Corps Security, The Series (2)(31)

She looks confused. Maybe she’s confused because she didn’t know he could talk, but she just stands there for the longest time. Long enough for Coop to calm down. I look over and make sure he’s okay, but before I can make eye contact, I hear her cackle. She starts laughing so hard that she’s bent over, holding her stomach.

“Oh, you stupid little shit. Mark my words, Zachariah Cooper. One of these days, you’re gonna knock a bitch up just like your father did to me. That kid is going to be a little shit just like you, and maybe if you’re lucky, she’ll kill that bastard before it’s ever born. Oh yes, you stupid boy, it will happen because there’s too much of your stupid daddy in you to keep that shit in your pants. Not only that, but I hope you get some stupid fuck out of it . . . Serves you right for poisoning my life for so long.”

And with that, she stumbles out of the house and into her car and squeals her tires on her way out of the driveway.

It takes me longer to calm down than ever before. My deep loathing for that woman has grown even stronger.

“She’s wrong, Ash. If I ever have a baby, even an accident like we are, I’ll make sure that baby doesn’t have a life like ours.”

“Yeah, Coop. I bet you’re right.”

That night, we both sleep facing each other, his hand firmly placed in mine, our foreheads resting together, and I pray that he’s right. That if we ever do have kids, they’re nothing like HER and they know what love feels like.

If that’s even possible.





CHAPTER 16

Chelcie

The first thing I notice when I start to wake up is how warm I am. I’ve always been warm natured, which is why I sleep in as little as possible. I try to wake my mind up enough to take stock in my body. My heavy breasts feel constricted from evidently falling asleep with my bra. At least I remembered to take my socks off; hot feet at night are the worst.

The thought of my feet, or more specifically my toes, is what brings it all back. Phil, his creepy toe fetish, Asher, running, Asher, and the baby. It all slams into my mind so powerfully that I’m left shaking and crying again.

Damn hormones. Even though I’m legitimately upset, I don’t think I would be this much of a mess if I weren’t a walking, talking basket case of hormone overload.

The feeling of something tightening against my stomach makes me calm down long enough to make sure the baby is okay. I reach down and scream when I feel warm skin, coarse hair and an arm that does not belong to me.

What the hell?

I start panicking, thinking about how I can get out of here safely. How did someone get in? Oh my God! What if it’s Phil? Did he already suck my toes while I was sleeping? I’m going to die and Phil is going to cut off my toes!

“Calm down, Sunshine. I can hear you thinking over here.”

When I hear Asher’s deep mumble and feel his words vibrate against my back, I scream again and then naturally start crying all over again.

Basket. Case.

He tightens his grip, his huge hand palming my stomach in such a way that it renders me speechless. His fingers almost span my entire stomach. They twitch and caress—explore the bump I’ve been falling in love with more and more each day.

I calm myself down, my breathing still thick, but the feel of him—the safety of being in his arms—gives me the needed strength to pull my crybaby act together.

“How did you get in?” I question. The last thing I remember, after pulling myself off the floor, was going straight to bed. I must have been exhausted to not feel or hear him climb in behind me.

“Hmm,” he hums against my neck. His nose running along the sensitive skin causes goose bumps to break out against my flesh.

“Ash,” I whine desperately. My body—my very horny body—has been in hibernation mode for so long that just the feeling of his breathing against my neck and his hand holding my stomach makes me feel like I could come on command.

“The door was unlocked, which was a gross oversight on my end, but I was lost in my own shit. When I got my head together, I came back to make sure you were okay and found the door open . . .” he trails off, leaving us both lying there, wondering what’s next.

“I’m sorry, Ash.” I sigh into the silence, breaking the fragile stillness around us.

He doesn’t say anything for a few beats, leaving me teetering on the edge of fear that I’ve ruined what trust we had in each other. “I know you are, Sunshine. I know. It doesn’t make it easy, and I’m sorry I blew up on you.”

“You were right in your anger. I shouldn’t have kept it from you, but Ash . . . you were in such a bad way for a while after Coop and I . . . Even though it doesn’t make what I did okay, I was scared to tell you. Afraid you would think the worst of me. It makes none of it okay, but that’s where I was coming from.”