Chapter Thirty-Five
Kate
I debated skipping the race part of the festival and sticking to the tented booths with crafts, handmade jewelry, and artery-clogging food. The occasional glimpses of Cooper that I caught during school made it clear that seeing him inflicted pain, even if from afar.
But all the hours I’d spent rowing made it hard to stay away. Not to mention the booths lined right up with where the race started.
I eyed the boats, alternatively hoping I’d spot Cooper’s blond waves in the crowd, while hoping I wouldn’t because of that whole aching thing.
“Looking for Cooper?” Mom whispered in my ear, and I jumped, nearly dropping my cotton candy.
“No,” I said.
“Oh, right. The football player—that’s who you like these days. I keep forgetting.”
I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at her. Instead I went for maturity and held the cotton candy out of reach when she tried to swipe a chunk.
Speaking of the football player, he was also competing, so I’d feel like a bad prom date if I didn’t support him. Even if I had given up thinking we’d be anything close to exclusive—in the words of Tswift—like, ever.
But at least he no longer thought of me as a hookup girl. After he agreed to be my prom date, I explained that if he was going with me because he thought I’d be so grateful and caught up in dance-night magic that we’d hookup afterward, he’d be greatly disappointed.
He told me that as long as he didn’t have to stop hooking up with other girls, he didn’t care. Talk about romance, FTW!
Honestly, it was nice not to pretend to be someone other than who I was. The pictures would be stunning, and I could always point at the framed photo sitting among my Funko Pop figurines on my bookshelf and brag about how I’d gone to prom with the quarterback and possible prom king, which he was a total shoo-in for.
The only thing better would be going with the guy I could now say for sure that I’d loved, even if only for a little while.
Okay, considering I’d switched my cyber-stalking habits from Mick to Cooper—who didn’t put nearly enough information online, FYI—I was possibly still in love with him. But considering his indifference toward me, I was trying to fall out of it.
Oh, look, there he is. The unyielding butterflies kicked up in my tummy, fluttering in that way they did just for him. He had his game face on as he picked up his number from the registration table. Dang, he looks cute. And ripped and tall… Why does he always have to look so freaking hot?
His waves were a bit wild, like he’d raked his hand through his hair several times. He must be nervous.
My fingers ached to reach out and squeeze his hand and provide the comfort that I used to be able to. Unfortunately, it would probably only make him mad, and I didn’t have stretchy fire-hose length arms anyway. Well, that last part wasn’t unfortunate, but I digress.
Yep, looking at him now, my act of not caring about him, or how we weren’t friends anymore, definitely digressed.
“You okay, hon?” Mom asked.
“I’m fine. I’m going to go find a closer seat to watch.”
Mom glanced back toward the tents.
“Go get that necklace,” I said. “And while you’re getting it, ask for the farmer dude’s number.”
Mom’s cheeks turned pink. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Um, hello, the sparks were flying between you and the guy in the booth next to the jewelry stand. I saw the flirty smiles, too.” I wrapped her in a side hug. “No one will ever replace Dad, but it’s okay to date and move on, Mom.”
In some ways, I needed to follow my own advice and not constantly be afraid that everything bad or hard that happened would only remind me of how much I missed him. I could miss him. I just couldn’t let it hold me back from taking risks.
“I’m about to go to college,” I continued, “and I know that I’m still going to live with you and all, but you don’t want to be the sad woman who watches TV with a bearded dragon every weekend while I’m out at those raging college parties.”
“Ha-ha.”
“I’m serious; Klaus and I talked about it, and we both worry. He’s mostly worried you’ll get three cats, and he’s not great at sharing the attention.”
A smile broke free and Mom glanced back at the row of tents again. “He was really cute. And he did seem interested.”
“Interested? There was shameless ogling on both sides.” I shoved her toward the tents. “Now go. And don’t come back until you’ve got his number.”
Her laugh trailed after her, and I watched her go, a mix of emotions swirling through me, but the top one was happiness for her. Mom’s willingness to put herself out there again encouraged me to stop being a wimp and head over to the stands. It might hurt to see Cooper, but I wouldn’t let that stop me from enjoying the race. Or doing a little cheering for my former training partner, no matter what’d happened between us.
I spotted Mrs. Callihan in the crowd, and when she looked my way, I waved.
The guy next to her had to be Cooper’s dad. He had the same blond coloring, but his features were on the austere side of the spectrum.
The thought of Cooper’s expression eventually turning so serious, just to make his dad happy dug at me, and my feet propelled me forward. Luckily I was no stranger to making a fool of myself—might as well do so for a good cause, even if it ended up being in vain.
