AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She jumps when a loud air horn sounds, followed by a lively DJ mix to hype the crowd. Jackson sighs and leans back in his seat, slouching low with his popcorn.
The music gets Jenny and Simone dancing. I join in with a laugh when they turn their attention on me. Cooper grins at me, his warm brown eyes gleaming as I shimmy. He lifts his phone and records a video of me, gaze shifting between the phone and me.
Players jog out to the court followed by the announcement of their name after the song ends. The energy in this place is wild and thrilling.
Cooper was right. Something comes over me once the game is underway, driven by the deafening cheering filling the arena. When the South Bay players push the ball down the court, passing it back and forth with impressive speed and skill, my heart drums in time with the smack of the ball against the waxed floor. Every time they score points, I’m jumping to my feet along with everyone else, holding Cooper’s hand as we victory dance. I even participate in a wave, much to Simone’s amusement. She shows me the Boomerang of me on her Instagram story during a break between quarters.
While we wait for the game to start again, the jumbotron hanging at the center of the arena switches from player stats and game highlights to a kiss cam, searching the crowd for couples to match up. My heart skips a beat when it stops on us while we’re standing up and swaying to the music with his arm wrapped around me. Simone and Jenny whoop, nudging me.
Eyes wide, I whirl to Cooper. I was having such a good time, I wasn’t thinking about pretending to be together. Are we doing this? His attention is on me, his gaze full of something I can’t decipher that makes my stomach dip. The arm around my shoulders tightens.
“Come here, gorgeous.” His words ghost over me. “Let me show them all that you’re mine.”
Cooper doesn’t hesitate. His hand cradles my face and draws me near until his mouth slants over mine. The kiss makes my heart swell and I forget we’re being broadcast to an entire stadium of people. It doesn’t matter that our friends are right there, that my brother is watching.
All that matters is my favorite feeling in the world—Cooper’s lips on mine.
THIRTY-FIVE
TATUM
After midterms are over, I feel like I can breathe easier. I’m confident in how my grades are going. What’s even better is the spark of pride in Cooper’s expression after his exams finish up. Midterms week hasn’t been easy on him, even with my help to study.
I decide it’s my turn to surprise him by doing something special for him to destress and celebrate making it through midterms. He’s been working hard to apply himself and I can see him looking toward the future without any of the dread haunting his features over the summer.
At first I’m not sure what to do. He likes it when I let go of my planning-obsessed nature and embrace spontaneity. It turns out to be the right call when I’m randomly browsing the campus’ ticket site for students on a study break while listening to one of my new hype up playlists in the background. I find a music festival happening this weekend in L.A. One of the bands he likes is playing in it.
“This is it,” I whisper excitedly.
My phone has another new tag notification when I grab it. Someone tagged me in the kiss cam from the basketball game again. It’s been all over social media. Scraping my lip with my teeth, I watch the short clip again, heart glowing when Cooper murmurs to me—Let me show them all that you’re mine—before kissing me in front of thousands of people like there’s no question that I’m his girlfriend. For a second, I imagine it’s true, closing my eyes against the wave of longing that passes over me.
But we’re not real. Those are the rules of fake dating. It’s right there in the name. Sighing, I push it all down. If I’m not careful, I’ll fall for our cover, too. Then when it ends… I don’t want to think about that, either.
Swiping to my messages, I text Jackson for his help to pull off the surprise I want to give Cooper. He doesn’t take long to answer me.
Tatum:Are you guys playing a game today?
Jackson:Yeah. I’m on my way to meet Coop and Ty at the gym’s court.
Tatum:Cool, perfect.
Jackson:I don’t think we’re playing a full match today. We’re short on players so we’ll probably just shoot hoops for a while. Why? Miss your boyfriend? [Eye roll emoji]
Tatum:It’s a surprise. [confetti emoji]
Jackson:You don’t do surprises.
Tatum:I do now. Keep him busy while I work my magic.
A smile tugs at my mouth. It turns out surprises aren’t so bad. All I needed was the right person to show me how to appreciate them.
Once I snag tickets for the festival and book us a hotel room, I dig through my notebook stash for the one with floral-patterned paper before hurrying to Cooper’s dorm. After the guys play basketball, he usually heads back to his room to shower before seeing if I want to get dinner with him. That leaves me enough time to leave him a message and pack while Jackson keeps him occupied. We can grab dinner on the road if we leave tonight.
Old Tatum would want to prepare more, say we should at least leave in the morning, but I’m not her anymore. I’m embracing the adventure of an impromptu weekend away.
Elated jitters build in my chest. This is exhilarating. Is this what Cooper means by going with the flow? If so, I think I like it. My entire body is alive with an electric spark from the thought of dropping everything and going right now.
The note I leave on his door is much like the one he left me last weekend before the basketball game. I give him directions to pack an overnight bag and be ready for pick up. Can it be a pick up if we’re taking his car? I shake my head to dispel the habit to think about logistics, then fold the floral patterned paper into the shape of a heart to match the pastel sticky notes he leaves me.
