12. Chapter 12
Chapter twelve
Cooper
L ast night brought back so many memories of when I first got to know Sutton. Of her rejecting me. I couldn’t help but think about the first time I ever met Dillon and the instant hatred I felt for him.
Antsy, I shook my knee the entire drive.
Because I was going to see her.
Maybe it would be the day Sutton finally listened to my explanation. Maybe it would be the day we squashed this misunderstanding and became friends.
My heart was pounding as I hopped out of the truck and followed Nate and Vivian to where they stopped in front of Sutton’s car.
Nate elbowed me in the ribs, and I knew instantly what he was trying to convey.
The douche was present.
I had heard bits and pieces about the man but hadn’t gotten to put a face to the shitty reputation.
All hope I had for mending things with Sutton was squashed the moment I saw him. Dillon the Douche. I knew what to expect. A dickhole of a man who wasn’t worth anyone’s time.
I was prepared for that.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the surge of jealousy I felt the moment he touched her.
As we walked into the building, I kept waiting for her to look at me, to say something nasty that I knew she didn’t mean.
But she didn’t glance in my direction once.
Instead, she kept her eyes straight ahead.
Inside, we checked in and got our gear.
Dillon’s hand swept over Sutton’s lower back as we listened to the woman relay the instructions.
I barely heard a word the woman said as my attention was glued to his hand. His hand that moved too far south while in front of others.
Sutton jumped a little and shot him a scowl.
But she didn’t move away. She stayed glued to his side, even when her gaze met mine. She gave me a sneer of a smile, and I couldn’t help the butterflies that took flight in my stomach.
This woman had a control over me that she was goddamn clueless to.
I was gone for her.
From the first moment I laid eyes on her gorgeous face, I wanted her. But it was everything else that made me crave her. She was wicked with her words and wit, and I was putty in her hands for her to mold or throw away whenever she pleased.
We split up into two teams, and logically, I should have known I wouldn’t get to be with her, but it still filled my body with disappointment as she chose Dillon and his equally douchey friend Jake to team with.
The game began, and my adrenaline spiked as I sprinted out of the light into a dark corner, watching, waiting for their colors to light up near me. It didn’t take long until a blue light bounced into view, and when I say bounced, I meant it.
Sutton was skipping with her gun swinging at her side. There wasn’t a care in the world on her face as she just smiled, moving along the neon path. That was until I stepped out in front of her with my laser gun pointed directly at her.
She came to a screeching halt with a frown pinching her brows together.
“I just want to talk,” I said, lowering my weapon to my side and lifting my hands in mock surrender.
“No, thank you.” She glared, brushing her shoulder against mine as she passed me.
I followed her into a darkened alcove. “Please, baby opossum, just hear me out for once.” I grazed my hand down her arm until her hand was in mine, pulling her to a stop.
“Cooper,” she gritted through her teeth, but she didn’t pull away from me. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”
I grinned, leaning in closer till my lips were a whisper away from her ear. “At least once more.”
She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Please stop calling me that. It’s ridiculous and semi-insulting.”
“How is it insulting? They’re feral and fierce, just like you.”
“I can’t do this with you right now,” she said, trying to step around me.
“I need to explain to you about that night.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Tough shit. I’m sorry.”
“Can you please drop it? I’m begging you,” she pleaded, her eyes shining up at me so brightly, even in the hazy maze.
“Just let me explain…”
“Explain what?” a voice called out from behind us.
We both jumped at the interruption.
“Shit,” she muttered under her breath.
I hung my head. There went my shot to talk to her alone.
“Nothing,” Sutton said quickly, moving out from behind me and walking over to him.
I spun to face them.
She wrapped her hands around one of his biceps and began to tug him in the opposite direction.
“No.” He yanked his arm from her grasp. “I want to hear what he has to say.”
Sutton silently pleaded with me to keep my mouth shut. Her eyes growing wide.
“Nothing. It was nothing,” I said before walking past him.
He threw his arm out in front of me, effectively blocking my path. I glanced at him questionably.
“No, I want to know what you two were talking about.”
“How about it’s none of your fucking business,” I said, pushing his arm down.
He blocked me again, this time by stepping into my path. “That’s where you’re wrong. If it has to do with Sutton, it’s my business.”
My brows shot up as I glanced at her to see if she was going to let this asshole talk for her.
Sutton averted her gaze to the ground, and I clenched my fists.
Dillon tracked the movement and laughed. “You didn’t think you had a chance with her, did you?”
I tilted my head to the side and stared down at him. I had a good three inches on the man, not to mention a good amount of muscles compared to his lean frame.
I didn’t dare chance another glance at Sutton. Her silence was telling enough. She was going to let her little shit of a boyfriend talk down to me as she stood by and watched.
I wouldn’t bother to fight him on this.
If she wanted to continue to pretend like nothing had happened that night, I would do it.
Not because I cared about what the immature asshole thought.
No, I would do it for her.
Because for some stupid reason, I cared about her.
But that didn’t mean I was naive.
No, I got the message.
Screw whatever romantic fantasies I had about us.
There was no us.
Today made that crystal clear.
“Can I leave now?”
“Not just yet.” He pulled his laser gun up and fired at my chest with a stupid-ass grin on his face. “Now you can.”
It was childish.
And I wished I had thought to do it first.
“Thanks,” I grumbled, stalking out of the dark hall and down the ramp back to where we started.
Nate and Viv were cozying up to each other as I approached. “You guys ready for round two?” I said, my tone clipped.
Nate opened his mouth but didn’t say anything before he closed it.
“Yeah, just let me go grab the guns,” Vivian said before running off to wherever they had left them.
We made our way to our starting mark and waited for the next game to begin.
I ran, sweat tickling my brows as I made it my mission to get Dillon out for the next two rounds.
I left Jake to Nate and Viv. I knew they had their own issues going on with the other team.
I smiled with every shot. The redness that crept up his neck and filled his face was priceless. So was the vein bulging from his forehead.
Despite my best efforts, Sutton wasn’t spared.
I had tried hard not to shoot her. No matter how pissed I was at her for not interrupting him, for dating a guy like that, I couldn’t shoot her.
Even though they were toys and not real, it made me queasy to take her out. That being said, I did end up shooting her in the end. But only because Dillon used her as a human shield.
Game or not, who did that to their girlfriend.
Neither Sutton nor I spoke another word to each other for the rest of the time. Dillon spewed hatred at me, which I answered with my middle finger more than once.
I left that day feeling more pissed off than ever.
No matter how much I tried to work out the anger that lingered, I couldn’t rid myself of it. It was as if I was infected by it, and the only thing that made it relent was seeing her.
I hated that she was both the disease and the cure.
That she alone could hurt or heal me.