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Iwouldhaveheldon to Riley forever, but eventually, the cemetery workers needed to do their job.
Riley’s words have latched their claws into my mind and my heart. She was right that Tanner would be disappointed in me, but it was her fear of losing me that caused me to break.
I can’t keep doing this to myself. I can’t keep doing this to us. I need to live for both Coach and Tanner.
We walk over to the casket; it’s time to say my last goodbye. I don’t feel as scared with Riley by my side, holding on to my arm. My palm presses against the smooth wooden material. I was so scared to touch the casket during Tanner’s funeral because that meant it was real, but I can’t live in that fantasyland now because thisisreal and heis gone.
“Thank you, Coach,” I whisper, and Riley leans her head against my shoulder. “I’ll take good care of them, don’t you worry.” I’m not sure which definition of “them” I mean—the team, his family, my family. They’re all covered.
We stand there in silence, Riley’s fingers grazing up and down my arm in a soothing manner.
We finally make our way down the hill toward her car. Riley doesn’t put up a fight when I offer to drive.
“Hey.” I stop her before she climbs into the car. I pull her against me, and she wraps her arms around my waist. The sadness I’ve dealt with all day is eased by her closeness. Just her being here with me slowly heals the cracks in my heart. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Coop. I love you.”
“And I love you, too.” I place a kiss on the top of her head. “To the stars and back.”
“I’m going to text Austin and let him know we’re leaving,” she says as I get into the driver’s seat after having adjusted it to my height. She focuses on her phone as I pull out of the cemetery. “They had stayed, but I told them we wouldn’t be long behind them.”
She sets her phone in the cup holder, and from my peripheral vision, I see her looking around, confused.
“Umm, Cooper, the school is the other way.”
“Oh, I know. We’re not going to the school. Do you trust me?” Leaving my left hand on the wheel, I rest my right hand on her thigh.
“Of course I do.” She places her hand over mine, but I flip over my hand so our fingers link. I keep them there the entire drive till I’m turning onto Westerly Ave and turning into her driveway.
What would Tanner do?Right now, he would tell me to take this woman home and worship her for sticking by my side, for better or for worse.
Before the keys are even out of the ignition, I’m opening the car door and running around to the passenger side of the vehicle. I open the door and haul Riley over my shoulder, firefighter-hold-style.
“Put me down, you brute. I’m wearing a dress,” she exclaims.
She kicks her feet, and I quickly tilt my head to the side to avoid getting hit in the face. I slap her ass, and she lets out an audible gasp.
“It’s fine, baby. No one is around to see anything.”
Their cottage is off the main road, and since Austin took Sutton and Ace to the reception at the school, I know we’re alone. But just to calm her nerves, I make a show of glancing around to confirm it.
“See? All good.” I chuckle and keep my hand on her ass, keeping the material of her dress down, just to give her added reassurance because I’m sure as hell not going to set her down.
My grip on her tightens as we walk up her front porch steps.
“Cooper James Graham, put me down, or I’m callin’ your mama!”
“Damn, baby, why do you have to be so cruel and bring up my mama when my dick is hard?”
I use the house key attached to her key ring to open the front door. I carefully race up the stairs, heading straight for Riley’s room. Her shrieks and giggles echo throughout the entire house.
Entering her bedroom, I kick the door shut with the bottom of my foot. As soon as the door clicks, I set her down, but before she plants both feet firmly on the ground, my hands are in her hair, and my lips are claiming hers.
I walk Riley backward until her lower back bumps into the dresser, and she breaks the kiss with a loud “oof.”
“Sorry,” I murmur against her lips.
I lift her up from the back of her thighs and settle her on top of the dresser—a few items crash to the floor. I could’ve walked the few feet to the right and spread her out on the bed, but I’ve imagined doing this for a while.
