by Cindi Madsen
I drank in the view, surprised by how much I enjoyed seeing her in my clothes, in my room, and a word that had no business being there popped into my head: mine.
But then my gaze lifted to her face.
She had on that fixated, calculating expression that instinctively sent trepidation through my gut. Those big green eyes came back from whatever planet they’d been visiting and focused on me. Something told me I wasn’t going to like the next words out of her mouth. “Mick didn’t text me back yet.”
Guess I was wrong. That’s not so ba—
“I assume you have a laptop somewhere around here? Can you pull up his social media profiles and help me do some light recon?”
And there it is.
“Hear me out,” she said, rolling the chair toward me. “Remember there’s a tight deadline.”
As if I could forget.
“And I just feel like I’m not utilizing every tool at my disposal, and clearly I need all the help I can get. With your input to guide me, surely I can figure out what I need to do to get to the next level. Plus, when I’m on my profile, I’m always worried I’ll accidentally hit Like on an old picture and look like a total stalker.”
Yeah, we wouldn’t want it to look like that.
“Not that I look all the time. Only once in a while, really.” One more scoot brought her knees to mine. She reached up and grabbed my hand. “Please.”
Two minutes later, we were seated on my bed with my laptop. I scrolled through my Facebook feed.
“You just passed a post that you need to go back to,” Kate said. “Quick. Go back, go back!”
I dragged my fingers on the scroll pad until she said, “There.”
A picture of a puppy and a kitten snuggling filled the screen. The post insisted that if you liked it, the world would magically be better to animals, and butterflies and rainbows would rain down amazing karma on you or some shit, but if you ignored it, you’d have bad karma for a year.
I glanced from it to Kate, then slowly scrolled past it again.
Kate tsked and shook her head. “So you’re saying you don’t need any good karma, not for animals and not for you? Even though you have a race coming up?”
“It’s more that I don’t negotiate with meme terrorists.”
Kate tried to hide her laugh. No doubt she liked every damn one of those posts, and because I’d clearly lost my mind over the girl, I found it incredibly endearing. If I had any good karma to give, it was hers.
“Looks like he posted something about an hour ago,” Kate said, reaching right over me and clicking over to Mick’s profile.
His pictures and deep thoughts filled the screen—I’d really been trying to avoid this. It was why I hadn’t just clicked on his profile from the beginning.
“Okay, now you take the wheel,” she said. “It makes me too nervous.”
I slowly dragged the cursor down, hoping she’d get whatever fix she was looking for and the torture would end soon.
Kate’s fingers brushed my knee. “Wait, scroll up again.”
My pulse quickened as she rested her hand where her fingers had brushed, her touch soaking through the thin cotton of my sweats. I swallowed and kept my eyes glued to the screen as I followed her instructions. If I looked at her, I was afraid I’d lose it and either tell her this was ridiculous and I wanted out—in words that’d probably come out way too harsh sounding—or that I’d try to kiss her.
So I just scrolled back up to post 307 of Mick talking about how awesomesauce he was at football and how hard it was for him to choose a school, and in #firstworldproblems news, the coaches from the colleges were calling him every day now.
Woe is you, dude, at least you get a choice. Harvard was nothing to turn my nose up at, and the truth was, I did want to go there. They had a great rowing team, and they were number one in marine biology, a subject I’d love to explore more and possibly major in. To go and study political science instead? It seemed like a wasted opportunity. But I didn’t dare say that to dear old Dad.
Kate made a hmmm noise. “Okay, go to his recent check-ins…”
I stop and say hi to a girl I kinda sorta know one day after school, and now it’s come to this… Cyber stalking a guy I can’t stand for someone I want to stand close to a little more than I should.
She leaned close enough I could feel the warmth radiating off her body. Okay, a lot more than I should.
Chapter Sixteen
Kate
My phone chimed and I nearly jumped out of Cooper’s too big clothes. “It’s him,” I whispered when a text from Mick flashed across the screen. “Quick, close that down.”
