Reaper's Fire
Page 24
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“It’s really embarrassing,” I admitted, pushing my plate to the side.
“The best stories usually are,” he said, grinning at me. “Tell me. I’ll even bribe you.”
He stood and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a giant, fancy cupcake balanced inside a domed plastic container. Carefully removing the cover, he set it in the center of the table.
“That thing’s huge,” I said, laughing.
“Yeah, women say that to me a lot,” he replied, deadpan.
“You’re terrible.”
“No, the general consensus is that I’m pretty good,” Cooper said, allowing his mouth to quirk. “See? That’s so lame I’m humiliated and ashamed of myself. Now you have no excuse not to share your story.”
I bit my lip, trying not to laugh at him.
“Confession is good for the soul,” he prodded.
“Okay,” I replied, wondering if I could really go through with it. But he’d hear it all sooner or later anyway. Almost everyone in town knew already. “You have to promise you won’t judge me.”
“You got it.”
“So I left my husband a year and a half ago,” I started. “It was a rough time. No need to get into details, but I’d fallen into a slump and just couldn’t seem to pick myself up again. Four months ago I got an invitation for a bachelorette party in Olympia for my friend Margarita. She was in high school with me and Carrie, and now she’s a professor down at Evergreen State.”
I paused, staring at the cupcake. Could I really tell him this?
“And?”
“All right, so Carrie and I drove down together, and a big group of us met up at the hotel for the party. Rented a suite and everything. It was almost like a high school reunion for me, because a lot of the guests were women I grew up with but hadn’t seen for years. We all moved away from town a long time ago, all except for Carrie, Heather Brinks—she’s Margarita’s cousin like ten times removed, but Margarita’s mom made us invite her anyway—and Maisy Braeburn, who invited herself along with Heather. They were bitches back then and they’re bitches now, and it never occurred to us that they’d actually show their faces. Anyway, that night everyone went dancing, and eventually we landed back at the hotel around three in the morning. Maisy was feeling sick, so she went back to her room while the rest of us gathered in the suite. That’s when the strippers showed up.”
Cooper smirked. I felt my cheeks start to heat up.
“They did their dancing thing, and we were all laughing and having a great time and there was one who kept hitting on me. Now, he was pretty to look at, but I felt sort of weird perving on him because he was probably twenty-one at most, you know? Barely legal. Not only that, he looked sort of familiar but I couldn’t quite place him. Then he invited me to do some body shots off him, and the next thing I knew we were back in one of the bedrooms and he was doing body shots off me and . . . Well, let’s just say we got real friendly real fast.”
He stared at me, obviously stunned. Shit, this was a huge mistake. He’s judging me and—
Then Cooper burst out laughing. Not hateful, mean laughter, but genuine amusement.
“Stop it!”
He laughed harder, holding up a hand.
“Calm down,” he finally said.
“I can’t believe I told you that,” I moaned, wondering if I could make a break for the door. I mean, the situation was so awkward already—was it even possible to make it worse?
Cooper shook his head, grinning at me. “So you fucked a stripper—they’re people, too, you know. There are uglier crimes.”
I groaned, rubbing my temples again. You started it, now finish it.
“It gets worse,” I admitted. “Maybe half an hour later, the room door bursts open and everyone comes trooping in looking for more booze. Carrie and I had hit a liquor store that afternoon, and the backup stash was in the bedroom, you know? Anyway, here I am buck naked on top of the guy and they’re all staring at me. Next thing I know, Heather whips out her phone and starts filming.”
Cooper’s eyes widened. “You have a sex tape floating around out there?”
“Yesss . . .” I admitted very quietly. “And that’s not all.”
“Jesus, and I thought it was funny before,” he said, shoulders shaking. I glared at him, but there wasn’t any judgment in his eyes, just honest laughter. “Hey, I don’t care that you have a sex tape. Human beings fuck, despite what some of these gossipy prudes around here want to admit. Why should you be ashamed of it?”
I just shook my head, because obviously Cooper and I had very different definitions of the word “shame.”
“Anyway, they’re all laughing at me and I’m humiliated and all that. The guy jumps up and tells them to leave. Then all of sudden I hear Maisy’s voice, and she is pissed—her aunt owns the Hungry Chicken downtown, it’s not far from my store. She starts screaming at me and I’m all confused and still drunk and then it suddenly falls together. The guy I slept with? He was her cousin, Jamie. He grew up in Hallies Falls until his folks got divorced and he moved to Spokane to live with his dad. I used to babysit him! Now he’s stripping to pay his way through college. I hadn’t seen him in years, and let me tell you—he’d grown up a lot during that time. None of us even recognized him! Not only that, Heather texted the damned video to half the town. I still don’t know how many people watched it or who has copies. Guess who isn’t welcome at the Hungry Chicken anymore?”
Cooper leaned back in his chair, raising a brow.
“You fucked up.”
“Yeah, I fucked up,” I agreed, seriously considering crawling under the table. “I had no idea, Cooper. None. I was drunk as hell and he kept coming on to me. Turns out he’s had a crush on me since he was just a kid or something. When he saw me at the party he decided to go for it. Maisy wasn’t there when he first showed up—she was drunk and puking back in her own room—and the rest of us didn’t recognize him. The rest is history. I’m the town whore who seduced the innocent kid I used to babysit. The only good thing is that the Braeburns managed to shut it down fast—I mean, people around here know everything, but so far as I can tell nobody uploaded it online or anything, so I guess I have that going for me. Oh, and Maisy was so pissed at Heather that she still won’t talk to her. The whole thing was beyond crazy.”
