Chapter Fourteen – Coop
Coop couldn’t be more pissed at himself. Okay, maybe he could if he wasn’t in so much pain. He pulled on his jeans with his good arm, holding up the one in the cast. How could getting dressed be so exhausting? He lay on the bed for a minute to catch his breath. “Fuck. Button my pants for me, man.”
“What the hell, man. I ain’t helping with that.” Vick’s expression was hilarious. “Do it yourself or wait for your man. I’m out.”
After a few minutes of finagling with Vick laughing at him while he managed, he got his pants zipped and buttoned.
“I think I’m done for the day.” Thankfully, it was much easier to get a shirt on, which it wouldn’t have been if he had hurt that shoulder more.
Turns out it wasn’t dislocated, sprained, or strained, or anything.
It was bruised, along with his neck and back, but only bruises.
Thank the dirt bike gods for protective gear.
Of course, his head and wrist were a different story.
The latter would keep him from racing. It was a fractured metacarpal on the right hand.
That one worked the throttle, so until it healed, racing was a no-go.
Looked like he would be out for the entire upcoming season.
That hurt. Not only the basic—no racing—but it hurt financially as well.
The team was giving him a stipend while he recovered, but it was nothing compared to what actual racing paid.
The better you finished, the more money you received.
The stipend wouldn’t touch what he could have been making.
“Hello?” The one person Cooper wanted to see popped his head in the door.
“Rick. Come in here. Please. Damn.” Coop reached out with grabby-hands. He needed his man closer.
Rick did not disappoint. He rushed over and kissed Cooper, long and slow.
“Ah, guys. Get a room,” Vick complained.
“Shut it.” Coop pointed at his friend. “You were exactly no help today. So I don’t want to hear it.”
“Help with what?” Rick asked.
“Getting dressed. Pants are hard.”
“Ah, don’t pout, babe.” Rick kissed him again. He figured he would have a lot more pouting in his future.
“Okay. Let’s get out of here, can we? I’m sick of being in this hospital.”
When the nurse finally brought him his release papers and then made him get in the wheelchair, he was beyond ready to go.
They were headed back to the training camp.
Coop worked out a deal to keep his room for a while because he had nowhere else to go.
And he needed to talk all this through with Rick.
They said good-bye to Vick, who was headed back home, then Rick drove out to the camp.
Alone in the car, Coop studied Rick as he drove. “Thanks for coming, Soldier Boy.”
Rick’s brow crinkled. “I wish I could have been here sooner.”
“I’m glad you could come for the weekend. I know how your job works.” Although he wished it didn’t work that way. He wished he could have Rick all the time.
“You know if I were deployed or something, I wouldn’t be able to come at all. And if something happened to me, you wouldn’t be notified. Not how things are now.”
“Oh. Right. I bet that would be scary. I mean to have you gone and not know if something happened to you. I’d be worried sick. Like all the time. Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“I mean, we could list each other as medical POA.”
“What’s that?” Rick was always using acronyms he didn’t know, but he was starting to pick them up. But not this one.
“Power of Attorney. So we’d have a say about the other’s care.”
“That’s a lot.”
“It is but it still wouldn’t get me home from deployment for you. And you still wouldn’t be notified if I were hurt. Only way you’re notified by the Army is if we’re married. I’m sure my parents could let you know.”
“I guess that’s something to think about.”
“Sure. So, while we’re on that subject, what are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know. I’m hoping we can talk it out together.
” It did kind of affect both of them. Didn’t it?
Well, Coop wasn’t going to start second-guessing himself now.
He had thought about this a lot the last few days while he had nothing else to do in the hospital.
“I, uh, have a couple of options, I guess. But I want you to be a part of figuring it out.”
Rick smiled, giving Coop butterflies in his tummy. “I’d like that. Really.” Then those eyebrows furrowed again. “I’m going to be assigned very soon now, Coop. And I probably get my pick, so we should talk about that too.”
“Perfect.” He gripped Rick’s knee, for once thankful it was his right hand that was hurt.
The camp room was actually a cabin with two single bunks, a makeshift table, and a dorm-sized fridge. That was pretty much it. Coop watched as Rick looked around. “Very rustic.”
