by Cindi Madsen
“I guess we won’t roast him quite yet,” I said to my bearded dragon, who simply stared at me. I glanced at Cooper and thought about asking if he’d add the fact that I talked to my pet to my secret list, but figured it was understood. Not to mention awkward to bring up in the first place.
I stood and put Klaus in his cage, tossing in extra food before settling next to Cooper again.
He’d been texting someone, but I didn’t see who and was doing my best not to be nosey. He pocketed his phone, leaned back on the headboard next to me, and hit play…
About thirty minutes in, I went to shift and groaned. Usually I tried to stifle sounds like that, but I couldn’t help it. “Everything hurts whenever I move.”
“So don’t move,” Cooper said, as if never moving again was an effective, realistic solution for having muscles so sore you wanted to cry.
“Does that mean I don’t have to be at practice tomorrow, coach?”
That got his full attention. “Oh, you’ll be at practice, and if you complain, I’ll make you drop and give me twenty.”
“I couldn’t even do one push up, much less twenty.”
“Then I guess you better be at practice.”
I stuck out my lips, not above pouting if it’d give me one day of rest. “But I’ll need time for party prep.”
“We’ll row at noon and go for a couple of hours. That gives you plenty of time to prep.”
I let my head fall back against the headboard and gave a dramatic fake cry. “I need a day off. My muscles need a break, or by the time we get to the party, I’ll just be crying every time I move, and that doesn’t seem like a very casual, cool thing to do.” When he didn’t immediately give in, I brought my hands into prayer position, despite the pain it caused. “Please, please have mercy on my muscles and give me a break, Coach Grouchy Pants.”
His brow furrowed. “Fine. But Sunday at noon, your ass better be on the lake.”
I saluted him, then groaned again, because it hurt my arm, which only made him laugh. Smacking his arm made pain shoot through my shoulder, but it was worth it.
I expected him to launch into a cheesy sports speech about pain and gain, but instead, he handed me the pillow he’d been using. “I’m tough enough to not need any sissy cushions.”
“That’s because your body is used to all the rowing.”
He shot me a sidelong glance, the colors from the TV dancing across his features. “My ripped body?”
“If it wouldn’t hurt, I’d smack you again.” I added the pillow on top of the one cushioning my back. Obviously Cooper was super scared, because when I twisted back around, he waggled his eyebrows. “Okay, adding the eyebrows just bumped you up to a nine on the Kanye Douchebag Scale. I should’ve never told you that you got ripped. It went right to your head.”
“Oh, I already knew.” He cracked a grin and put his hands behind his head as a rest, his elbows out to the side, creating the picture-perfect image of relaxed, confident dude. Who was, in fact, ripped.
I crossed my ankles, glad at least my legs functioned without pain. “I like this movie and all, but there’s not really a couple for me to ship. Unless we’re talking shipping me and him, because talk about ripped.”
Cooper shook his head. “Are you one of those people who talk through movies?”
“When it’s not one of mine, yes. Otherwise, I do sometimes talk, but mostly just to Klaus, who completely agrees.”
“Naturally.”
I laughed, but did my best to be quiet through the rest of the movie. I thought nothing was as good as an empty weekend stretched before me, lots of hours to binge watch. But having Cooper watching with me? Well, a girl could get used to that.
Although, not really. As soon as Mick and I got together, I probably wouldn’t have as much time for hanging out like this. A twinge of sorrow went through me, and I told myself to stop being overdramatic about something that hadn’t even happened.
The sound of the door opening broke through the music that accompanied the credits rolling up the screen.
“Sounds like my mom is home,” I said.
Cooper shot up, his back stick straight. “Will she be upset that I’m in your bedroom?”
I hadn’t really thought about it, and it wasn’t like I had a lot of experience with boys in my room, but I couldn’t see her caring. “Nah. If anything, she’ll be surprised. We should really shock her. Put your hand on my knee and we’ll act like we were just making out.”