“The best stories usually are,” he said, grinning at me. “Tell me. I’ll even bribe you.”
He stood and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a giant, fancy cupcake balanced inside a domed plastic container. Carefully removing the cover, he set it in the center of the table.
“That thing’s huge,” I said, laughing.
“Yeah, women say that to me a lot,” he replied, deadpan.
“You’re terrible.”
“No, the general consensus is that I’m pretty good,” Cooper said, allowing his mouth to quirk. “See? That’s so lame I’m humiliated and ashamed of myself. Now you have no excuse not to share your story.”
I bit my lip, trying not to laugh at him.
“Confession is good for the soul,” he prodded.
“Okay,” I replied, wondering if I could really go through with it. But he’d hear it all sooner or later anyway. Almost everyone in town knew already. “You have to promise you won’t judge me.”
“You got it.”
“So I left my husband a year and a half ago,” I started. “It was a rough time. No need to get into details, but I’d fallen into a slump and just couldn’t seem to pick myself up again. Four months ago I got an invitation for a bachelorette party in Olympia for my friend Margarita. She was in high school with me and Carrie, and now she’s a professor down at Evergreen State.”
I paused, staring at the cupcake. Could I really tell him this?
“And?”
“All right, so Carrie and I drove down together, and a big group of us met up at the hotel for the party. Rented a suite and everything. It was almost like a high school reunion for me, because a lot of the guests were women I grew up with but hadn’t seen for years. We all moved away from town a long time ago, all except for Carrie, Heather Brinks—she’s Margarita’s cousin like ten times removed, but Margarita’s mom made us invite her anyway—and Maisy Braeburn, who invited herself along with Heather. They were bitches back then and they’re bitches now, and it never occurred to us that they’d actually show their faces. Anyway, that night everyone went dancing, and eventually we landed back at the hotel around three in the morning. Maisy was feeling sick, so she went back to her room while the rest of us gathered in the suite. That’s when the strippers showed up.”
Cooper smirked. I felt my cheeks start to heat up.
“They did their dancing thing, and we were all laughing and having a great time and there was one who kept hitting on me. Now, he was pretty to look at, but I felt sort of weird perving on him because he was probably twenty-one at most, you know? Barely legal. Not only that, he looked sort of familiar but I couldn’t quite place him. Then he invited me to do some body shots off him, and the next thing I knew we were back in one of the bedrooms and he was doing body shots off me and . . . Well, let’s just say we got real friendly real fast.”
He stared at me, obviously stunned. Shit, this was a huge mistake. He’s judging me and—
Then Cooper burst out laughing. Not hateful, mean laughter, but genuine amusement.
“Stop it!”
He laughed harder, holding up a hand.
“Calm down,” he finally said.
“I can’t believe I told you that,” I moaned, wondering if I could make a break for the door. I mean, the situation was so awkward already—was it even possible to make it worse?
Cooper shook his head, grinning at me. “So you fucked a stripper—they’re people, too, you know. There are uglier crimes.”
I groaned, rubbing my temples again. You started it, now finish it.
“It gets worse,” I admitted. “Maybe half an hour later, the room door bursts open and everyone comes trooping in looking for more booze. Carrie and I had hit a liquor store that afternoon, and the backup stash was in the bedroom, you know? Anyway, here I am buck naked on top of the guy and they’re all staring at me. Next thing I know, Heather whips out her phone and starts filming.”
Cooper’s eyes widened. “You have a sex tape floating around out there?”
“Yesss . . .” I admitted very quietly. “And that’s not all.”
“Jesus, and I thought it was funny before,” he said, shoulders shaking. I glared at him, but there wasn’t any judgment in his eyes, just honest laughter. “Hey, I don’t care that you have a sex tape. Human beings fuck, despite what some of these gossipy prudes around here want to admit. Why should you be ashamed of it?”
I just shook my head, because obviously Cooper and I had very different definitions of the word “shame.”
“Anyway, they’re all laughing at me and I’m humiliated and all that. The guy jumps up and tells them to leave. Then all of sudden I hear Maisy’s voice, and she is pissed—her aunt owns the Hungry Chicken downtown, it’s not far from my store. She starts screaming at me and I’m all confused and still drunk and then it suddenly falls together. The guy I slept with? He was her cousin, Jamie. He grew up in Hallies Falls until his folks got divorced and he moved to Spokane to live with his dad. I used to babysit him! Now he’s stripping to pay his way through college. I hadn’t seen him in years, and let me tell you—he’d grown up a lot during that time. None of us even recognized him! Not only that, Heather texted the damned video to half the town. I still don’t know how many people watched it or who has copies. Guess who isn’t welcome at the Hungry Chicken anymore?”
Cooper leaned back in his chair, raising a brow.
“You fucked up.”
“Yeah, I fucked up,” I agreed, seriously considering crawling under the table. “I had no idea, Cooper. None. I was drunk as hell and he kept coming on to me. Turns out he’s had a crush on me since he was just a kid or something. When he saw me at the party he decided to go for it. Maisy wasn’t there when he first showed up—she was drunk and puking back in her own room—and the rest of us didn’t recognize him. The rest is history. I’m the town whore who seduced the innocent kid I used to babysit. The only good thing is that the Braeburns managed to shut it down fast—I mean, people around here know everything, but so far as I can tell nobody uploaded it online or anything, so I guess I have that going for me. Oh, and Maisy was so pissed at Heather that she still won’t talk to her. The whole thing was beyond crazy.”
