Chapter Twenty-Two
Cooper
The last person I wanted to see first thing Monday morning was Pecker, but as my shitty luck would have it, there he stood.
Clearly he wanted to talk to me, which made me want to slow my pace even more. “Hey, Callihan,” he said.
“Hey,” I said, dragging out the word. Hopefully he got the message that this situation was odd, and I’d rather he get it over with or go away. Preferably option two.
He glanced around and took a step closer. “I wanted to ask you a question about Kate.”
Every muscle coiled tight; my breath froze in my lungs. “What about her?” While I tried to cover the tension in my body, my voice came out sharp.
His forehead crinkled up. “Wait. You and she aren’t a thing, are you? I asked her.”
Would it make a difference? The temptation to tell him to stay away from her was strong, but he was who she wanted. Claiming her would only make her a bigger challenge as far as he was concerned anyway. “We’re friends.”
“I’ve always thought she was pretty, but I thought she was one of those serious, all about the rules girls, so I kept my distance. But I still can’t quite figure her out. You guys ever…mess around?”
The pencil in my hand snapped and I gritted my teeth. “You’re asking about my sex life? What? The cable not working at your house, Pecker?”
He clenched his jaw. “Never mind. Jeez, I forgot what a prick you could be.”
Well, I hadn’t forgotten what a prick he could be.
But then I thought about Kate and what she wanted, and I was trying not to screw up her plans, even as all my instincts told me to. “She’s smart, so everyone thinks she’s serious, but there’s a big difference.” As I said it, I realized how true it was. I’d never laughed the way I did with her. She wouldn’t even let me be too serious—she pushed me to slow down and have fun.
Before I got distracted with thoughts of all the fun we’d had, and that afternoon we’d ended up in the lake, I charged on. “She’s funny and sweet, and she’s one of the best people I know. It’s none of my business what you two do, just like it’s none of yours what she and I do.”
Was I really going to add the rest? Seal the deal with the act we’d set up and then get the hell out of this crazy scheme? At this point, it might be the only way I ever slept again—I definitely hadn’t this past weekend, wondering how far Kate took her mission. “The truth is, I wouldn’t mind getting more serious, but she’s all about just having fun. With graduation and college coming up, she doesn’t want to be tied down.”
Pecker looked way too pleased about that news. Helping Kate land her crush didn’t feel like a challenge anymore. It was more akin to slow, drawn-out torture. In fact, I think I’d rather have someone tear out my fingernails one by one. At least that would end eventually, because I only had so many fingers.
“So please,” I said, “screw up. I’m cheering for you to be an ass, because then she’ll realize she’d be better off with just me.”
That last part wasn’t part of the plan, it just came out. But the truth of it reverberated through me. I’d done my best to give Kate what she wanted. Now all I could do was hope that the tool in front of me screwed it up so that maybe I could get her to see me.
But I wasn’t gonna hold my breath.
…
For the next few days, I avoided Kate as much as I could. I texted her and told her I couldn’t do the rowing thing because I had some family stuff to take care of.
She’d texted back that she couldn’t believe I actually knew what it meant to take a break from training, family stuff or not.
In spite of how much I wanted to, I didn’t text her back. Instead I forced myself to dwell on the image of her in the school hall with Pecker’s arm around her; of them sitting close during lunch—their cuddling sessions were burned into my brain anyway, so I figured I might as well use them for good.
When I noticed her seated at the edge of the parking lot on Thursday afternoon—in the very same spot I’d seen her in a few weeks back—I told myself to climb in my truck and leave as fast as I could.
Of course my body didn’t listen, automatically angling toward her.
Our eyes met, and she flashed me a sad smile that nearly dropped me to my knees. Without thinking, I rushed over. “What happened? Did he hurt you?”
Her eyebrows pulled together. “He?”
“Pec—Mick.”
She pressed her lips into a flat line like she was fighting her emotions, and I decided I’d kill him. Ironic that I’d need a good lawyer afterward, but I’d think about that later. “You’re hurting me,” she said.
My blood froze in my veins, the shift from anger to guilt giving my internal organs whiplash.
She reached up and twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “I saw you on the lake yesterday after school, when I was with Mick. Was I not fast enough?”
The way her voice cracked made my chest ache.
“I thought I was getting better at the rowing thing, but I’ll work on it,” she said, her pleading eyes wide. “I’ll be more serious about your training from now on, I promise. I’ll even try to refrain from calling you Coach Grouchy Pants, no matter how tempted I am.”
I shook my head. “It’s not you.”
“Really?” Her features hardened, that unexpected fiery side of her rising to the surface—and God help me, it sent a dart of desire right through me. “You’re going to use a pathetic break-up type line on me? You know that everyone who’s ever said that is full of crap.”
I raked my fingers through my hair, trying to decide whether to let it go or engage. After all, I’d kept my part of the bargain the other day and told Mick what he wanted to hear. Despite how hard I’d tried to stay out of the drama, I’d ended up in the thick of it, because of this girl. In some ways, cutting my losses and focusing on my original goal of more time on the lake and not let anything else get in the way would be the smart play.
But leaving things strained between Kate and me? It’d eat away at me, and trying to ignore her had already left me feeling raw for days. Surrendering to the crazy magnetic pull she had on me, I stepped over the curb and moved to sit, but I had to bump her with my hip to clear enough room. “I’m not breaking up with you. I just needed space.”
“Well, remember how I told you that you’re my only friend? No pressure, but I need my friend.” A contemplative crinkle creased her forehead. “Okay, I guess that’s pressure, but you know what, I don’t care. You don’t get to just blow me off with a lame claim of needing space. Friends talk to each other.” She crossed her arms, her expression all business. “So talk.”
I wanted to tell her that her logic was flawed, but I couldn’t exactly explain why I needed space without confessing a whole lot more. Like how I couldn’t stop thinking about her, everything from her laugh to her smile to her fandom talk. How I didn’t want her to hang around with Pecker anymore, because I wanted her to pick me instead.
Talk about a good way to end a friendship. Since she’d pointed out I was all she had in that area, it’d make me a huge jerk to let my selfish wants eclipse what she wanted. Especially since she’d been clear about hers from the very beginning.
I rubbed the back of my neck and glanced around—evidently the paranoid tables had turned. She was talking freely, and I worried about eavesdroppers. “How about we head to the lake, but not for rowing. Just to be there and have fun and forget everything else for a while?”
She blinked at me.
“Unless you’re waiting for Mick?”
“Yes. I mean no. I mean, no I’m not waiting for Mick, and yes to heading to the lake. Let me just text my mom and tell her I’ve got a ride home. Assuming you’ll take me home after?”
I almost slipped and made it crystal clear as to how I felt about her by telling her I’d take her anywhere she wanted me to.