“Yeah, most of the lodging is bunk style here, but I wanted a private space. It’s small but I’m not sharing with six to ten other guys.”
“That’s good. Yeah.” He dropped his duffel on the floor by the bunks. “Think we’re going to fit?”
“Could be fun?”
Rick chuckled. “Normally, I’d be up for it, but with your injuries, Coop? Maybe we should get a hotel? You don’t have to be on the track, right?”
“No. I guess not. I can’t ride.”
Rick scrolled through his phone. “Okay. Got a place. We can stop and grab food on the way. Hey. Don’t you need to fill prescriptions?”
“It’s only painkillers. I’m probably not going to take them anyway. Ibuprofen is enough.”
Rick pinned him with a fierce glare. “We’re picking it up. If you can’t sleep, you’ll be happy you did.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Coop said with a wink.
Rick sighed and rolled his eyes, but Coop could tell he was teasing. “Come on then, Hot Wheels. Let’s get going so you can get a nap.”
Coop grumbled but didn’t really argue. He couldn’t because Rick was right. He needed some painkillers and a good nap. Food. And maybe not trying to squish into a single bunk with his man. So, he grabbed his duffel and followed Rick out to the car.
Forty-five minutes later, they had food and a hotel room. Rick carried their luggage in, and Coop brought the food, setting it on the table. He pulled out a chair and sat down to divvy it out.
“Great, thanks.” Rick dropped the bags on the far side of the room and joined Coop at the table. “So, you going to stay at the camp or what?”
“Don’t know, but it’s an option. I could also go to Vick’s.”
“I feel like you’re not excited about either of those.”
Coop made a raspberry. “No, not really. Especially if you’re about to leave. So, what’s that situation?”
“Well. I’ve put in my top three choices already. Did that when I got my branch assignment before pinning. I’ve been told I’m going to get what I want.”
“What do you want?”
“I want more wings.” For a second, his expression was blank, then a shy smile crept across his face.
They’d talked about him jumping and both of them having dangerous careers until they were sick of it. But Coop couldn’t ever tell Rick no when his face looked like that. Rick wanted to jump, and Coop didn’t blame him. “Okay, so what’s that mean?”
“It means Campbell.” When Coop didn’t say anything, he continued, “It’s in Kentucky.”
“Okay. What’re your other options?”
“Honestly, the only other option would be Liberty in North Carolina, unless I went overseas but…”
“But Campbell is better?”
“Yeah. But…”
“But what?”
“How long is it going to be before you can get back on a bike? Assuming you’re going to be back on a bike.”
“Well, yeah, I’ll be riding again. Probably like six to eight months. Depending on how this heals and PT and whatever.” He held his casted arm up.
“Uh-huh, four months.”
Coop snorted. “Probably.” He shoved a bite of salad in his mouth and smiled cheekily while he chewed.
“Okay. So you have four to six months before you get on a bike. And I’m moving to either Campbell or Liberty like any minute now. I’m just going to say it. Seems like the logical thing to do is for you to come with me. What do you think about that?”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Like living with you, full-time? Won’t you be on base?”
“I’m not required to live on base. That’s only lower enlisted. I can get a place off base.” Rick held up a hand like that would be easy enough to do.
“Is it too soon?” Coop wanted it, but he was afraid. He didn’t want to mess things up with Rick by moving too fast.
“How do I know? I’ve never had a relationship like this. I think we have to do what’s right for us.”
“Okay, and that’s moving in together?”
Rick shrugged. “We hate being a part so much as it is, and when you do get to race again, it’ll be less time together. We should take advantage of this.”
Coop stood and walked around the table, then climbed up in Rick’s lap, straddling him and putting his hands behind Rick’s neck. “I think I like that idea.” He bent in and pecked a kiss on Rick’s lips. “A lot.”
“Will you be able to train? I don’t know what tracks are there.”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to work that out. Wherever you decide to go. I’ll have a lot of training to do before I can even start racing again. I can do that almost anywhere.”
Rick rubbed his thighs. “Well, looks like we figured all of that out pretty quickly.”
“Mm…maybe we can spend the rest of the weekend in bed then.”
“Well, Hot Wheels, I like the way you think.”