The more I thought about Cooper’s reaction in the woods, the more pissed I became.

Metal slammed together, creating a deafening ringing in my ears as my barbell clanked against the bench press. I pushed myself harder through my anger, attacking my punching bag next. I wanted my knuckles to bleed with the action of repeated punches, to focus the pain there instead.

When I finished my set, I glanced at my phone while sucking down water. Kylie had called, and the sight of her name hit my gut like a punch. How could I talk to her now? With my anger so raw over Cooper? With my mind so worked up about us sleeping together? I knew she wanted to talk about it. What woman wouldn’t? I hated to avoid her, but I’d have to make up an excuse and text her later. I had to get things settled with Cooper first.

I picked up my hand weights and crushed a set of biceps curls, but my anger built instead of waned. I shouldn’t have worried about Cooper; that was a courtesy step. I didn’t even need to have told him to begin with. My justification circled around my mind, growing hotter with each pass, and I set down my weights. Making that call could not wait. I snatched my phone up and called Cooper. My rant played through my head, and when his voicemail came on, I let it fly.

“You know, man, you don’t even have the right to be mad, okay? I came to you and told you—first—as a courtesy because of our friendship. I know what my past looks like, but it’s not what you think. I would never hurt Kylie. I’ve loved her for years. Just… don’t be such a dick about it all. Let us be happy together and see that we’re perfect for each other. But I’ll tell you what, I’m going to be with her, regardless of what you think. I’m not going to let you and your possessiveness mess up a good thing for us.”

I hung up and realized that yelling at him was probably not the way to go. If I wasn’t careful, I’d lose them both. Maybe I’d even get booted from the clan. It needed to be handled just right. But the deed was done. I considered calling back and leaving another voicemail, but it would’ve probably only been throwing fuel on the fire at that point.

I went back to my weights and my tangled thoughts. I’d been in so many relationships over the years, and every single one of them was meaningless—though, I guess I hadn’t been in that many relationships as much as “situations.” One or two-night stands weren’t exactly considered as relationships to most people. It wasn’t until later, as an adult looking back, that I realized the reason I never wanted to be nailed down to anyone was because of Kylie. I wanted to be free in case things fell into place where something could happen with her.

And at the rare times when I would get into a relationship, the motives were all wrong, either wanting to make Kylie jealous and have her come running to me, or to have convenient sex. Hell, even my playboy reputation came as a result of wanting Kylie. I bounced from woman to woman because no one ever measured up to her. I’d searched for years to find someone who came even close, and I never found that person. The moment I knew she wasn’t hitting Kylie level, I let her go. No point keeping a lady waiting for something that was never going to happen. My seemingly playboy ways were years of me trying to find a Kylie clone. And my grand scheme hadn’t worked.

But now, without a doubt, I knew why. There was no substitute. I loved her, the one and only Kylie Hurst. There was no doppelganger, no person I could pretend was her. And there was little reason to pretend any longer, or so I had hoped. She kissed me back. She slept with me. And she was still talking to me, calling me. She had to feel something for me. That, at least, didn’t seem to have been ruined. But my friendship with Cooper, on the other hand, who knew where that would lead.

The only thing I could do was find a way to convince Cooper that my intentions were pure. He had little reason to trust me, given my history with women, but I knew the truth. Now, I just needed him to see it.

I figured that time would help, too. He would see that I wasn’t going to toss her aside, that I wasn’t going to use her and move on. But I’d waited for her for so long—even for the mere possibility of being with Kylie. Now that I had the chance to finally make her mine, I didn’t want the drama of fighting with Cooper or hiding our relationship from him to overshadow our happiness. I didn’t think I could hide it anyway; it wasn’t in my nature. I’d be with whomever I wanted to be with and didn’t care who said what about it. I didn’t want to lose Cooper as a friend, but even more so, now that she was so close to being mine, I didn’t want to lose Kylie.

In the end, it might take little more than Kylie talking to him. Surely, his sister could get through to him and make him see. I’d admit my fault for sleeping with her too soon and sneaking out. But I wasn’t going to be ashamed of the fact that I loved her and wanted to be with her.