Chapter 21 – Cooper
Chapter Twenty-One
Cooper
“ R ice gets knocked against the boards, and the puck is intercepted by the Timberwolves. Matthews pushes the puck over to King in front of the net. King moves to his backhand and scores. The Timberwolves 1, the Winterhawks 0.”
The crowd erupts in cheers as we score the first goal of the game in the second period against the Winterhawks. I thought the rush of scoring a goal was the best feeling in the world, but I was wrong. Watching these boys develop into better hockey players is better than anything I could’ve imagined.
The youth hockey season is in full swing. We had our first game about five weeks ago, and things are looking good for us to make the playoffs this year. Although the club had to do some creative rescheduling when I let them know I was returning to practice with my team, things have been running smoothly. The boys still practice three days a week, but we’ve also incorporated some weight training, as well.
“The Timberwolves are trying to maintain their 1-0 lead, but the Winterhawks aren’t giving up without a fight. Miguel has the puck for the Winterhawks and brings it back to center ice. Miguel passes it off to Gordon. Gordon turns on the afterburners and speeds toward the Timberwolves’ goal. He crosses the blue line and catches Thompson out of position. Gordon goes around the net and scores. The score is now tied, 1 all.”
The buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the second period. The team slowly makes their way toward me on the bench, their shoulders sagging. “Keep your heads up. Be proud. Don’t be scared to continue to take shots on the net. It’s a tie game, and we still have twelve minutes to put more points on the board.” The boys seem to have perked up at my words, slapping each other on the back and shouting words of encouragement to their teammates.
The ref blows the whistle, signaling the start of the final period.
“Wolves on three. 1-2-3.”
“Wolves!” the boys shout in unison as the first line skates out onto the ice. My eyes remain locked on Warner as he moves in to take the face-off at center ice.
He’s a little out of position, needing to lean in closer to the ice to ensure he wins, but we can go over that more in practice this week. The Winterhawks win the face-off and pass it back to Strickland. Stickland takes it to the blue line but immediately turns it over.
Darius takes off like a bat out of hell, on a breakaway, heading directly toward center ice. One of the opposing players is coming up on him fast, arms raised and stick at the ready. I know that stance anywhere. “Look out, Darius. Defender coming in hard!” I shout, holding my breath as he releases the puck, and it sails through the goalie’s legs and into the back of the net, but not before the other player slams him in the back.
Darius goes down hard, sliding along the ice, barely missing the goal, before slamming into the boards. I wait in the box for any signs that he might be hurt, my heart caught in my throat. Darius and I have gotten a lot closer since the beginning of the season. In part because of all the time I’ve been spending with his mother, but also because he’s a sponge.
Darius is early to practice and the last to leave, asking questions about different plays and areas for him to improve. You’d never know this was his first year playing hockey. If he sticks with it, I could see him playing in college and maybe even making it to the league, but don’t tell Beauty that.
“Cooper!” Speaking of Ramona, the sheer terror in her voice breaks my heart.
She hates seeing Darius in pain of any kind. I’ve been on the receiving end of one too many of her tirades about fighting someone’s momma for hurting him.
Darius slowly gets to his feet and skates toward me.
“Sanchez, you’re in for King. Brown, you’ll now change with line 2.”
“Yes, Coach,” both boys say in unison as Sanchez climbs over the wall and skates over to his teammates.
With that taken care of, I can focus all my attention on Darius. “How are you holding up, buddy?”
“I’ve been better, Coach.” He chuckles, wincing at the movements. “She’s gonna be so pissed at the new bruise I’m sure I have.”
“Darius!” Her fist slams into the glass behind the box, desperately trying to get his attention.
“He’s okay, Beauty.” I open the door for Darius and help him take a seat on the end of the bench. “He’ll have a new bruise, but I don’t think anything is broken.”
“Are you sure?”
I nod my head. “But Darius will let us know if the pain gets too bad or he has a hard time breathing. Won’t he?”
“Yes, Coach,” he responds immediately as I turn my attention to the referee.
“He doing okay, Coach?” I nod at the ref as he skates off to grab the other player, leading him toward the penalty box. “Number 7, Miguel. Cross-checking, Two minutes.”
“What did he say that boy’s name was? Miguel?”
“Easy there, Rambo. He’s fine. Didn’t we already say you don’t need to be fighting someone’s momma every time he gets hurt?”
“Seriously, it’s embarrassing. Please go back and sit down,” Darius pleads with her, and her sails deflate immediately.
“Okay, little man. Anything you say, but if you change your mind, I’ll be right here.” Beauty doesn’t even bother to pretend like she is going back to her place higher in the stands, taking a seat directly behind the bench.
