Chapter 15
Cooper
“Ahhh, you guys were amazing!” Val squeals, launching herself at me.
“Thanks.” I chuckle, hugging my friend, then putting her down. “It was a crazy win, but we got it. Where’s Blake?” I ask, not finding him with my friends. He was with them before, I saw him in the stands.
“He’s right—” Ellie looks behind her and frowns. “He was here a second ago.”
Unease fills me. “Is he okay? Did he say he was sick or something?”
“No. He literally was here just a second ago,” Ellie says, looking around.
“That’s strange. Maybe he had to use the bathroom,” Val suggests.
“Maybe...” I say slowly, searching for him myself.
“By the way, wanna tell me why Luke was talking to you? He doesn’t even go here.” Val huffs.
My eyes flick back to Val’s. “Luke? Oh, it was his school we were playing against. He was just congratulating me.”
“Congratulating the team his school lost to seems a little weird to me,” Lexie mutters.
“It’s not a big deal.” I frown. “He said a few words to me and left.”
“Yeah, but if you could see him from where we were standing, he looked like he was trying to get you to go home and fuck him tonight. He was all over you.”
Was he? I didn’t even notice. I was too busy wanting the conversation to end so I could see Blake.
Fuck. Blake. If what Val says is true, did Blake see, get upset and leave?
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“I’m going to go find Blake. I don’t like that he just left like that.”
“Are you going to the party?” Val asks.
“No.” I shake my head. “I’ll be staying at my dad’s place tonight.”
Saying goodbye to my friends, I jog to the parking lot. It’s packed as people head to their cars.
Cursing, I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Blake. It rings a few times, but he doesn’t pick up.
“Where are you?” I mutter as that sinking feeling in my stomach intensifies.
I send him a text as I head toward my car.
I could sit around and wait for a response, but I know I’ll drive myself crazy if I do that. No, I’ll head over to his place and see if he went home. If he’s not home, then I’ll start to worry.
It takes me nearly forty minutes to get out of the damn parking lot. I just had to park on the other side of the exit because it was closest to the damn field.
While I waited, I tried texting and calling Blake again, and nothing.
As I head to his house, I really start to worry. I’m debating whether I should call Nina to see if she knows where her brother is, but as I pull up to his house, I see his car in the driveway.
A bit of relief settles over me, but I know the worry is not going to go away completely until I see him myself.
Parking my car on the side of the street, I head to the front door and knock.
Blake’s mom answers, a surprised look at seeing me, but then a small smile forms on her lips.
“Hi Mrs. Clark. Is Blake home? He was at the football game but the girls said he left.” I ask, shoving my hands in my pockets and looking over her shoulder with hope of getting a glimpse of him.
“He’s up in his room.”
“Oh.” My eyes find hers again. “Is it okay if I come in and see him?”
She chews on her lower lip, looking like she’s thinking about it, but when she shakes her head, my heart sinks. “He’s not feeling very well, honey. But I’ll tell him you came by.”
“Ah, yeah, okay sure. I’m just glad he’s okay.” My smile is fake as anxiety fills my chest.
As I walk back to my car, I feel like a weight is pressing down on my chest. Getting in, I look at the house through my window to where his room is. The light is off. Why couldn’t I go see him? Maybe he’s sleeping?
She said he wasn’t feeling well. Now I can’t help but worry. What is he sick with? I just want to see that he’s okay.
On the drive home all I can think about is whether he’s really sick, or if he’s upset with what he saw.
The idea of him thinking I’d want to be with anyone but him makes me want to puke. The only man I want is Blake. He’s been all I can think about since the day he turned around to glare up at me with those deep blue eyes at the coffee shop.
My sleep is shit. I stay up until my eyes burn, worrying about Blake. I texted him a few times, not wanting to call because of the late hour. He eventually replied that he was feeling sick, headed home after the game ended and that he’d see me tomorrow.
He said he’d see me tomorrow. That's a good thing right? He’s not mad at me.
I wanted to call and tell him whatever he thought he saw wasn’t what it may have looked like.
But then I’d be sounding like a crazy boyfriend, when we’re not dating.
Not that it matters to me, dating or not, I wouldn’t talk to another man in that kind of way.
I meant it when I said I’d wait for him to be ready and that I’d go at his speed in everything.
Closing my eyes, sleep eventually finds me.
***
“This is stupid. I’m stupid,” I grumble, standing at Blake’s door with a coffee in one hand and a bag of chicken soup, a few muffins and a black stuffed cat.
I got the man a fucking stuffed animal. I saw it at the register while I was paying for my gas on the way here.