“Gladly,” Cooper said, slamming his laptop shut. “For the record, he can’t see you through the phone.”
“I feel like he’ll sense it.”
Cooper gave me a you’re insane look that would’ve been easier to dispute before he’d seen how well I knew how to maneuver around Mick’s Facebook page.
Better keep the other places I use for recon to myself. Everyone knew that thanks to the adults on there, Facebook was where you censored yourself more anyway.
With the computer now closed and put away on the nightstand, I opened the text.
Future Prom Date: Are you and Callihan a thing?
“Future Prom Date?” Cooper’s scowl made his dimples disappear for a moment. “How’d I miss that the first time you shoved your phone in my face?”
“I was going for resolute,” I said, curling my phone closer. “It seemed like a good way to help my goals come true. Like all that visualization crap athletes talk about before a big game. Don’t you do it for rowing?”
“No.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Cooper let out a long breath. “Okay, so maybe our coach has talked about it. But if someone sees that on your phone—especially Pecker—he’ll freak.” His eyebrows arched up and he put a hand on his chest. “That’s why you recruited me. To tell you that kind of thing before it blows up in your face.”
“Noted.” I lifted my phone and ran my thumb across the glass, getting a residual thrill over Mick texting me in the first place. “What do I say to him? I mean, clearly, I say no, we’re not a thing. Right?”
“Wrong.” Cooper shifted, the navy and white comforter bunching underneath him. “You dodge. Make him guess. Here—” He snatched my phone from me.
“Hey! Have I ever told you that you have boundary issues?”
“You’re in my room, wearing my clothes, making me stalk a guy on my laptop. Let’s not get into boundary issues.”
He had a point there. His bedroom was nice, too—spacious and cleaner than I expected, and before he’d come in, I’d checked out the killer view of the lake from his huge windows. And speaking of his clothes, they were soft and warm and smelled faintly like him. I was considering crossing a big boundary and claiming his hoodie as my own so I’d never have to take it off, and it had to do more with wanting to hold on to the sense of security I felt than simply being warm.
The tap, tap of my phone’s keyboard brought me back to the current situation, and I scooted closer and watched him type out a response, hypnotized by his long fingers and the way the line in his forearm twitched as he typed.
Until I read the words.
Me (well, Cooper posing as me): We hang out sometimes. Did you text me to talk about him, or do you want to know what I’m doing this weekend?
I gasped and reached for the phone, my chest meeting the hard resistance of his shoulder. “You can’t send that!”
Cooper held it out of my reach and hit send. “Too late. You can thank me later.”
“You know, I felt bad about dunking you in the water today, but now I’m glad. If I were you, I’d sleep with one eye open.” I lunged for my phone again and Cooper and I fell off the foot of the bed, ending up in a tangle of limbs on the floor.
Cooper groaned. “Hanging out with you is hazardous to my health.”
I got the giggles as I tried to untangle m
yself from him, but he shifted forward as I reached across him for my phone, and I ended up in his lap, our noses all but touching.
The mood shifted, the air heavy and thick, and I sat frozen, transfixed by his eyes and the way they locked on to mine. Our dip in the lake had left the waves in his hair more defined, bordering on curly territory, and before I realized what I was doing, I reached up and pulled on the lock that hung down on his forehead.
His breath stuttered, and mine didn’t feel so steady, either. I licked my lips, and he made a low noise in the back of his throat. Awareness zinged through me as my heart beat a rapid rhythm against my rib cage.
A loud throat clearing broke the silence, and I looked toward the doorway, where a blond woman stood.
I scrambled to my feet and Cooper did the same. “Hey, Mom. This…isn’t what it looks like.” He tugged on his shirt. “I know that’s what every kid says when he gets caught doing something against the rules, but we fell into the lake, and Kate was soaking wet, so that’s why she’s wearing my clothes, and—”
The woman held up a hand. “It’s okay. You’re lucky I wasn’t your dad.”
