“If she hates him so much, then why did he tell me he would wait for us where he was?” Beckett asks.
Huh, I have no idea who Emery is, but it’s interesting to hear that maybe, just maybe, Brett has a thing for her. A figure skater and a hockey player couple isn’t completely unheard of.
“Seriously though, Cooper, you did well today,” Clay says as I put my stuff in my locker.
“Thanks, you too,” I tell him before heading off to the shower.
Not bothering to let it heat up, I step under the cool spray and let it hit me in the face. Today really did feel different. Almost like when I was back at home. Now I just need to figure out what’s changed to make it keep happening.
Have I been eating better? Getting more sleep at night? Is it because my roommate started playing a new game that doesn’t include talking to other people all night through his headset?
You know what’s changed.
I don’t want to admit it, but I do.
Cora.
Cora is the only thing in my life that’s changed. She’s given me the one thing that I really haven’t had since last year before everything with Grace fell apart.
Friendship.
Not just that, though. She doesn’t care who I am or that I play hockey. All she cares about is the fact I’m not a douchebag to her. And I’m not.
The thought of being an asshole toward her makes my stomach roll. God, I can’t imagine being mean to her when she’s as sweet as…pie?
What the fuck, Cooper? As sweet as pie? Really?
Shaking my head, I shut off the shower and wrap a towel around my waist. Most of the locker room has cleared out, but a few guys linger. After getting dressed, I grab my shit and head out. When I step outside, I see Grace standing right inside the doorway. I’ll have to walk past her to go outside.
She’s looking down at her phone, and I smile. Five bucks says that she has her nose buried in a book.
“Excuse me,” I hear Clay mumble from behind me.
“Sorry,” I say, stepping to the side.
She must hear us because she looks up. As soon as her eyes connect with him, she lights up. Her eyes dart to me, and she offers me a quick smile before looking back at him.
Sticking my hands in my pockets, I lean against the wall and watch them for a moment. I should be jealous that she came here waiting for him to get out of practice, right? That familiar feeling of uneasiness will settle in anytime now, but it doesn’t. Because I’m not. In fact, the only thing I feel is a little bit of jealousy over the fact that I don’t have someone waiting for me and that I don’t have someone who looks at me the way she looks at him.
I want that.
But you already have it. Cora.
I can picture her clear as day waiting for me. She wouldn’t jump into my arms or make a big scene. Cora would just step into my arms and wrap her arms around my waist before telling me what she thought.
“Good game, hotshot.”
I would lean down and kiss her before thanking her for coming with me. She would tell me there was nowhere else she would rather be. Then we would head back to one of our places and hang out by ourselves for the rest of the night.
That. I want that.
The vision fades, and I know that I can’t pretend that she’s just a friend anymore. Cora is the girl I want to get to know. The one I want to be monogamous with for more than just a couple of months. I want everyone to know on campus that she’s mine and I’m hers.
Cora is exactly what I need to cancel out the noise from all the other bullshit in my life. She’s who I need to keep me grounded and my head in the game. I need to be better for her, though. I won’t make the same mistakes with her that I’ve made in the past. In such a short time, she’s come to mean something to me, and I don’t want to mess it up.
I should probably wait until my head is clearer, but for the first time in months, the fog has lifted because of her.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out my phone. I scroll through the contacts until I find the name I want and hit call. The line rings three times before her sweet voice comes through.