It reminded me of Raven, and I know how much Blake loves her.
God, I’m a big dope. He’s going to think I’m weird.
The door opens and my heart nearly leaps out of my chest. “Mrs. Clark. It’s me again.” I laugh awkwardly. “I waited until noon so I didn’t wake anyone up. I hope that’s okay. Is Blake home? How is he feeling? I brought him soup.” I hold up the bag like a babbling idiot.
She smiles, huffing out a soft laugh. “That’s so sweet of you. Yes, Blake is home. Come in and wait. I’ll go let him know you’re here.”
“Okay.” I nod, stepping into the house.
I’m a nervous wreck as she heads upstairs to Blake’s room.
She comes back down a minute later. “He’s awake and says you can go up.”
“Thanks.” I smile, nodding. Taking off my shoes, I head up to Blake’s room. “Knock knock.”
Blake is sitting on his bed, his sleep clothes still on. His glasses are off and his black hair is messed up from sleep. He looks so damn cute right now.
“Hey.” He smiles. “What are you doing here?”
I cautiously make my way over to his bed and sit on the edge.
“I got worried when I didn’t see you with the girls last night.
I came by to check on you, but your mom said you were sick.
And then you texted the same thing, and I hated the idea of you being sick and had to check on you again.
” I put the bag down on the bed and pull out the soup container.
“Hope you haven't eaten lunch yet, because I brought you soup.”
His eyes widen and his lips part in surprise. He takes the soup container, eyeing it like it’s something fragile. “You brought me soup?”
I rub the back of my head, feeling awkward. “You said you were sick. I wasn’t sure what kind of sick, but soup works for most things. Cold, stomach flu.” I shrug. “I wanted to help.”
He stares at it for a long time and I start to think I’ve fucked up.
But when he looks at me, I see a sheen in his eyes. “Thank you.”
This man. This fucking man is going to be the death of me. I didn’t know I could care about someone so damn much until I met him.
“Of course.” I smile.
“What else did you bring?” He laughs, nodding to the bag.
“Nothing.” I snatch it back.
“There’s other stuff in there.” He chuckles. “What is it?”
“Ah, just some muffins.” I reach in and grab the bag of muffins and hand it to him. “And I got you this.” I hold out the coffee.
“Thank you.” His face lights up and fuck me, it makes everything better.
Placing the soup on the nightstand, he does the same with the coffee and muffins. “Okay, now show me the bag.”
“I don’t want to.” I lick my lips nervously.
“Come on, Cooper. Show me what's in the bag.” He laughs, leaning forward, trying to grab it from me.
“It’s stupid, okay?” I lean back and he falls on top of me.
My heart pounds in my chest as his eyes meet mine. I can feel his heart beating rapidly, too. My eyes flick between his, my body heating up.
The air between us crackles and all I want to do is lean forward and press my lips to his.
He blinks and leans back, clearing his throat. He holds out his hand and lifts his chin. “Give it to me, Golden Boy. Now.”
Oh, I wanna give him something, but it’s not the cat.
Sighing, I pull the bag around and hand it to him. “Here,” I grumble, cheeks flaming.
He opens the bag and pulls the cat out. “It’s a stuffie.”
“I saw it and thought of Raven and how much you love her, so I got it. I know it’s stupid.”
“No it’s not.” He smiles, checking the stuffie over. “It’s not stupid at all. And it really does look like Raven.” He looks up at me. “Thank you. I love it.”
I pause. “You do? You don’t think me getting you a stuffed animal is girly or something?”
“Girly?” He chuckles. “Ah, have you seen my shelf?” He nods behind me.
I turn around and see the two shelves full of different anime plushes.
“Right.” I sigh, feeling even more stupid for a whole new reason.
“I love it, Cooper. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.” I shrug. I’ve never been one to feel nervous or question my confidence, but sometimes when I’m around Blake, I forget how to think, how to act, how to just be me. For the most part, I’m fine. But I’m still worried I fucked things up by talking to Luke last night.
I want to bring it up, to see if that's what was upsetting him last night, but I won’t. I won’t put him on the spot like that and force him to talk about something he might not be ready for.
“So.” I change the subject. “Happy Halloween.” I grin.
“Ugh. I hate Halloween.” He sighs, flopping backwards.
“What!” I gasp. “You never told me that. If you hated Halloween, why did you agree to come out with me tonight?”
He sits up again and shrugs. “Because you seemed excited and I didn’t want to burst your bubble.”
“Blake. If you’re not comfortable–”
“We’re going,” he says firmly.
“Why don’t you like Halloween?”