The game continues pretty evenly, with neither team dominating over the other. We come close to scoring a third time but don’t have any luck. It seems the goalie has gotten our number.
“Line change,” I call out, and the second line hops off the bench, trading places with the current players on the ice. This is way better than it has been in the past. It took the boys a little while to get used to how I run things.
“Are you sure you’re doing okay?” Ramona says to Darius, my eyes not leaving the ice.
If it were any other parent, I’d have ripped them a new asshole for talking to players during the game, but I really can’t seem to tell her no. That’s why I’ve been spending a lot more time alone in my childhood bedroom than I’d like recently. She wants to take things slow, but it’s been hard for us to get any time alone together. Sure, we see each other during the week and even FaceTime when I stay in the city, but it’s never alone.
Thankfully, everything else has been going smoothly since our impromptu kiss on the Jumbotron at the exhibition game in September. We didn’t get too much attention from anyone not at the game. The management released a statement that I was on the long-term injured reserve list, not wanting to take any chances that I could get re-injured before playoffs, which, just like the hockey club, we have a great chance of qualifying for again this year.
“Can you get her to go back into the stands, Coach?” Darius questions, reminding me to keep my focus on the ice and not daydream about getting closer to my girlfriend.
“Darius. No one on this earth can get her to move once she’s made up her mind. You know that.” I chuckle as the buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the game. The players on the bench step onto the ice to shake hands as I help Darius stand. “I know. I was just hoping you had some special magic over her or something since you’re dating and all.”
“Oh, how I wish that were true.”
Both teams shake hands as we file off the ice toward the locker room. Beauty is standing right there, her arms wrapped around herself as her eyes search frantically for Darius. “Go ahead to the locker room and change. Let the team know I’ll be in there in a minute. I need to talk to Ramona.”
“You mean you need to stop her from getting arrested since Auntie Li isn’t here?”
“That, too.” I chuckle as Sanchez takes Darius’s arm and places it on his shoulder.
“Coach, I’ll help him to the locker room and ask the trainer to look at him.”
“Thank you, Sanchez. I appreciate it.” The boys disappear as they follow their teammates to the locker room, and I move in the opposite direction toward Ramona.
She spots me immediately and comes flying toward me, slamming into me as she wraps her entire body around mine. “Is he really okay?”
My hands cradle her ass as I head toward the office. “He’s fine. But the trainer is going to check him out just in case.”
“Some people need to remember there are children around,” Annamarie snarls as she saunters past with Cordelia and Michelle in tow.
She has gone out of her way to be wherever I am, trying everything she can to get between us. I don’t even know why she is here. The 14u team has an away game tonight.
“You’re one to talk, Annamarie, missing your son’s game so you can fail again at trying to steal Cooper away from me.”
“Trust me, if I really wanted Cooper, he’d be mine, but who’s going to want anything to do with him after he’s taken up with the help?”
Every muscle in my body tightens as I fight the urge to slug Annamarie. Woman or not, she deserves it after speaking to my beauty like that. Fortunately for Annamarie, Momma raised me to be a gentleman. Unlucky for her, Rambo is already out for blood.
“You should put me down, Cooper.”
Her icy tone makes me smile as I nip at the flesh beneath her ear and continue on my way toward the office. “No. I don’t think I will, Rambo.”
“Stop calling me that,” she snaps, her eyes filling with fury as she tries to wriggle from my grasp. “You make me sound like some deranged lunatic when you call me that.”
“I think it’s fucking hot,” I growl, lifting her higher on my body. The seam of her jeans brush against the bulge in my pants.
“Oh, it is?” she moans, her head tilting to the side, giving me better access to her neck.
My teeth nibble across her collarbone as we enter the office, and I kick the door shut with my foot. “Yes. I would like a minute alone with my girlfriend before we both have to get back to our responsibilities.”
“I think that would be all right.”
“Only all right?” I set her down on the desk in front of me, grinding my cock into her open legs. The need for more friction, more pleasure, more of her overrides all my senses.
“Stop fucking teasing me, Cooper. I need you.” She shivers slightly, shaking her head, and I chuckle as I run my nose along the shell of her ear and inhale.
“You smell good enough to eat,” I whisper.
“You know exactly how I taste.”
“Fucking delicious.” I lean in closer, pulling her earlobe into my mouth and nibbling lightly on it.
A soft moan escapes her lips as she threads her fingers into my hair, her back arching into me as I trail light kisses down her neck, wrapping her locs around my hand and tugging slightly. Her breasts rise and fall as her breathing comes in short gasps.