“Mrs. Callihan.” I gave her a nod and turned to address her husband, my rapid pulse hammering behind my temples. “Sir, I know you don’t know me, but I just have to say that Cooper’s crazy smart, and he puts his heart into what he loves. I take full responsibility for him telling you that he doesn’t want to be a lawyer, but I hope someday you’ll realize that it’d be a shame if a career that made him unhappy drained him of his passion.”
The lines in Mr. Callihan’s forehead creased more with every sentence. With my piece delivered, my courage faded and the urge to flee took its place. “So…that’s all I have to say. And, um, it was nice to meet you.” I glanced at Mrs. Callihan, who beamed at me. “I’ll be cheering for Cooper. Okay, bye.”
“You must be Kate,” Mr. Callihan said as I backpedaled—and in typical fashion—bumped into a passerby.
“Did I forget that part? Yeah, I’m Kate.” I tentatively lifted my hand. “I’m a little afraid to shake your hand. Please don’t crush it.”
A low chuckle emanated from him. “Well, Kate. I know you don’t think my son should be a lawyer, but I’m starting to think you’d make a good one. I think you might just stun everyone into agreeing with you.”
“Thanks?”
“It’s a compliment coming from him,” Mrs. Callihan said, placing her hand on his arm. “A high one. And Cooper and his father are working on a compromise.”
“We are?” Mr. Callihan asked.
“You are,” she assured him in a tone I wouldn’t dare disagree with.
“Really? I’m so glad.” I bit my lip. “So yay and I’m sorry and I’ll get out of your hair.”
When I turned around, I nearly smacked into Jaden. “There you are,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“You have?” I lowered my eyebrows. “Why?”
“You can still row, right?”
“I haven’t been training the past week or so, but I didn’t, like, forget.”
“Good.” Jaden clamped on to my hand and started dragging me toward the row of boats. “I need you to be my partner in the race.”
I dug in my heels. “No way. I came to watch the race, not to be in it. And even that’s going to be hard enough for me.”
Jaden spun to face me. “Cooper went crazy this morning and he says he’s going to row with someone else because I’m not fast enough.”
“Oh, Jaden, I’m so sorry.” I patted his arm, trying to show him I understood but also that he shouldn’t take it personally. “He just gets like that sometimes.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice about how he gets.” He tilted his head toward the line of boats in the water, where people busily fiddled around with them, wiggling oars and stretching for their big race. “Just come be my partner. Please.”
“I…” I had a feeling going out on the water to do something Cooper and I had done so many times would only add to the constant ache in my chest, but I didn’t want to leave Jaden hanging—he’d been so nice to me. The added please made it impossible to say no, too, dang it. “Okay. But is Cooper all right? I talked to his dad and—”
Jaden’s eyes widened. “You talked to his dad? That guy is scary.”
I nodded. “Oh, for sure. But he’s not as unreasonable as I thought.” Which might be attributed more to his wife, but still. “Seriously, Jaden, I need to know about Cooper. Is he okay?”
“Depends on the outcome of this race,” he said, his voice taking on a weird, cryptic tone.
Mick glanced up as we passed him and Vance, and he winked at me. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” I automatically said. “Now that I’m in the race, you’re probably going to need it.”
The shock on his face made me laugh, but I couldn’t dwell on it, because Jaden dragged me toward his boat at a breakneck pace, no stopping to smell the roses.
As my crappy luck would have it, Cooper’s boat floated next to his, and Amber sat in there with him, in the front position. He’s rowing with Amber? My heart cracked, and I stumbled as Jaden urged me into the boat. I didn’t understand. Not how he could pick her over Jaden, and not why he wouldn’t be taking the lead. She couldn’t be strong enough to do it, could she?
“Take the forward seat,” Jaden said.
“Have you done this before? Because that’s not a good idea. I’m not a strong enough rower for that.” Just like Amber’s not freaking strong enough.
“Just trust me. I’ve got a plan.”
What the hell was happening? “Everyone must’ve taken crazy pills today, or maybe I did, because nothing’s making sense.”
The mayor lifted a bullhorn, outlined the rules, and before I knew it, he shouted, “On your marks…”
“Just focus on the finish line,” Jaden said as that crackling anticipation hung in the air, everyone ready to bolt the second the signal sounded out. “Don’t look back.”
I gripped the handles of the oars, figuring I’d give it my all, even if it was a useless cause. When the starting gun fired, I flinched, then dug my oars into the water.
The boat wobbled as Jaden shoved us off, and I resisted the urge to look back at him. That’d waste seconds and suddenly I thought maybe we would win. Who said we couldn’t?
The push from the oars behind me shot us forward, one stroke after another, the movement so strong I dared a glance over my shoulder.
