For the Game

by Amber Garza

  When Cooper and I first got together I struggled with the knowledge of how many girls he’d been with before. And the fact that I’d attended school with him for the past three years didn’t help. I could picture him kissing other girls, flirting with them or holding their hands. The difference was that I could remind myself that those things had happened prior to our relationship. I could tuck all those memories into a neat little box labeled “before,” reminding myself that they had nothing to do with me. Remind myself that he had changed; that my Cooper would never do those things. And I believed that. He was a new person, totally different than the boy he’d been before. Everyone saw the change in him. I could almost pretend that the boy who’d been with all those girls wasn’t my Cooper at all.

  But tonight it was my Cooper with that girl. It was my Cooper she was touching. Her fingers grazed the face I’d run my fingers over many times. The same lips that touched mine had touched hers. And it was too much. I wanted to scream, to throw things, to cry. But I couldn’t. Not here. Not on the college campus where anyone could see me. Walking faster, I knew I had to get out of here. Turning a corner, I hurried toward where I’d parked the rental car. Perhaps I could even get a flight back tonight. Then I could go home and try to forget this night ever happened. Only I knew there was no forgetting. I’d remember this night for the rest of my life.

  A small tear trickled out of my eye, and I swiped it quickly. The tears would have to wait. Sniffling, I picked up the pace. The snap of a twig caused my shoulders to tense. I swiveled my head, scanning the area around me. When I saw a group of students walking toward me, I relaxed a little and mentally chastised myself. I was out in public. What was I expecting? Of course there would be people around. I needed to stop being so damn jumpy.

  Taking a deep breath, I passed the group and stepped onto the grass. Remembering where the parking lot was, I figured if I cut through the grass I’d get there faster. And all I wanted right now was to be in my car and far away from this campus. I weaved around a tree, my shoes sinking into the wet grass. Darkness shrouded me as I moved further away from the lights that framed the concrete walkway.

  Rustling nearby caused my pulse to quicken. Forcing away the paranoid thoughts I kept my head down and kept walking. But the rustling got nearer and nearer. The image of my mom’s battered body flashed in my mind, and I almost cried out. Instead, I bit my lip and tried to think of happier things. It was a losing battle though. Once my mind latched on to this damn memory there was no getting rid of it.

  A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and a bloodcurdling scream tore from my throat.

  “Hey, hey, relax,” an unfamiliar man’s voice boomed. His voice was scratchy and gravelly, just like my mom’s attacker. Even though his words were clearly meant to calm me down, they actually just amped me up further.

  “Get away from me,” I spoke through gritted teeth, flailing my arms.

  “C’mon, I’m not going to hurt you.” Thick hands were touching me again, closing over my arms, and spinning me around.

  My head bobbed up, my gaze landing on the stranger. He was a huge. His large muscular body loomed over me, his dark eyes piercing mine. I shuddered, cowering. My gaze darted around, looking for someone, anyone. But no one was near. Students milled about further up on the campus, a few of them ambling down the walkway. But I was too far off, hidden in the darkness of the trees. Why the hell had I walked this way? And where had this guy come from? Was he waiting for me to be alone? I thought about how my mom had been alone when her attacker showed up. How he’d waited for Dad and I to leave before approaching her.

  The stranger’s lips curled upward in a smile as if he was enjoying my discomfort. His hold on my arms tightened. I wondered if Mom’s attacker had smiled at her.

  “You’re a feisty little thing. I can see why Mini-Coop likes you.”

  Mini-Coop? I stopped fighting and stared up at him. “Who are you?” I demanded.

  He chuckled. “Inquisitive too. I like it.”

  “Just tell me who you are.” My heart pounded in my chest.

  “Ace.”

  I inhaled sharply, remembering all the stories Cooper told me about Ace. Shit.

  “I see you’ve heard of me.” He sneered. “And I’ve heard of you too. You’re Cooper’s girl. Not the one he was with earlier. The one from back home. Am I right?”

