Capturing Peace

Chapter Four

Coen—­August 25, 2010

“CHIN DOWN JUST a little bit more. Eyes right at me. Mouth a little softer . . . perf—­”

“Damn, Steele!”

I straightened from the position I’d been in and turned, my mouth already curving up in a smile.

“If this is what you do all day, no wonder you wanted to get out so bad.”

Slapping Hudson’s hand when he approached me, I just shrugged. “Well, seeing how it’s a Wednesday night and you’re not on base . . . I can only guess that means one of two things.”

He held his hands out to the side and smirked. “Civilian status, bitch!”

“Really, man? Congrats. Let’s go grab a drink when I’m done, we only have a few more minutes.”

Hudson flopped down into a chair and grinned. “Don’t let me stop you.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back to my client. She was already only covered by her underwear and an unbuttoned shirt, but now with Hudson sitting next to me, her eyes were glued to him and she was pulling her unbuttoned shirt wider.

“Eyes back on me,” I said for the third time since he’d come in. “Stop biting on your lip. Stop eye-­fucking Hudson. He’s taken.”

Standing, I glared over at Hudson and kicked his leg as I pointed to the door. “Get the fuck out.”

“Hater,” he mumbled as he stood and left the studio.

Looking back at my client, I raised an eyebrow at her. It wasn’t my place to remind her she was doing this shoot for her husband. “All right, you ready for the ones on the couch?”

After we were done with the shoot and she was fully dressed again, I yelled out for Hudson as I flipped through the pictures I’d gotten.

“We got a ton of great shots,” I told her as I continued to look through my camera. “I’ll work on these and send you the best in a few days, all right?”

“Perfect! Thank you so much for this, I hope he likes them.” She straightened up when Hudson came closer to us, and I stopped going through the pictures to watch them.

“Taken.” I reminded her when she gave Hudson a look I knew Erica would kill her for.

“Right. Well, you both have a good night.”

As soon as she was gone, I pointed at the door and glared at Hudson. “Married.”

“Eh.” He made a face like that fact had just made her lose all appeal.

“Exactly.”

“It’s not my fault they want this.” He said seriously and waved a hand down his body before busting up laughing.

“I don’t know how Erica puts up with you.” I turned and put my camera away before going to turn everything off.

“You know I wouldn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, and you and I both know she wants to chop your dick off every time you look at another girl. I fear for your life the day she sees you hitting on another chick.”

He sighed. “I don’t hit on them. Did you hear me trying to pick up on that girl at all? No. And she was asking for it. They want to look at me, I’m not going to stop them.”

I snorted. “All right. If that’s how you see it. Just ask Erica to give me time to get there to save your sorry ass before she decides to kill you one of these days. Come on, let’s go grab a beer.”

“Uh, actually . . . meeting up with my family at a restaurant tonight, but I stopped by because I wanted you to come. We haven’t talked much since you got out, and I figured after dinner we could chill and catch up.”

“Your family?” I stopped walking.

“Yeah. Knowing you, I bet you don’t leave your studio or condo except to get from one to the other. You’re probably eating nothing but ramen noodles. You probably only talk to the ­people whose photos you’re taking. And I just know you’re not sleeping. So I want you to come have actual food. Talk to ­people about other things . . . you know, normal night out.”

“Uh . . .” I still hadn’t moved from my spot. It’d been five days since Reagan came to my apartment. We’d talked every day, but I hadn’t seen her again since. “Is your sister going to be there?”

“Obviously.” Hudson shot me a weird look before understanding crossed over his face. “Swear to God, she won’t freak out on you or me this time. I’ll have you two sit at opposite ends of the table if it’ll be better.”

Which means she hadn’t told Hudson. Or her parents probably. And I wasn’t about to tell Hudson that his little sister had spent most of last Friday night in my apartment. Which made this even more awkward. “Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t go.”

“No, dude, I want you there. Erica hasn’t seen you in a ­couple weeks either and she’ll be there. Come on.”