Cooper couldn’t look more horrified by the prospect, which made me worry we’d never be able to pull off tomorrow night’s plan. I tried to smother the offense that automatically drifted up because I was only joking and had my sights set on someone else anyway. But would it kill him to act like the idea wasn’t totally repulsive? My confidence with boys was shaky enough as it was.
“Kate?” Mom called. “I’m home, and I have some crazy stories for you. I have no idea what’s wrong with guys these days. Nadine’s doing the online dating thing, and she’s already had three guys send her pics of their—”
“I have company!” I shouted before Mom could finish. Judging from the heat in my cheeks and the flush in Cooper’s, it was too late to avoid veering into awkward territory. So much for shocking her—she definitely got the jump on that.
Mom stopped in the doorway. She was flushed as well, but more in the way that meant she’d had a few drinks and had done some dancing. “Oh. Hey, Kate’s company.” Her eyebrows scrunched up as she glanced from me to Cooper, and then back to me. Then she beamed at him like he was a puppy, and she hoped I’d keep him. Clearly she’d had too much to drink to be subtle.
“Mom, this is my friend Cooper. Cooper Callihan.”
“Callihan.” She pressed her lips together. “Your father’s a lawyer, right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Cooper said, his usual light-heartedness gone. Almost like he thought Mom might interrogate him or perhaps ask him for legal advice.
“Please don’t call me ma’am. Makes me feel old. Call me Melanie. Or is that improper? I never know what the damn rules are with that kind of thing. I suppose I could settle for Ms. Hamilton, but I’d still prefer Melanie.” She swung her arm, and I noticed her heels were in her hand instead of on her feet. “Anyway, you guys have fun. But not too much fun.”
“Thanks, Mom. Good night.”
She tapped the door. “I feel like I should say something parental, like this stays open. At least until we can discuss this friendship more.” She winked at me and giggled. Then her expression turned as serious as she could get it under the circumstances. “I’m not usually like this, or even drunk at all, I swear.”
“Remember to put aspirin and a glass of water by your bed. In fact, you should probably take one now.”
“Good idea.” Mom’s smile widened. “I love having a smart daughter who thinks ahead.” Her gaze moved to Cooper. “Which is why I’m a tad protective of her. Just so you know.” She stage-whispered. “See? I can totally pull off being all mom-like.”
“You’re definitely rocking the mom thing right now,” I said with a laugh, while also wishing she’d hurry and go to bed before she said anything else.
With a final wave, she was gone.
“Okay, I thought my mom wasn’t very embarrassing, but that…” I placed a hand on my cheek, hoping it didn’t look as pink as the heat radiating from it suggested. “Well, that was embarrassing.”
“It’s kind of nice, actually. I can see how much you guys care about each other.” Cooper stood. “I better get going.” He squeezed my shoulder, and while it made my sore muscles scream a little, the zips of energy counteracted it enough to make me want him to do it again. “Thanks for the movie.”
“Thanks for helping me with my operation.”
“Right. The Operation. Of course.” He lowered his hand, his fingertips dragging down my arm. “I’ll pick you up for the party tomorrow at seven. Since we’re going big, you might want to wear something a little bolder and flashier
than usual.” Once he reached the doorway, he paused and glanced back at me. “But if you change your mind, we don’t have to go through with the plan. Just putting that out there.”
Dad and I used to go on missions all the time together. Like while we were shopping, he’d tell me to keep an eye out for a guy with a fedora—he wasn’t to be trusted. And we’d look until we found some random guy who had one on and plot our plan of attack. Not real attack, of course. But our hypothetical operations were detailed and epic.
Then there were the real ones, like cleaning the house as fast as we could before my mom came home, or surprising her with dinner, or buying her the perfect present for her birthday.
Real or fake, we used military lingo and acted as if our lives depended on our success. This entire operation brought back some of those good memories and the rush of making a plan of attack, and like back then, failure wasn’t an option. So bold, flashy clothes and attending a party where I pretended to be a little more than friends with Cooper? I could totally handle that.
