Intercepting Love

12. Kate

12

KATE

My mouth was dry and tasted absolutely horrible. It might’ve been because I remembered vomiting in the middle of the night and not brushing my teeth. How could I have been so stupid to drink as much as I did … and in front of people? I wasn’t worried about what Luke thought of me because he already knew me, but Cooper probably thought I was a lush.

“Why am I so stupid?” I groaned out loud.

A masculine laugh belted out from the doorway, making me jump. “Well, good morning to you too, sweetheart. Also, just so you know, you’re not stupid. You just happened to get a little too wasted last night.”

My eyes burst open and I shot up in the bed, my head pounding with the sudden movement. “Ow,” I cried, putting a hand to my forehead. “That doesn’t feel too good.”

Luke sat down beside me on the bed, handing me a couple of pills and a glass of water. “I would say not,” he teased. “Especially after the night you had last night. Why the hell did you drink so much?”

Putting the pills in my mouth, I drank them down with the water and laid back on my pillow. “You know why, Luke. August is a bad month for me.”

“Yeah, I kind of thought that might’ve been why, but I didn’t know for sure. I guess I thought you would’ve moved on by now,” he uttered sadly.

He didn’t understand.

Lowering my gaze, I blew out a frustrated breath. “I wish I could, but it’s hard when Scott’s family calls to harass me about it every damn year. Last night, before I passed out in the bathroom, Scott’s sister called my phone. When I saw that it was her I threw my phone against the wall and broke down. I don’t remember much after that.”

“Kate, you can’t keep putting up with that s**t,” he said, lifting my chin so I’d look at him. “These people have some serious issues, and if you don’t do something about it who knows what they’ll start doing.”

I nodded. “I know.”

It was then I looked down and noticed that I had on the same clothes from yesterday. Someone had to have carried me because I couldn’t remember how I got there. I vaguely remembered rushing to the bathroom and throwing up, and then someone holding me during the night to keep me warm.

“Were you here all night? Was it you that helped me? I remember someone helping me.”

Tucking my hair behind my ears, he smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it was me. I didn’t want to leave you alone.”

“What about Cooper? Where was he?”

Luke scoffed. “He bailed exactly like I thought he would. I told you he was only playing games with you. When things got rough he left.”

“But how did you get me home? I couldn’t have ridden on your motorcycle.”

“Oh, Cooper brought you back, but he didn’t want to stay. I left early this morning to get my truck and come back. I thought maybe we could spend the day together if you weren’t feeling up to going to work.”

Cooper didn’t want to stay, huh? Not that I expected him to stay all night and take care of me, but I at least figured he’d show some concern. As much as I hated to admit it, I was hurt … and pissed. I guess it was better I realize what he was like before I let myself get too involved.

“So, how about it? Do you want to spend the day together?” he repeated.

“Luke, you know I’m not a slacker like you. I have to go to work, even if I don’t necessarily feel like it. You can come over for dinner tonight if you want.”

Mischievously, Luke grinned and leaned in closer. “That sounds like a plan. If you want I can drop you off at the practice field and come pick you up when you get off.”

That wasn’t such a bad idea because then Cooper could see that I didn’t get hurt by him dismissing me last night. “Yeah, that would be great, Luke. I’ll be ready to go in thirty minutes.”

Kissing me on the cheek, he smiled one more time before getting up and leaving me to my peace. Yesterday was a complete whirlwind of emotions and I was glad it was over. Although at some point during the day, I needed to get a new phone … and a new number. Why couldn’t Scott’s family leave me alone?

Turning on the shower water, I waited for it to get warm and waltzed back into my bedroom. In my nightstand, I had a collection of letters that I’d kept over the course of my life, including the one I found on the floor in Scott’s room when he killed himself. I never got the chance to read it yesterday.

My dearest Kate,

I love you.

And it’s because of those three words that I can’t continue on with the way I’ve been living. I know you don’t understand this now, but you will later. My reluctance to open up to you was not because of you, but because of me. A person knows when their time is up … and my time is up. You have so much to live for, and the last thing I want is to drag you down. I can see that I am with the way I’ve been treating you. I’m sorry for causing you pain, and one day I hope you can forgive me. I’m going to miss you, Kate. Your heart and soul is what I fell in love with, and of course, your smile. No matter where I go in the afterlife that will be the one thing I’ll take with me … the memory of your smile.

I love you always and forever,

Scott

“Dammit,” I hissed, swiping angrily at the tears on my cheeks. “You said one day I would understand, but it’s been two years and I still don’t.”

Folding the letter up, I stashed it underneath all of the others in my drawer and slammed it shut. Every time I read the letter, I kept thinking I would understand why he did what he did, but I didn’t. I was starting to think it’d be a mystery for the rest of my life.

* * *

After drinking a couple of cups of coffee, I was ready to go. Luke drove me to the field and I was only a few minutes late, but everyone was there, stretching and warming up before the hard day, including Cooper.

“All right, sweetheart, I’ll pick you up around five-ish, right?”

Unbuckling my seat belt, I reached to the back and grabbed my bag. I planned on working out hard and sweating all of the toxins from the wine out of my system.