With a defeated sigh, I shook my head and started walking out of my studio again. “All right. Let’s go.”

Reagan—­August 25, 2010

I PULLED BACK from hugging Erica and looked behind her, my eyebrows pinching together in confusion. “Is Keegan not with you?”

“No, he came in a ­couple hours ago to hang out at his friend’s studio before dinner. So he’s meeting us here.”

My eyes widened, and I was glad Erica had turned to hug my mom so she wouldn’t notice my expression. I didn’t doubt she’d left Coen’s name out because of the way I’d reacted at lunch a ­couple weeks ago, and there was no way she could’ve known that I knew about Coen’s studio. Because she didn’t know about us hanging out.

No one did.

Keegan wouldn’t bring Coen with him, would he?

Of all the days for Parker to lose my phone in the apartment while it was on silent . . . why today?

“Mom, you okay?”

I looked down at Parker and plastered a smile on my face. “Of course I am. Why?”

He studied me for a second. I swear . . . six going on twenty. “You look scared.”

“I’m not scared, honey. Are you excited to see—­”

“Uncle Keegan!” he shouted, and darted past me.

He won’t be here. He won’t be here.

“Duchess.”

Fuck, he’s here.

I turned and couldn’t figure out if I wanted to step away from him so no one would notice how badly I was craving him, or if I wanted to close the distance between us so I could feel the man whose warm voice had been the last thing to fill my world before I’d fallen asleep the last five nights.

“Have you not been getting my texts?” he asked hesitantly. “I tried warning you that I was coming.”

“Parker lost my phone in the apartment.”

I was losing the fight in staying away from him. My body was slowly inching closer to him, and it physically ached to keep my arms at my side instead of wrapping them around his waist.

How had this happened? Friday had been . . . well, it hadn’t been what I’d expected it to be when I’d gone over there. I hadn’t been expecting our kisses. I hadn’t been expecting to get so lost in him that I wouldn’t want to leave. But what I really hadn’t expected was for this arrogant man to somehow creep his way into my life to the point where I woke up excited for my morning texts from him. Or how I couldn’t wait for Parker to go to sleep at night because I knew I’d get to talk to Coen until I fell asleep.

“I know your brother doesn’t know . . . do your parents?”

“No,” I mouthed, and hated the flash of disappointment in his eyes.

“Hey!”

Coen and I moved away from each other and looked down at Parker.

“You’re the guy from the park with the cool arms!”

Coen’s face easily morphed into a smile as he held up his hand for Parker to slap. I was still as stone as everyone in my family and Erica eyed me curiously.

“How’re you doing, bud?” Coen asked, and bent down so he was closer to Parker’s height.

“Good. I’m still not old enough, you know.” He tapped Coen’s arm. “Mine would still wash off.”

Coen laughed and nodded before glancing at me. “Yeah, you’ve got a while for that one.”

I tried to smile at them. But my parents and Erica were still watching me. Keegan was now watching Coen and Parker. All of them looked confused.

“What’s your name?”

“Coen.”

Parker nodded. “That’s right. Because you’re Uncle Keegan’s friend.” Coen started responding when Parker added, “But you’re Mom’s friend too because you come see her at the park.”

Oh. Jesus. Christ.

Coen looked up at me with a questioning look that was borderline challenging. I just stared back at him, not knowing what to say or what to do since everyone was still watching both of us.

Looking back at Parker, Coen smiled. “Yeah, bud, you could say that.”

Erica looked confused, Keegan was glaring at Coen, Dad was now sizing up Coen, and Mom was staring at me with eyebrows practically up to her hairline.

“Your table is ready, if you all want to follow me this way!”

It took a few seconds for any of us to move, and even then, it was Parker who broke the spell we all seemed to be under. “Coen, sit next to me!”

Turning to follow him, I hadn’t walked two steps before Coen walked past me and whispered in my ear, “That is, unless his mom is embarrassed for her family to know about me.”

“Coen,” I protested, but didn’t say anything else as he caught up to Parker and the seating hostess.

