In Dreams (6 page)

“She’s good at answering my questions, that’s all,” Cooper bit his bottom lip.

Katherine’s eyes quickly darted away from his mouth. “Well, yeah. She’s the best. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“You two are lucky you found each other. You should send flowers to whoever paired you up.”

“Flowers? Really?” she responded playfully.

“Or a card. I’m just saying.” He laughed and then gave her a little shove. She lost her balance far more than he had intended. He grabbed her by the arm to swiftly pull her back to him. He held her tightly against his body, “I’m sorry, California. Didn’t mean for that to happen.” His heart pounded through his chest against hers. “You okay?”

Warmth raced through Katherine’s body as her heart sputtered. If there was ever a perfect moment for a first kiss this was it and she knew it. “I’m fine, sorry. It’s the shoes…and the feet walking in them.” She tried to regain her composure.

“Come here,” he said as he pulled her toward him. “I’ll help from now on.”

He threw his arm around her and tucked her frame into his. She loved that he was so much taller than she was and she was surprised at how comfortable he was to snuggle into. She half expected a body that looked that chiseled to feel like stone, but it didn’t.

“We’re almost there,” he told her.

They were still on campus, but Katherine’s classes had never taken her to this part of the school before. She saw a gray stone building with columns and arches that reminded her of some sort of church. She still hadn’t gotten over how old everything on the East Coast was. The way the buildings looked were unlike anything she’d ever seen back home. They walked to a large, oversized oak door and Cooper tugged on one of the black iron door handles.

“Is this a church? Are you taking me to church?” Katherine started to get nervous. It wasn’t that she didn’t like or respect church or anything. It was just that, well…she didn’t go.

“I guess you could say it’s my church.” He unlocked the door.

“Wait. How do you have a key to a school building?”

“All the captains have a key to the rink,” he explained.

She breathed a sigh of relief. He walked inside, hit one of the light switches and walked toward the first row of seats closest to the ice. Katherine followed close behind.

She was in awe. She noticed the long wooden benches instead of individual seats. She quietly wondered how uncomfortable those got after long periods of time. “Wow. So this is where you play? It’s so old. When was it built?”

He looked at her and then looked around at everything as he spoke. “They built it in the early 1920s. It’s named after the school’s greatest athlete at the time. It was the school’s sign to potential students that they were ready to get serious about sports.”

She looked around at the championship flags that hung from the ceiling. Cooper continued, “They redid it not too long ago, but it was important to the school administrators, the boosters, alumni, and the team at the time, that the look of the rink was to remain unchanged. You know what I mean?”

He paused to look her in the eyes and let her know that it was important to him as well. She smiled slightly and nodded her head. “There is so much history here that no one wanted it torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. So the majority of the changes are behind the scenes. The locker rooms…the way the ice is refrigerated and cleaned….the lighting and the glass around the rink. All necessary updates, but you wouldn’t know it didn’t always look this way if someone didn’t tell you.”

There were light fixtures that hung in between exposed steel beams. It was bigger than she thought it would be and far less extravagant. He explained to her how he thought the size was perfect because there weren’t any bad seats in the house. He took her around the whole rink and they sat in different areas just to prove it. “See? No matter where you sit, you’re never far from the action.”

She agreed and smiled. She liked to see him talk about the sport that held his heart. He was excited, knowledgeable and passionate. “You’ve seen the rink from every seat in the house. Now come see things from my point of view.” He walked her through a door and onto the ice.

“Am I allowed to be on here? Isn’t this sacred ground or something?” Her shoes were slippery on the ice and she half expected to fall.

He laughed, “Just look around, California. This is how I see things.” She imagined what it was like to be him in a game as she looked at every seat from every angle. She agreed his view was the best.

“Tell me what you love.” He looked at her and her pulse started to sprint. “About hockey, I mean,” she clarified.

He smiled. “I love the smell of the ice. When we first walked in here, did you smell it? And the cold. The sound the puck makes when it’s sliding across the ice or when it hits the net for a goal...as long as it’s our goal,” he smirked.

