Intercepting Love

19. Cooper

19

COOPER

After watching Kate and Luke leave for the party, I figured it was about time to pick up my date for the night. Even though Kate and I were seeing each other, I wasn’t about to go to the party alone. It just so happened that it didn’t take long to get to my date’s house … only about one hundred feet.

“It’s about time you got here to pick me up,” Lara teased, meeting me in her driveway. “I thought I was going to have to go to the party alone. Does Kate know you’re bringing me?”

“Nope, she still thinks I’m bringing Lindsey. I told her yesterday after practice that I couldn’t take her. She wasn’t exactly happy with me after that.” While Kate was busy looking over one of the guys, I snuck away and told Lindsey that I had other plans for the party. She wasn’t surprised, so that at least made it easier on me.

Lara laughed and took my arm as we walked back to my car. “I bet not. I hope Kate realizes how lucky she is to have you. I figured you would still want to take Lindsey since Kate was going to be with Luke.”

“I’m not going to lie, the thought did cross my mind. However, the last thing I want to do is cause problems between me and Kate. I don’t like to play games, but I will if I have to.”

When we got to my car, there was a small white piece of paper under one of my windshield wipers that I hadn’t noticed earlier. Lara waltzed over, slid it out, and unfolded it. “What is that?” I asked.

Eyes wide, she furrowed her brows and passed the note to me. “Well, unlike you, it looks like someone else does like to play games.”

In big, bold letters the note said:

STAY AWAY FROM HER. THIS IS YOUR FIRST WARNING.

Glaring at the note, I crumpled it up in my hands but then read it again. “What the f**k! Really? He’s going to be like this?”

“Do you think it was Luke?” Lara asked.

“Who else?” I snapped. “It’s not a secret that he’s pissed off about me and Kate.”

What are we … in high school? The last thing the letter did was scare me away from her. If that was Luke’s mission, he failed.

Lara took the letter from me and shook her head. “This is so strange. I’ve known Luke a long time, and I’ve never seen him do anything like this. Are you going to show Kate?”

She handed it back to me and I looked at it one more time before angrily putting it in my back pocket. “I don’t know. I’m probably going to go straight to him.”

“Well, I think you should tell her. If he’s actually that psycho over her, she needs to know. Trust me, I know what it’s like to have a crazy boyfriend and it’s not fun.”

Getting in my car, we started on our way to Evan’s house in complete silence. The wheels in Lara’s head were turning and I knew she was just as perturbed about the situation as I was. She had a point, though; if Luke was being serious about the note then Kate needed to know. My only problem was getting her away from him to tell her.

When we arrived at Evan’s house, a majority of the team and their friends were already there and congregating outside. Walking side by side, Lara and I went on our search for Kate and Luke. When we walked past Lindsey, she rolled her eyes and turned her head, but not without Lara noticing with a smirk on her face.

“Was that the girl you were supposed to bring?” she asked. “She’s hot.”

Putting my arm around Lara, I briefly squeezed her shoulders and let go. “Yeah, but she’s not as hot as you. I’m surprised Kate hasn’t set you up with one of the players. Are they not your type?”

“Actually, no,” she replied, gazing out in the distance. “I tend to go for the ones who never notice me.”

I followed her gaze until I spotted who she was looking at … Luke.

“Lara, please tell me you’re joking? Is that the reason why you helped me with Kate; to get her away from him so you could go after him?”

“No,” she gasped halfheartedly. “I mean, not exactly. I never told Kate I had a thing for him. Besides, I haven’t really had much time to date anyway with helping my sister at the restaurant. Also, Kate meshes well with you. You two fit together,” she said, and turned to look at them, “… they don’t.”

“But the guy has some serious issues. You read the letter, Lara.”

“Yes, I know, but I’ve had a thing for him for a long time now. When I look at him, I don’t see him as being like that.”

“Yeah, well, looks can fool you,” I argued.

Kate’s eyes went wide when she saw us, and she tapped Luke on the arm and said something to him before starting our way. Unfortunately, he followed, scowling the whole time.

“Hey, guys, I didn’t know you two were coming together. What happened to Lindsey?” she asked, glancing curiously from me to Lara.

Luke scoffed and mumbled in her ear, “She probably changed her mind.”

“Actually, it was the opposite,” Lara snapped. “Cooper turned Lindsey down because he knew it would piss Kate off if he brought her. So instead, he asked me to be his date and I accepted.”

“Also,” I added, putting my arm around her. “She’s a lot hotter than Lindsey, and a much better date.” In her ear, I quickly whispered, “I need you to get Kate out of here for a few minutes.”

Lara nodded and hurriedly reached out to grab Kate’s hands. “Kate, can you show me to the bathroom? I really need to go.”

“You know where it’s at,” Kate exclaimed incredulously. “You’ve been here plenty of times.”

Lara huffed. “Yeah, but I already forgot. You know how my mind is. Please, come with me. I really have to go.”

