Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
COOPER
I’m thankful for an away game this week so that I don’t have to look up in the stands and see Ellery in his jersey. I don’t have to see Ellery and Bradley get into the same car after the game. I don’t have to be the seventh wheel with all my friends.
“Wait, they asked Ellery to model?” Damon holds up his hand on the plane.
Damon just got around to asking me how things went with my latest endorsement deal, so I’m filling him in. Thankfully, Bradley is all the way in the back.
“Yeah, we were in our underwear. Most of the time she was under the sheet, but we have a few shots where she wasn’t.
” I’ve been on the fence about coming clean to my friends about what the whole experience was like.
It’s not like it changes anything. I’ve dealt with these feelings for Elle on and off through the years.
They’ll disappear soon.
Once she and Bradley don’t work out.
“Was that the first time?” Miles asks.
“The first time I’ve seen her in her underwear? No, I’ve seen her naked. By accident, when we were getting massages once,” I rush to add.
Her body hasn’t changed since then. She might not work out, but the steps she walks in the emergency room are enough to keep her fit. I had to hurry and put on my robe after we were done to hide my erection from everyone else.
“Why do I miss all the fun times?” Damon asks.
Miles doesn’t say anything. I haven’t known him as long as I have Damon, but he’s definitely the one of the three of us who is most invested in his friends’ happiness.
I’ve thought about talking to him only, but Damon would feel betrayed, and in reality, Damon’s outlook on life has changed since he got with Adeline and became a father.
“I know I’ve only known you a few years, but you and Ellery, why haven’t you ever…” Miles asks.
I glance behind me. Since we’re flying during the day, no one is sleeping, so it’s loud and hard to listen in on conversations.
“Because they’re blind,” Damon says. “And stubborn as hell.”
I sip my drink and straighten in my seat.
“It’s more about the fact that I can’t lose her.
And let’s face it, relationships come and go.
Sure, we can say that if it didn’t work out, we could go back to being friends.
But we’ve been through so much together, I can’t imagine what it would be like one day if that was over. ”
“I can see that. But let me play devil’s advocate with you,” Miles says.
I nod.
“Since she’s been with Bradley, your time with her has been limited, right?”
I nod again.
“So, eventually one of you is going to meet and marry someone else and your time with her will be even more limited. Plus, I don’t know a lot of women who are okay with their boyfriend having a best friend who is a girl and spending so much time with her.”
He and Damon nod in unison as if it were choreographed.
“Then she’s not the one for me.” I shrug. “And if I met someone, she would never take me away from Ellery.”
I get where Miles is coming from. I’ve had the same thoughts over the years.
The older we get, the better the chances are of one of us meeting someone serious and our friendship becoming strained.
I hope it’s not Bradley, but she’s spent a lot of time with him lately.
And she’s always smiling and laughing, so I assume she really likes him. I can’t stomach asking her about it.
The pilot gets on the intercom and announces that we’re starting our descent.
“I hope it turns out for you,” Miles says.
“Even if you’re being delusional about the whole thing. The only way to keep her in your life is to admit you want her and take the plunge.” Damon chimes in with his two cents.
“I’m not delusional. Haven’t you ever worried about losing someone?” I ask.
“Do you have any idea how horrible it could’ve been for me if Adeline and I hadn’t turned out the way we have? She would’ve been a part of my life, no matter what, for the rest of my life. We share a child. But I took the chance. And it paid off—big time.” He grins.
The difference is that we’re completely different people, and they have no idea what Ellery and I have been through together. Damon and Adeline have never almost lost the other one for good.
The plane lands on the runway, and I’m thankful to end this conversation. Neither of them understands what’s at stake if I lose my friendship with Ellery.
We win the game against the Kingsmen, and since fog has descended on the area, we’re stuck in San Francisco until morning. Usually, I only go out with the team a couple of times in a season, but since Miles used to play for the Kingsmen and still has friends on the team, I decided to join them.
We’re at the hotel bar, having a drink while we wait for the cars we ordered. Looks like a lot of the single guys are going out tonight. We’re at the part of the season where everyone needs to blow off some steam.
“Lee, Brady, and Chase are all meeting us at the club. Already reserved a few VIP sections.” Miles shoves his phone into his pocket.
I tip my beer to my lips. “Sounds good.”
Bradley hangs out farther down the bar with a few of the newer guys.
He appears to be the loudest one between them, which doesn’t surprise me.
I’ve wondered why Ellery likes him because she was attracted to me at one time too, and we’re very different.
I’m more reserved, keeping to myself while Bradley makes sure everyone knows he’s in the room.
I’ve got to shake this comparison game I’ve got going on in my head. It’s not like I’ve made myself available to Ellery after that night. Nothing scared me more.
Someone comes in and tells us our rides are here, so we all tally the bills and file out to the cars. As usual, I’m with Damon and Miles.
The club has a long line outside—probably because it’s a Thursday night. I hate the weekday games, but at least I’ve got Sunday off this week.
We get out, and the doormen surround us, allowing us in while people either call our names or say we suck ass since we beat their team. The three Kingsmen are already in the VIP section, drinking around a round table.
“You look like a bunch of old men,” Miles says, yawning.
“Talk to your nephew,” Chase says.
It’s obvious to me that Chase doesn’t really want to be here, but he’s marrying Miles’s sister. I’m not sure this is his scene.