Cooper nodded.
“All the same, why don’t you and…Kate, was it?”
I swallowed, but my voice still came out squeaky. “Yeah. Um, nice to meet you?”
A small smile curved her lips. “You, too. Now, why don’t you come down to the kitchen and I’ll make some dinner.”
“You’re going to cook?” Cooper asked, and the woman gave him a look. There was a bit of reprimanding in the mix, but there was softness and affection, too.
“I can make grilled cheese, as you well know,” she said.
“Right. And cereal.”
She laughed, and I hoped that meant we weren’t going to get into huge trouble. I could handle, like, a tiny bit of trouble, but if anyone yelled, I cracked and panicked.
Cooper picked up my phone and gave it to me. For some reason, his bringing up how we’d been soaking wet earlier made me recall the way his clothes had clung to his torso, and I got caught up staring at it now. Wet or dry, he knew how to fill out a T-shirt, that was for sure.
“Kate?” Cooper extended his hand. “You coming?”
Part of me was dying to see if Mick had texted back, but there were too many eyes on me right now, and I couldn’t refuse Cooper’s hand.
Once I took it, warmth tingled through me, pushing all thoughts of checking my phone to the far corner of my mind.
Chapter Seventeen
Kate
As I walked toward the school on Thursday morning, my thoughts were caught up in reliving moments from last night. I’d had such a fun evening with Cooper, from our impromptu swim in the lake to hanging out in his room, and even after that, having dinner with him and his mom.
She was beautiful, the kind of woman I imagined won crowns in pageants. Which was probably why I’d expected her to be cold. Now I mentally kicked myself for stereotyping. I wanted to defend myself by saying I’d been burned by girls who looked like her before, but that was no excuse.
Mrs. Callihan made us grilled cheese, and then I pressed for stories about Cooper—it was only fair that I gather intel on some of his embarrassing moments since he’d witnessed way too many of mine.
“When he was little,” Mrs. Callihan had said with a smile, happy to indulge me, “he was obsessed with space, and used to constantly spout off facts about solar systems and planets. I’d ask him to take out the trash in the evening and then I’d find the trash on the back doorstep, and he’d be out on the shore of the lake with a telescope. I used to call him my little space case.” She’d ruffled his hair and he dodged away, his entire face red.
“Thanks, Mom. That’s enough stories for now.” Cooper had put his hand on my shoulder. “I should probably take Kate home before her mom starts to worry.”
“No, no. It’s still early.” Mrs. Callihan had glanced at the time, and her warm smile faded. “Oh. It’s later than I thought.” A strange look passed between them, an unspoken conversation I didn’t have the translator for.
Since my clothes had dried, I’d changed and Cooper took me home. We hadn’t talked much on the way, but it was a comfortable silence, one I hadn’t scrambled to try to fill. And not because he didn’t deserve my chatter that time.
Bonus, when I’d started to take off his hoodie in the truck, he’d told me to hang on to it so I wouldn’t have to be cold for the few steps it took to get to my front door. I’d wanted to wear it to school this morning, but I figured that’d make it look like we were a couple, and our act was supposed to be more casual friends who might be hooking up.
I paused and let that sink in. Honestly, I’d been so wrapped up in how much fun I’d had yesterday evening, I’d almost forgotten that our hangouts were part of a deal. I needed to remember that before I got carried away and started making the confusing tingly attraction vibes I occasionally felt with him into something they weren’t.
But we’re real friends now, right? Having someone to confide in, someone who made me laugh and even look forward to school had made this last week and a half so much better, and I didn’t want to do anything to mess that up.
Which meant chalking up that moment on the floor of his bedroom to not ever being that smooshed up against a boy before and refocusing on my mission. The one he was assisting me with.
Unable to help myself, I took a tiny whiff of the hoodie before placing it in my locker. Just because Cooper had really amazing smelling cologne, and it was okay to think friends smelled sexy.