“Am I missing something?” Keegan asked as we walked toward the table.

“Uh . . .”

“Because the last time the two of you saw each other, you got really pissed off and stormed out of the restaurant. Right?”

“Not exactly.” I don’t know why I felt like I was going to die. Keegan had tried setting us up, for shit’s sake, he’d given me Coen’s number!

“What do you mean not exactly?”

“I just mean not exactly. Why do you care?” I demanded, and began rounding the table to sit on the opposite side of Parker from Coen when Keegan caught my arm and spoke close to my ear.

“I just meant for you to go on one date with the guy so you would realize what you were missing in your life, Ray. I didn’t mean for something to actually start between the two of you. And neither of you told me.”

Looking over at Coen talking to Parker, I shrugged. “There’s not much to tell yet.”

“Really? Parker knows him and there’s not much to tell?”

“You know you’re really frustrating, Keegan,” I hissed, and faced him. “You want me to date, but you don’t. You want Parker to have a dad, but you don’t like that Coen met him accidentally when Parker and I were at the park and Coen was running the trail that goes through there.”

“Okay, you two,” Mom said, pushing us apart. “You have ­people staring at you, and, Keegan, your friend can only keep Parker entertained for so long before Parker realizes that you and his mom are fighting. So let’s just sit down and enjoy tonight. I don’t want to start the first night of you being out of the army with the two of you fighting.”

Keegan released my arm and pulled out a chair for Erica, and I walked past Coen and Parker to sit down. Coen gave me a confused look before continuing his conversation with Parker, and I tried to ignore the stares of my family as I stared blankly at the menu.

Even though this was supposed to be a dinner for Keegan, it quickly turned into an interrogation dinner. Even though Keegan and Coen were best friends, it was like Keegan was seeing Coen in a whole new light now that he was worried we were dating, and kept staring at him like he was trying to figure out a ridiculously hard math equation. Once Erica stopped looking confused, she couldn’t keep her eyes off Coen and Parker as they joked and drew on Parker’s menu together—­a smile tugging at her lips the entire time. My dad had sat there with his arms crossed over his chest until Coen and Keegan’s talks of their time in the army had Dad softening up and throwing in his own stories of his time in the navy. And Mom . . . dear God, I wanted to die for Coen, with the horrified look she was giving him for the first thirty minutes. Her eyes kept going back and forth between the small gauges in his ears and his arms covered in tattoos; each time they’d make a new trip, she looked like she was more disturbed by them. But once Coen started talking about his photography business, she was sucked in too.

“Parker, keep eating,” I requested softly when he ate only two bites and pushed his plate back to continue coloring.

“ ’Kay,” he muttered distractedly, but never made a move toward his plate again.

“Par—­”

“That all you gonna eat, bud?” Coen rested his head on his folded arms and nudged Parker with his shoulder. Before Parker could respond, Coen nodded in the direction of Keegan. “Don’t you want to grow up all big and strong like your uncle?”

Parker stopped coloring and looked at Keegan before looking at Coen. “Are you not strong?”

“Me?” Coen’s eyebrows raised and he shook his head. “Nah, I’m pretty weak.” He sighed. “It’s because I didn’t eat my food growing up,” he whispered loudly.

“No, you’re not!” Parker laughed and pushed on his arm, and Coen dramatically moved away.

“I am, look.” He placed his elbow on the table with his hand up for Parker to grab. “See if you can beat me in arm wrestling.” Parker just continued to laugh as he set himself up. “Now don’t think I’ll go easy on you because you’re only six.”

“One-­two-­three, go!” Parker said quickly, and slammed Coen’s hand down on the table. “You didn’t try!”

“I did! I told you, I’m not strong. Come on, we’ll go again.”

I watched as they set up again, and covered my massive smile with my hand as I watched Coen give the slightest pressure before letting Parker beat him.

“Now see if you can beat your uncle.”

