Chapter 4
CHAPTER
FOUR
COOPER
We have Tuesdays off, and while I love when my day off is the same as Ellery’s, lately we haven’t spent them together.
She’s been with Bradley on one of his lame dates.
But today, it’s the annual flu shot roll-out at the hospital.
From the very first year Ellery took part, I’ve been the guy who gets the first shot to show kids—and some of the adults—that there’s nothing to be afraid of.
I head up to the big room in the hospital that houses the flu shot clinic every year and see the cameras. The press is interviewing someone who I’m sure is a doctor or a nurse. Since they’re distracted, I look around the room to find Ellery.
“Cooper?”
That voice still scares the crap out of me even though I’ve known him for years. I turn, and his hand is already extended toward me.
“Good morning, Mr. Wallace.”
Elle’s dad’s hair is thinner than the last time I saw him. “Thank you for coming. I know this cause is a big one for Ellery.”
“I’d be nowhere else.”
He smiles. There’s something behind it I can’t decipher, but he’s thinking for sure. “You’re a good friend to her.”
“She is to me too.”
If he knew how much I imagine his daughter inappropriately, he might not be so complimentary.
“Well, let’s get this show on the road. You’re the front man, let’s go find our girl.” He claps me on the back.
Mr. Wallace has always been kind to me, but maybe that’s because I’ve only been presented to him as being in the friend zone.
He brags about me to his friends. I’ve overheard him at parties.
“My daughter is best friends with Cooper Rice. He’s a great guy.
Gets us tickets whenever we want. Sure, I’ll take you sometime. ”
Her mom makes me my favorite meals and spoils me like my mom never had time to do.
Ellery comes out from a room in the back, smiling when she sees me and looks at her watch. “Right on time.” Then she approaches her dad and hugs him and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Dad, thank you for being here.”
“Miss my baby girl’s shining moment? Never.”
She hugs me, and I hold her a little tighter than normal. I’ve been missing her since she started dating Bradley. Her usual fruity-scented shampoo has me inhaling a second time. She pulls away faster than I want, but who am I to complain? She’s not mine.
“Let’s go get that shot, big guy.” She walks ahead.
Her dad’s eyebrows are scrunched as he looks at me. I ignore him and follow her to a station where cameras are already set up. But there’s a commotion over by the door. When the crowd clears, I spot Bradley with his hands in his pockets, answering questions.
What the hell is he doing here?
“Oh,” Ellery says.
He spots her and breaks the distance, the press following him.
“I hope you don’t mind, but you mentioned attendance being low last year and thought maybe two Grizzlies might help drive more people in.
” He glances in my direction. “What’s up, Coop?
” He holds out his fist to bump mine, and I do, though reluctantly.
“Bradley,” I say with a nod.
“I don’t think we’ve met.” Mr. Wallace approaches Bradley with his hand out.
“Oh, Dad, this is Bradley. Bradley, this is my dad.” Ellery’s eyes find mine because if we’d wanted more Grizzlies, I would’ve asked my best buds, the MVPs from the past two years, Miles and Damon.
Bradley talks to Mr. Wallace as though they’ve been friends forever, telling him how he’ll score him some tickets to a game. Mr. Wallace looks at me, then back at Bradley.
I liked the guy and respected him for asking me if he could date Elle, but now that it actually seems as though it might become something, I’m starting to lose my shit. He’s treading on my territory.
“I heard you were coming over for dinner tonight.” Mr. Wallace says to Bradley.
I clear my throat, and Elle’s eyes find mine again.
“Mom insisted,” she mouths.
“I’m eager to meet the other half of the couple who made such a great daughter.” Bradley puts his arm around Elle’s shoulders.
I turn around to be anywhere but here, running right into a nurse. Fuck.
“Jeez, I’m sorry.” I squat to help her pick up the boxes of Band-Aids she dropped.
“It’s okay. Cooper Rice can run into me anytime.” She laughs. “God, did that sound as lame as it did when I heard it back in my head?”
She’s younger than me, probably in her early twenties, and her flush is cute, but the flirting isn’t doing much for me.
“I’m Jewel.”
“Nice to meet you, Jewel. I guess you already know who I am.”
We both stand, and I hand her the boxes I picked up. “Of course, and don’t worry, it isn’t me giving you your shot today.”
I laugh. “It’s okay, I bumped into you.”
A few cameras snap some pictures, and Jewel looks over at them. Welcome to the gossip column, Jewel.
I lean forward and whisper in her ear, “Hide your nametag until they’re gone.”
Her eyes widen as if a bear is behind her, ready to kill.
The gossip blogs and those who read them will likely shred her like a bear if they find out who she is. So many women are so protective of me, though they don’t even know me. Jewel is innocent and doesn’t need to be brought into it.
“Are you guys ready?” Elle comes over and looks at Jewel for a moment before smiling. “Thank you for grabbing more.” She helps Jewel put the boxes on the table with the rest of the extra supplies.
“Okay, we need two chairs. Should we put them next to one another?” a woman who works for the hospital asks as they reconfigure how they’re going to get Bradley and me in the photo.
I’m more than aggravated at this point.
“I don’t want it in my right, that’s my dominant arm,” Bradley says.
