Eternal Soulmate by Brooklyn Taylor Page A

killing her worthless ass. Ashlynn actually did me a favor. Now I need to do mankind a favor and take out Ashlynn so no other man has to train her like I did her mother. After all the years I beat her mother she still never learned. Ashlynn would be the same way. She thinks she has won, but on the contrary. Revenge is sweeter when you’ve had time to work up a plan.

Chapter 13
    Saturday night
    ~Ashlynn~
    What the hell was I thinking? Letting a man I barely know come to my house to pick me up? I know what I was thinking as I was about to hyperventilate. I was thinking I am falling for this man I have only seen 3 times and have had the best conversations in my life with. He says all the right things. Everything Cooper did was genuine. He has shared more with me than any man I have ever talked to. He is honest, gorgeous and sexy. Could he be made for me? What if he hurts me? Am I going crazy for not letting anyone in for so long and now I am just lonely? No, that can’t be it. The feelings I’m having aren’t feelings that can be imitated. These feelings are the real thing. I need to call McKoy to get her opinion.
    McKoy comes over around 5:00 that afternoon and I gush and gush over Coop. I tell her everything. She sees me smile, hugs me and starts to cry.
    “Cooper is just different, I feel like he has taken over my heart. When I am with him, I don’t think about keeping that wall up.”
    McKoy smiled. “That’s great sweetie, take a chance on him then. What will it hurt? You’ve never felt this way about a man. Doesn’t that have to mean something?”
    I can tell you what it hurt. It can hurt my heart. I have seen my mother left by a man she loved more than life itself, a second man that beat her and left her for dead more times than I can count. That was misery. She had no help and had to keep her and her little girl in a hell pit, barely able to fight. Shit, here I go again. My mom is in heaven, my dad well, not sure where he went nor do I care. My stepfather is doing God knows what. He finally let us leave his shit hole after I held a gun to his head and told him we were through. He said he was done with us anyway and he had already gotten the best years of my mother. Yes, I guess he was right about that. He sure did. My mom was never strong enough to leave. He had made her so mentally weak. I knew when I was 17 and graduated, I would do what I had to do to get the hell out of dodge.
    “I know what you’re thinking Ash. Stop it. Just stop it. Maybe this is the man that was made for you. Maybe it’s right.”
    “I’m just scared. I am brave in so many areas but, not with love. I’ve always heard there is a cosmic pull that is uncontrollable when it is the real thing. I never understood it until I met Cooper. What are the chances of me meeting him on the way to spread mom’s ashes?”
    McKoy pulled me in for a hug. “Ashlynn, there are not always explanations for everything. Just because you can’t find an answer doesn’t mean it’s not meant to be. Stop trying to figure everything out. Let it be.”
    I felt like crying, but I didn’t want to look like I have puffy eyes for my hot date. I already had dark circles underneath my eyes naturally.
    Pull it together Ashlynn.
    “I gotta get ready. Go pick me out something.”
    “Sure thing. I love to dress you up like you’re my own Barbie.”
    Oh Lord, she really does and always has.
    McKoy picked out my sleeveless black dress with the brown belt that matched my brown boots. She knows I love my boots. This dress is very casual but can be dressed up or down. McKoy matched a bright chunky necklace I have that has all sorts of my favorite colors. Purple, pinks and blues. It looked like little rocks. I don’t wear it very often, but looks perfect with what I am wearing tonight. McKoy has a gift at putting an ensemble together. She has since we were kids.
     
    ~Ashlynn~
    Cooper showed up right on time. He pulled up to my house and casually walked up to my door.