Chapter 22
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
COOPER
“Can you keep your mind off her for the next few hours?” Damon smacks me on the back, laughing.
“Fuck off.”
If I have to hear from one more person that my game is gonna go to shit because I’m in love, I’m gonna go ape shit.
She’s been my best friend for over ten years, and maybe what people don’t understand is that I’ve been in love with her the entire time.
She comes to all my home games and was by my side for the last two championships.
So, everyone who thinks that I’m gonna choke or something can go to hell.
“Relax, I’m on your side.” Damon suits up, glancing over at Miles.
I sit down on the bench, mindful of who’s in the room. “It’s just…” Fuck, I didn’t want to talk to anyone about this. I’m sure I’m just paranoid of losing her now that I finally have her. “I think she’s pulling away.”
“What?” Damon scoffs. “No way.”
I nod. “Every time I talk to her about our future and marriage or kids, she just clams up. She’s put stipulations on when we can see one another, how many nights, and shit like that.”
“But when you’re together?” Miles asks.
“Lights out, man. She’s all over me, I’m all over her. We can’t get enough of one another.”
“What else do you guys do when you’re together?” Damon asks.
I take a second to think about it. “I took her to a play, and we went to dinner. It’s only been a week, so other than that, it’s just ordering food and watching movies or shows that don’t get watched because we’re all over one another.”
“Look at it this way, you’ve had ten years of friend dates and getting to know another. You’re in the sex-crazed part of the relationship now. Enjoy it because it ends,” Miles says.
“Wait until your little one arrives,” Damon chimes in, eyeing Miles.
“Enjoy the sex now, and from what I know of Ellery, which isn’t as much as you and Bryce know, she likes things slow. Doesn’t want to rush into anything.” Miles is so perceptive of people.
“Yeah, she does.” When she was deciding what to specialize in during medical school, she went from family to obstetrics to emergency.
And when she got her apartment, she flip-flopped between two units, unable to make the decision because she’s always worried about making a mistake.
Amazing how someone can have a job where they have to be so decisive but not when it comes to her personal life. “Okay. I’ll give it more time.”
“You’re the only man I know who would complain about too much pussy and not enough planning.” Damon shakes his head and finishes getting dressed.
Coach Stone comes out of his office, huddles us together for a pep talk, and sends us out to the field, ready to win.
We run out, and Damon pisses off Coach Stone by jumping into the stands with Adeline and Clover, who is here today, along with Adeline’s parents.
Bryce is waving to Miles, wearing her usual plethora of things with his number on them.
My gaze shifts to the only person I care about. Ellery smiles and gives me a wave as if she can keep what’s between us hidden. I blow her a kiss, and her smile widens until her vision shifts to my side.
“Funny, if you would’ve just been honest with me, I never would’ve gone after her.” Bradley stretches his arm across his chest. “And look at that smile now that she’s all snug back in your number.”
“I didn’t know what I felt then,” I say.
“Bullshit. But I’m glad you both opened up your eyes so you can stop screwing over others.”
I laugh and rock my head back. “Are you suggesting that she hurt you?”
“Not her, but your stunt in the nightclub got me suspended for a game. What you’re missing, Golden Boy, is that I’m not you.
I never won the Player of the Year award, I didn’t have a daddy who paved the road for me, and I don’t have your record.
So, me being suspended makes me look like I’m a problem.
And teams don’t like problems. All that bullshit because you guys were too afraid to lose each other may have cost me a position with another team. ”
“You’re looking to leave Chicago?” I ask before he can jog away from me.
“You barely throw to me; everything goes to Damon. Doesn’t sound like my quarterback has my best interests at heart.
And a captain who allows his personal shit to interfere with what happens on that field isn’t the kind of captain I want.
” He turns away to head toward the other offensive guys.
“Oh, and good luck. I really hope you don’t play shitty today, and I say that as a teammate because I want us to win. ”
He disappears into the crowd of offensive players, and I clench my jaw and start my practice throws. The sad part is he’s right. I was so pissed when he was dating Ellery that I always looked for Damon more. It was a shit move, and I’m glad he called me out on it.
“Rice!” a woman’s voice screams, and I turn to the stands to see my package being delivered to Ellery.
Bryce gives me a thumbs-up. I watch as Ellery opens up the box and pulls out the necklace that says “I love” with my number. She smiles, and Bryce helps her put it on.
Elle mouths “Thank you, and I love you,” and I mouth, “Ditto.”
“All this romance shit. What happened to football? Get your head in the game, Rice!” Coach Stone yells as he walks by, having witnessed the scene.