Parker turned and looked at Keegan, his face lit up like I’d never seen it before. “Come on, Uncle Keegan! I bet I can beat you!”

Keegan’s eyes flashed over to Coen’s before meeting mine. His face was devoid of emotion, but the smile was clear in his eyes. “All right, little man. Let’s do this.”

Keegan beat Parker three times before Coen leaned close to Parker again. “See? Your uncle is really strong. Do you want to grow up to be like him, or weak like me?”

“Strong like Uncle Keegan.”

Coen nodded toward Parker’s plate. “Then you better eat up, bud.”

Parker grinned widely at him as he pulled his plate closer to him and took a huge bite out of his burger.

It was in that moment that the attraction and excitement of everything that was Coen changed for me. It was then that I started falling for him. And though that terrified me, I knew I wouldn’t try to stop myself from this.

“REAGAN, WHY DON’T you let Parker come stay with us tonight?” Mom offered as we all exited the restaurant.

“Wait, what? Why?”

She gave me a look before letting her eyes drift to Coen for a second. “Because your brother is finally home, and his girlfriend is here in town with him. The four of you should hang out.”

“Four. Really, Mom?” I said so low no one else could hear us.

“Yeah, go do . . . whatever it is you all do now. And we’ll just take him for the night so you won’t have to worry about waking him up whenever you guys are done hanging out.”

I stared at my mom with wide eyes before finally giving in. I wanted to spend time with Coen, and despite dinner just now . . . I still wasn’t ready for the three of us to hang out together. So nights when Parker was with my parents were the only time I would be able to see him.

“Um, okay . . . but I don’t have a bag for him or anything.”

Mom waved me off and held her hand out for Parker. “We’ll be fine.”

Turning, I found Coen watching me thoughtfully and had to swallow a few times before asking, “Is it—­uh, is it okay if I crash your night?”

Coen’s dark gaze flitted over to my parents before resting back on my face. “Of course it is. We can all go to my place and chill. I just need Hudson to take me back to my studio to get my car,” he said as he turned to look at my brother, and Keegan nodded as he continued talking to Erica about driving arrangements.

“Can I take you? I mean—­I can take you,” I blurted out before I could talk myself out of it.

“All right then,” he said after a few seconds, and said good-­bye to my parents as I said good night to Parker.

“Wasn’t expecting that,” Coen said as he put the address in my GPS when we were in my car.

“What?”

“For you to ask if you could drive me in front of your parents. From what I was gathering, you weren’t exactly happy that they thought we’d hung out at the park. God forbid they know about Friday night.”

“Coen—­”

“You should probably start driving before your brother comes over here wondering why we’re just sitting here.”

I bit back a sigh and pulled the car out of the spot before making my way out of the parking lot. “I’m sorry, Coen, but you have to understand something. I have avoided men since before Parker was born. I’ve never wanted a guy in our life, and my family knows that. They don’t agree, but they know that. They’ve tried . . . I don’t know how many times over the last six years to get me to start dating. And not once have I even considered it. You saw how pissed off I was when they all went behind my back to set me up on that double date with you. And then you”—­I fumbled for my next words and flung my hand out like it would somehow help me find the right thing to say. It didn’t. “You were there, and for the first time I actually entertained the thought of being with someone.”

Looking over, I was surprised to see him studying me intently. I would have expected him to look smug.

“But, trust me, I tried talking myself out of it so many times. I didn’t want to want you. Parker and I are fine by ourselves, and throwing a guy into that can just make things so complicated . . . and why complicate things when we’re in such a good place now?” I mumbled the last part to myself. “So to go six years of ignoring their attempts at setting me up, and to get Parker and me to a place where we don’t need anyone, and then suddenly have there be this guy in the picture?”

“I . . .” Coen huffed. “I still don’t get it. Okay, so you didn’t want to date a bunch of random guys. Because of that you can’t tell them when you’re sort of seeing someone? They want you to see ­people. Your brother tried to set us up. You just said all three of them went behind your back to get us on a double date.”

