Chapter 9
Cooper
“Fuuuuck,” I moan. My head is pounding, and my body is aching as I roll over, burying my face into my pillow.
Only, when I breathe in, it’s not a scent I’m familiar with.
Lifting my head, I groan, eyes blurry and still filled with sleep. Turning my head to the side, I ignore the drums going off inside my brain and look around, confirming that I am, in fact, not in my room.
Rolling back over, I force myself to sit up, swinging my legs over the edge. “What the fuck happened last night?”
“You got smashed on a weeknight.” Blake’s voice has my head snapping up.
“Bad idea.” I groan, feeling like I’m going to puke. “Blake?” I blink. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing in my house?”
He smiles, something I haven’t seen much of before last night. Last night... when we went to the bar. Friends. Talking. Drinking, so much drinking. Darts. Dancing.
“This isn’t my house, is it?” I chuckle, feeling like death.
“Nope.” He’s leaning in the doorway, arms crossed. His sleep pants hang low on his waist. His shirt lifts, thanks to his crossed arms, giving me a view of a V I’m kind of surprised to see. He’s always wearing a baggy hoodie, so I haven’t had the chance to really see what his body looks like.
I do now, and I take in his lean frame. He’s not stacked, but he’s not skinny, that’s for sure. He has some muscles.
He’s hot. Like, really hot. I mean, I already knew that, but this just adds to the appeal.
And now my dick is waking up for a whole new reason. Damn it.
“You okay?” Blake’s brows furrow.
“Not at all.” I chuckle, then groan. “I think I’m hungover. No. I know I’m hungover.”
“I was afraid of that.” He grimaces. “I wanted to help, but honestly, I don’t know anything about hangovers.”
“Electrolytes.” I sigh. “And ibuprofen.”
“Huh,” Blake hums. “I actually have both.”
He goes to leave, but I stop him. “Wait! What time is it?” I start to panic. “I have practice at seven.”
“It’s six. You have time. But Cooper, I’m not sure if you’re in the best shape to be doing anything right now.”
“Have to.” I force myself to my feet. “Can’t afford to piss off the coach. I don’t think there’s enough time for me to go to my place to shower and change. Do you think you could drive me to school? I don’t think I can drive.”
“Yeah, of course. Um, if you want, you can shower here. Borrow something of mine to wear? I don’t think you’d fit my jeans, but I have some sweats.”
“Really?” I say with relief. “That would be amazing. Thank you.”
He nods. “Bathroom is down the hall. Towels are on the rack behind the door.”
“You’re the best.” I groan, feeling like a zombie as I make my way down the hall. I find the bathroom and lean against the doorframe. “Blake.” I look back.
“Yeah?” He looks so shy, so innocent. I feel bad that he was forced to take care of me. I’m not really a drinker, just last night I needed something to make sure I kept my hands off him, so I didn't make a mistake and scare him off.
“Thanks for taking care of me last night.” I give him a soft smile. “Sorry you had to do that.”
“It’s okay.” He chuckles, and god, that smile. There it is again. “Happy to help a friend out.”
Friends. Aha! I knew we would become besties. Chuckling, I grin before slipping into the bathroom.
The shower helps wash away some of the grossness, but I still feel like trash when I get out.
Blake knocks on the door as I wrap the towel around my waist. “Hey, I have a change of clothes for you.”
Opening the door, steam bellows out. Blake stands there, clothes in hand, hands over his eyes.
“I’m covered,” I assure him, amusement showing in my tone.
He lowers his hand and looks. “No, you’re not.” He glares at me.
“Well, the naughty parts are.” I laugh. “Thanks.” I take the clothes and shut the door.
Finished drying off, I start to change and laugh softly when I see a pair of his boxers. Batman. Cute.
I slip them on and then the sweatpants. I’m usually not one to wear another man’s underwear, but I’m not going commando today.
Pulling the shirt over my head, I find it a bit snug, but it works.
I find Blake in his room. I stop dead, frozen in place, when I see him bent over, pulling on his boxers. He’s naked, his bare ass on display.
My heart starts to race, and my cock thickens in the boxers. Fuck me, that’s one nice ass.
Stepping back, I move to the side so he doesn’t see me creeping and adjust my dick.
Really? Now is not the time to be getting hard. The goal is not to scare the guy away. If he finds out that I’ve been having very naughty dreams about him, he might be uncomfortable or worse, pissed.
Giving myself a second to calm down, I knock on the door when I see he’s dressed. “I’m good to go.”
He turns around with owlish eyes. “Ah, yeah. Me too.” He bends over and hands me my socks and sneakers. “Here. I took them off you last night. Didn’t think they would be too comfortable to sleep in.”