  My stomach soured at his mention of Charlotte. And how did he know so much about me? I knew he and Cooper weren’t exactly friends. “What do you want from me?” I hated how whiny my voice sounded.

  “Wow. Usually girls don’t put up this much of a fight.”

  He’d done this before? Oh, god. Was he like a serial rapist or something? Terror snaked around my heart, squeezing hard. Reaching down, I attempted to pry his fingers off, but his grip was too tight. Terrified, I let out another scream, praying someone would hear.

  “Let go of her now!” At the sound of Cooper’s voice relief washed over me like a cool breeze on a hot day.

  “Ah, look.” Ace released his hold on me, and I exhaled. “It’s Mini-Coop.”

  Cooper rushed Ace, shoving him backward. “Don’t you ever lay a hand on my girl.”

  Ace’s eyes darkened. “You better watch it, Mini.”

  My stomach knotted at the look of pure hatred in Ace’s eyes. I stepped back, my butt hitting a nearby tree. I wanted to grab Cooper and get the hell out of here. But before I could react, Cooper was coming at Ace again.

  “No, you better watch it. I’ve put up with your shit all season, but now you’ve gone too far.” His fist connected with Ace’s jaw, and I winced. “You can mess with me all you want, but you will not touch London.”

  Ace staggered back, clutching his jaw. Then he narrowed his eyes and stood tall. “That was a mistake.” He shoved Cooper hard in the chest. I gasped as Cooper flew backward.

  Desperate, I glanced around. Where was everyone? Blood rushed to my head, my heart hammering. Cooper regained composure and swung at Ace again, but Ace blocked it. Then he grabbed Cooper around the waist and tackled him to the ground.

  “You’re an idiot.” Ace ground his teeth together. “I wasn’t hurting your girl. I saw you get in a fight, so I was just checking on her.”

  My stomach soured. Was that true? Had I blown this whole thing out of proportion? Did irrational fear get the best of me again?

  “I don’t believe you.” Cooper writhed underneath Ace, but Ace held him down, hitting him once in the face.

  “Stop!” I hollered, wishing I could make this cease. Even though I’d been so angry with Cooper a few minutes ago, I never wanted him to be hurt. Gathering up a surge of courage, I stepped away from the tree. There was no way I could allow Ace to hurt Cooper again. I was about to jump on Ace’s back when a guy raced toward us.

  “Ace?” The guy called out.

  Ace’s head snapped up.

  “Ace, what the hell, man? You can’t be doing this.” The guy glanced down at Cooper, and I saw recognition in his eyes. “Shit, dude. Seriously? Not again.”

  “He started it,” Ace spat. “And now he’s getting what he deserves.”

  The guy moved forward carefully. “You want to throw everything away for this guy? Is it worth it?”

  Ace stared at the guy, losing some of his toughness. He released the hold he had on Cooper and I exhaled, my chest expanding. Cooper took his opening, shoving Ace back. Ace teetered backwards, and Cooper slipped out from under him. Without acknowledging Ace at all, Cooper scrambled off the ground and raced to me.

  “London.” Cooper’s hands were on my face. “You okay?”

  He had a bruise under his eye and it was starting to swell. Nodding, I winced. I wasn’t the one he should be worried about.

  “You’re gonna regret this, Mini,” Ace growled.

  “I doubt it,” Cooper responded.

  “Wait until Coach finds out about this.” Rolling over, Ace stood up unsteadily and staggered in the opposite direction. His friend gave us a wary l
ook and then followed behind Ace.

  My insides coiled. “Coop, are you going to lose your position on the team over this?”

  Cooper shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  Cooper’s hands tightened around my face. “No, it doesn’t. London, don’t you get it by now? Nothing is more important to me than you. I could never play baseball again, and as long as I had you and you were safe and healthy, I would be happy.” His forehead fell to mine. “When I heard you scream, I lost my mind. I’ll never let anyone hurt you, baby.”

