Intercepting Love

5. Kate

5

KATE

It was a fifteen minute drive from the stadium to my neighborhood, and I had a feeling it was going to be one of the most awkward rides of my life, but Cooper surprised me by talking nonstop. At first, it was just questions about Charlotte and about the team, but then it moved on to questions about me. I was afraid to get too personal for fear it would cause problems. I needed to make sure I kept my distance.

“So how old are you, Kate?” Cooper asked.

“I’m twenty-five,” I answered.

“Well, I’m pretty sure you know everything clinical about me from the size of the file you had in your hands earlier. It doesn’t have everything about me in it, does it?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Laughing, I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t have everything about you in it. However, I do know you’re twenty-nine years old, six foot four, you were born in California, and that you have issues with your shoulder. Other than that I think you’re safe.”

With his body turned my way, he kept his gaze on me. “Good, I don’t know if I want you knowing everything about me. Although, I can’t help but wonder … why didn’t you want to finish your degree and become a doctor? Surely, you didn’t have much more to go through.”

And right there was the one question I hated having to answer. Keeping my eyes on the road, I clenched my teeth and tried desperately to keep my mind from wandering to that time years ago. Everything was perfect and I was one of the top in my class, but I was too distraught over everything that had happened with Scott to concentrate on it. I was a mess back then.

“Kate, are you okay?” Cooper asked, placing his hand on my shoulder. His fingers touched the bare skin of my arm and I shivered.

Nonchalantly, I plastered on a fake smile and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. So much was going on in my life, and I never got the chance to complete my year. It’s no big deal, though. Maybe one day I’ll go back and finish.”

“So you were in your last year and quit?” he asked incredulously.

At the time, I felt like I had no other choice. I didn’t exactly quit, but when I had my breakdown and missed my mandatory exams there was no other option. My mind wasn’t in the right place to take them, so I settled with being just an assistant, even though I was qualified to be an actual physician.

“Um … do you mind if we talk about something else, or nothing at all? I don’t want to think about that anymore.”

“Yeah, of course,” he replied, his voice softening. “So, how long have you been with the team?”

Now that was something I could talk about. “Only one season. I’ve enjoyed it, especially going to the away games and getting to see places.”

I could see him smiling out of the corner of my eye. “I like that, too. I honestly thought it would be over after my shoulder got messed up. My whole life has been nothing but football.”

“Surely there’s more to you than that,” I said in disbelief. “What did you go to college for? I mean, if you didn’t play football what would you be doing? You have to have a backup plan.”

“I do,” he said. “I studied Architecture at UCLA while I played football there. As soon as I retire in a few years, I’m going to get a job doing that. I’m actually good friends with a guy who owns the West Coast branch of M&M Architectural Design.”

I gasped. “Wow, that’s amazing. I’m not really knowledgeable in architecture, but M&M is pretty huge in Charlotte. How did you manage that?”

Chuckling, he shook his head. However, when he suddenly sighed, I could tell his laugh was anything but humorous. “The guy who owns the West Coast branch is good friends with a girl I used to know.”

I guess it pays to know the right people, I thought to myself.

“Was she a girlfriend?” I asked curiously. For some reason I couldn’t imagine him being serious about a woman.

His blue gaze turned angry for a second before leveling out. “Her name was Claire, and for a long time she was more than my girlfriend. Is that so hard to believe?”

“I didn’t say that,” I replied, holding my hands up in defeat, but wanting to know more. “What happened to her?”

With a devilish smirk on his face, he focused those gorgeous blue eyes of his on me. “I’ll tell you what. If you tell me why you didn’t finish medical school, then I’ll tell you all about Claire. You see, I don’t like to think about her so if you want to know, you need to give me something in return.”

That wasn’t going to happen.

“Never mind then,” I snapped. “I don’t want to know that badly.” I did want to know, but I wasn’t going to tell him about my past just so that I could.

In no time at all, we pulled into his driveway, leaving our last few minutes in the car together with nothing but silence. There were still things I wanted to ask him, but I figured we’d spoken enough for the day.

“Thank you for the ride home,” Cooper announced gratefully, reaching for the door handle, “and for the talk.”

“You’re welcome. Do you need a ride to practice tomorrow?” I didn’t see a car in his driveway, so I figured I’d better ask.

His hand stalled on the handle and he turned back to me, his blue gaze curious and alit with humor. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“No, of course not. You live two houses down from me. Why would I mind?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe because when we were in the locker room I saw your reflection in the mirror when Joel asked you to drive me home. Don’t get me wrong, the ride home was really nice, but I’m pretty sure you’re capable of plastering on a fake smile. You don’t have to pretend with me.”

I had to give it to him … he was blunt and to the point.

Although it was true that I didn’t want to drive him home at first, it was actually kind of enjoyable on the way home.

“Look, Cooper, at first I didn’t want to drive you home, and I’m sorry if you thought I was being a b***h. It’s just I’ve had this notion that you were going to be an arrogant jackass, and I wasn’t too thrilled about having to be around you.”

“Have I come off like that at all?” he countered seriously.

“No, you haven’t, which really kind of shocked me,” I confessed. “Anyway, you’re part of the team now, and I know the guys are going to give you hell tomorrow, so the last thing you need is someone else igniting the flame.”

Surprising me, Cooper’s expression changed and he chuckled while hopping out of my car. “You’re concern is touching, Kate, but I’m going to have to pass on the ride tomorrow. I don’t want to get kicked off the team because I pissed off your husband. I know I definitely wouldn’t want you spending time with another man if you were mine.”

Instantly, my body tightened when he said the word mine. I hadn’t belonged to anyone in so long I forgot what it felt like to have someone hold me and touch me … to make love to me. Was it wrong of me to wonder? Yes, you i***t. You’ve already ruined one person’s life, the last thing you need to do is destroy someone else’s. It was too dangerous thinking of things like that. I destroyed a life long ago, and I refused to do it again, especially to Luke and Cooper. There was nothing wrong with being friends though.

“Wait,” I exclaimed before Cooper could shut the door. With a smile on my face, I laughed and said, “You’re not going to get kicked off the team by pissing off my husband. My brother, on the other hand, is a different story. So if you want a ride tomorrow it’s perfectly fine for you to come along with me.”

“Your brother?” he questioned with a slightly confused look on his face. “So you’re not married?”

“Hey, I can’t help it if you assumed my so called protector on the team was my husband. I’ll be here tomorrow morning at eight. If you’re not ready, I’m leaving without you.”

Tilting his lip up in a seductive smirk, he backed up toward his front door, keeping his ocean blue gaze on mine. “Goodnight, Kate. I’ll see you in the morning.”

With those final words, I pulled out of his driveway and drove the short distance to my house. I was actually curious to see how well he handled the other players. There was something different about him that I hadn’t seen in any of the guys on our team, except for maybe Evan. It wasn’t arrogance—because our players had their fair share—it was more like … confidence. Underneath Cooper’s mask of failure he still had that spark of confidence that made him a winner, a leader. Hopefully, he let those sides of him be seen.