by Nia Arthurs
So why did she feel like pulling her hand away from Ryan’s?
His teammates applauded and pointed at them.
“Look at the love birds.”
“How cute.”
Ryan let her go. “Ignore those guys. Sit wherever.”
She nodded and turned away from him to climb up the bleachers. As the team began their drills, Erin pulled out a textbook and a highlighter. She tried to read, but the sound of the team kept drawing her eyes back to the court.
She raked her gaze over Ryan. He was pure lean muscle beneath velvety black skin. Determination carved his expression as he ran from one side of the court to the other.
The only player keeping up with him was Cooper. Erin frowned when her gaze landed on his pale skin and that floppy, brown hair. He wore a grey cotton T-shirt and jersey pants. His muscled arms were bent in front of him as he pushed himself harder.
She forced herself to focus on Ryan, but Erin found that her eyes kept straying to Cooper for the remainder of the practice.
Why did he fix her cut?
And, more importantly, why was she so affected by it?
11 Cooper
He bent over, clutching his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. Sweat dribbled down the side of his face and plopped to the court. Rolando, the player he’d met at the orientation game, flopped to the court beside him.
Cooper inched away.
Rolando sat up. His normally spiky black hair lay flat on his forehead. His tan skin and blue jersey were drenched. “What’s up with you and Ryan, man? Are you two robots or something?”
Cooper straightened. His eyes slid over to where Erin was carefully picking her way down the bleachers. Ryan waited at the bottom, his gaze pinned to her.
Adrenaline soared through his veins. He was so pissed, he could run the drills all over again.
He wouldn’t. But he could.
“You made the rest of us look bad.” Rolando moaned. “What are you two trying to prove? It hurts so much.” He threw a hand over his eyes. “My legs are falling off.”
Cooper let Rolando talk, but he didn’t hear a word. His attention belonged to Erin.
The moment she’d stepped into the gym holding Ryan’s hand, his entire world crumbled. He wanted to pummel Ryan’s smug face in. But that would only cement his place as a jerk in Erin’s mind.
So instead, Cooper channeled all his energy into exercising. Ryan was the one who wanted to turn it into a competition.
“Alright, everyone! Gather round!” Dennis stood in the middle of the court. His voice echoed off the empty bleachers.
Unlike the rest of them, he was ache-free and happy. While they’d slaved under drills, he’d stood on the sidelines and ‘supervised’.
Cooper dragged himself over to the rest of the team. It had been a while since he’d pushed his body so hard. His anger made him numb, but he was sure he’d feel the brunt of his pain tomorrow.
“The student council,” Dennis pinned Erin with a saccharine smile, “has lovingly asked us to set up tents and such for the back-to-school party this Friday.”
Everyone groaned.
Though Cooper remained silent, it was a sentiment he shared.
“I know you’re all clamoring to volunteer, but I have to be fair. Fuentes. Grinage. Lawson.”
Cooper looked up when he heard his name.
“Since you’re the rookies, you’ll be helping out.”
Rolando flopped to the ground and flailed his arms like a child throwing a tantrum. “Come on!”
“Sorry.” Dennis grinned, but it was a smile that said he was enjoying this.
Ryan shrugged. “It should only be for a couple hours, right? I’m in.”
“Lawson?” Dennis glanced at him.
“I’m not going.”
Every head swung his way.
Cooper held Dennis’s stare. “I signed up to play volleyball, not set up tents.”
“It’s not a request, man.” Demetri, one of the other juniors, glared at Cooper.
“Is that all?” Cooper asked calmly.
The captain held his stare.
Cooper returned the look, unflinching. He was prepared for anything. If Dennis kicked him off the team, so be it. He was the one who begged him to join in the first place.
Dennis shook his head and yelled, “Erin!”
She jumped.
Cooper’s gaze swung to her.
What is Dennis doing?
“Yeah?” Erin walked nearer.
“Will you be there?”
“Where?” Erin arched both eyebrows.
“At the dance prep? Your sister’s Student Council President. You’ll help her out, right?” Dennis grinned.
“Yeah.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice if a strong, handsome guy like Cooper was there to take care of the heavy lifting?”
Cooper glanced at Erin.
She looked back at him.
He had no idea what she would say, but his stomach tightened into knots anyway. It happened every time their gazes connected.
She lifted her chin. The stubbornness she’d had ten years ago flickered over her face. “No.”
“No?” Dennis shifted uneasily. He chuckled. “What do you mean?”
“Women have been doing the heavy lifting for years. If someone chooses not to come, we’ll find a way to handle it on our own.” She tilted her head at Cooper. Taunting him. Calling him out.
“You sound proud of that,” Cooper said.
Erin sucked in a breath. “Excuse me?”
He stepped toward her, pulled by a magnetic force. She held her ground, but her chin trembled. He stopped in front of her. “What’s wrong with admitting you need my help?”
“I don’t need anything from you.”
That hurt, but Cooper didn’t let it show. “You’re being difficult for the sake of it.”