“I love the sound of hockey sticks crashing against each other. The sound my skates make when I come to a hard stop. The roar of the crowd. The way I feel when I’m playing. I can do things on this ice that I can’t do anywhere else.” He looked at her. “How’s that for an answer?”

“It’s perfect,” she told him.

“You’re perfect.” Cooper looked down and gently tucked a strand of hair that was out of place behind her ear. Then he looked her in the eyes and angled her face up toward his.

She knew what would come next. She closed her eyes and his mouth was on hers. His lips were incredibly soft and his kiss was so gentle. He seemed to handle everything he touched with care. Especially when it came to her.

His hand had moved to the back of her head and his fingers were lightly entangled in her hair. She lifted her hand and placed it on the side of his face. Her other hand was on his shoulder, partly for balance. She felt that kiss from Cooper Donovan all the way down to her toes.

When he finally pulled away from her she kept her eyes closed for just a moment longer. When she opened them, he looked right at her and simply said, “Wow.”

She couldn’t agree more. It was one hell of a “wow.” That was the kind of kiss people wrote books about…or made movies about. “I don’t mean to ruin the moment, but we should probably go,” he apologized.

Her mind was so wrapped up in that kiss, she barely heard him. And Cooper couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. He helped her off the ice and then took her hand in his. He led her up the stairs and out the door. He turned to lock the door and they walked silently for a few minutes before Katherine said, “Cooper, can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” was his response.

“Why me?” Her question was innocent enough. Hadn’t she witnessed girls literally throw themselves at his feet in the past? She just wondered what it was about her that made him like her so much. Plus, part of her really wanted to hear it. If he had to think about an answer, formulate it into words and then say them out loud, then it would be real.

“California, I wish you could hop into my head and see yourself through my eyes. Then you wouldn’t have to ask. But for the record, I’m extremely attracted to you. I have been since the first day I laid eyes on you.”

“Speckled eyes,” Katherine commented, as she laughed.

“Yes, since the first time I laid my speckled eye on you,” he laughed.

They continued to walk and his thumb gently caressed her hand as he held it. “You’re different from the girls out here. You’re honest and that’s rare. I don’t feel like you’re trying to be someone you’re not…and you don’t apologize or make excuses for that. You are who you are, end of story. You don’t treat me the way other people do and I really like that.” He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it softly.

“You don’t know anything about hockey, which is great ’cause then you won’t be able to tell if I suck or not. Plus, you’re nice and funny and…”

She cut him off mid-sentence; she couldn’t take any more. “Okay. No more. I know I asked, but please stop. It’s embarrassing.”

“All right then, why do you like me?” he asked her in return.

“Who said I do?” she said and then smiled devilishly at him. He stopped, and took her face into his hands. He leaned down and kissed her slowly and tenderly. She nearly fell this time. “You can’t just do that to me…my knees can’t take it. One of these times, I
will
fall.”

“And I
will
catch you. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m kinda strong,” he informed her.

“Oh no, I didn’t notice,” she added. They weren’t far from Katherine and Taylor’s dorm and she was partly disappointed that the night was about to end so soon, and partly relieved. She could only take so many of those kisses from Cooper in one evening.

“I’m sorry I’m bringing you back so soon, but I have to be on the ice at five tomorrow.”

“In the morning?” she asked him, horrified.

“On the rink with the roosters!” he told her enthusiastically, as he mimicked someone, but she didn’t know who.

“Huh?”

“It’s what my coach always says.”

Katherine scrunched her face, “I’d tell him I’d rather be on the rink with whatever gets up later.”

“Eh, I’m used to it. Just part of the job,” he winked at her when he said it.

“Thank you for an incredible evening, Cooper. I had a great time.” She didn’t know if she was supposed to hug him, or kiss him again, or what. So she just sort of stood there. She didn’t want to seem too eager and she wanted him to make the rules.

“No, thank
you
. Thanks for moving here and coming to my school and falling head over heels for me.”