“Yeah, but you don’t know my parents, so you didn’t see how quickly it all changed. But you had to have noticed how Keegan reacted, and all he knows about is the park.”

When he didn’t respond, I glanced over at him to see his eyes were narrowed as he watched me.

“When I got pregnant with Parker, I didn’t stop going to school. Even after he was born I continued going until I graduated from high school. Granted, I had to ask my mom to watch him while I was there because I didn’t have a job then. As soon as I graduated I got a job and moved out with Parker six months later. I wanted to put him in day care, but my mom wouldn’t let me. I hate not being in control of everything. ‘Control’ might have been the wrong word . . . I’m not a control freak. It’s just . . . if I can’t handle something on my own, it scares me. When Austin left me—­”

“Austin?”

“Parker’s dad. When he left, I was determined to have Parker and be the best mom. I was already having a baby in high school, but I didn’t want to be a statistic, you know? So ever since that day when he broke up with me, I have to be able to handle every situation by myself, I don’t want to be one of those single moms who constantly has to rely on her family just to get by. Because Austin left us and it was so bad with my parents at first when they found out, I knew I had to be a certain way for Parker. So I hate asking for help. I like knowing I can do it on my own. But my family still thinks they need to watch out for Parker and me. Like they need to protect us because I’m not allowing anyone else to do it. So even though they want me to date, bringing someone into Parker’s life isn’t as easy as me thinking he would be good for me, and good to Parker . . . my whole family has to agree.”

Coen didn’t say anything, and because of the traffic, I couldn’t look at him again. Knowing he’d been mad, the quiet was making me uneasy.

“And that was exactly how it all happened tonight. Keegan was looking at you like an enemy instead of his best friend, my dad was sizing you up, my mom . . . God, my mom—­”

“She doesn’t like the way I look.” Coen laughed softly and shifted in the seat. “I noticed.”

I grimaced and rubbed at my forehead. “It doesn’t matter if she does or doesn’t. She obviously got over it. But that’s just it . . . to make it all the more confusing. My family—­who wanted nothing more than for me to start dating—­all about had heart attacks when they thought I was dating someone, and none of them were happy about it. But a ­couple hours later, my mom is taking my son for the night so I can spend time with you, and I have no doubt she’s going to be online picking out my wedding dress once he’s asleep.” I groaned and slapped my hand back on the steering wheel before I gasped in horror. “Not that we’re getting married! Jesus.”

Coen’s loud laugh filled my car, and I was positive I was bright red.

“God, just . . . act like I didn’t say that.”

“No can do, Duchess. It’s replaying in my head over and over.” He laughed when I groaned again, and after a few minutes said, “I get what you’re saying, but I’m going to be honest with you. I know we’re not really anything yet, but I’m just letting you know now that we won’t be anything at all if this is how it’s going to be. You being afraid to tell your family about me. You leaving me to answer the questions about us when you look like you’re going to throw up because I’m in the same room with them. I’m not gonna deal with that shit.”

“Coen, I’m sorry. I hadn’t been ready for that and I couldn’t figure out what to do. Part of me wanted to go into your arms, and the other part was terrified of how my family was going to react. And I just froze.”

He didn’t say anything for the next few minutes until I was in the parking lot of his studio, and next to his car. With a hard breath through his nose, he unclicked his seat belt and got out of the car.

My stomach clenched and my head dropped as I realized I’d somehow made this worse. I needed to learn how to shut up. My head snapped to the left when my door opened and he stepped back.

“Get out.”

“What?” I looked around the otherwise empty parking lot before looking back at him. “Why?”

“Just get out of the car, Duchess.”

I stumbled my way out, and gasped when he pushed me against the back door, pressing both his forearms on the window on either side of my head, caging me in.

“This is where you decide,” he said gruffly. “Hudson told me you were independent, and you just told me you get scared if you can’t do something by yourself. You didn’t have to tell me you don’t like ­people helping you for me to figure that out, but you’re not just stopping ­people from helping you, Reagan. You’re stopping anyone except from your family from getting too close. And that includes me.”

