by Nia Arthurs
“Whatever.” Cooper walked away.
He spent his free time napping in the library. When his alarm woke him up for his last class, he took a few minutes convincing himself to go.
At last, he walked downstairs and entered the lecture hall. When he saw Kay sitting in one of the front rows, Cooper knew it had been a mistake to come.
He’d honestly rather drop out of this class than take it with her.
Cooper turned and hurried for the door the exact moment another student walked in. They collided. It all happened so fast. One minute he was empty-handed. The next, he had his arms filled with someone soft and sweet-smelling.
Cooper darted one hand out to clutch the doorway. The other wrapped around a thin waist. He scrambled to stay upright, squeezing his partner tightly to his chest as he did so.
Cooper finally caught his breath, and his balance, and glanced down. Surprise paraded across his face when he recognized Erin’s brown skin and dark brown eyes.
She lifted her head. “Watch where you’re going!”
“Erin?”
Cooper saw the emotions play across her features as she realized who he was—shock, awareness, and finally annoyance.
She shoved him away with the strength of a bull. Cooper was prepared and let her go. Erin stumbled back, her mouth open in a scream. He darted toward her, arms extended to catch her.
But he wasn’t fast enough.
Erin crashed into the seats in the backrow. Her body tumbled over the chairs and she ended up wedged between the rows, her boots poking out toward the ceiling. Laughter burst from the classroom.
Cooper winced and rushed toward her, offering his hand to help her up. Hatred seethed from her eyes. She swatted him away and got up on her own.
Her curls frizzed out beneath her ponytail. A sheen of sweat coated her small forehead. Her lips were pulled into a firm line. He wasn’t sure if it was the light or his own imagination, but there was a wet sheen in her eyes.
Had he made her cry?
“Erin, I’m—”
She lifted a trembling hand. “Don’t. Talk. To me.”
Cooper’s gaze locked on a long, thin scrape that started at the base of her little finger and fed down to just below her wrist. She must have hurt herself when she toppled over the chairs.
Erin didn’t give him an opportunity to ask if she was alright. With a huff, she spun and stomped to the middle row. The surge of laughter in the room had quieted to a gentle, rolling hush but he knew people were still discussing her fall.
Erin opened her book and stared at it as if she didn’t care, but Cooper could see that she was still trembling.
And she wasn’t turning the page.
Cooper readjusted the strap of his backpack and ran out of the lecture hall. He sprinted outside and kept on going until he saw a small brick building. Cooper burst inside and darted to the counter where a female student sat.
Her eyes widened when she saw him. “Can I help you?”
“I need a bandage and ointment for a cut.”
She glanced at his body. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Then I can’t help you. This isn’t a store. We can’t just hand these out.”
“Someone’s hurt.”
She sighed. “Then you have to bring them here.”
His shoulders relaxed. His voice turned calm and quiet. The fury that burned in his chest when he saw Erin smiling at Ryan exploded just below the surface. “Ma’am, either give me what I need or I’m going to take it.”
The student shivered, succumbing to the hardness of his face and voice. “Uh, just a minute.”
Cooper tapped his finger on the counter and waited.
She darted out of a back room with a white tube and a package of band-aids. Her brown hands shook when she handed it over. “Will this do?”
Cooper tore the box open and pulled out one bandage. He slid the rest back to her and then swiped the tube from the counter.
The jog back to the classroom felt longer than it should. His heart pounded as he took the steps two at a time. Sweat moved in tiny rivulets beneath his shirt. His breath came hard and fast.
Cooper saw the classroom and slipped through the door. To his surprise, Kay was waiting for him there.
“I knew you’d be back,” she said with a big grin. “Why did you run?”
He wiped the sweat above his lip with the sleeve of his shirt, his gaze sliding across the lecture hall.
“Who are you looking for?”
Cooper spotted Erin and jogged toward her.
Kay kept close on his heels.
Cooper felt every eye in the room following him as he strode down the row and sat in the chair beside Erin. She glanced at him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Cooper jerked his chin toward her hand. “Give it.”
She pulled her hands to her chest. “Leave me alone.”
“What’s going on, Cooper?” Kay asked.
Cooper frowned and grasped Erin’s injured hand.
She struggled for a second, but stopped when her eyes fell on the tube of ointment and the bandage. “Where did you get this?”
He said nothing. Just studied her scrape. He should have gotten a bigger bandage. This would barely cover the injured area.
“Cooper?” Erin insisted.
“Hold still,” he growled.
“Stop.” She resisted him when he squirted the ointment on his finger and moved closer to spread it on her hand. “Everyone is watching,” she said in a low voice.
“So?”
“Professor Sosa will walk in any minute.”
He snatched her hand and held it steady. “Then I should hurry this up.”
As Cooper tended to Erin’s wound it was so quiet a pin could drop. He didn’t care. His entire being was focused on the woman in front of him.
Cooper finished with the ointment and turned to the bandage next. Erin watched, transfixed. He tore the wrapper and gently placed the cotton on the deepest part of the cut. His thumb ran along the length of it, smoothing it down.