And dropped my grip on the oars. Instead of Jaden being there, Cooper sat there instead, rowing harder than I’d ever seen him go before.
“What the what?”
He dug the oars into the water again, pushing us farther across the lake. I glanced to the right, where he’d been in a boat with Amber earlier, to find Jaden seated behind her. I blinked, tried to remember if I’d hit my head at any point during the past few days, and then returned my attention to my swapped-out partner.
“Cooper. Hello? What’s going on?”
“Just…a minute…and I’ll…” He continued to row, the exertion making every one of those sexy muscles in his arms and chest pop. “Explain.”
Since I didn’t know what else to do, I grabbed the oars and helped propel us forward. We were close to the lead, too.
But suddenly we slowed. I dug in my oars, but our progress wasn’t nearly as impressive as it’d been a minute ago. One more row and I could tell my partner wasn’t doing his part.
I glanced behind me. Cooper had abandoned his post and moved to the middle of the boat, his oars just sitting behind him, dragging in the water, which was going to totally kill our time.
“Whoa, dude, what are you doing? We’re falling behind—you need to get back to your seat.”
“I don’t care.”
“Yes you do. I’ve been in the boat with you before, remember? You’ve been training for this race for weeks, and we can still win.” I grunted as I rowed as hard as I could, the boat gliding through the water, but not nearly as well or as quickly as before my partner completely lost his mind. “You just need to help.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Okay, we’ll talk after we win the race.” I made another attempt to shoot us forward, but we were falling more behind by the second.
The boat wobbled as Cooper moved back into place, and I let out a sigh of relief.
I waited for us to start making forward motion again so we could hurry up and make up for lost ground. Instead the boat continued to wobble, and then Cooper’s chest bumped into my shoulder as he reached forward and undid the fasteners holding my oars in place.
Then he just let them drop into the water. “Are you crazy?” I noticed his oars floating away from us as well.
“Yes,” he said, and he placed his hand on my arm.
“We’re going to lose the race.” I motioned toward the other boats, now inching ahead of us—most a lot more than inches, actually.
“Yes,” he repeated. “But I’m hoping I’ll still win.”
I ran my fingers through my hair and rested my palm on my forehead. “I think this must be a dream. The weirdest things are happening, and I don’t understand it, and I’m just going to pinch myself and wake up, because this is going to be bad for my recovery.”
“Your recovery?”
I shook my head. “In case this isn’t a dream, I’m not making a fool of myself.”
Cooper straddled the seat, one knee behind me, and one pressing against the outside of my knee. “It’s not a dream. Because otherwise my heart wouldn’t be pounding like it’s about to bust out of my chest. I’ve never been so nervous in my life.” He grabbed my hand and moved it over his heart, and sure enough, I could feel the steady beat.
This close, I could smell his familiar cologne. Could see the brown and green swirling through his eyes—eyes I’d missed so badly that I wanted to cry at the sight of them. And those dimples…close enough to touch. To kiss…
“Everything got all messed up, Kate. And I take full responsibility, because I broke protocol.”
“Protocol?”
“On our mission. The deeper in I got, the harder I fell, and then I kissed you, and…” His gaze dropped to my lips and a shock of heat trembled through my core. “I can say with a certainty that you don’t suck at kissing—that was the best kiss I’ve ever had.”
Hope and happiness tingled across my skin. “Really?”
“Really.”
“It was pretty amazing.”
He nodded and leaned closer.
“Wait,” I said. “You ruined your shot at winning the race to tell me that I know how to kiss? I just need you to be as clear as possible, before I start getting the wrong idea and end up with a broken heart. Because like I accidentally mentioned earlier, my recovery from you hasn’t been going so well.”
Cooper brushed his lips against mine and my stomach drifted up and up and up. “How’s this for clear? I ship us, Kate. I want us to be Kaper or Coopte or Capote or whatever weird combination our names can make. You said something about forcing two people who were meant to be into a ship—obviously I took that very literally. You and me are my OTP, and if you don’t believe me, I’m going to spend the next several weeks trying to prove it, until you ship us as much as I do.”
A sound between a laugh and an ecstatic cry escaped my mouth. Then I crushed my lips to his.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard shouting in the bullhorn, something about a winner—possibly the announcement of one?—and how the boat that stopped halfway through needed to get out of the middle of the lake. But none of that mattered.
I threw my arms around Cooper’s neck, parted my lips, and deepened the kiss, not caring that the whole town was watching, because I wanted them all to know that Cooper Callihan was mine.
As soon as I came up for a breath, I whispered, “I totally ship us, too.” With that I’d had plenty of oxygen, so I dove right back in and kissed him again.
And again.
And again.