Chapter 28
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
COOPER
Maybe I’m an idiot. I’ve never been so mad and disappointed in my life, and never would I have thought it’d be directed at Elle.
Jogging down the stairs, I zip up my jacket and push through the iron gates. Instead of heading to Peeper’s Alley, I walk down the block to one of the trendier bars.
I saddle up to the bar and ask the bartender for a shot of whiskey and a beer.
He nods and does me a solid by not saying he recognizes me.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, but I ignore it, continuing to drink and mindlessly watch the television that’s replaying some show about the stupid shit that people do.
A woman saddles up next to me. “Cooper Rice?”
I glance over at her. She’s a cute brunette dressed in jeans and a short crop top that shows off her stomach. Her hair is braided to the side. I remember when Elle used to do that with her hair. Back when she wasn’t mine, but I wanted her to be.
“Yeah.” I sip my beer. No reason to deny it.
“You don’t mind if I sit here, do you?” She circles on the stool.
“It’s not my bar.” I lift the shot glass, and the bartender brings the bottle down. I slide my credit card over to start a tab.
“I’m Flora,” she says, jutting her hand out.
I shake it and return my hand to my beer.
“You want to talk about it?”
“No.” I down the shot.
“Want to talk about anything?”
“No.” I keep my gaze on the TV.
“You certainly aren’t showing me a side that would make me want to cheer for the Grizzlies.”
I swivel in my stool to face her. “Listen, I’m having a real bad fucking day. The last thing I need is some girl hitting on me. I plan on drinking until I’m numb, so I’d go find some other guy to hit on tonight.”
She stares at me for a beat. “You know the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. Why don’t we go back to my place, and I promise you I can make you forget all about her.”
I used to be surprised by these advances, but not so much anymore.
“That’s not my style.”
She shakes her head. “Of course, the one player I meet isn’t into fucking around.”
My phone vibrates again, and I pull it out just to get away from this woman.
“I even gave you a fake name.” She picks up her drink and finishes it.
“What?” I answer my phone when I see that it’s Miles, hoping this woman will get out of here.
“Where the hell are you? Why is Ellery in tears?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I thought you were cool with her taking the job?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. See you at practice tomorrow.” I hang up on him and nod at the bartender.
“What a waste,” Flora, or whatever her name is, says, slamming her glass on the bar top and walking away.
Thank God.
I move away from the bar and into a booth, giving myself more privacy.
I don’t know how long I’m there when two bodies slide in on either side of me. But I know it’s long enough for all the alcohol I’ve ingested to hit me.
“Guys!” I raise my beer. “Have a drink.”
As luck would have it, my waitress, Carmen, comes to take their drink order. “What will you guys have?”
“Just a water,” Miles says.
“Nothing,” Damon answers and turns his gaze on me. “What the fuck?”
“What?” I glare at him.
“What is wrong with you? You’re getting drunk during the week, and we have practice tomorrow. The girl you’ve been drooling over for years is crying uncontrollably back at The Den. I’m watching you ruin your entire life.”
“She doesn’t love me, man,” I say, finishing off my beer.
“Ellery said that?” Miles’s eyebrows raise.
“She didn’t have to. It’s obvious in her actions. She doesn’t want marriage or kids, or at least not with me.”
Carmen comes over, and I ask her for another beer, but Miles shakes his head. “If you want a big tip, you’ll refill my drink,” I tell her.
Damon reaches into his pocket and pulls out a couple hundred-dollar bills. “This is to not serve him anymore.”
Carmen’s eyebrows shoot up, and she smiles. “Done.”
“Traitor. All you women are traitors!” I shout after her.
“Whoa now, let’s not get kicked out of the bar,” Damon says.
“I love her,” I say, the crack in my voice belying how scared I am that I might lose it. “But she doesn’t love me the same way.”
“How do you know?” Miles asks.
“Because she’s first in my world, but I’m not in hers.
She wants space and not to rush into things, but we’ve been best friends for ten fucking years.
I know her cycle, her favorite brand of makeup, how much she dislikes poppy seed bagels but loves poppy seed muffins.
I would ace a trivia quiz about Ellery Wallace. ”
Neither of them says anything.
“And now she’s gonna move? To New York? Like her dad didn’t set that up to get her away from me.”
“I doubt—” Miles starts to say when I shoot him a death glare.
