So Far Gone in You(Primal Heat 2)(12)
Coop would have to deal with that.
As soon as he pulled into his driveway, his cell phone rang. Coop cut the motor before he pulled the phone from his belt. A small part of him hoped it was Olin until he remembered that he’d never given Olin his number.
He smiled when he saw who it was. “Hello, beautiful,” he said when he answered.
“Hello to you, too,” Camille said, and Coop could hear the smile in her voice.
“What can I do for such a smart and pretty young lady?” Coop adored his teenage sister. She was like a burst of sunshine in his life. His foul mood faded slightly at the sound of her voice.
“Mom says I can go to this concert that I’ve been dying to go to, but I don’t have any money for the tickets, and I was wondering if my sweet, wonderful, amazing big brother would help his little sister out.”
“Boy, you know how to lay it on thick.” Coop chuckled. Camille was only fourteen, and she was damn good at talking him out of money. “How much?”
“Well,” she said in an I’m-about-to-take-you-to-the-bank tone, “the tickets are forty dollars apiece, and it would be so nice of you if you paid for Gracie’s ticket. But I’ll need some money to go out to eat with my friends afterward.”
Coop rested his arm on his thigh. Gracie was Camille’s best friend. She also had a crush on Coop. He thought it adorable but kept his distance from her. “Is this a school night?”
She gave him an unladylike snort. “You know Mom and Dad would never let me go out on a school night. It’s this Saturday.”
“And your grades?”
She laughed. “All A’s.”
“That’s my baby girl,” he said. “I’ll be by tonight. If Mom and Pops are fine with it, then I’ll loan you the money.”
“Since when do you loan me money? You know I don’t have a job. How am I supposed to pay you back?” He could hear worry in her tone.
“My house is a mess. I need someone—namely you—to get over here and help me get it back in order.”
She clucked her tongue. “Bachelors are the messiest people.”
“Been listening to Mom again, haven’t you?”
She laughed. Coop smiled at the sound. Then he remembered the price on his head. Did he really want to take trouble to his parents’ door? “On second thought, I’ll have Syn drop it off. I forgot I had something planned.”
“Syn Bourne?”
Coop did not like the way she said Syn’s name. “Or not.”
“Get over yourself, Cooper. You know you’re good-looking, but ew, you’re my brother. Syn isn’t my brother, so I can look, and he’s hot.”
Coop cringed. “I’m not having this conversation with you, Cam. I’ll send Mrs. Coldfish over with the money.” She was Talyn’s elderly neighbor. A sweet woman, if not forgetful at times.
“You’d make her drive all this way?” Camille sounded shocked. “Don’t worry. I’ll find a ride over there.”
“No, wait—” But Camille had hung up before he could tell her not to come. Coop tried to call her back, but the call went straight to voice mail. No doubt she was speed dialing her contacts for a ride.
Coop called Karidon. “I got problems.”
“What’s wrong, did Olin cut your balls off?” Karidon asked. “I knew he was the one you had sex with earlier. Like them snarky and fiery, don’t you?”
“And you asked if he had a friend. Got the hots for Ollie?”
Karidon changed the subject a little too fast. “What do you need?”
“Camille is on her way over here.”
“Should I hide Syn in the basement?” Karidon chuckled. “I think it’s cute she has a baby crush on him.”
“Am I the only one who didn’t know she thinks Syn is hot?” Coop snarled. “It’s not cute. I’ll cut Syn’s balls off.”
“Coop,” Karidon said in a gruffer tone, “you know damn well Syn would never go anywhere near her. He thinks of her as a little sister. Stop acting like an ass.”
“Oh, I know Syn wouldn’t. I’d cut his balls off for the sole reason that she likes him.” Coop scrubbed the image of Camille and Syn from his mind. He would lose it and kill Syn just on GP.
Karidon chuckled lightly into the phone. “You got issues, bro.”
“I’ll own that,” Coop said. “Anyway, that’s not why I called. We have a damn price on our heads. What do you think those people after us would do in order to get their hands on that kind of money?”
Karidon went quiet for a second. The guy had grown up with Coop, which, in turn, meant he had known Camille her entire life. She adored Karidon and looked at him as another older brother. “They’d use her to get to us.”