“But—­”

“You’re scared, that’s fine. But why can’t you just see where this goes, huh? For once, let someone else be in control. Let me be there for you, let me help you—­” He must have seen the panic in my eyes, because he quickly added, “by just being there for you. Like tonight. Was it so hard for you that I got Parker to eat the rest of his food? Did that make you feel like you didn’t have control of the situation? And don’t fucking lie to me, I need to know if I messed up by doing—­”

“No,” I whispered, and realized he was right. The same smile I’d had to cover in the restaurant was back, but this time, I just stood there staring at him in awe. “Watching you two together like that was . . . I don’t even know how to describe it, Coen. But not once did it bother me that you were trying to get him to eat. I—­to be honest, I loved watching you.”

Coen’s lips tilted up in a soft smile, and his dark eyes slowly moved over my face. “You need to make the decision. Do you want to try letting me in?” He leaned in close so his breath washed over my lips. “Letting me help you doesn’t mean you can’t do this alone, Reagan. Everyone knows you can, but you shouldn’t have to.”

“Coen . . .”

“Yes or no, Duchess.”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation, and moaned into his mouth when his lips met mine.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled our bodies closer and groaned my aggravation when his phone rang.

“Yeah?” he answered, and bit down on my bottom lip. “I’m kissing your sister, leave me alone.”

“I can’t believe you just told him that!” I huffed, and pushed back on his chest.

“Yeah, he’s probably going to kick my ass for that one.” Capturing my lips with his again, he ran his tongue along mine and whispered, “Don’t care. But they’re waiting for us at my place, so we should go.”

With one last soft, teasing kiss, he pulled back and I asked, “Why?”

“Uh . . . because then he’d just show up here and beat me up?”

I laughed and pushed against his stomach when he stole another kiss. “No, why did you do all this? It hasn’t even been a week since we’ve actually started talking, so why would you put up with me? I know I’ve embarrassed myself in front of you too many times to count since I first saw you, and we mostly argue, so why would you care to stick around to see what could happen? You could have your pick of girls, ones who wouldn’t have kids. I just—­I just don’t understand why you want to see where this goes so badly.”

Coen raised one eyebrow at me. “Don’t you?”

“I do, but I’m asking you.”

He stayed quiet for a few moments as he thought, and for a while, I didn’t think he would answer me. “I don’t do relationships, Reagan. I’ve just never been that guy . . . I’ve always thought they were pointless, to tell you the truth. I didn’t want to deal with the headache of them. And, Duchess, you are proving to be one massive headache that I can’t seem to get enough of.” He smiled, but it quickly fell.

This was so not going where I thought it’d been about to. “Then why?”

“You want to know why I want this? Why the guy who thinks relationships are a waste of time wants the girl who’s scared of them so goddamn bad?” When I nodded, he swallowed hard and looked away for a few seconds. When he finally looked back at me, his face was somber. “Because I found someone who chases away my demons just by looking at me. I had a girl more or less fall into my arms who can make me forget everything just by saying my name. Why wouldn’t I push for this?”

My mouth fell open at his words, and I just sat there staring at him. I couldn’t figure out a response to such a soul-­baring confession, I only knew that I wanted to be her. It didn’t matter that I knew he was talking about me; in my mind, I was just Reagan. There was no way for me to be that person to someone else . . . but with the depth of emotion in his words . . . I knew he’d meant every single one of them.

“That is why I want this. That is why I put up with you when you’re being unreasonable. That is why—­after a week and a half since meeting you—­I would do anything to see where we could go. I’m not declaring my love for you, because I’m not in love with you . . . yet. But I’ve never met anyone like you. And that’s not some bullshit line meant to make you fall for me. I never expected to find you; I didn’t know someone like you existed. I never knew there could be a relief from the agony I go through every day, and I don’t know what I did to deserve it. But after having that relief, after having you near me . . . Reagan, I crave you. And I can tell you right now it isn’t just because you silence my demons. I crave the peace you give me, yeah . . . but I crave your laugh, your love for your son, and this more.” He cupped his hand around the side of my neck, and my breathing quickened as the place where he was touching warmed. If I looked down, I knew my arms would once again be covered in goose bumps. “You feel that.”

