Cohen

 

The next day, I’m sitting in my sister’s living room, surrounded by “the wives,” with two babies being passed around like we’re playing pass the parcel.

This is my next plan of attack: to pick the brains of April, Ronnie, Faith, Abi, and her best friend—and Zach’s wife—Dani.

“Wait, I’m confused. You have/had a woman? How did I not know this?” Abi says, scrunching up her face. “Jeez, a girl has a couple of babies at once, and she’s completely out of the loop.”

I chuckle and shake my head, stroking the head of my squirming baby niece Anna sitting in my lap. “More like she had me. Had being the operative word.”

“Exactly how it should be,” Ronnie says with a small smirk, also holding a baby—my other niece, Anya.

“It doesn’t matter now. It’s over. I fucked up. She doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore.”

“What did you do to Skye?” Ronnie asks, her voice sharp and knowing. I tilt my head. It seems my brothers communicate better than I do.

“I didn’t do anything. That’s the problem.”

Abi narrows her eyes. “Huh? I’m confused.”

I nod. “Yeah. One could say it’s taken a few weeks, a fair amount of alcohol, a lot of double shifts and a round of virtual golf to get some clarity. But it’s making sense now.”

“What is?” April asks.

“She was right to end things. She deserves more than what we had together.”

Faith’s head jerks back. “So just like that, you’re going to let her go? If she deserves more, then give her more. That’s how it works. You give, she gets, she gives, you get. It’s pretty simple, Co,” She sounds a little angry now.

I look her straight in the eye. “No. I’m not giving up. She was right to dump me, but that’s not to say I’m going down without a fight. Which is why I’m here.”

“Now you’ve got my attention,” Ronnie says, rubbing her hands together. April leans forward, her body language completely changed.

“I need your help.” I look around the room at my sisters—by blood and by marriage—before locking eyes with Abi. “You were right. I was an idiot when it came to Skye, but I’ve pulled my head out of my ass, and I need to do anything and everything to get her back.”

Abi nods, pride shining in her eyes. “You’ve got it, Co. Anything you want, anything you need, whatever it takes for you to be happy—if I’ve got it, it’s yours.”

“What’s the plan?”

“That’s where all of you come in. Apart from falling at her feet and begging for forgiveness, I’m at a bit of a loss.”

“You could kidnap her,” Ronnie says, earning everyone’s wide eyes.

“He wants her back, and he can’t do that from jail,” Faith says, shaking her head with a small grin.

Ronnie holds up her hands. “Hey, I didn’t say it was a good idea, but if needs must…”

“You need to do something big,” April says.

“Huge. I mean, he acted like more than a fuck buddy, yet when it came down to admitting he felt something for her, he froze up.”

“But shouldn’t Skye have given him a chance to realize he’d caught feelings too?” Abi says. “Cohen can be clueless when it comes to women, but surely not that clueless.”

“I am still here you know,” I grumble.

Abi waves me off. “Hush now. The grown-ups are talking.”

Everyone else in the room giggles, Abi’s eyes full of amusement as she arches a brow as if challenging me to argue.

I look down at Anna, pulling her in close and cradling her in my arms. “Don’t worry, baby girl. Your mama isn’t as scary as she likes to think she is.”

Abi gasps. “Take that back, Co. My children need to know I’m a woman of my word.”

I look up at my sister and smirk. “You can be anything you like, but we all know Cade is going to be as strong as jelly when it comes to these two girls.”

The rest of the room snickers, nodding their heads.

Abi huffs out a breath. “Well, at least I have Harry.”

“Oh, yep. Boys and their mamas, a bond forged in steel if their last name is Cook,” Faith says.

“Technically Harry is a Carsen, so…” I clarify.

Abi narrows her eyes. “Just quit while you’re ahead, Co.”

I hold my hand up in surrender.

“So back to Cohen’s big problem,” Ronnie says.

“It is rather big,” I say before I can stop myself. That earns me a groan from Faith, gagging noises from my sister, and rolled eyes from April and Dani.

“You boys are all the same. You do know us women aren’t as obsessed with dick size as you think we are,” April states.

“Although,” Dani says, a small smirk playing on her lips, “I’m definitely not complaining about my husband’s assets.”

I look up at the ceiling and groan. “Not what I needed to know about Zach.”

Ronnie laughs. “Now you’ll know he’s packing a big hose in those turnouts.”

“Lord help me,” I say to the roof.

“God can’t help you, baby brother,” Abi says. I slowly lower my head and lock eyes with my big sister. “But we can.”

The women nod, a plethora of soft, understanding eyes all focused on me.

Faith perches herself on the edge of her seat, leaning her elbow on the sofa. “Okay, in order to give you the right advice, we need to find out a bit more about what you did—”

“Or didn’t do,” Dani adds, getting a range of ‘mm-hmm’s in return.

I wince, but quickly swallow it down. Anything that’s easy isn’t worth fighting for, right?

“Do you want her back for the sex or for her?” April asks.

“I don’t feel right not having her in my life,” I reply honestly.

“Oooh, good answer,” Abi says. “My turn. What would you do differently if you could do it all over again?”

“Not miss what was right in front of my face the whole time.”

“Which was?” she presses.

“The other half of me.” I can count the times I’ve seen my sister surprised on one hand, but apparently, I’ve succeeded this time. “But how was I supposed to fight for something I didn’t know was mine to lose?”