“Yes, around five will be perfect. Then we can head to my house.”

Luke grinned and leaned in, touching my lips lightly with his. “Maybe we can enjoy that pool of yours tonight. I’ve always wanted to skinny dip.”

He kissed me one more time, this time a little slower and deeper. When he pulled back, I laughed. “You expect me to believe you haven’t skinny dipped. I’m not that naïve, Luke.”

“Hey, I didn’t say I hadn’t skinny dipped before, I just meant that I’ve always wanted to do it with you. Why don’t you forget everything that happened yesterday and concentrate on me and you? I can offer you so much more than Cooper ever could.”

“You don’t have to worry about Cooper,” I told him.

“Good, then there’s nothing holding you back tonight.”

There’s nothing holding me back tonight, I chanted over and over. Why did it feel like something was? When I turned my head, I figured out why I had that feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. Cooper was there watching every single move Luke and I made. He saw the kiss, the bantering back and forth, and he wasn’t happy. In fact, he stared at me in utter disbelief. He had no right to look at me like that when he was the one who left me.

Opening the truck door, I slid out and smiled up at Luke. “I’ll see you later.”

I shut the door and walked right across the field past Cooper, who tried to reach for my arm, but I pulled away. “Really? That’s how you’re going to be to me? You’re joking, right?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. Have a good day at practice, Cooper,” I responded cheerfully. I didn’t want him to know that not only was I angry, but it hurt that he didn’t want to be there for me. The only thing I could do was pretend; I was used to acting like everything was okay anyway.

In the girl’s locker room, the cheerleaders were changing so they could start their day with a workout and then practice their routines. All of them had on tank tops and really short shorts that always attracted the guys’ attention when they ran around the track. Most of the time I exercised with them to get my morning run out of the way.

“Hey, Kate,” Brianna called, “how are you today?”

Even though I felt like s**t, I still put on a smile. “I’m doing okay. How about you? How’s the ankle?”

Brianna was twenty-one years old—the youngest on the team—and one of the sweetest girls I knew other than Lara. Pulling her long, chestnut colored hair into a ponytail, she hopped up and down on her bad ankle before answering, “I think it’s okay. It hasn’t been giving me any problems now that I do those exercises you showed me.”

“That’s great,” I said. “Just make sure you do those every day. Your ankle might feel better now, but if you stop stretching it, some of the pain might start coming back.”

She’d fractured her ankle several months ago, and had only been running for the past few weeks. It was great having her back. She was my running partner and I’d missed her.

Since I already had on my tank top and running shorts, all I had to do was put on my shoes, which I always left in the locker room. As I sat down to tie them up, Lindsey—whom I really didn’t care for—took a seat beside me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her, but she cheated on my brother last year when they started dating. He didn’t seem too hurt by it, but it still bothered me that she did it. Not to mention she was completely self-involved and only talked about herself. I usually tried to avoid her at all costs.

“You know, I couldn’t help but notice the icy interaction between you and Cooper just a few minutes ago. Does this mean you two aren’t seeing each other anymore?” she asked curiously.

“What are you talking about? We were never seeing each other in the first place. He’s only been here for three days,” I claimed incredulously.

“Yes, but you two were looking kind of cozy the other morning in his car, and then we all saw you with Luke this morning. Does this mean that Cooper’s available? The girls want to know.”

Lifting a brow, I pursed my lips and stared at her. She wasn’t asking for the other girls, she was asking for herself. Her innocent emerald gaze wasn’t fooling me as she sat there batting her lashes at me, her platinum blonde hair in braids. Except, what could I say? Cooper was available, and as much as I loathed the idea of him hooking up with one of the cheerleaders, there was nothing I could do if he did.

“I think he’s available,” I said blandly. “You’ll have to ask him.”

Squealing, she jumped to her feet and grinned wide. “Great! I’m going to ask him to be my date this Saturday for the party. Thanks, Kate.”

Once all of the girls were out of the locker room, Brianna stayed behind to wait on me while I stretched. “You like him, don’t you?” she asked.

My head snapped up. “What? No. It’s not like that.”

She lifted a brow and smiled. “Don’t lie to me, Kate. I could see it in your eyes that you hated the thought of Lindsey asking him out. What happened between you two? I can definitely tell he’s into you.”

“Yeah, he’s into me, Brianna, but I’m pretty sure that’s because he wants to get in to me, if you know what I mean. He’s not a stick around type of guy, and that’s not what I want. Lindsey is more his type. Besides, I’m seeing Luke now.”

Brianna laughed and put her arm around me. “Oh, Kate, I can see it now. You are going to be in so much trouble. I wish I had two men fighting over me.”

She giggled the whole way to the field, and as soon as Cooper came into view, I stopped mid-step. He was smiling at Lindsey, who batted her eyelashes and brushed her fingers along his arms. Gritting my teeth, my stomach twisted into violent knots as I watched them, hating the fact that I had no right to go over there and tell her to f**k off.

Yes, I was in trouble because I knew what I was feeling. That urge inside of my body to run right up to them and tell Lindsey to back off was something I had never felt. It wasn’t jealousy per se, but it was something similar to it. All I knew was that I didn’t like it.