and I want people to get used to me. I really don’t want anyone looking at me in a weird way. This is too important.”

  “We want to ease them into it.”

  Emma starts to object but Eric blocks her. “Emm, it’s not your decision.”

  “Grrrrr,” she mutters, then brightens up. “Oooooo, we have a secret. I can’t wait to see Gabriel’s face when he finds out! He hates being left out of things. This is going to be so fun.”

  Uncle Justin calls out, “Okay everyone! Chili’s ready to eat! Try and line up like civilized people for once! Wyatt, only two pieces of garlic bread! Yeah, you heard me!”

  Mom hugs me and whispers in my ear, “I love her, too, Ethan. Congratulations. Now fill up that house for me.” She pats my shoulder and gives me a look like she means it. “I want twenty.”

  “Grandchildren??!” Charlie squeaks.

  “She’s kidding,” I mutter as we all head back.

  Mom gives me a wink, “Am I?”

  32

  ETHAN

  Eric takes Kaya from my arms and holds her high in the air. “Hey little beauty! You wanna stay with Uncle Eric while Mommy and Daddy have dinner on a floaty?”

  Laughing I tell him, “It’s not a floaty.”

  Eric smiles at my two-year-old daughter. “It’s a floating pontoon, which is the same thing to you, Kaya, huh?” She’s riveted by him, reaching for his face with little to no dexterity, just waving her hand at him. He leans in and nibbles on it. “Got you!” She giggles and that lights his face up. “She loves me.”

  “She barely knows who you are,” I mutter, rolling my eyes as I head to my wife.

  Behind me I hear my brother say, “Your daddy’s a jerk, isn’t he? Yes he is! Yes he is!”

  “Eric!”

  He laughs, “I’m just kidding, Kaya! He paid for all of us to come to Turtle Island so he’s a very nice jerk, isn’t he?”

  Shaking my head on a lopsided grin I stroll up to Hannah, Emma, Sofia Sol, and Charlie, all in beautiful sundresses with tropical, fresh flowers pinned in their hair.

  On this trip to Fiji for Charlie’s birthday I brought Emma, Eric, Ben, Hannah, Gabriel, Elijah, and Sofia Sol — the group who grew up together. Who played on Uncle Jaxson’s farm on hundreds of occasions. Who vacationed at Myrtle Beach together, the only time Sofia was able to join us when we traveled. Who I could trust with my life, and have. These people are the ones who if anything happened to them, it would happen to me, too.

  Since falling in love and having a daughter, with a son on the way, I’ve opened up more. I now believe that soulmates aren’t just romantic relationships. They exist in friendships and family, too, because I’ve felt it with these guys. I’d do anything for them. Anything. And when they are in pain or joy, I feel it with them.

  A couple have found their better halves and they’re here, too. A couple of them are searching for love, and a couple aren’t looking at all. Elijah brags about having no interest in settling down, much like his Senator father did. Sofia Sol insists she will never marry or have children, but she’s the first to reach for Hannah’s baby, Clara.

  I just think you can’t plan these things, and that’s the best part about them.

  “You ready, Highness?” I ask my wife as I slip my arm around her.

  She leans into me as my sister and cousins smile. Sofia motions to the long table all set up for dinner on the white sand beach. “Look at this spread! You’re missing out!”

  Emma mutters, “Yeah, right. They’ve eaten with us the past four nights out here. They’re over it.”

  Sofia gives her a look. “You’re kidding right?”

  “Totally kidding. Nobody could get over how beautiful this is.”

  Hannah smiles, “You guys have fun out there. Happy Birthday, Charlie.”

  “Thank you!” My wife takes my offered hand and lets me guide her down the dock.

  A smiling native — they all smile here, and I can’t blame them — spots us and waves from the boat that will take us to the floating pontoon.

  As I guide Charlie carefully aboard, she dryly says, “I’m only four months pregnant, Ethan. Don’t be so ginger with me.”

  “You’re the ginger, Red.”

  Shaking her head on an amused smile, she takes a seat
next to me, our fingers entwining as the boat pulls away for the private beach. Absently she plays with the wedding ring on my finger, and her cobalt eyes match the darkening sky as she gazes out.