Abi sighs, shaking her head at me. “You can’t say you didn’t know. You not seeing what was right in front of you—that everyone else could see as clear as day—is how you screwed up. It isn’t her job to put back together what you broke. Do you understand that?”

“Shit.”

My sister’s lips twitch. “Yeah, now you’re getting it.”

“So, how do I fix it?”

“You show her you want to fix it,” she states like it’s the easiest thing in the world.

“Since you’ve already said I’m clueless, do you want to give me some guidance here?”

Abi’s eyes soften. “You fight for her. You do something so monumentally big that she has absolutely no doubt in her mind she’s who you want, and you’ll do anything and everything to get her back.”

“If you manage to win her back, will you still keep it secret?” Ronnie says, tilting her head and quirking a brow. “Because no girl likes to be hidden away like a dirty secret.”

My lips twitch. “Dirty secrets can be fun. But Skye was the one to propose the sex for sex’s sake.”

They all groan and shake their heads, April looking over at me with a sympathetic gaze. “Cohen, do you really think a woman just goes around offering to sleep with someone just because? Yeah, women like sex just as much as men do, and yes, women can do friends with benefits just as well as men can. What neither a man or a woman can do, however, is resist catching feelings for the one they’re meant to be with. When you add physical intimacy on top of respect, care, and admiration—and it’s good—then any line you draw in the sand is bound to be blurred, broken, or catapulted over.”

“So I ask again, looking back, what would you do differently?” Abi asks. “Because you look like shit, baby brother, and by all accounts”—she looks to Dani then back to me—“you’ve been a grumpy ass everywhere and to everyone.”

Dani blushes, and when I quirk a brow her way, she shrugs. “My husband tells me everything.”

Abi nods. “And so does mine so I know he told you that more often than not, one—or both parts—of a friends-with-benefits situation ends up falling for the other.”

“Especially when you drop everything to be there for her on Christmas Day, call your mother to supply food, and call her best friends to come visit just to help her feel better,” Faith says, shooting me an all-knowing look that makes me suspicious that it’s not her husband who’s updated her but the very woman I’m pining for.

“So,” Ronnie says, clapping her hands once, grabbing my attention, “what are you willing to do to win Miss Skye back?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

She tilts her head, her eyes roaming my face as she studies me. I meet her gaze straight on, not looking away until she nods and her lips curve up in apparent approval. “Okay, so let’s get brainstorming then. We have a girl to win over, and if you haven’t told her you love her yet with words, then you have to show her, so there’s absolutely no doubt in her mind that you’re willing to fight for her and continue to do so for the rest of your lives together.”

“Thank you, ’cause I think I’ve only got one chance at this. I may not get her back as a partner at work, but if that means I have her by my side in life, then that’s all I need.”

Ronnie, Faith, and Abi’s eyes all turn glassy. April, Dani, and I look at the three of them with varying levels of surprise, shock and amusement.

“Are you crying, Barbie?” I ask, my lips twitching.

“Shut up, Co. It’s hormones. They come over me when I’m watching damn puppy commercials on TV. Your brother thinks it’s hilarious,” she huffs, wiping her eyes.

Abi sniffs. “I blame the babies. They’ve turned me into a sook.”

To her credit, Faith just shrugs. “I blame your brother. He knocked me up, and now I want everyone else to be as happy as I am.”

“I love her. Part of me thinks there’s always been something more there,” I say, all humor now gone.

Abi’s eyes soften. “That’s because your subconscious knew before your dick, brain, and heart caught up. Now we’ve just got to make sure Skye knows too.”

I nod, determined to do absolutely everything necessary to make it happen. “Right. So tell me what you think of this…” I say, before proceeding to tell them my idea. Half an hour and a few suggestions later, my plan is set in motion.

But to pull this off, there’s one person I need in my corner. My only hope is that he’s willing to help; otherwise it’ll all fall apart.

On the drive home from my sister’s place, I bring up Dion’s details in my phone and call the number.

“Well, well, well,” he says by way of hello. “We’ve moved on to actual phone calls now. I was beginning to like our covert text messages. But sorry to say, she’s not here. She’s having dinner at the Rossi’s.”

“Hey. Well, that’s good. This kind of warrants a phone call because I need you.”

“Oooh, boy. Now don’t get me wrong, if you swung my way and I wasn’t head over heels for my Italian hunk of love, I’d be all over that.”

That makes me snort. I can definitely see why Dion and Skye are best friends.

“Um, that’s good…” I reply slowly.

“I can’t help you kidnap my Skye. She’d never forgive me and, sorry to say, I like her more than you,” he says, humor filling his voice.

I chuckle. “Yeah, but I love her just as much—if not more—than you do.”

Dion gasps down the phone. “Oh. My. God.”

I smile, giving him time to get over his apparent shock.

“Please tell me you’re gonna win our girl back? I love her to death, but she’s not fooling anyone. She’s miserable without you.”

“That makes two of us. To carry out the world’s biggest grovel, I’m going to need some help. That’s where you come in.”

“If it means seeing a smile on her face and that sparkle back in her eyes, I’ll do anything you want.”

Then I proceed to explain my plan and exactly where Dion comes in to play. When he gets over his excitement, we end the call with a promise to keep in touch to ensure everything I need him to do for me is carried out perfectly. With that part organized, there’s just one thing left.

And if it means begging the woman I love for another chance—on my knees, if that’s what it takes—then so be it. Skye Rossi said she deserves a man who’s ready to love her now.

She’s about to find out just how much she means to me and exactly what I’m prepared to do to make sure she—and everyone else—knows it.