Exasperated, Kate flung her hands in the air and chuckled. “Fine, I’ll go. Just don’t pee on yourself before we get there.”

As soon as they walked off, Luke glared at me before taking off in another direction. “Not so fast,” I said. “We need to talk.”

Luke scoffed, “I have nothing to say to you.”

Taking the note out of my back pocket, I opened it up and thrust it at him. “So I guess you said it all here, huh? Kind of lame if you ask me.”

Narrowing his eyes, he took the letter and read it. “What the hell is this?”

“I was hoping you’d tell me.”

He shoved the letter right back at me. “What? You think I wrote it? Why would I do that?” he asked incredulously, eyes wide and full of anger. “If I was going to threaten you, it wouldn’t be in a f*****g letter. How do I know you didn’t write it so you could blame it on me? Then Kate would think I was some kind of psycho.”

“Sorry, but that’s not my style. I wasn’t planning on telling her, but if this s**t happens again I’m coming straight for you.”

Shaking his head, Luke chuckled and stalked closer. He was about two inches shorter than me, and I had to admit he had some serious balls to step up to me. “Is that supposed to scare me, douchebag? What are you going to do when you find me, try to kick my a*s?”

It was my turn to smile down at him. “Why don’t you write another note and find out?”

We stared each other down for a minute before the sound of Lara’s laugh echoed across the yard; we quickly stepped back. Kate knew something was up because she glared at us both as she walked toward us.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

Luke was the first one to answer. “Yep, but now I need to prepare for the race. You ready?” He took her hand and thought she’d follow along with him, but she stood firm.

“I’ll join you in just a minute. I need to talk to Cooper for a second.”

Gritting his teeth, Luke narrowed his eyes at me and huffed before turning on his heel and stalking off. Over his shoulder, he growled, “Fine, you know where to find me.”

“Luke, don’t be like that,” Kate yelled back at him. He kept walking as if he didn’t hear her. I guess I couldn’t blame the guy for wanting to sulk; he knew what her choice was because I could see it in his eyes. I’d be pretty pissed if Kate chose him over me.

Looking uncomfortable, Lara backed away from us and waved, heading in the direction Luke stalked off to. “And I’m just going to disappear, too. I’ll be around if you need me.”

Once Lara was out of earshot, Kate crossed her arms at her chest and grinned. “So Lara’s your date for the night, huh? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why? Are you jealous?” I teased.

She laughed and shook her head. “Maybe. Although, I do have to say that I’m really happy you’re not with Lindsey.”

Yeah, me too.

“Oh yeah, so what was it you wanted to talk to me about? You said it was important. Did you falter on your meds?” she asked quietly.

Taking her hand, I looked down at her and smiled. “No, I think I’m fine with that. I’m pretty sure I can stop taking them now and be okay.”

“Cooper, don’t do that,” she warned. “You may feel great, but you have to do this slowly. Your withdrawal symptoms are minor right now, but if you stop them cold like that your symptoms will be brutal. I’m surprised you’re not having more issues than what you’ve had.”

It’s because I have you, I wanted to say. Being addicted to her was a better d**g than any pain killer.

“Actually, I wanted to make sure you were free tomorrow. I have somewhere I have to be and I want you to go.”

“Where?” she asked curiously.

I looked around at everyone close by and knew it would be risky to even mention it. “I can’t tell you here, but as soon as we get you back home I’ll explain. Will you be able to spend the day with me tomorrow?”

Mischievously, she smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “I think I could probably say yes if you tell me what you and Luke were arguing about. It wasn’t about me, was it?”

Sighing, I moved closer and gazed down into her stormy gray eyes. “Not exactly, but if you want the truth I think your name was brought up at least once.”

She groaned and hung her head. “I knew I should’ve just called off the date with him. He’s been my friend for so long, it’s hard to say no to him sometimes. When I was still depressed over everything that happened, he was one of the people I could always count on to bring a smile to my face.”

“You don’t have to explain it to me; I understand,” I told her. “But you’re not planning on anymore dates with him, are you?”

Shaking her head, she laughed and reached for my hands. “No, no more dates. I wouldn’t exactly call what we’re doing a date either. I think he knows it’s a losing battle.”

I wasn’t too sure of that.

“Do you think we’ll get in trouble if I kiss you right now?” I asked huskily.

She bit her lip and peered at everyone all around us. Luke wasn’t in sight, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t watching. “Probably, so we might want to be careful what we do out here in front of everyone.”

Lifting my hands to her cheeks, I swept her golden blonde hair away from her shoulders and smirked. The strapless, white sundress she wore showed off her bare shoulders and it just so happened that she still had a few bite marks on her skin from last night. I smoothed my fingers over them and a raspy moan escaped her lips. My c**k got hard just listening to it; it brought back memories of the night before.

“I see you found the marks you left behind last night,” she teased.

“They look good on you. How about I put a little more?”

Lifting up on her toes, she put her hands on my shoulders and rubbed her body against my d**k while whispering into my ear, “Follow me then.”