“I won’t change my mind,” I said.
Chapter Nine
Kate
With the help of my friends Advil and IcyHot, I was able to push past the soreness in my muscles and curl my hair. In a few more weeks, my arms better be super toned from all the rowing.
I also watched a tutorial on eyeliner, and after several failed experiments at “wings” I went for more of a smoky eye. After so many smudged layers of black eyeliner, it was really my only choice. But I decided it worked.
The red dress I took from Mom’s closet was too over-the-top. There was bold and flashy, and then there was trying way too hard. It wasn’t me, either. I wanted to be me, but like me 2.0. The blue sleeveless top with the beaded sheer overlay fit my goal, especially when paired with my tightest jeans with the cute zippers on the front. On the way out the door, I added another spritz of perfume and slipped my new, strawberry-flavored-yet-still-shimmery lip-gloss into my pocket.
Mom whistled as I walked through the living room. After being dressed up last night, she was doing the super chill thing, wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt, and about to dig into ice cream while she did some binge watching of her own. “You going out with Cooper again?”
“We never went out, so I can’t do it again, now can I?”
Mom stuck a bite of Chunky Monkey in her mouth. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him this week.”
“Because we’re friends.”
“Because you still have a crush on that cute football player?”
I wobbled my head back and forth, unsure whether to answer that. “I’m just taking it a day at a time.” And those days were going to add up quick, so I needed tonight to make a difference. I had maybe two more weeks before he lined up another date, if it wasn’t too late already.
Oh no, what if he has a date already? This will all be for nothing. I sucked in a breath and let it out, telling myself I would’ve heard about it. Whisperings about prom were starting, but going by last year’s timeline, things got real in the next few weeks. I still had a chance.
“Well, that Cooper boy is super cute if you ask me.”
“He’s super cute if you ask most anyone. His cuteness does not negate the fact that we’re just friends. He’s not interested in being more.”
Mom leaned forward as if she were about to glean some big gossip. “But if he was, you would be?”
The doorbell rang. “Saved by the bell. We’ll talk crushes later.”
“I’m holding you to that.” She extended a scoop of ice cream toward me. “For the road?”
I ate it off the spoon, not quite prepared for the size or the cold. Then I hugged Mom good-bye and went to answer the door.
Cooper stood on the other side, and the cute descriptor entered my head again, because dang, the guy was nice on the eyes. His curls were more tamed than usual, and he had on a dark blue button down. The sleeves were rolled up so that his forearms were exposed, and suddenly I found myself unable to look away from that strong line, wondering if it’d always been there, and kicking myself for not taking time to appreciate it before.
“Damn,” he said, then his gaze moved over my shoulder to Mom and a slightly panicked look hit his eye.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she didn’t hear you swear,” I whispered.
“Actually, I did,” she called out. “But since it’s because he’s simply admiring your beauty, I’ll damn well let it slide.”
“Bye, Mom!” I pulled the door closed behind me and hoped the cool night air would help calm the heat in my face.
“You look nice,” he said.
“Am I bold and flashy enough, though?”
He looked me up and down, and my stomach followed along, rising and dipping. “You’re all the things,” he said, and his voice came out low and slightly gruffer than usual, which made my stomach dip all over again.
I grinned at him. “Thanks. You look nice as well.”
The dimple in his cheek flashed. “Am I tall and ripped enough, though?”
“So, so much regret,” I joked as I hooked an arm through his. After all, we were about to pretend to be closer than we were. Might as well get a little bit used to it.
He opened the passenger door of his truck, and before stepping out of the way, he leaned in close and inhaled. “You smell nice, too.”
Goose bumps scattered across my skin. Luckily he was already rounding the hood, so hopefully he didn’t notice. I needed to stop noticing. This night was about the cute football player. The cute rower acted like touching my knee and pretending we’d been making out would be appalling just last night.
