AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gotta go. Sorry,” I whisper to Bradley.
“You got called in? Now?” His tone tells me he’s annoyed, though I don’t know why. He spent the majority of the night talking with the guys.
“Yeah.”
I wait for a beat, but he doesn’t offer to walk me out, so I say my goodbyes, and Bradley says he’ll call me tomorrow. When I get outside, I inhale a deep breath, but before I can hail a taxi, a hand finds mine. I look over to see Cooper.
“Your boyfriend should know that you need to be walked out of here.” He holds his hand out for a taxi coming down the street, and it pulls over in front of us. “I hope it’s nothing serious.” He opens the taxi door and waits for me to get in.
“Thank you,” I say.
A small smile creases Cooper’s lips. “I’ll always take care of you. You know that.”
The taxi pulls away from the curb, and I lean back in the seat.
What was all that tonight? Surely it wasn’t jealousy. No way.
It’s just that things are changing between Cooper and me, and change is always hard. I’ll get used to it. We both will.
Chapter 6
Cooper
Junior Year of College
I was in the tunnel, waiting for our team to be called onto the field. Usually I was pretty quiet, but that day, I was even more so because I was nervous that when I looked into the stands, Ellery wouldn’t be there. Giving her an ultimatum like that had been a dick move, but I’d known she’d agree to a date for her friend.
And why was I so interested in Ellery Wallace? I wasn’t even sure. She was hot, there was no doubt about that. But every day a new girl hit on me, gave me her phone number, or openly flirted with me, and there I was, fixated on a girl who didn’t see me like that from what she said. I called her bullshit though. She liked what she saw, the same as I did her.
When they finally announced us, we all ran onto the field, fists pumping. Some guys jumped and slammed against each other to get hyped, but I looked in the stands. I’d gotten her the good tickets, away from the student area.
I bit down on my smile when I saw her with Bryce at the fifty-yard line. But Ellery was sitting next to my parents. They hadn’t informed me they were coming up until I’d already made the arrangements, so I was sure it was awkward for her.
Our eyes locked, and I waved to the group, earning four waves back, plus someone from a few rows up who must’ve thought I knew them.
From there, I concentrated on the game and pushed away the fact that not only was my hero, my dad, there, but so was the girl I couldn’t stop thinking about.
We were behind at the half, and as I was about to head into the locker room for the quick break, my dad called out to me. Of course he’d gotten through security—he was Tom Rice, a Hall of Fame quarterback. I looked a lot like him, except for my eyes. Those came from my mom.
“You gotta be faster out of the pocket,” he said. “Your O-line is doing an okay job, but use those instincts.” He tapped my temple.
I nodded, never refusing my dad’s advice.
“Does this have anything to do with the girl sitting next to your mom?”
“No.” I shook my head.
“We’ve been over this. No girlfriends in college. It’ll only distract you, and that will cost you later.”
“She’s just a friend.” I lied because my dad didn’t need to know the truth.
My mom had been his high school sweetheart, and he’d still made it to the pros. Of course, that was when things got crazy for them, which was part of what had scared me about having someone special in my life.
“Good.” He smiled, but it was the creepy one he had when he talked about women. One that made me think maybe my mom had reason to be worried about all those out-of-town games and boys’ vacations.
“I gotta go.” I looked back at the door of the locker room.
“Yeah, go. Just remember, faster out of the pocket and look downfield. You have the best arm in the league. Fucking use it.” He turned and walked away.