When he was done, he stared at Erin. Her mouth formed a little ‘o’.
Without another word, Cooper gathered his trash and walked to the opposite end of the room. He’d already done enough damage today. It was best he honor Erin’s request and left her alone.
10 Erin
Peggy pounced on her the moment they met up at the parking lot after her last class. “Is it true?”
Erin panicked. Did Peggy know about her birth mother and the fact that she wanted to find her? Erin hadn’t shared that with her sister. She was too afraid that if she spoke the words out loud, they would summon the event she dreaded.
Like dark magic.
Erin just wanted to forget about her mother’s warning.
I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
“Is… what true?” Erin mumbled.
“Did Cooper Lawson patch you up like a hunky nurse?”
“A hunky… what?”
“It’s all over campus,” Peggy said. “There’s even a video of it trending on the school billboard. Girls are going wild. I’m pretty sure people will start walking into stuff just so he can put band-aids on them.”
“Maybe they wouldn’t be that excited if they knew he was the one who hurt me in the first place.”
Peggy froze. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” Erin scurried ahead. “Let’s just go home.”
“Stop it right there! Did Cooper Lawson put his hand on you?”
“Of course not.”
“Tell me,” Peggy demanded.
“He didn’t hit me,” Erin said. “We bumped into each other, and he kind of hugged me.”
“He hugged you!”
Birds cawed overhead, disturbed from their peaceful rest by Peggy’s obnoxious tone.
“Could you scream it so the entire school hears?” Erin hissed.
“He hugged you?” Peggy whispered.
“Not intentionally. He
was just trying to keep us from falling.”
“How did you end up getting hurt then?”
“I pushed him away. He let me go at the same time, and I couldn’t stop my momentum. I fell over the chairs in the back row and scraped my hand.” She showed Peggy the bandage Cooper had gently placed there.
She still couldn’t believe their primary school’s bad boy had touched her so tenderly. It was like staring at a different person. A nicer person.
Basically, he wasn’t Cooper Lawson.
“Why do you think he did that?” Erin mumbled.
“Hello!” Her sister waved a hand in her face. “He likes you.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Then how do you explain it? I heard he threatened the nurse’s assistant to get those supplies for you.”
“You spoke to the nurse’s assistant?”
“She stopped by the Center today. She’s dating Byron, our treasurer.”
“I thought Byron was dating the secretary? He was all over her during orientation.”
“No, they’re just messing. He’s really dating that girl.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Erin shook her head because she didn’t want to fall down Peggy’s rabbit hole of relationship explaining. “I know for a fact Cooper doesn’t like me.”
Peggy crossed her arms in front of her chest. “How do you know that?”
“Because he let me fall on purpose.”
“Then why would he go to all that trouble of helping you afterwards?”
“Because…” She had nothing.
“Alright, honey.” Peggy squeezed her shoulder. “You go ahead and play clueless.”
“Just take me home.”
The girls got into Peggy’s SUV. Her parents had offered to purchase a car for Erin too, but she’d denied it.
First off, she hated driving. It was way too much responsibility for her. Plus, it would be harmful to the environment to have two trucks running around when they were going to the same apartment.
She didn’t go out that often anyway, so she didn’t need her own car.
Peggy turned on the radio and started dancing to the beat. Erin listened in quietly. When the song was over, her sister turned the dial down and glanced at her. “The student council is throwing a back-to-school party this Friday night. You wanna come?”
“Nope.”
Peggy frowned and grumbled, “I figured you’d say that.”
“Watching my classmates grind on each other to music with lyrics that are disrespectful to women isn’t my idea of a good time.”
“Hey, I don’t agree with all the lyrics either, but money is money.” Peggy sighed. “Will you at least come help?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Ryan will be there,” Peggy cooed.
Erin sat at attention. “Really?”
“We asked the volleyball team to help us set up the tent and stuff. Dennis will probably send the freshmen just because he can push them around.”
“I’ll be there. I’ll do it.”
“Thanks.” Peggy laughed. “You really like this guy, don’t you?”
Erin sank deeper into her seat and closed her eyes. She saw Ryan’s face as if it were tattooed on her eyelids. “He’s sweet. Kind. Smart. Funny.”
“Handsome,” Peggy added.
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure he’s the right one for you though?”
Her eyes shot open. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You said the date was awkward and you didn’t really talk until he was dropping you home. What if you’re relying on nostalgia here? What if you’d just met Ryan today instead of ten years ago?”
“I would still be attracted to him.”
“If you say so.”
“I’m serious.” Erin swatted Peggy’s arm. “What do you have against Ryan?”
“Nothing. He’s cool. It’s just…”
“What?”
“I’m Team Cooper. All the way!”
Erin rose out of her seat and wrapped her arms around Peggy’s throat.
“Ach!” Peggy complained. “Get off. I’m driving.”
Erin released her sister and brushed her shirt down. “If you like Cooper so much, why don’t you date him?”
“I’m happy with Vinnie. Besides, Cooper wouldn’t give me a second glance.”