He took them off? Did Blake really take care of me last night? This is not helping the crush I’m not allowed to have for him. If anything, it’s making it worse.
“Thanks.” I smile, taking them from him. We head downstairs to the kitchen.
He pulls a Gatorade out of the fridge and hands it to me. Then he goes to the cabinet above the stove and takes out a pill bottle. He shakes two out and hands those to me as well.
“Ugh, you’re my knight in shining armor, I swear, Blake.” I groan, downing the pills and taking a few big gulps of the drink.
“It’s nothing, really,” he murmurs, and fuck me, are his ears turning pink?! Just when I thought he couldn’t be more adorable. God, I just want to hug the man, bury my face in his neck, kiss him, touch him, hear his laugh, see that smile more.
“You okay?” Blake snaps me back to reality. “Looks like you drifted off there.”
“I’m good.” I grin. “Just feeling like shit.”
“I mean, I didn’t wanna say anything before. But...” He jokes. Oh my god, be still my heart, he’s joking with me.
“Haha, funny man.” I laugh. “I’m sexy as fuck, no matter the situation.”
“Full of yourself much?” He rolls his eyes.
“Nah, just confident enough without getting a big head.” I shrug, taking another drink.
***
“So, what’s your plan for this morning?” I ask as we head toward the school.
“Nothing much, really. I don’t have classes until noon on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So I normally don’t come to campus until eleven.”
“Shit.” I grimace. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s fine, really. Just because I don’t leave for school until then, doesn’t mean I’m not up. I’m a morning person.”
“I knew it.” I sigh.
“Knew what?” he asks, casting me a quick glance.
“That there had to be something wrong with you.” I grin. “I knew you were too perfect. Morning people. Ugh.”
His lips part in genuine shock. “That's the only flaw you see in me?” he asks. “That I’m a morning person?”
“Ah, yeah. I like sleep. People who are too cheery in the morning freak me out.”
“But I’m not a cheery person.” He frowns.
“Nope. That helps earn back some of the brownie points that you just lost. All you gotta do is shoot me that cute, little angry kitten growly face and I think we can just put you back at the top of being perfect.”
He casts me a glare, and fuck, my cock twitches.
“Yup, that one, right there. Alright, you’re perfect again.”
“Stop,” he grumbles, his ears going pink again. This man is going to kill me, I swear. “I’m not perfect.”
“I think everyone is perfect in their own way. As long as they’re being their true self, and not an evil person, they’re perfect just the way they are.”
He doesn’t say anything, shifting in his seat, but he does cast me a glance. I catch him and chuckle.
“Sorry to break it to you, Latte Boy, but I don’t think there’s anything you could do that would drive me away. Like Val would say, I licked you, so you’re mine.”
He laughs at that, the sound making me shiver in a good way. “Bizarre thing is, she actually said that. Then did it.”
“Wait.” I grin wide. “Are you telling me Val licked you?”
“Yup.” He grunts. “On the damn cheek.”
I start to howl with laughter. “God, that girl doesn’t have boundaries sometimes, I swear.”
“It’s okay,” he says. “It’s Val. I wasn’t offended. I mean, hey, closest thing to my first kiss if you think about it.”
As soon as the words leave his mouth, I see his body stiffen.
He thinks he slipped up, but I want him to know he can be comfortable around me.
“Trust me, when you have your first kiss, there will be less tongue on the face and more inside the mouth,” I say. “Unless you’re drunk. So, no first kisses when you’re drunk. They get sloppy.”
“Thanks for the advice.” He relaxes.
I preen a bit, knowing I helped. Point for me.
We get to the school parking lot, and Blake shuts the car off. “Ah, not sure what to do now.” He rubs the back of his head. “Do you need me for anything? If not, I was thinking of just walking home.”
“No. Don’t walk. Come watch if you want, and after I’m done, I’ll give you a ride back. Or, maybe we can go grab something to eat.”
“Watch you practice?” he asks. “I don’t know.”
He looks out the window toward the field. Fuck. Right. Mickey.
“You don’t have to worry about him.” I place my hand over Blake’s, keeping my voice soft and assuring. “He’s not going to hurt you, not ever again. I’ll make sure of it. You’re safe, Blake. No one is going to hurt you again. I promise.”
His eyes are locked on where I’m touching him, and I curse myself for doing it. But when I go to move my hand away, Blake takes one of his fingers and tangles it with mine.
“Thanks.” His voice is so low, so broken. He won’t look at me, but I can see the tears in his eyes. I don’t want to see him sad, to see him hurt. It makes me want to protect him from the world. To never let anyone hurt him again.
“Soooo, come watch me play?” I ask playfully. “I’ll make it worth it. I know a place that sells killer breakfast sandwiches.”
“Yeah.” He nods. “Okay.”
