Chapter 3
Eva
Four seconds was how long it took him to walk over to the men who destroyed our night when they couldn’t take no for an answer.
Four seconds to know things were about to get messy.
When we locked eyes and I blinked through the sea of tears which still blurred my vision, I knew he was fighting himself as much as those men. I’d known Cooper a very long time and in all those years I’d seen the look he wore tonight only twice.
Once, when Kolin Frimer pushed Sebastian into the basketball ring because he didn’t think he ran out with the ball and another when Seb told him how some guy in senior year said he was going to pop my cherry and didn’t care I was only a junior.
At the time I didn’t even know what the phrase meant or why he would care. I also didn’t realise those words were the catalyst for the cast he wore on his left wrist for the next six weeks. Or understand why Seb said Cooper’s loyalty for those he loved had the potential to be dangerous.
Yet, now, I saw just how deep that loyalty went and what Seb truly meant all those years ago.
Tonight was supposed to be a night of love.
A night to celebrate all things, Arna. A night to dance, laugh and catch up with the girls I’d become good friends with over the past year.
Until those slimy pigs thought the flashing bridesmaid sashes we were wearing meant we were easy prey.
Women who were looking for a last fling before the ring as one of them so eloquently rasped in my ear.
Marls, Felicity and Arns were all drunk.
A result of the never-ending cocktails which seemed to appear at the table in fifteen-minute intervals – something I was confident Marlee organised.
Winter was so far beyond her comfort zone she was an imminent flight risk, and I was meant to be the sober one overseeing everything
Which only meant, I saw with stark clarity the look in that jerk’s eyes when I told him I wasn’t interested in a drink. When he looked at the empty glasses on our table and thought we were all intoxicated enough to be malleable.
And I felt the full sting of his fingers as they dug into my hip despite my repeated refusals.
I also saw the way Cooper arrived mere minutes after I’d gotten off the phone to Sebastian, in his leather jacket and dark jeans, radiating a savagery which sent chills down my spine.
I knew Seb must have told him, but I was surprised to see he still cared that much.
Speaking of, where was my brother and why wasn’t he here if Cooper was?
So many questions and no time to ask because everything disappeared the moment he headbutted the man responsible for grabbing me, and blood flung through the air like crimson rain.
The panic was instantaneous. Three of them. One of him. The maths wasn’t in his favour.
What if they hurt him? Was he already hurt? Where were the security guards? Did he need help?
Why was he here?
Arna was still hollering, desperate to seek her own kind of revenge in a space which wasn’t safe for her.
Wasn’t safe for any of us.
The area around them cleared quickly, the security guard also conveniently melting into the crowd rather than doing anything to stop the melee.
I didn’t want to watch but I also couldn’t look away.
Cooper’s fists flew, a dramatic performance to the music which continued to play. When the first man fell to the floor, it was clear Cooper was wreaking havoc.
He waited, his shoulders rising and falling, turning on the next man stupidly eager to defend his fallen friend - until he too was a bloodied and bruised heap.
My gaze snapped to the last of the trio. At least he had the decency to look terrified - bouncing on his heels and his eyes flitting between his friends, both crumpled in pain. But Coop was wound up, relentless in his pursuit now.
He was going to kill them if someone didn’t intervene, but no one was moving in to help. Either too scared or preferring to watch the brutality of one man on people who deserved it.
But that left me with no choice.
Before I thought better of it, I pushed around the girls and ran for him.
“Cooper!” I yelled, his name catching in my throat, only a few feet away now, but he either ignored me or was too far gone to hear.
It struck me then; I hadn’t said his name aloud in so long.
It had floated through my mind on more occasions than perhaps any other word, but not for a little while and saying those two syllables now felt foreign.
I gripped my hair, uncertain what to do as his fist began to destroy the face of the last man standing.
“Coop – stop!” I screamed again, frantic now as blood spattered everywhere.
One of the men stood up groggily, desperately jumping onto Cooper’s back to gain some retribution, arms around his throat.
My feet were moving before I could stop them, handfuls of the man’s ruined shirt in my grip as I ripped him off with all my strength.
The shock of the movement was enough to jar him, but only for a second. Falling from Cooper’s back he turned towards me, a snarl on his bloodied face.
“You fucking bitch!” He spat, his fists clenched as he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.