“You have no idea all the filthy things I want to do to you right now. Too bad we are in an ice rink full of people,” I whisper as my eyes flick up and check to see if anyone is watching before focusing on her face. Beauty moans loudly, thrusting her chest toward me, begging for more. “Oh, my beauty would like that, wouldn’t she? Having someone watch us as I make you come all over my tongue. Making your body sing just for me.”
“Yessss.”
Fuck. I should treat Ramona like the queen she is, but I can’t hold back for much longer. My desire to claim her, to make her completely mine right here in this office for anyone to see, letting the entire world know who she belongs to, is overwhelming.
Releasing her hair, I bend down and lift her off the desk before taking her place and positioning her in my lap. We moan as the swell of her ass meets my rock-hard cock. Her head drops to my shoulder, her eyes glassy with need.
“This is what you do to me, baby.” I lift my hips slightly, rocking back and forth, attempting to get some relief. “You’re so wet for me right now, aren’t you? It wouldn’t take much for me to pull down those leggings and slide my cock between your folds, and no one would be the wiser.”
“Please. Please. Please.”
“No need to beg, baby. I’m going to make you feel good, but when I make love to you, I’m going to take my time. I plan on worshipping every inch of your body with my tongue and my cock.” My hand slides along the waistband of her leggings, sliding my fingertips down her skin before pinching her clit and rolling it between my fingers. “You’re so wet for me. Do you ache for my cock deep inside you?”
“You, Cooper. I want you,” she says, barely above a whisper, moving faster over my cock and bringing me closer to the edge. I should stop this now and continue with the evening as planned, but now that I’ve had a taste of her, there’s no going back.
“Good, because I’m never letting you go.” I slip her panties to the side, sliding one finger between her lower lips.
“I need… I need…”
“Quiet, baby. You don’t want everyone to know my fingers are about to be deep inside your pussy.” I lick the shell of her ear, adding another finger between her folds. “I’d kill anyone who saw you like this, needy and ready for my cock.”
She widens her legs, leaning back as my finger moves in and out. My cock becomes even harder, if that’s even possible. Every inch of her body relaxes into mine, molding herself to me as she slaps a hand over her mouth to hold in her moans.
“If you can’t be quiet, I’m going to have to stop.” I slide my fingers from inside her, using my ring finger to circle her clit.
“Please. Please, I’ll be quiet. I promise.” Her hips rise toward my hand, trying desperately to force my fingers back inside her. “Cooper.”
“Fuck. I love the sound of my name on your lips.” I run my nose down one side of her neck, then nibble my way back up the other before shoving my fingers back between her lower lips.
She hisses as my fingers scissor back and forth, tugging on the short hairs at the base of my neck. In my mind, this is a terrible idea. Anyone could walk in and see us. The tentative hold I have on my control slips by the second, but the blissed-out look on her face is worth it, and I can’t bring myself to care. Right now, at this moment, all I want to do is watch her fall apart in my arms.
“Open wider for me, Beauty.” My other hand slides up her belly beneath her shirt. “No bra?” My hand kneads her breast, picking up the pace with my other hand. “You’ve been a very bad girl.”
She grinds her ass into me repeatedly, her pace matching mine. “Are you trying to make me come in my pants like a teenage boy?” I pinch her nipple hard, biting down on the juncture between her shoulder and neck as I thrust my hips upward in time with her movements.
“Yes,” I hiss, the pressure continues building. “I can’t wait to have you spread out before me, your legs wrapped around my shoulders as I fuck your pussy with my tongue.”
Ramona turns her face into my arm, biting down hard to muffle the sound of her screams as she climbs higher. “I’m going to come, Cooper!”
“Just let go, baby. Let go, and I promise it will be amazing.” My body presses her into the table, pinning her in place. “Come for me, Beauty.”
I thrust my cock into her ass cheeks with a groan as moisture covers my hand, her mouth dropping wide as soundless screams escape her lips. I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as Beauty right at this moment. I slow down my movements, her body shaking in my arms, aftershocks of pleasure racking her body. Slipping my fingers from inside her, I press her body closer to mine with my arm, supporting all of her weight.
“What about…” Her hand slides between our bodies, squeezing my aching cock hard. Her eyes are locked with mine as I lick my fingers clean, savoring the taste of her on my tongue.
“Fuck, if you aren’t the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.” I groan, lifting her off my lap and standing, adjusting the bulge in my pants. “You are one dangerous creature, Beauty.” I smile down at her, planting a kiss on her forehead.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“I’ll tell you when I figure it out.” I make sure that our clothing is all in place before threading her fingers between mine and tugging her toward the door. “Let’s go check on Darius. He should have had time to shower and change and should be with the trainer right now.”
Should I feel bad for keeping a boy away from his mother? Probably. But I don’t feel anything besides a burning desire to tell Ramona exactly how much I feel for her. Who knew that love could feel like this?