It wasn’t a question, but I still nodded my head slowly.

He took a deep breath in through his nose, and for the first time since he started explaining to me why he wanted this, his eyes left mine—­but only to fall over my face for a few seconds. “Did I just scare you with everything I said?”

“No,” I said so softly, I might have only mouthed it.

Coen’s lips formed a sad smile, and I cupped his face in my hands.

“You didn’t. I hadn’t . . . well I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but definitely not something that beautiful.”

“Beautiful?”

“Yeah, Coen, that was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me. All of it—­including the demons.”

“You’re wondering about them,” he guessed.

I shifted my weight and bit down on the inside of my cheek. I didn’t want him to think I’d been lying to him, and I didn’t want to ruin the moment he’d somehow created with his perfectly haunting words.

“Reagan—­”

“Only because of Parker. Coen, I swear when you said that my first thought was I couldn’t possibly be the girl you were describing, and I wanted so badly to be her—­”

“Just answer. Did. I. Scare you?”

For long seconds, there was no sound except for our breaths as our faces stayed inches apart. Nothing else. The cars on the street, the ­people walking by—­everything else was tuned out as I studied the worry in his dark eyes. “You didn’t scare me, but there’s something about you that makes me drop my guard, so I need to know: Should I be scared? For Parker . . . should I be scared of your demons, Coen?”

“I’ll never do anything to put Parker in danger, and he’s not in danger from me. Your brother would never have even considered letting me near you if there was a chance of that. There’s just . . . there are things that happened over the years in the army that have stayed with me, and will always stay with me. Things that I wish I’d never seen, things that I can’t talk about even still, and some of them your brother doesn’t know about. But you don’t have anything to be worried about. Okay?”

“I don’t like that for you,” I whispered, and he laughed humorlessly.

“I don’t either, Duchess. But you help.”

He started leaning forward to kiss me when his phone went off again. Looking at the screen, he rolled his eyes. “Yes?” Putting a hand between my body and the car, he pulled me forward and turned me to walk toward the driver’s seat. “We’re leaving right now . . . No I haven’t been making out with her this whole time, fuck, Hudson. We were talking . . . Yeah, you know the thing ­people do when they’re getting to know each other? . . . Fuck off, you’re not punching me, because your sister’s fine, I didn’t touch her. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“He won’t really punch you,” I said when I started my car back up.

“Oh, no. He will. I’m just hoping it’s only one hit.” He smiled wide before leaning in the open window. “So, are we on the same page now?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

He narrowed his eyes before kissing me quickly. “Drive safe, Reagan.”

I STAYED AT Coen’s for a few hours with Keegan and Erica, and after watching a movie and talking for a while, Keegan and Erica got up to leave. Coen hadn’t made a move to let me leave his arms, but Keegan threw me over his shoulder and walked me out to my car, saying I wasn’t allowed in Coen’s apartment without “Keegan supervision.” Oh, and Keegan didn’t punch Coen, even though he’d threatened to every time Coen touched or kissed me. Coen still owed me twenty dollars for that. As soon as I was in my apartment, I searched for my phone for twenty minutes before rushing through washing my face and brushing my teeth, and slipping into my pajamas and turning off all the lights and jumping into bed. I sat there trying to calm my breathing, and laughed at how ridiculous I was acting. I’d just spent hours with Coen, and I was still beyond excited for our phone call.

Bringing up his name on my phone, I tapped on the number and played with the ends of my hair as I waited for him to answer.

“Duchess.”

A soft breath rushed past my lips at the way his deep voice had my arms covered in goose bumps with just one word. With a shaky breath in, I fell back onto my pillows with a smile on my face—­ready to fall asleep to his voice.