“Don’t pretend to know me.”
“I know you’re still stubborn.”
“And you’re still a jerk,” she shot back.
Ryan slipped in between them. “Back off, Cooper.”
Dennis chuckled nervously. “That’s enough for today, guys. Rest up and we meet back here on Wednesday.”
The team shuffled past, mumbling softly. Cooper went after Erin, but a tug on his jersey dragged him back. He spun and found Dennis smirking at him.
“What?” he hissed.
“You’re into Erin, aren’t you?”
Cooper’s stare turned disdainful.
Dennis wiped his nose. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”
“What do you want?”
“Look,” Dennis put a hand around Cooper’s shoulder, “I get it. She’s a hot chick. You’re a single guy. It makes sense. These connections happen.”
Cooper shrugged Dennis’s arm off.
“But from the looks of things, she’s chosen Ryan. I don’t want that to affect the team like it did during the orientation game.”
Cooper stiffened. “I played my best.”
“Bull. You didn’t work with Ryan at all.”
Cooper glowered.
“I’ll be the first one to admit that you’re the best player we’ve got. Hell, the best we’ve ever seen. But if you can’t work with the team, then we’re gonna have a problem.”
“I’ll quit then.”
Dennis threw his head back and groaned. “That’s not what I’m saying. I want us to play together, and I don’t want your thing with Erin to be a problem.”
“It won’t be,” Cooper said.
“You sure?”
He jerked his chin down.
“Alright.” Dennis slapped him on the shoulder twice. “Good talk.”
Cooper drifted to his duffel bag and grabbed a towel to wipe his face. His body was starting to feel the burn. He limped to the door and pushed the metal bar. The sunshine blasted his shoulders.
He squinted, raising his arm to ward off the light. Just that simple movement was a challenge.
“Wh
y’d you push yourself so hard if you can’t take it?” a voice said.
He glanced over and found Erin leaning against the side of the gym, a cellphone in her hands. His heart perked up immediately. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d run off with Ryan?”
“He wanted to shower before our date.”
“Date, huh?”
“Yes.” Erin lifted her chin, daring him to say something about it.
He chose not to. Instead, he glanced at her hand. “How is it?”
She hid the arm behind her back. “It’s fine.”
Tension filled the silence.
Finally, Erin demanded—“Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Take care of me.”
He turned so he was fully facing her. “Because I wanted to.”
She snorted. “That’s it?”
“Because you needed it.”
“So what? After letting me fall, you wanted to be the hero?”
“Believe what you want.” He latched onto the strap of his duffel bag and turned away.
Dried leaves crunched and Erin popped up in front of him. “Wait.”
He tilted his head, studying her. The sun bounced off her silky brown skin. She’d freed her hair of the ponytail and it fell in soft, tight curls to her shoulder. The black jeans cupped her hips. Heat flashed over his skin when he remembered gripping her there.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
His eyes widened.
Erin took note of his expression and laughed. “You don’t have to look that surprised. I do have manners.”
“Not with me.”
She scrunched her nose. “True.”
“It’s fine.” Cooper stared at his tennis shoes. “It was my fault you fell in the first place.”
“Is that an apology?”
“For bumping into you today.” He speared her with a look. “Not for the play.”
She frowned and pointed a finger at him. “So you do remember it?”
“Did I say that?” He captured her finger and put it down.
Erin narrowed her eyes. “You stole my first kiss.”
“I didn’t know it was up for grabs,” Cooper said.
“You did something wrong. The least you can do is remember it.”
“Maybe it wasn’t that memorable.”
She looked offended.
Cooper grinned. He would prefer if those brown eyes were sparkling with a different kind of passion, but he would take Erin Marshall any way he could get her.
She was beyond gorgeous, but it wasn’t just about her looks. Something inside of him clicked into place when he was around her. Like she was a puzzle piece that he’d been missing all his life.
It sounded stupid and frou-frou in his head. He would never dare say it aloud. Nor would he admit that the kiss he had ‘stolen’ from her was his first too.
“Here.” He bent down in front of her so they were face to face. “Try it again. Maybe I’ll remember.”
Her eyes were little more than simmering slits. For a second, he thought she would slap him. Instead, she stepped closer. His heart raced.
Cooper’s emotional IQ was lower than his shoe size. He had a hard time making friends because he didn’t know how to read a room or blend into the background. People were complicated mechanisms that didn’t always make sense.
But the fact that Erin hadn’t run away was a good sign, right?
Instead of kissing his lips, Erin moved to his ear and whispered, “You wish.”
At that moment, the door burst open, knocking her body into his. He caught her, his arms winding around her waist. Her lips brushed his ear. Sent shockwaves wracking through his body.
Erin shivered.
He dug his fingers into her side in response.
“What the hell, Lawson?” Ryan’s voice clamored from behind him.
Erin scrambled out of his grip. She batted a lock of her curly hair away from her face. “Ryan!”
Cooper kept his cool and leveled a look at his teammate. Ryan’s nose flared. His dark eyes shot from Cooper to Erin.