I grabbed my books for my first class and turned down the hall. I spotted Cooper in the crowd and waved.
He nodded back at me, a grin spreading across his face, and anticipation tingled through my veins.
I started toward him, planning on greeting him by calling him Space Case. But then Mick stepped up to me, and I nearly tripped over my feet. I opened my mouth to speak before realizing I didn’t know what to say, and panic rose up.
My teeth popped as I snapped my mouth closed, embarrassingly loud, and my body heated, giving my deodorant a run for its money.
“You never texted me back, you naughty vixen,” Mick said.
Oh, how embarrassing. He’s not even talking to me. I spun around to see who the lucky girl was, but no one else was around. Which just left me as the recipient of his words, but the thought of me as a naughty vixen was laughable.
My focus got lost in his perfect features, the sharp line of his jaw and that sexy indention in his chin, and the cheekbones that should be illegal on males so that women could have something to hold over guys like him.
“Kate?”
I ran a hand through my hair. “It was just so late when I got home, and I didn’t want to wake you up.”
He nudged me with his elbow, the smirk that frequented my dreams twisting his mouth. “You can wake me up anytime.”
Since the open mouth, gasping-for-air fish face couldn’t possibly be sexy, I pressed my lips together and forced them into a smile. I can do this. Carefree, light…
“I’ll make a note.” Wait. Note making was serious. “Or I won’t.”
His eyebrows drew together and nervousness bound my lungs, and talking whilst unable to breathe wasn’t as easy as it sounded, and it didn’t sound all that easy in the first place.
I reached up and twisted a strand of my hair around my finger. “What I’m saying is, I’ll take you up on that sometime.”
“Good. So how much longer are you going to leave me hanging about this weekend?”
Crap. He must’ve said something in the text about this weekend. As soon as I’d walked in the door last night, Mom had wanted all the details, and I’d had to sort through which ones I wanted to give her, and by the time I looked at my phone, it’d died. I was running late this morning, so I hadn’t even checked it yet. Which was so unlike me, to the point I wondered if a parasite had been in the lake water and infected my brain.
It certainly wasn’t because I
’d completely spaced Mick’s text and gotten caught up in thinking about my friend Cooper and how much fun we had together.
If I dug out my phone now, he might see his code name that I hadn’t had time to change. “I’m sorry, but I just realized I have to get notes for this test I’m probably about to fail.” Which is something a serious girl would worry about. “Not that I’d normally care, but my mom is riding me about my grades, and you know how it is.”
Please know how it is, even though I don’t even know how it is.
“For sure. Coach was always riding my ass about grades—but now that season’s over and I’ve got scholarships lined up, I’m pretty much coasting.” He made a motion with his hand, like it was surfing an air-wave.
“Okay, well. I’ll catch up with you later? Like lunch?” Realizing he probably had standing appointments with all the cool kids at lunch, I backtracked. “Or not lunch, because I’m sure you have plans, but—”
He put his hand on my arm and my heart stopped, I swear it did. “I’ll catch you at lunch.”
With one last smirk, he backed away and melted into the crowd.
As soon as I was sure the target had left the area, I ducked into a corner and pulled out my phone. My fingers hit too many keys at once, and I ended up having to put my password in three times.
Future Prom Date: I’m having a group of people over on Friday night. How about you be one of them?”
I squealed loud enough to garner a few stares, then I quickly put my phone away. Guess I owe Cooper an apology, or thanks, or maybe even dinner.
I couldn’t believe that ballsy text had worked. Clearly I didn’t know what guys were looking for in girls, so thank goodness I had help. I scanned the halls for Cooper so I could tell him his plan actually worked, but most everyone was rushing around, headed to class, and I realized I better, too. Didn’t want to get my first tardy.
Making it through morning classes had never been so hard. Before lunch I popped a breath mint, slicked on some of my strawberry shimmery lip-gloss, and searched for Mick among the crowd in the cafeteria, feigning ignorance to where he usually sat.