“Yes!” I cheer.
He laughs, and I call that a win.
Blake heads for the bleachers while I head for the locker room. It’s loud in there, guys laughing and chatting.
“There he is,” Brody says. “Was afraid you weren't going to make it.”
“Nah, why wouldn’t I?” I open my locker, grabbing my gear. Thank god they wash it for us and put it back in our lockers. Otherwise, I’d be fucked.
“Because Ellie told me how wasted you were last night?” He grins. “Not like you to drink on a school night.”
“Whatever, Dad.” I roll my eyes. “I’m a big boy.”
“She also told me you couldn’t keep your eyes off a certain tutor.” He grins wider.
“I think I’m going to have to have a talk with my bestie. She’s giving away all my secrets,” I mutter.
“Your secret's safe with me.” He chuckles.
Brody and I have a weird past. We used to be buddies, playing on the same team, but then everything happened with Ellie, and I hated the man. Then things worked out with Ellie, and he earned his way back to my good side. We’re not besties, but we’re close enough.
I look around, making sure no one else is listening, before I lean in, lowering my voice. “Keep an eye on Mickey,” I warn him. “If I’m going to get kicked off this team, it’s not going to be because of my grades. It’s going to be because I beat his ass for saying things he shouldn’t.”
Brody’s eyes grow dark. “Is he fucking with you?”
“Not me.” I shake my head.
He nods his head in understanding.
“I won’t stand by and watch him be a bully.”
“Neither will I.”
I get dressed in my gear, and we all head out to the field.
My eyes find Blake immediately, and I can’t help the smile on my face. He looks up, eyes finding mine, and I lift my hand in a wave. He gives me a small one back before darting his eyes away.
“Dude. You brought him here? How did you manage that?” Brody laughs.
“He kind of brought me to his place last night.”
“Wait, did you two hook up?” Brody raises a brow.
“No.” I shake my head. “Nothing like that. He took care of me, made sure I got there safe. Not sure how I ended up at his place and not dropped off at home, but I didn’t ask.”
“You’re so fucked.” Brody laughs. “You have it so bad for this guy.”
“Don’t remind me.” I groan.
“I say go for it. He’s cute.” Brody shrugs.
“Keep your eyes off my man,” I say before thinking.
Brody’s face turns wicked when I don’t correct myself.
“Don’t worry. He’s not my type. I like them to be able to throw me around in the room.” He winks.
“Who are you kidding? We both know Jax is a puddle of mush for you. You’re the one throwing him around.”
“You’re not wrong.” He laughs, clapping my back before going into assistant coach mode.
Practice goes on, and well, it’s pure hell. I ran over to the bushes three times to puke. Thankfully, when the coach asks what's going on with me, Brody covers and says I’ve got the flu.
Coach tells me to go home, but I insist on staying.
“Here.” Blake’s by my side, holding out a water bottle as I dry heave, everything in my stomach already gone.
“Thanks.” I take it from him and take a few sips. “Why did I do this to myself?” I groan, closing my eyes.
“I don’t know. You tell me,” Blake grumbles.
“You are officially in charge of making sure I’m always the sober friend.”
“Me?” Blake frowns. “Why?”
“Because I don’t wanna feel like this again,” I whine, feeling my head spin. “It’s an important job, Blake.”
He snorts. “You’re making yourself sound like a recovering alcoholic, and I’m your sponsor.”
If I thought drinking would actually keep my hands off Blake, I’d probably end up one. But as memories of last night flood back, I recall forcing the poor guy to dance with me. There were hands on his body, but at least nothing inappropriate. I think?
Blake heads back to the bleachers, and I jog over to the bench.
Mickey is there, and I’ve been doing my best to stay away from him like yesterday.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” he mutters, taking a drink of water. “He’s following you around like a pathetic little puppy.”
Snatching the bottle from him, I crush it in my hand, nostrils flaring as water spills over me.
“I meant what I said,” I growl. “Don’t touch him, don’t speak to him, don’t even fucking look at him,” I warn. “He is none of your business. And if you don’t fuck off, I’ll make it my business to fucking end you, Mickey.”
“Everything okay, boys?” Brody asks, stepping over to us.
Mickey glares at me like he wants to murder me, but he got the hint. I might not use my connections with people in this school for myself, but if it means keeping Blake safe, I will.
“Everything’s just fucking peachy,” he spits before turning around and jogging to the field.
Like they’re unable to resist, my eyes flick up to the stands, finding Blake watching. He looks worried. But he has nothing to be worried about. So I give him a big smile and a wink.
It seems to relax him. For now.
Thankfully, practice is almost over, and then we can eat. God, I’m starving even though my stomach is protesting. That's enough motivation to push me forward.