Cooper could guess what was running through his mind.
“I tripped when the door opened. That’s it,” Erin explained.
Ryan stared at her. “You seem to be doing a lot of tripping lately.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means… I didn’t think you were that type of girl, Erin.”
“What type is that?”
Ryan paced the lawn. “Are you messing with the both of us?”
Erin frowned. “Of course not!”
Cooper decided to step in then. “Relax. We weren’t doing anything.”
“Was I talking to you?”
His temper flared at the challenge in Ryan’s voice. Cooper fisted his hands and leaned forward. His face reddened. Arm muscles bunched.
He’d wanted an excuse to fight with Ryan.
This was it.
“Stop.” Erin placed a hand over his.
Everything in Cooper’s body melted at her touch. He glanced down, his eyes locked on her slender fingers wrapping around the back of his fire-red knuckles.
He was putty in her hands. If she told him to lie down and die at that moment, he probably would.
“There’s no need to fight. Ryan, it was just a misunderstanding. If you don’t trust me, we really shouldn’t be in a relationship in the first place.”
At her words, Ryan stiffened. “Erin, that’s not what I meant.”
“I know what you meant.” She blew out a breath. “That doesn’t change what you said.”
Ryan snatched her hand and dragged her away from him. “Let’s go.”
“I’m good.” She yanked her arm back.
“What about our date?”
“It’s cancelled.”
“Whatever.” Ryan threw his hands up and stormed away.
Erin rubbed her temple. “This is bad.”
“What is?”
She frowned. “We just started dating today and we’re already having problems.” She turned on him and poked a finger in his chest. “This is your fault.”
“My fault?” His eyebrows hiked.
“Forget it.” Erin shook her head and stalked down the sidewalk.
Cooper scrambled to catch up with her. “Let me take you home.”
“No way.”
“So you’re gonna walk all the way back?”
“That’s the plan.”
He skated in front of her. “You’re right. It’s my fault. Let me make it up to you.”
She studied him, her eyes crinkling in suspicion. “Two apologies in one day?”
“What can I say? People change.”
He held his breath until she nodded and said, “I’ll be the judge of that.”
12 Cooper
He glanced over at Erin. She sat rigidly, her eyes staring straight ahead. Cooper forced his gaze back to the road, but soon it slid her way again. He couldn’t believe Erin Marshall was sitting in his car.
“What?” she said.
He stiffened, embarrassed to have been caught staring. “Nothing.”
“Then why do you keep looking over?”
“Can you see me?”
“I’m not blind,” she snapped.
He winced and tightened his fingers around the steering wheel. “Where do I go from here?”
“Turn left.”
A moment later, Cooper heard a low grumble. He glanced at Erin and found a slender arm wrapped around her stomach. She caught him watching and tried to wipe her sheepish expression, but it was too late. He’d already seen it.
“You hungry?”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Nope.”
Her belly’s gurgle screamed that she was a liar.
Cooper smirked and flicked his indicator.
Erin sat up straight and flung him an accusing look. “Why are you turning right? I told you left.”
“I’m hungry too.”
“How is that my problem?”
“There’s a burger joint around here. Their food is good.”
“Take me home.”
“I’ll take you after we eat.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I’m not eating with you.”
“Then you can watch me eat. I don’t care.”
Erin huffed out a breath. “You’re insufferable.”
“Insufferable?” He raised an eyebrow. “Your insults are more mature now.”
“Is that a compliment?”
He smirked.
“I’ve got more.” Erin turned toward him, eyes narrowed. “You’re intolerable. Unbearable. Oppressive.”
“Synonyms? I’m hurt.”
One corner of her perfect mouth curved upward. “You’re making fun of me.”
“No, I meant that sincerely. If you could see my insides, you’d know my heart is bleeding right now.”
Erin laughed and stared through her window. “Whatever.”
Cooper smiled. A few minutes later, he parked in front of an unassuming brick building. Coconut trees waved in the front lawn. Vehicles were cramped on the sidewalk. The banner above the roof read ‘Benny’s Burger’s’.
“Is this place sanitary?” Erin asked.
“My mom brought me here when I was younger. I don’t remember much else about that day, but I remember the food. Trust me. It’s worth it.”
She studied him and then unbuckled her seatbelt. “Let’s make this quick.”
Cooper climbed out of the car and walked beside Erin. When he tried to open the door for her, she swatted his arm.
“I’ll do it myself,” she said, chin raised high.
She reached out, but he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and drove her arm down. Cooper pushed the handle and stepped aside so she could pass. “It’s just a door, Erin.”
She flashed him a dark look. “Do you always have your own way?”
“I’d say eighty percent of the time.”
“At least you’re honest,” she grumbled.
He smiled to himself as he followed her inside.
Benny’s was decorated in gaudy shades of red and yellow, inspired by the ketchup and mustard condiments littering the booths. The scent of fried onion filled the air. Customers crowded the booths, their voices rumbling in a cloud of chatter.