“Well, I can’t get it in my right, it’s my throwing arm,” I counter.
“We’ll just have to put someone between them,” someone suggests.
A woman I recognize from years past as being the PR rep for the hospital appears from nowhere to tell us her opinion. “And lose this great shot? No way. These two side-by-side will sell the public on getting their flu shot.”
I’m not budging. There’s no way I’m gonna play with a sore arm.
“It shouldn’t be sore more than a couple days,” Ellery says.
Neither of us says a word.
She gives me “the look.” The one that usually gets me to do just about anything for her. But not this time. Let Dreamboy take the hit—he’s the one getting all the benefits.
I run my hand down my face because I don’t think like this. At least I never used to. I’m way more upset about this relationship than I should be.
“I’ll get it in my right.” Bradley smiles as though he just disarmed a bomb and saved us. Get a grip, you’re a football player.
We sit in the chairs, a nurse on either side of us as the cameras and video people all get their shots. The nurses inject us, and neither of us flinches.
Ellery gets in front of the cameras, standing right in front of us. She’s wearing her white coat and long pants with the clogs she loves so much. One Christmas, I gave her clogs with my number on them, but I rarely see her wear them.
“And it’s as simple as that. Just a moment of your time to protect you and those you love from the flu virus this season.”
The nurse puts the Band-Aid on me as Ellery finishes. Then they open the doors and the public files in, picking up clipboards to fill out paperwork.
Bradley seeks out Ellery, but she’s busy, and he’s only going to piss her off.
I learned that year one. I make my way around all the stations, saying hello, signing some autographs, and snapping selfies with people while making sure to show the sticker on my shirt that says I got my flu shot.
Hopefully the more pictures that are shared, the more it will remind people to get the shot themselves.
Eventually, Bradley discovers what I could have told him—Ellery has no time for him.
“So, what do you do now?” he asks, looking around.
“You just socialize. She’s done in a few hours.” I shrug.
“Really? That long? I figured she’d start this off and be done, have others be in charge.”
I look at him pointedly. “How many dates have you been on with her?”
“More than you.”
I raise my eyebrows, and he laughs, knocking his shoulder into mine. Fucker.
“I’m kidding. Seriously, it’s intimidating how well you two know one another,” he says. “If I have to hear one more time, ‘Cooper and I…’ I’m going to go berserk.”
“We’ve been friends for a very long time.”
“And you do everything together from the sound of it.”
I should not be enjoying his jealousy, but I am. Maybe that makes me a petty man, but I don’t care. I’m happy to hear my name comes up often in their conversations. It means she’s not forgetting about me.
“When we have time, we do stuff together. She’s really busy.” Am I being a dick by giving him reasons why it might not work with them? Probably, but I find it hard to stop myself.
“I figured that one out the first time I asked her on a date. She’s hard to nail down. We’ve been on one official date, and the rest have been coffee or lunch dates.” He sounds displeased.
“She loves her job.”
“So do I, but shit.” He crosses his arms.
I notice a kid refusing to get a shot at one of the stations. His mom is trying to coax him into it.
“Just remember how much off time we get through the year. She’s doing this year-round.” I walk away from Bradley and squat next to the kid. I’m not sure he knows who I am.
The six-year-old’s blond mop of hair lands right above his bright blue eyes filled with unshed tears.
“Do you like football?” I ask.
He shrugs.
I pick up the bin each station has with prize packs for the little kids. “Want to pick one of these?”
“What about Superman? You like him?” Bradley squats next to me.
I glance over my shoulder. What the fuck is he doing? Find your own kid, asshole.
The boy nods.
“Iron Man? Captain America?” Bradley keeps it up, and the kid’s eyes grow more excited with each superhero he rhymes off.
“Yeah,” the little boy says, eyes no longer filled with tears.
“They’re not afraid of the shots, and neither should you be,” Bradley says.
The mom and nurse smile at Bradley, and I want to punch him in the fucking nose.
“No shot!” The boy’s excitement is wiped clean from his face.
I show him the prize bin again. “You can get anything in here after you get your shot.”
The kid looks at the bin, his hand digging in. He lifts out a football. My kind of kid. But he quickly drops it and picks up a puzzle thing. Whatever he wants.
“That’s what you want?” I ask.
He nods.
“All right, now be really brave, and if you have to, close your eyes and imagine playing with the puzzle.”
The nurse wipes down the spot and gives him the shot.
“Are your eyes shut really tight?”
He nods.
“Okay…” I lean closer to him. “You’re done,” I whisper.
His blue eyes pop open, and his mouth hangs open. “Really?”
I hand him the puzzle. “Really. You’re very brave.”
He looks at his mom. “I didn’t feel it.”
She mouths “Thank you,” and I nod.
“I see you’re working your magic again this year,” Ellery says, coming over between us.
Bradley and I stand, him moving closer to her, and I refrain from growling like a guard dog.
“Cooper’s known for putting the kids at ease,” she tells Bradley.
And just like that, someone calls me over to their booth.
“Gotta go where I’m needed.” I wink.
Bradley shoots me a look that says “whatever” while Ellery smiles, completely oblivious to the fact that both of us want her—even if only one of us should.