I froze.
Cooper’s back was still to me, two men now at his feet while the third stalked me like prey.
He was so much bigger than I was, a malicious gleam in his eyes that I wasn’t going to be able to fight.
Licking his lips, I nearly gagged at the sight of his blood covered tongue.
“Don’t,” I gritted, my palms ahead of me defensively, ready to flee.
He grinned, his eyes narrowing as if my fear was what he sought, and I knew there would be no escaping his grasp this time.
The look of victory gleaming in his bloodshot eyes was enough to get me moving but just as I moved to run, Cooper turned and tackled the man to the ground with a thud louder than the base of the speakers.
They landed in a heap at my feet, and I jumped back, narrowly avoiding the fists and legs flying in all directions.
My heart thrashed in my chest, fear and adrenaline clouding my thoughts. I needed help - someone who could stop Cooper, who was now straddling the guy and hitting him over and over.
Just as I made the reckless decision to again intervene, Sebastian flew past me. Lunging at Coop, he wrapped his arms around him and yanked him off the nearly unconscious guy sprawled on the ground.
“Enough, bro!” Seb screamed, his arms firmly around his chest, as Cooper continued to thrash with a deep-seated fury.
“Get the fuck off me!” He bellowed, writhing in Seb’s arms but my brother held on with a strength borne from pure stubbornness.
I watched in horror. Tears pressing for release at the look of vacancy still lining my old friend’s gaze.
I longed to soothe him. To run my thumbs across his forehead and smooth the anger currently creasing his skin.
In that moment he reminded me of that lost teenage boy who sat in the playground at school when he thought no one was watching.
His face masked with a pain which came from deep within and no ability to self-soothe or work through his emotions.
Only now, he was older, and this was a rage which meant he was no longer in the driver’s seat. Logic and reason shoved aside along with all sense of rationality.
“She’s safe!” He yelled. “She’s safe!” His repeated words were enough to infiltrate the anger as Cooper went slack, sucking in a lungful of air. My brother spoke softer now so I couldn’t make out the words but whatever it was, it caused him to turn, his eyes finding mine.
An unspeakable sorrow loomed beneath the sweat-slicked brow and tangled blond hair.
Sebastian stepped back patting him once on the shoulder before he turned to me too.
“You good?” Holding me at arm’s length he visually scanned my face and arms.
“I’m fine,” I said sniffling. “But you should probably get to Marls. She’s had a lot to drink.
” I did my best to smile, glancing over to where they stood.
Andy was there now too, a very drunk, and still angry Arna leaning against him.
Her verbal tirade continued as she pointed towards the guys who were all on the floor in various stages of duress.
Marlee waved guiltily as she looked over at us, her eyes softening when they landed on my brother.
Jack had Winter cornered, likely reassuring her she never had to leave the house without him again and in the surprise of the century, Jay was embracing a visibly upset Felicity.
It was as though I’d entered the Twilight Zone.
“You good Coop, I need to get to Marls.”
“I’m good,” he huffed, running a swollen hand through his hair and wincing. “I’ll take Evs.”
Sebastian looked between us before nodding. “You okay with that Eva?”
Of all the questions… What was I supposed to say?
Of course, why wouldn’t I be? What could possibly make me not okay with this crazy situation or perhaps, please don’t leave me with your friend - my first love - who’s now an older, angrier, unfairly sexy version of himself.
The same guy who broke my heart when I was seventeen, who still has a terrifying edge simmering beneath the surface…
and who I still kind of want to punch in the face.
Any of the above would have been appropriate, instead I shrugged.
“Argh, yeah,” still confused and feeling the adrenaline from earlier subsiding, I answered.
Seb nodded gratefully before beelining for Marlee.
The air suddenly felt as stagnant as it did charged. I couldn’t remember the last time I was alone with Cooper let alone under such strange circumstances. I swallowed the emotion threatening to surface and mustered whatever courage I could find to look at him.
“I can get an Uber if you need to –” I pointed over my shoulder half-heartedly, to what or who I didn’t know. I wasn’t even sure if I had enough money in my account to cover one and I was suddenly so tired and with the fear of those men still potentially lingering, I was uneasy.
His face scrunched into a frown as he looked at me so briefly, I could have imagined it.