“You’re so wrong.”
“Am I?”
The sisters laughed together.
Peggy drove closer to home and leaned over the steering wheel. “Erin, look. Isn’t that Ryan’s car?”
“Where?” Erin raised her chin and stared straight ahead. She spotted Ryan’s truck parked on the sidewalk. The sunlight glinted off the shiny blue paint.
Her heart shot around her chest like a pinball.
“Why is here?” Peggy glanced inquiringly at her. “Did you have another date tonight?”
“No. He was supposed to check his schedule and get back to me.”
“Look, he’s waving.” Peggy grinned and pointed at Ryan as they passed him by on their way to their designated parking spot.
Erin bit her lip and shyly returned his greeting. His brown eyes sparkled. Ryan’s skin loved the sun and it was clear the feeling was mutual. That dark skin of his glistened like he’d spread coconut oil all over it.
Peggy parked the car and turned to Erin. “I have to admit. Ryan’s kind of cute. But I still prefer Cooper.”
Erin waved her sister’s words away. “How do I look?”
“Like you’ve had a long day.”
Erin groaned. “Why didn’t he call first?”
“You should go and see what’s up. I’ll be upstairs.”
Erin nodded and composed herself before climbing out of the car and trotting to Ryan. He welcomed her with a broad smile. Her own grin widened at the sight of it.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.” She wiggled her fingers.
Ryan captured her hand and held it in his palm. “I’m sorry to stop by like this. I heard what happened to you.”
“Oh. It was nothing. You didn’t have to drive all the way here.”
“I looked for you after school, but I didn’t find you. I tried calling your phone too, but I didn’t get through.” He ducked his head and looked at her through hooded eyes. “You’re not ignoring me, are you?”
“No way.” Erin choked at the very thought.
“Good.” His smile held a hint of relief.
“Do you want to come inside?”
“I can’t. We have practice in a few minutes.”
“Oh.”
“I just wanted to check on your hand.” He held it up between them.
“It’s fine.”
“I heard Cooper patched it up for you.”
Erin heard a wisp of disapproval in his tone. “Yeah. It was no big deal.”
“You sure?”
She nodded.
His shoulders relaxed. “When should we have our next date?”
“I’m free whenever.”
“I wish I could take you out tonight, but I don’t want to make you wait through practice just for me.”
“I don’t mind,” Erin said immediately.
Ryan eyed her and then shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking me. I’m offering.”
“Would you?”
Her ponytail shook like a pom pom as she nodded. “I would love to. Peggy used to play volleyball, and I always enjoyed watching her games.”
“We’re only doing drills right now.” Ryan rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not very entertaining.”
“No problem. I’ll take my homework and study.”
He ran a finger down her cheek, his eyes on hers. “Feels nice.”
“What?”
“Having a girlfriend.”
“G-girlfriend?” She blinked.
Ryan winced. “I’m sorry. Am I going too fast? It’s just… I feel a lot for you, Erin. And it’s not like w
e’re strangers. We’ve liked each other since primary school. If anything, we’re going too slow. What do you say?”
Erin couldn’t speak if she wanted to.
Birds twittered their congratulations. The breeze ran through the coconut trees, filling the air with the sound of applause. She wouldn’t be too surprised if fireworks exploded in the sky.
Her first crush would be her first college boyfriend.
There was something so poetic about that.
“Are you… upset?”
“No.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “I’m great.”
“Then it’s settled. We’re dating. Officially.”
She nodded. Erin didn’t trust her voice. If she opened her mouth, she’d probably start screaming in excitement and make a complete fool of herself.
Ryan stepped back and checked his watch. “Do you need anything before we head to practice?”
“No.” She tapped her purse. “Everything I need is right in here.”
“Let’s go then.” Ryan spun and climbed into his side of the vehicle.
Erin took an extra second to squeeze her eyes shut and pump a fist before she joined him.
Ryan was silent the entire ride back to school, but Erin didn’t mind. They were dating. They’d have plenty of time to talk later.
He parked in front of the gym. She walked quietly beside him, perfectly content.
Just before he opened the door for her, Ryan stopped.
“What?” she asked.
He bent down and captured her hand, the one with the bandage on the side. “There. I knew something was missing.”
She stared at their joined hands, shades of brown blending together. His hands were large, calloused.
How can one man be that perfect?
Erin saved her gushing for later and gave Ryan a small smile.
He led her into the gym. The sound of sneakers squeaking against the wooden floor shattered the air. Erin wrinkled her nose immediately. The place smelled of sweat and B.O.
The moment they walked in, the practice stopped. Everyone turned and stared at them, running curious gazes at their joined hands.
Erin’s heart stopped when she saw Cooper.
His golden eyes landed on where Ryan’s hand covered hers and then flew back to her face. Her heart thudded. Guilt flooded her. Erin struggled to bat the sensation away.
She didn’t owe Cooper anything. On the contrary, she couldn’t stand his guts. Because of him, she’d made a complete fool of herself in class, and her face had been plastered on the school’s social media.