She interrupted his speech with a sarcastic, “Uh-huh,” but he continued to talk. As he spoke, he got closer and closer to her lips.

“Thanks for being gorgeous and smart and fun. And thanks for...” He leaned in and kissed her one last time before he finished his sentence. He made sure to wrap one arm around her waist. He knew that if her knees did give out he could catch her one-handed. His other hand was on her face, and it brushed the side of her cheek.

Katherine’s pulse sprinted just as quickly as it did with the first kiss. But then it happened. An image flashed in her mind and she realized it was the guy from her dream. It happened so quickly, but she recognized him instantly. He looked hurt, or confused. It made her stomach flip and her chest felt like it had collapsed inside of her. She gasped and pulled back from Cooper.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He held on to her tightly.

“Yeah. Sorry, that was weird. I thought I saw someone.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You were kissing me with your eyes open? This isn’t a good start to our relationship, California. I think open-eye kisses mean we’re doomed.” He said it like a joke, but there was an air of concern in his voice.

“No, no. My eyes were closed. It was in my head. I mean, I thought I saw someone in my head.” Katherine knew if she tried to explain this would sound as crazy as she felt at that moment, so she just stopped. “Never mind. I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“I’ll call you after practice.” He gave her a quick kiss goodbye and she turned to walk into her building. Just then a group of girls walked out and squealed when they saw Cooper. Katherine stood there for a minute to watch the display. She could tell this sort of thing made him uncomfortable.

“Hi, Cooper!” said one of the girls.

“Where are you going?” asked another.

“Yeah, Cooper, where are you going? Can we come along?” the prettiest of the girls asked. Cooper told them he had to go so he could be ready for practice in the morning.

“We can help you be ready.”

“Yeah, Cooper, let us help you.” The girls were relentless. They begged and pleaded and said the kinds of things that girls shouldn’t say. Cooper was nice, but firm. He told them goodnight and continued to walk.

One of them pulled out a camera and it flashed in Cooper’s direction. Katherine heard the faint conversation about “his butt” and “how hot” he was and then a lot of giggles. She couldn’t believe the way girls treated him. She looked in his direction one last time and he looked at her. She gave him a quick wave before she turned around and headed into her building. Right before she walked through the door, her cell phone beeped. It was a message from Cooper.

“
Thanks again for the great evening. Sorry about the girls. Call you tomorrow.”

Chapter Five

Katherine walked through the door and wondered if Taylor would be home from Danny’s yet. She heard Taylor’s voice yell excitedly, “Ahhhh! Tell me everything! Did you kiss? Do you love him? Does he love you back? Dur, of course he loves you. Where did he take you? What did you do? WHY AREN’T YOU ANSWERING ME YET?”

Katherine loved Taylor’s craziness. When she got this excited about something, it was really hard not to get excited with her. Katherine looked at Taylor’s face, which beamed with excitement and said, “He really is amazing. And those lips!”

“So you did kiss! Who kissed who...tell meeeee!” Taylor whined.

“He kissed me. It was perfect. His kiss was perfect…the moment was perfect...everything was…perfect.”

“Is there anything this guy does that isn’t perfect?” Taylor asked her, but it wasn’t really a question. It was definitely more of a statement.

“Seriously,” Katherine said in response.

“So…what did he want to show you? I asked Danny what he thought it was, but he said he had no clue.”

“Oh! He took me to the hockey rink. He told me all about it and why he loves it. He brought me on the ice and everything. It was really sweet.”

“He brought you on the ice? Interesting,” Taylor said in a different tone.

“What?” Katherine asked her nervously.

“That’s kind of a big deal, Kat. He took you to the rink. He showed you where he lays his heart on the line every day. He took you on the ice. Hockey players don’t bring girls on the ice, Kat!!!”

Katherine just shrugged her shoulders and gave her a funny look. Taylor started again, “Ugh! Let me put this in terms you’ll understand. It’s like if you were dating a baseball player and he brought you onto the field. Guys don’t bring just any girl onto the field, Katherine. Don’t you get it?”