No Turning Back (Breaking the Rules #4) - A.M. Madden Page 0,2

understand. In fact, when the time came for me to tell her what I planned to do, no doubt Janie would think I had lost my ever-loving mind. Most would, but I had my reasons.

My love for Cooper Stanton wasn’t in a romantic sense. I truly cared about him. He had become my best friend… actually, more like family. From the moment we’d broken up, we’d remained close. Our situation was unique in that I’d dumped him on Valentine’s Day because he was too sweet and caring to dump me. That was the man Cooper Stanton was.

Oddly enough, our breakup made us even closer. It definitely had to do with the fact Cooper confided in me when he was an emotionally confused mess, which had led to his self-discovery of being a gay man. And since that awakening, he has been in a very happy, loving relationship with Ricky, his sister’s best friend.

Even though he had never been attracted to another man, not even when with me, I’d known throughout our ten months together that something was missing. That woman’s intuition thing was very much real. At the time, I did not know it was his sexuality in question.

The funny part: I was as close to Cooper’s guy as I was to Cooper. They were very important to me, and I wouldn’t apologize for that. That being said, I didn’t apologize for any of my choices in life. Did I have regrets? Of course. But each decision I’d made had led me right to where I was—in a rewarding line of work surrounded by friends who loved me while being at peace with myself.

I really couldn’t complain in life. Well, I could, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere. Sure, when it came to family, I had been dealt a crap hand. Dad was a serviceman who’d lived in Germany with his new family. Mom was a strong woman who’d sacrificed her marriage for my happiness and raised me alone… only to have me lose her in high school from cancer. That left me with an aunt, uncle, and two cousins in Canada on my father’s side.

After I lost Mom, out of obligation or pressure from my dad, they’d asked me to move in with them, to which I’d refused. I had no relationship with them, or my father. He’d allowed his guilt to ruin what little we shared.

Being on my own since I was seventeen made me extremely independent. I was able to use what little I had inherited from Mom to pay for my college tuition. I eventually sold the small colonial that I’d grown up in to buy a swanky condo near the beach. And without debt to speak of, I was able to support myself while working for a modest salary within my field.

Working at the nonprofit organization, Angels on Earth, reminded me daily how lucky I was compared to so many. Knowing that each day we touched a life in one way, or another, supplied an amazing high. According to all the women we helped who had suffered from abuse over the years, we lived up to our name. Unfortunately, increases in rent and lack of funds forced the founders to cut staff. Janie and I had been the last ones in, so come the end of the month, we would be unemployed.

Janie wasn’t concerned. She was on the verge of becoming engaged and planned to be a kept woman until she found a position. As far as me, I should’ve been pounding the pavement to find a new job, but I had a plan… one that had formed in my mind on a whim and has since grown into a full-blown mission.

But the first step would be to convince those involved it was a great idea.

My nerves spiked higher when at 8:00 p.m. on the nose my scheduled video call came through on my laptop. I quickly hit “Connect” and grinned at them. “Hey, guys.”

“Ree Ree,” Ricky greeted with his nickname for me. “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

“To you guys as well,” I replied, smiling at Cooper’s melancholy expression stemming from the backstory to this very day.

“How are you, beautiful?” Ricky asked.

“I’m good.” They looked hot, all tanned and relaxed. Whenever I was in their company, most women drooled over them. Cooper had elicited that reaction even as we’d dated, especially from all his pretty female students. Tall, light-brown hair, hazel eyes that could see right into your soul, and a sexy scruff made him gorgeous in