  My mind flitted back to what I’d witnessed between Charlotte and Cooper. It was true that she seemed to be the one initiating the contact. He was just standing there with his hands by his sides. Was he telling the truth the whole time? Shame and regret filled me at the thought. If I hadn’t overreacted, none of this would have happened at all. But then I remembered Ace’s words.

  “But Ace mentioned Charlotte like he’d seen you two together.”

  “Ace was trying to stir up trouble. Clearly he’d witnessed what happened between you and I tonight and he thought he could capitalize on it. He’d do just about anything to take my spot on the team.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I breathed out, realizing how bad I’d messed up. I had played right into Ace’s hands. If Cooper lost his spot on the team it would be on me. “This is all my fault.”

  “Hey. Like I said, you’re worth it.” He drew his face back and looked into my eyes.

  “But you never would’ve fought Ace if it wasn’t for me. I shouldn’t have run off.”

  “Ace is a dick. He had it coming, trust me. This fight was inevitable.”

  Reaching out, I touched his face, my fingertips trailing the bruise. “We need to get ice on this.”

  He nodded. “First, I need to make sure we’re okay.”

  “Yeah, we’re okay.”

  “You believe me about Charlotte?”

  My head bobbed up and down. “I do.”

  I took Cooper to my hotel room. He didn’t want to go back to his dorm and be interrogated by Justin. When we got to my room, I instructed him to sit on the bed while I ran down the hall to fill the ice bucket. Then I returned to the room and dropped some ice cubes into a rag. After wrapping the rag around the ice, I moved to where Cooper was perched on the edge of the bed. Sitting next to him, I lifted the rag and carefully held it against his bruise. His hot breath fanned over my arm, causing me to shiver. It was a little swollen, but it didn’t look so bad. Ace hadn’t hurt him as much as I’d thought. Still, I hated seeing him like this. Sitting in silence, I held it there for a few minutes. My mind was restless, a jumble of guilt inducing thoughts. Wishing I could make this all better, erase the damage I’d caused, I lowered the rag. Then I moved in close and gently pressed my lips to the bruise. I swept my lips over the swelling, hoping my mouth could convey how sorry I was. His expression was unreadable as I drew back.

  When I tried to stand up, his hand clamped around my wrist. “Not so fast,” he said. My insides trembled at his tone. His eyes darkened, his eyelids lowering. Bringing his other arm out, he grabbed my other wrist. Then he drew me to him, fastening his mouth to mine. In his kiss I felt all his pent-up desire, all his longing and need. There was desperation in the way he held my wrists tightly, the way his tongue slid over mine, the way his lips moved with intensity. “God, I was so scared of losing you tonight.” Our gazed locked.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about all of it.” Releasing my arms, he brought his hands up to touch my face. His fingertips were silky against my flesh. “You’re my heart, London. You’re my everything. I would never do anything to jeopardize what we have. God, just the thought of losing you kills me.”

  His words pierced my heart. How could I have ever doubted him? “Coop, I feel terrible.” I moved away from him, and started pacing. “I let all my old insecurities get the better of me. I guess my imagination ran wild because of what everyone’s been saying to me at school.”

  I heard the creak of the bed as Cooper stood. His arms wrapped around my waist, drawing me to him. His heart thumped against my back. “You have no reason to be insecure. And I told you to tell me if people were being mean to you at school.”

  I smiled. “I know. I guess I thought I was handling it better than I was.”

  “You never need to handle anything on your own, London. That’s why you have me. You’ve got to let me carry some of your burdens.”

  Leaning back, I sighed. “That’s why I came today. I wanted to be here for you the night of the television show airing.” I snorted. “Some help I was.”

  He spun me around to face him. “Hey, having you here with me is the best thing that’s happened to me in months.”

  “Even after everything that’s happened tonight?” My eyebrows raised in skepticism.

  “Yeah.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I missed you more than I can even express, baby.”

  “Me too.”

  “I hate being away from you. Everything is harder when you’re not with me.” He tugged me close.

  “You’re not going to have to be without me much longer,” I told him.

  He froze, his eyes widening. For a moment neither of us moved. His gaze collided with mine, as if he was unsure what to believe. “Are you saying what I think you are?”

