Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting #1)(3)
I couldn’t believe what I was about to say, but Cooper had gone from the scrawny dude who talked astronomy nonstop to a rowing star who fit in with any and every group. Unlike me, he had the whole popular thing down. He already knew about my crush, too, so at this point, I figured I didn’t have much to lose. “Could you maybe show me how? Please?”
Chapter Two
Cooper
How did I land myself in this mess? All I’d wanted was an afternoon on the water. Instead, I found out that my rowing partner jacked up his wrist and was going to be out for at least three weeks, maybe four.
As I cut across the field to get to my truck, I spotted Kate and thought I’d ask if she needed a ride—she lived just outside of the district and I knew that her mom often worked crazy hours. When I noticed her longingly looking at Pecker—the same look I’d witnessed a couple of months ago when we were working on our history project in the library and he’d walked in—I couldn’t help but comment. Half the girls in school went crazy over the guy, who, in my opinion, was kind of a jerk.
Okay, I might be biased, since my major beef with the guy started last year at the Spring Festival, after his team beat mine in the annual race across the lake. Sure, it was in two-man wooden rowboats, not boats specifically designed to glide through the water as quickly as possible, but rowing was my thing. I’d competed with my eight-man team at State and won, after all. How could Mr. Preppy Football Player beat me?
The answer was he had a better partner. This year, I made sure that I’d have the better one—and I had, until the idiot got drunk over the weekend, fell out of a tree, and tore a ligament in his damn wrist. He’d better be ready to go by the festival, or I’ll…
Even mentally threatening to re-injure his wrist seemed too harsh, tempting or not. More than anything, I was just grouchy that I might not get as much time on the lake as he healed. It was easier to convince my parents to let all those hours slide when it involved someone else.
I’d called everyone in my list of rowing contacts, only to find people were already paired up to train for that race or other events, or busy with another sport—baseball, lacrosse, track. Dang overachievers.
“Cooper, are you even listening to me?” Kate waved her arms and stuck her full bottom lip out in a pout. “I’m practically begging here, and my pride is already injured. The least you could do is answer me.”
I pulled my full attention back to Kate. Like I said, it wasn’t that she wasn’t pretty—with her big green eyes, long dark hair, and laidback jeans-and-T-shirt style, she had the wholesome girl next door look. But she always came across as a girl who was serious about life in general—I knew firsthand how seriously she took her class assignments and grades—and the type of girl who’d definitely demand exclusivity. Mick Pecker would never go for that, not unless she was someone else’s girl and he wanted to take her away for sport.
“What do you need?” she asked, sticking a fist on her hip. “Help in a math class? I’m also pretty good at science. Or I can…knit sweaters or scarfs or beanies.”
“You knit? Wow. That’s…something my grandma does.”
She made an exasperated noise, somewhere between a growl and a sigh. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t want your stupid help.” She grabbed her backpack and started away, throwing the words “You probably couldn’t even pull it off anyway” over her shoulder.
The side of me that loved a challenge perked up. My main goals for the rest of this semester were sliding through my classes and lots of time in my boat, but I could use a little more adventure, especially since once this summer ended and college started, my life was basically over. It’d be a degree in something mundane like political science or criminal justice, then three years of law school, then sitting in an office and practicing boring law, because that’s what Callihan men did.
I quickened my steps to catch up with her. “Hold on.”
She spun around and narrowed her eyes. Yikes. The girl could give a serious dirty look, even though her sweet features still didn’t quite match her deadly expression. “You owe me, you know. Who gave the bulk of our presentation on World War One when you were”—she made air quotes—“so tired from your last rowing competition?”
I’d been so slammed last semester, and she’d taken point, no complaints. “You got me there. I would’ve never scored that A without you.” Which gave me an idea…I’d seen how focused and determined she got. How organized she was. That attention to detail and time management was exactly what I needed to up my training right now. Plus, I remembered how she’d surprised me with how well she handled a boat on the lake a few summers ago. “I have a proposition for you…”
Her eyes narrowed further, suspicion mixing in.
“My rowing partner for the Spring Festival race busted his wrist, and I need to keep up my training. How about you be my partner until he recovers?”
She wrinkled her nose.
“You asked what I needed. Not only do I need to keep up my training to ensure a top spot on Harvard’s rowing team, I want to win the Spring Festival race, and I’ve seen you out on the lake, remember? You can handle yourself in a boat. Plus, Pec—Mick—always enters that race, too, and he’s out on the water practicing sometimes. It’ll only help land his attention.”