“And I owe Twyla…” Miles cuts him a look, and Chase chuckles. “I’ll keep it to myself. But I’m indebted to her for letting me go out tonight, even if I’d rather be anywhere else than at a club.”
“None of your wives came?” Damon asks.
“Please, your ass wouldn’t even be here if they played in Chicago,” I say.
“I did enough partying before Adeline that it’s out of my system.” He smiles and waves over the waitress with that usual charm of his.
She’s all smiles, looking over each one of us. “What can I get you?”
We all order our drinks, and the space slowly fills in with our players.
“Helluva game today,” Lee says. “Think you’re gonna get three rings?”
I shake my head. “I have a lot of players I owe it to if I do. It’s not just me.”
He nods. Being a quarterback himself, he understands.
A few girls are allowed in the VIP area, sauntering by our table, and I realize I’m the only single one in our group.
“All yours,” Brady Banks says with a chuckle.
“Didn’t Miles tell me you first met Violet here?” Damon asks.
Lee and Chase both laugh while Brady’s face goes a little red. “Yeah, and she wanted nothing to do with me after she spent the night with me.”
Now we’re all laughing at his expense.
When the laughter dies down, the three Kingsmen look at me.
“You seeing someone?” Lee asks.
“His best friend, who happens to be dating Bradley on our team.” Damon lifts his eyebrows as if he’s challenging me to deny it.
And because I’m an idiot, I stand, calling him on his bluff. Ellery is living her life. I can too.
I approach the first pretty blonde I see because I like blondes, and she instantly knows who I am. She says my name with a sultry, seductive tone, and her gaze floats down my body. I’m in a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt untucked.
“I’m Kyla.”
I take my own perusal of her body. She’s definitely hot in her champagne-colored microdress. Her blonde hair is slicked back into a long ponytail, and her face is covered in makeup. She’s nothing like Ellery.
Jesus, stop the comparison game.
“Let’s dance,” she says, her small, soft hand taking mine and leading me onto the dance floor.
I glance over at the guys, and they all raise their drinks. Why do I feel as though I’m on the wrong side here? I’m usually in the booth, drinking a few before I can sneak out and take an Uber back to the hotel or home.
Kyla places my hands on her hips, and she rotates them, grinding into my crotch in a circular motion, tilting her head back to look at me while one arm wraps around my neck. She’s expecting me to kiss her, but screw that.
Eventually, I do relax enough to get into the music, knowing if I’m ever going to get over Ellery, this is what I need to do—put myself out there.
Kyla might not be looking to lock down a player.
Maybe she’s looking for a good time too.
And her body does feel good on my hands.
My dick stirs, and that’s a good sign since she’s hot as hell.
Soon, I’m controlling her hips.
“You like that?” she asks loudly enough for me to hear her over the pounding music.
“Want to go to the bathroom?” She turns and wraps her arms around my neck.
“Or you can take me back to your hotel room. I’ll sign whatever NDA you want me to.
” Her hand runs down the front of my body, past the buttons on my shirt, and cups my dick.
Fuck. Why do I want to turn and run?
She lifts on her tiptoes, wanting a kiss, and I place my hand on the back of her neck, ready to do just that.
My eyes close and her lips press to mine, but all I see behind my eyelids is Ellery.
Her plump, soft lips that she’s constantly putting lip balm on.
Her body pressed against mine during that photo shoot.
Not Kyla, some random woman out to score with me tonight.
I open my eyes and drop my hand, stepping back. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
“Ohhh… you have someone. Well, your secret is safe with me. I don’t really care about girlfriends or wives.” She reaches for my crotch again, but I grab her wrist and hold her back.
“I do and…” My gaze snags on the image behind her of a big body hovering over a woman as his hands glide along her body. “Excuse me.”
I breeze past Kyla and shove people out of the way until I pull Bradley off of the woman.
“What the fuck?” Bradley says, and the lipstick on the corner of his mouth tells me everything I need to know.
I push him in the chest. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” He seems as if he might be on his way to being drunk.
“You’re dating Ellery!” I shout.
Before I know it, Damon and Miles are down by us, shoulder to shoulder with me.
“We’re not in a committed relationship.” Bradley takes the woman and wraps his arm around her waist.
“So what? This can’t be happening if she’s in your life.” I motion to the woman.
He laughs. “Give me a fucking break. She hasn’t even spread her legs or sucked my dick yet.”
“Shit,” I hear Damon say right before I cock my fist back and slam it into Bradley’s face.
Fuck the consequences.
Bradley holds his face where I just hit him, eyes narrowed. “Jesus, I always knew you had a thing for her. That you never wanted me to date her.” He shakes his head, widening his jaw, opening and shutting it.
“This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the respect that you should have for her. She’s an intelligent, caring, beautiful woman and you’re throwing her aside for what? Some woman who only wants your dick so she can say she bagged a professional football player?”
“That’s the problem, Cooper. Ellery doesn’t seem to want my dick.”
I burst forward to go after him, but Damon and Miles pull me back just as the bouncers show up.
“I’m gonna kill him,” I say, fighting against their hold.
“Time to say good night, Coop,” Damon says. “You aren’t playing well with others.”
Before I know it, we’re in a taxi on the way back to the hotel.
Now I’m going to have to tell Ellery what happened, and I’m gonna hate seeing that look on her face.