“Huh?”
“Are you coming out with us and the girls?” Beckett says.
Well, shit. It looks like Cora already has plans. I want to go wherever she is, but I don’t know if I should. While things are better with Clay and Grace, they aren’t perfect, and I don’t want to make anyone’s night weird.
“I don’t know…”
“You should come,” Clay says.
Turning, I look at him. “Are you sure?”
“Cooper, your girlfriend is going to be there. It’s kind of expected that you will be too, and if you’re worried about it being weird, it won’t be. Not unless you make it that way,” he tells me.
Thinking it over, it does sound nice. A night out with Cora and our friends, celebrating a win? That’s all I’ve ever wanted.
“Are you sure that Cora’s going?”
Clay nods. “Positive. The girls have all headed back to the hotel to get ready.”
I look over at Wyatt and see that he’s already looking at me.
“Are you going?”
“I’m taking Brett back to his room, but I’ll stop by after,” he says without missing a beat.
“All right then, sure.”
“Cool. Let’s get cleaned up and get out of here.” Clay stands.
I lean down to untie my skates when I feel his hand come down on my shoulder.
“Oh, and Cooper. Thanks for having my back out there. Literally,” Clay says.
“Yeah, no problem, man. It was nothing, don’t mention it.”
Shaking his head, Clay walks away.
I feel eyes on me, so I look over and see that Wyatt is staring at me. “What?”
“You having his back was something, and we all know it. Don’t downplay it.”
Ducking my head, I mutter, “Hurry up and get undressed so we can get out of here.”
He’s not wrong, though. Last year I would have let that dude take Clay down. I wouldn’t have done a thing to stop it. This year, though, things are different.
How’s that for growth?
nineteen
The guys are high on their victory. They are cheering and yelling as we walk down the street to a local sports bar.
I’m laughing as I watch people glare around us. Probably not smart of us to be out screaming about our victory in the town of the losing team. Still, I can’t help but smile as Kellan pulls me closer to his side, singing the school’s fight song along with the guys.
I love seeing him getting along with them so well. It’s like he’s finally allowing himself to get close to them. To bond with them in a way he couldn’t before.
I’m so glad I decided to come. I almost didn’t because I didn’t want to have to share a room with Grace and Peyton that I can’t pay for. Grace refused to hear about it, though. She demanded I go and paid for the whole thing. Peyton told me to stop fighting it because Grace was going to do what Grace wanted to do. It didn’t hurt that Kellan shoved some money at me for the ride down. He claims it’s because he wanted me to look for these new fruit chews he has been looking for, but I think he’s a liar. I found them at the first gas station, which tells me they are more popular than he is letting on.
Still, I accepted it from him. Even let him buy me a coffee for the trip.