  “If you’re thinking that I will soon be a Fallbrook Falcon, then yes.”

  “Really?” He smiled. “You’re sure about this?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, my smile growing. “What I want is you, Coop. You’re my future. I think that’s why I got so freaked out when I saw you with that girl. For a split second I worried that I’d chosen wrong. But now I know I didn’t.”

  “Oh, god, baby. You don’t know how happy I am.” His arms circled my waist, and he picked me up, kissing me hard. “I wasn’t sure how I’d survive another four years away from you.”

  “Me either.” I shook my head. “And I didn’t want to find out. Fallbrook is a good school, and it has a great English program. But that isn’t why I chose it. I chose it because it has you.”

  Cooper stamped a kiss on my forehead. “And now it has you.”

  CHAPTER 26

  Cooper

  London breathed evenly through semi-parted lips. Her golden hair was splayed across the pillow, her lashes resting against her pale skin. Reaching down, I gently stroked her hair with my fingertips. She stirred, but didn’t wake. My body was curled around hers, and it felt good to have her so close. We stayed up late last night talking. By the time we finished, London was getting tired, and I had no desire to leave her. Not after the night we’d had. So we cuddled on the bed, and before I knew it London was fast asleep in my arms. I watched her for awhile, enjoying the soft rise and fall of her chest, savoring the way she looked– so content and peaceful. But mostly I just wanted to take in all of her features, to convince myself that she was here and she was real.

  I couldn’t believe she came all this way for me. London knew how much I loved surprises and sweeping romantic gestures. They weren’t really her thing, so rarely did she do them. And this one was pretty damn huge. It must have been awful for her to do all that and then witness what happened between me and Charlotte. Man, I could kill myself for almost blowing this, for almost losing London.

  My stomach tightened at the memory of Ace with his hands on her. That asshole deserved what happened. Lifting my hand, I touched my swollen face. Even though I knew I’d acted impulsively and my behavior might cost me my spot on the team, I didn’t regret it. There was no way I could let him get away with scaring London like that. Not after everything she’d been through. She should always feel safe and protected, and it was my job to keep her that way.

  With my arm around her, I tugged her closer to me. When I did her butt brushed over my crotch, and a wave of desire ran through me. Staring down at her beautiful face and smoking hot body, I wanted nothing more than to tear off those s
horts of hers and show her how much I loved her. But I knew I couldn’t do that. I’d made it clear that when that happened it would be London’s call. She had to give me the okay. And as much as I wanted to convince myself that the fact that she was sleeping in my arms looking damn sexy was an okay, I knew it wasn’t. Not really. Wiggling away, I readjusted my position.

  “Coop?” London’s eyes fluttered open, her voice thick and groggy.

  “Yeah, baby.” I brushed her hair from her face.

  She rolled over wearing a lazy smile. “You’re still here.”

  “I couldn’t leave you.”

  “I’m glad.” Relief washed over me. My heart swelled knowing that no matter what transpired last night, she still wanted me.

  “Me too.” I stamped a kiss on her forehead. “God, you’re so beautiful in the morning.”

  “Ugh. No, I’m not.” She ran a hand over her face.

  “Yes, you are.” I stared into her bright blue eyes. “Trust me.”

  Her face sobered up, taking on a serious expression. She reached out and touched my face, her soft fingers grazing my flesh. “I do trust you, Coop.”

  I gathered her hand in mine, folding my fingers over hers. Her words meant everything to me, and I held them close. “I will never hurt you, London.”

  “I know. I’m so sorry about last night.”

  “Hey,” I stopped her. “It’s over. We’re fine.”

  She nodded, dragging her teeth through her bottom lip. Light filtered in through the small open space of the thick brown curtains, and it sliced across her face.

  “God, I still can’t believe you’re here. It feels like a dream,” I told her.

  “I know. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “Me too.” Curving my hand around her face, I leaned down to kiss her, but she put up her hand to block me.

  “Not yet. Gotta brush my teeth first.”