Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting, #1)(54)

My beat-up heart splatted in my chest. How could I be there when being around him only made me think about what I’d never have? Still, he was right. I’d sent the message about needing space, copping out when I should’ve been there for him. “I’m sorry. He freaked out? Are you okay?”

Cooper made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “Don’t act like you care now.”

“I do care!”

Mick came over and put his hand on my back. He narrowed his eyes at Cooper. “Is everything okay here?”

“Great. Of course it’s you.” Cooper shook his head. “This is just perfect.”

Mick tensed, and I put my hand on his arm. “It’s okay. We were just talking.”

“She’s right. We were. But now we’re done.” Cooper threw his hands up, like he wanted to wash them of me, and then he backed away.

And I had a feeling that when he’d said we were done, he was talking about more than just our heated conversation.





Chapter Thirty-Three


Kate


I kept telling myself to stop obsessing over Cooper’s and my heated exchange, and to definitely stop caring that I hadn’t talked to him in days. After all, he’d broken my trust, one of the things I considered most important in a friendship.

Apparently we weren’t friends anymore, either, and that realization sent a sharp twinge through my chest.

There was only one way to turn this whole situation around, and I figured at this point, I had nothing to lose. At lunch on Friday, I walked over to Mick and his friends, and when he glanced at me, I shot him the best smile I could muster. “Can I talk to you? Alone?”

“Sure.” He told his friends he’d catch them later. As we walked out of the cafeteria, he put his arm around my waist and tucked his hand in my back pocket.

I hated that all I could think of was when Cooper had done the same thing—as a knee-jerk reaction—and then overwhelming longing rose up, and it was for the wrong guy, and why didn’t my brain get it?

“That’s not an option,” I muttered.

“What?” Mick asked.

“Um, nothing.” I swallowed and turned to face him, glad that it made it too difficult for him to keep his hand in my pocket. I’d thought when the time came, this would be easier. Clearly I’d thought a lot of things that’d turned out to be false.

My nerves frayed, and I convinced myself that was a good sign. It meant I cared enough to get anxiety over asking Mick the question I needed to. Unfortunately that thought didn’t calm me nearly enough, because heaven forbid this be easy.

It’s now or never. We’re at T-minus three weeks and one day till prom…

Think about Dad. How he’d be proud that I did whatever it took to complete my Operation, despite all the bumps along the way.

“I was wondering…” My voice squeaked and I cleared my throat. “Jeez, I’m more nervous than if I were facing down a Lanister.”

Mick’s forehead scrunched up. “What?”

Oops. That only made sense if he watched Game of Thrones. Or maybe it didn’t, because Cooper rarely got my references.

He did say my fandom tendencies were one of the things he liked most about me, though.

Another round of stabbing pain jabbed at my chest, because my thoughts were totally against me.

“What I’m trying to ask is…” I twisted a strand of hair around my finger, finding a tiny bit of comfort in giving my hand something to do. “Well, you know how prom is in three weeks…?”

“Yeah. It’s all the girls at this school talk about—Paris goes on and on about how they need guys to help do the actual decorating, and under duress, I finally wrote my name on her damn signup form.”

On the bright side, at least you’re not making this one hundred times harder or anything. Since sarcasm wasn’t doing me any favors right now, I shoved it away. “Will you go to prom with me?”

Mick took my hand and I waited for him to let me down easy. “Yes. I’ll go to prom with you.”

I blinked at him, probably way too many times and for absolutely way too many seconds. “I was almost sure you’d already have a date.”

“A few girls have asked, but I was hoping to go with you. I even told my friends I was planning on it. I just didn’t know if asking would seem too serious—didn’t want to scare you off.”

Aw, he actually thought about it. That’s so nice. “Not too serious. I think it’ll be fun, and you’re the person I want to share my senior prom with.”

And if I could go back in time to before I accidentally fell for Cooper Callihan, that wouldn’t be a big, fat lie.





Chapter Thirty-Four


Cooper


Jaden got the green light to train as long as he kept his wrist wrapped, so he was healed and back to having full-use of his right arm again. We’d been putting in a lot of hours on the lake this week getting back to where we used to be. Which was good, since the Spring Festival race was on Saturday, just two days away.

If only I could gather enough strength to care.

My times with Kate weren’t quite as fast, but the minutes between were so much more than rowing. A couple of ducks swam away from the boat as we neared, and I stared at them, thinking of the time Kate threatened to jump overboard to hang out with birds instead of me.