  Turtle Island is privately owned and can accommodate only twenty-eight people so it’s very remote and intimate. There are several ways to dine. The family has preferred a long table on the sand, and that’s where we’ve spent our evenings until tonight. But what I’ve got in store for my wife is extra special.

  Charlie’s breath hitches as the floating pontoon comes into view with glowing lanterns lining all four sides and a single table and two chairs set center stage. “I’ve never seen anything so romantic.”

  Can I pat myself on the back now?

  The dinner comes in courses, boated out to us each time with wines that complement each dish. All the seafood is fresh caught here on Turtle Island, the chef a descendant of the chef before him. There isn’t one bite that isn’t mouth watering delicious.

  When he brings a slice of chocolate cake with a candle and leaves us matches to light it when we want to, Charlie and I tell him how much we loved it all. He just beams at us and floats away, saying he’ll be back in a while.

  Under a growing blanket of stars, the clear ocean shimmering around us on all sides, I rest my hand across the table and ask, “You having fun on your birthday, Mrs. Cocker?”

  The sweetest smile appears as she caresses my open palm. “There was this moment, Ethan, when you were asleep last week. Kaya was between us and the two of you were on your backs, her little hand over your ribs. She adjusted her weight and made this little soft lip smacking sound. And then you did the exact same thing.” Charlie pauses, emotion in her voice. “I can’t describe the love I felt as I watched you guys. And now that we have a little boy coming, I don’t know how my heart is going to take it. So, my real birthday isn’t today, Ethan. It’s the day I walked into that break room. That’s when I was born.”

  Speechless I stand up and walk around the table, bringing my wife to her feet. Cupping her chin I kiss her and pull her close, murmuring, “I’m going to spend the rest of my life making you feel like that.”

  Burrowing into me, she whispers, “Then we can throw away that candle because I don’t need to make a wish.”

  33

  CHARLIE

  Okay, hi. I don’t know if this is working or not, or if I’m just lying in this hammock with my sleeping daughter in my arms, thinking to myself.

  But Ethan and the boys had ‘guys night’ last night and they all got a little hammered during poker. He came back to our bure — that’s what they call bungalows in Fiji — and confessed to me that we have an audience.

  You.

  I’ve never doubted his intelligence and ingenuity before so why should I now?

  But I do.

  It’s so weird what he proudly announced — that you have been reading our love story as if it were fiction.

  I assure you, it’s not.

  He told me not to worry, that you only have our best interests at heart…that you’re a friend.

  Personally I think he might be a little nuts.

  But I love him anyway.

  I humored him and told him I believed he was capable of doing that, hacking into a person’s brain to share our story. I guess the main reason I believe it is that my husband is so playful, and such a young soul at heart. And he loves me with all of himself, so I can see why he’d want to share what happened to us.

  It’s so him, you know?

  So if you are there, or here — God, this is so strange — I guess I just wanted to tell you this: Please don’t share with anyone that I wet myself when I was kidnapped. That would be so embarrassing. I didn’t do it because I was scared. I did it because I was there for hours and I’d had too much coffee and if you’re a coffee drinker you know that the bladder won’t be ignored.

  Oh, and if you saw Vanessa’s ‘crazy’ before I did, please forgive me for being so obtuse. I wanted a good girl friend. They’re hard to find. I wanted to laugh more. I wanted the kinship that women share, that men can never truly understand or replace.

  I know I’m lucky to have found that friendship in Ethan’s sister and cousins. Between you and me I vow that over the upcoming years I’ll do everything I can to make those friendships grow. Women need each other. And I need those girls. They’ve had a head start, but they’ve taken me in anyway. And now that Gabriel has gotten married, she’s becoming a part of our circle, too.

  So many days I’ve awoken next to Ethan thinking I don’t deserve to be this happy. But then I realize those are just the demons whispering in my ear. We all have them. And they’re liars.

  Every single one of us deserves to be this happy. Especially you.