The more I thought about it, the surer I became that my nerve wires were just getting crossed because I related hanging out with Cooper with landing Mick, who I’d liked for-freakin’-ever. Of course I got tingly surges.
Extra bright side? The things Cooper noticed about me would be the things Mick would also notice. Hopefully. Boys all pretty much work the same, right?
Resolve filled me and I straightened so I wouldn’t smash my hair. Mick Pecker, here I come. I hope you’re ready for me.
Chapter Ten
Cooper
I shouldn’t have sniffed her neck like some weirdo. Even in the cab of my truck I could smell her perfume, that scent I’d noticed last night. Lately, I was noticing way too much. At least she had on jeans tonight, although I could easily recall the way her legs looked in those tiny shorts yesterday, and her pants were tight enough I could still see the shape of them, and I might’ve checked out her ass as I’d walked her to my truck.
What the hell was wrong with me?
A sweet girl asks me to help her land a guy and suddenly I’m ogling her and thinking about her lips and her perfume and her legs and—man, I needed to derail this line of thought.
So I focused on the way the headlights lit up the narrow road and trees flanking it, and my plan to put her on Pecker’s radar tonight. For all I knew this attempt would crash and burn and I’d discover I knew nothing about people my age. Hell, maybe I should suggest everyone go outside and stare at the stars once we arrived at the party. Just really drive it home that I didn’t know what it took to be cool, only that not caring had somehow made me cooler.
“You okay?” Kate asked.
I kept my eyes on the road to keep my head in the game. “Yeah. I was just thinking about the lake.”
“When are you not thinking about the lake?”
I smiled at her, and she smiled back, and a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time went through my gut. “Not to rub it in, but you missed out today. There was this perfect breeze and enough cloud cover to keep the temperature nice and cool. You wouldn’t have been able to get your sought-after tan, of course.”
“Well, then, I’m out. Do you think I’m doing this whole rowing training for my health?”
No. You’re doing it for some meathead who only thinks about himself. I needed to remember that before my brain got any other ideas an
d I did something stupid that’d ruin the easy, fun thing we had going on.
“It’s always a bit crowded on the weekends, but it wasn’t too bad today.” The lake. That’d keep me safe. Whenever I thought about veering from the plan, I’d throw out more facts about it. Remind myself that I needed her help with training there, in addition to the side fun we were having.
“Maybe we should just wait until Monday to train more, then.”
I scowled at her and she held up her hands.
“Just kidding, Coach Grouchy Pants. I’m so excited to get out on the lake with you tomorrow that I can hardly control myself. Your jaw is totally going to drop once you see the time we make.”
“It better,” I said, keeping my tone light. Calling me a grouchy pants was hardly fair. More like clinging to every hour of fun and freedom before a decade of boredom and falling in line. I almost told her about the internship, simply because it’d be nice to vent, but that’d be a total downer, and we had enough to think about tonight if we were going to pull off our plan.
Kate scooted forward as we pulled up to the two-story cabin with as many cars as trees. “Wait. Who’s throwing the party?”
“Paris.”
Her shoulders deflated. “Great. She haaates me.”
“How could anybody hate you?”
“I don’t know, yet people pull it off. Basically I wouldn’t be her lackey, but she was cool enough that Amber didn’t mind, and maybe I don’t exactly have kind feelings for her because of that, either.”
“As you can see, half the school is here. You can avoid her easy enough.”
“Right.” Kate nodded and reached for her door handle. Then she abruptly spun around, her face pale. “Remind me why I’m doing this again.”
“Because I’m a genius and you trust me completely.” I figured joking would be better than having to say the truth out loud. For one, thinking about being this weird dating puppet master made me seriously reconsider my life choices, and for two, irritation started to rise up when I thought of Pecker in general.
“I do trust you, and you are a genius.” Kate ran her palms down her jeans. “But I’m, like, crazy nervous. Way more nervous than I thought I’d be.”