Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(32)
“Kate, no, that’s not it at all! I don’t want those kinds of women anymore. You haven’t even given me a chance to show you that I’ve changed.”
Which was true … I hadn’t. I just never expected to have Cooper come in and sweep me away. “You’re right, Luke, and I’m sorry.”
“You are going to keep your promise to me, right?” he asked. “If you decide I’m not the one for you that’s fine, but I want you to give me this chance first. That’s all I ask.”
I knew Cooper would hate me for agreeing to this, but I nodded. If there was one thing I was noted for, it was my promises. I never made one I couldn’t keep, and I’d promised him I would go on that one date with him. “Yes, I’m still going to keep my promise. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
Luke smiled warily and pulled me into his arms. “Thank you,” he murmured. “I promise you won’t regret it.” I was pretty sure I would once I told Cooper.
Before going inside, I watched him put on his gear and ride away on his bike. I wasn’t looking forward to going inside and telling Cooper what I had just done.
The day of my first game had finally arrived. We were playing on our home turf against Tampa Bay. The parking lot was full, and the sound of everyone cheering echoed through the halls, making the guys all pumped and ready to go. It was going to be a great victory.
“Dude, what’s wrong with your back? Did you get attacked by a cat?” Derek asked.
The hulking linebacker smirked and waggled his eyebrows before continuing on his way, his gaze alit with humor. His head was freshly shaved, but the scruffy red beard on his chin made up for the lack of hair up top. When I turned my back and looked in the mirror, he chuckled and said, “All I can say is you better hope Evan doesn’t see that.”
Fuck, I forgot.
Kate raked her nails down my back so hard last night that it drew blood. There were red marks all across my skin. It was a shame Luke didn’t get the chance to see them when he came by last night. I didn’t even think about others seeing it today.
“See what?” Evan growled, rounding the corner. I turned my back away from him as he glared at me and Derek, who stalked away. “You know what, never mind. I’m sure it has to do with Kate, and I probably don’t want to know. How’s the arm?” he asked.
My arm was doing a lot better; it was the staying away from the Vicodin part where I had issues. I stared at the bottle for twenty minutes this morning, wanting to open it up and grab another pill. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of Kate. The journey to stopping was about to get a lot harder when I had to lower my dose next week.
“It’s doing good,” I told him. “Kate worked with me this past week, showing me different exercises to help.”
“Speaking of Kate, you know she’s out there with Luke right now. That’s not going to bother you, is it?”
Immediately, my blood pressure shot through the roof. The thought of Kate with Luke pissed me the f*ck off, especially after he threw a fit at her house last night. It took all I had not to kick his ass after he pulled her outside. My jaw still hurt from clenching my teeth as hard as I had. Kate wanted to keep her promise to him, and I respected that she wanted to uphold that, but dammit if it didn’t piss me off. I knew that if I demanded she go against her word it would only cause a rift between us. That was only giving Luke what he wanted. So in other words, I bit my tongue.
Evan stared at me, waiting for a response. “You’re not going to let your anger about my sister and Luke make you play shitty, are you?”
“What the f*ck, Townsend, what’s with all the questions? Yes, I know she’s out there with that cocksucker. Trust me, I’m focused on the game and nothing’s going to change that.”
He chuckled and nodded his head. “All right, that’s what I like to hear. Just use that aggression against the other team. I had to make sure nothing was going to bother you out there today. The boys are counting on you to help us win.”
“And win we will, boys,” my uncle hollered behind me, slapping me on the shoulder. “Okay, everyone, huddle up.”
The team still didn’t know that our coach was my uncle. One day I was sure they’d find out because secrets always made their way known. Out of all of the coaches in the league, Joel had to be the most driven and down to earth. I’d met plenty of them over the past couple of years, and none of them had the heart like my uncle. At first, I was embarrassed about being on his team, especially since they weren’t known for their amazing wins like the other teams I’d been on. They just needed the right element on their team and I think we had it … confidence.
After all the guys huddled around, Joel entered the circle and looked at each player, one by one. “All right, boys, this is the first game of the season. We need to show our fans what we can do and that we’re winners. You all have what it takes to kick Tampa Bay’s ass, and by God, I better see you kick it … hard. No holding back today. This is our time, boys. This is the season we make it to the Super Bowl, I can feel it. Now let’s get out there and show them what you’re made of!”
The team’s thunderous roars were music to my ears. Rushing out of the room, they hooted and hollered all the way down the hallway, their shouts bouncing off the walls. Before I could join them, Joel held me back with a hand to my shoulder.