I wink at Ellery and throw the ball again to warm up my arm.
We’re down by one with no time-outs, and we have less than a minute on the clock in the fourth quarter.
But we have to get the ball down the field.
Although I haven’t played shitty, things just haven’t been going our way in this game.
Too many errors by all of us combined. Plus, the Vipers came out like a fucking all-star team today.
I get the play Coach wants and get into the huddle. I tell everyone the play we’re making, and Bradley sighs, mumbling, “Could’ve predicted that one.”
I ignore him because we don’t have time to fight over this now.
The ball rests on the twenty-five-yard line. Morales hikes the ball to me, and I make a quick throw to Damon, and he runs out of bounds to stop the clock.
The fans go crazy, jumping up and down. We advance fifteen yards, but we need more.
I get the next call and the huddle comes together, Bradley again showing his displeasure that he’s not getting the ball.
I throw across the middle to Harris, our tight end, and we hurry up and line up again, the clock continuing to count down. Morales hikes me the ball, and I spike it to stop the clock.
Coach wants me to go to Damon for the next play, but the way the Vipers have been playing tonight, he’ll be double-teamed and will have no shot at catching the ball. There’s only one hope, and I suck up my ego and do what a good quarterback does.
We huddle together, and I look right at Bradley. “Get open, and this game win is yours.”
A smirk comes across his face. I owe him this one, and we both know it.
Morales hikes the ball to me, and I shuffle backward, my eyes on Damon. My offensive line does a killer job of keeping me free for as long as I need, but the clock is ticking down. Right before the time runs out, I throw a pass downfield to Bradley.
The ball suspends in the air for what feels like forever, but Bradley catches it like every great wide receiver should and brings it into his body, protecting it like a baby. I get tackled to the ground, but I’m really hoping the stadium going crazy means he come down with the ball in bounds.
I quickly scramble to get up from the Vipers’ defensive line to see Bradley dancing with Damon in the end zone.
Fuck yeah.
I fist pump in the air and jump up and down. Morales picks me up, cheering.
After I run over and say good game to the guys on the Vipers, I seek out Bradley, but he’s already being interviewed. I give him a nod as I walk by, and he nods back to me, a smile on his lips.
Another reporter stops me, and I start talking to them about the last play. I’m in the middle of answering when I catch something behind him that catches his attention. I turn to see Ellery waiting for me.
I reach over and drag her to me, holding her to my side during the interview.
“So, how does it feel that you might be making the best quarterback in the league even better?” The reporter questions Ellery instead of me.
“It was a great catch, too,” I interrupt, because Ellery shouldn’t have to answer any questions.
“Yes, it was. Well, congratulations on a great game, Cooper. You sure proved those skeptics wrong today.”
I shake his hand and turn to Ellery, picking her up in my arms.
“What a game,” she says. “You did great.”
“I did okay. Not my best, but I didn’t choke or play shitty. Not that I thought I would. You’ve always been my lucky charm.” I set her down and tuck her hair behind her ear and bring my lips down to hers.
She kisses me back, and I kick myself for acting like there were problems between us before the game. She never pulls away from me when my hands or lips are on her.
“I’ll meet you outside?” she asks.
“I wish you could shower with me,” I say, kissing her one last time.
“Later on, I can double-check that you got all the dirt off.”
“Perfect.” I hold her hand as we slowly walk away from one another, until we have no choice but to separate.
She heads off with Adeline and Bryce, while I head to the locker room.
I’m on cloud nine when we walk out after I’m showered, dressed, and have talked to the press. All I want is to be with Ellery tonight. Clover runs to Damon when we get outside, and he picks her up, kissing her before going to Adeline and hugging her. The three of them leave together.
Bryce tackles Miles, and they head in the direction of the parking lot.
The crowd clears, and I see Bradley and Elle talking. There goes my good mood.
I walk over and wrap my arm around Ellery, kissing her temple before saying hello to him.
“Relax, I was just telling her that I’m happy for you two. That I wasn’t ready for the settling down shit yet, so it’s good that she secretly loved you.” He laughs. “See you guys.”
I look at Ellery after he’s gone.
She rolls her eyes. “Stop it, you have no reason to be jealous. Take me home.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.”
I escort her to the Corvette. I’ve had it out of storage for a few days. I open the passenger-side door to let her in.
“Want to take the long way home?” she asks.
“I can do that.”
We haven’t ridden in the Corvette since we were a couple and it’s too cold to keep the windows down, but there’s something that feels right as we drive down Lake Shore Drive snug in the car that I first realized I loved her in.