  That may sound strange that I’m singling you out to say, especially you, but is it? Because it’s you who Ethan picked to share our love story with.

  I guess there are only two words left to say…

  THE END.

  Letter From Me.

  Turn the page for the goodies.

  After he came up with that idea of telling you that he knew you were there, writing Ethan’s love story was a freakin’ blast. I laughed so many times at his sense of humor. The Book Thief is a great example of this style of breaking the Fourth Wall (the imaginary divider between audience and performer) but for me the idea came from the TV show Moonlighting staring Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd. They used to talk to the audience/camera all the time, and it was amazing. My mom loved it so much. It was one of the few TV shows she’d watch. She only read books, thought TV was boring. So it was a treat to get her to sit with me and laugh at Bruce’s exaggerated expressions.

  My fans helped me choose parts of this story, like some things in Ethan’s mansion from the contest we had about posting things a billionaire could own.

  They helped me pick the name Charlie. Total coincidence that Ethan’s dad (Jake Cocker from Cocky Roomie, Book 1) had also mistaken his future love for a guy since her name is Drew. Kismet story-telling for kismet soulmates.

  They helped me choose Turtle Island by posting pics of fabulous vacations spots in our FB Group when I asked for suggestions. These images had us all visualizing ourselves in exotic locales. It was a blast. And for the BBQ, they helped me pick the side dishes. Soooooo many said corn on the cob that I had to include it even though it didn’t fit with the sneaking… heheh. They didn’t know the characters were sneaking these tasty morsels.

  Writing can be an isolated art form so to involve readers made me feel really good. I think we became a stronger community, which is one of the best ways to use the internet in my opinion.

  This series is so fun — it’s changed my life. And to bring back characters as the years go on and see how they deal with life as they grow older, like the tender moment Jett had with his father, that melts me. It had me in tears. If you haven’t read Cocky Biker, Jett’s book, you’ve gotta.

  Thank you for being here. I’m so glad you’re enjoying this family. More to come!

  xx,

  Faleena Hopkins

  Bonus Stuff

  Cocky Readers Facebook Group

  where readers have an online BBQ, and add juicy tidbits to the stories

  Cocker Family Tree

  Best way to keep track of which brother fathered who.

  Pinterest Board

  With Images of Places from the Books

  Please leave a review if you’re enjoying the ride,

  and get ready for fifteen more cousins!

  (1) JAKE COCKER - COCKY ROOMIE

  A Stand-Alone Bad Boy Romance

  Their daddy taught them to be REAL men. Their momma told them, “Hold out for a different kind of woman." They have one thing in common: Sexy ARROGANCE.

  Meet Jake Cocker - Book 1.

  Buy or borrow in Kindle Unlimited

  Audio book is available, too!

  Add To Goodreads Here.

  (2) JETT COCKER - COCKY BIKER

  A Sta
nd Alone MC Romance

  The Ciphers motorcycle club (MC) saves people. And when Jett Cocker meets a feral woman with revenge on her mind, his whole life changes in the blink of a gunshot.

  Buy or Borrow in Kindle Unlimited Here.

  Add To GoodReads.

  (3) JAXSON COCKER - COCKY COWBOY

  A Second-Chance Romance

  Jaxson Cocker needs no one. Or so he thinks.

  Buy or Borrow in Kindle Unlimited Here.

  Add To Goodreads Here

  (4) JASON COCKER - COCKY ROMANTIC

  An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Sarah's not my normal type at all, which is why my twin brother Justin would tell you she's exactly who I need.

  Buy or Borrow in Kindle Unlimited Here.

  Add to Goodreads here

  (5) JUSTIN COCKER - COCKY SENATOR

  A Bad Boy Stand-Alone Romance

  Justin’s here. The bastard.

  Add To Goodreads

  Buy or Borrow in Kindle Unlimited Here.

  (6) JEREMY COCKER - COCKY SOLDIER

  A Military Bad Boy Romance

  How many times has he carried the wounded…

  Too many.

  Add To Goodreads

  Buy or Borrow in Kindle Unlimited Here.

  (7) A HONEY BADGER X-MAS