“He told her today on the way to the airport that she should take a break from me. That there’s always time for relationships, but if she wants to get where she wants to be in her career, she can’t have me tagging along.”
“Fucking hell.” Damon looks at Miles. “Adeline’s mom was rough at first, but she never told Adeline to kick me to the curb. I’d be pissed too.”
“But what did Ellery say about it? Did she agree?” Miles asks.
“She flew in early, and instead of coming to talk to me about it, she chose to go to Bryce. Which tells me she was thinking about what her dad said, that she didn’t know what to do.”
I lift my empty mug and try to get the last drop of beer out of it.
“Now you just look pathetic.” Damon takes the glass from my hands.
“You sure are assuming a lot,” Miles says.
I shake my head. “I know Elle. I know how her brain works.”
“Okay,” he says, accepting that I know her best. Better than even Bryce. She might not have been thinking about it consciously, but there’s a reason she sought out Bryce.
My head suddenly feels heavy, and then my forehead hits the wood table.
“Let’s go,” one of them says.
“He paid up?” Damon must ask the waitress.
“He put it all on a tab,” Carmen says.
“Leave yourself a one hundred percent tip.”
My head lifts to argue, but it falls back down. I need a bed.
We all slide out of the booth on one side, each of them taking the weight of half of my body and escorting me out of the bar.
“AGAIN!” Coach Stone screams.
We run the play again. I’m like an elderly man with a walker with my speed out of the pocket, and when I throw the ball, it gets caught by an orange shirt.
Coach Stone throws his clipboard. “God damn it, Rice! What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’ve got a headache,” I say.
“Then take some pain medicine. I’m not your fucking mommy. Get off the field. Give me Beacon. Rice, go sit your ass on the bench.”
I go to the bench, throw my helmet on the ground, and sit down, cursing to myself.
I’ve never gotten drunk the night before a practice. Sure, maybe a few drinks, but I’ve never woke up with cottonmouth and my body aching. I’m sure the heartbreak isn’t helping me either. I wish Ellery would have been at my place when I got home last night.
Suddenly, overwhelming nausea hits my stomach, and I run to the trashcan, throwing everything up from last night.
“Locker room, now!” Coach Stone yells when my eyes meet his.
God, he reminds me of my father.
“Set him up an ice bath,” he tells one of the trainers. “Get in the showers and clean yourself up,” he tells me. “Then come and see me.”
I nod, stripping my practice jersey off. God, the warm water feels so good on my skin. My eyes close and my head rests on the tile, allowing the water to pelt my back.
What did I do last night? I pushed her away because I was upset and angry. That’s what I did. I haven’t had the guts to call and apologize to her yet. I miss her so much.
“Enough, my office,” Coach Stone says from behind me and walks away.
I turn off the water and grab a towel. I don’t bother to dress since he ordered me an ice bath.
“Sit,” he says, pointing to the chair across from his desk when he spots me in his doorway.
I do as instructed.
“I warned you about this exact thing at the beginning of the season. I told you this needed to be a year with no distractions. When you and Ellery started dating, I thought it was going to be a problem, but then you started playing better than before. And then today you show up so hungover you can’t throw a decent pass.
” He shakes his head, and I feel that disappointment deep in my bones.
“I’m sorry, but it’s over. She’s no longer a distraction.”
He shakes his head and laughs. “She’s more of a distraction than when you were dating her. You think the whole world doesn’t know how you feel about her?”
“Why would they? I’m fine, Coach. It’s better this way anyway. She’s moving, taking a job in New York.”
He rocks back in his chair and studies me for a long time. “Sometimes I think I should have gotten my psych degree. Actually, you have one, right?”
I nod, remembering my first class with Ellery when I had to tutor her.
“So, enlighten me, Rice. You and the girl you’ve loved forever get into a relationship. And now that you’ve broken up, she’s not going to be a distraction?”
“Because I’m only going to concentrate on football.” I cross my arms, trying to convince myself that this is the best thing that could’ve happened.
“Doubtful, but if you show up like this to another practice, I’m benching you for the next game.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
This is my job, and I can’t jeopardize it. I can’t let the rest of my team down.
“Deal with this shit in the off-season. We’re almost there, Rice. The third championship is within your grasp.” He smiles.
He’s right. If Ellery can put her career ahead of us, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t do exactly the same.