Page 102 of A Scoring Chance

I check my watch as I slide my feet into a pair of yellow rain boots Cooper purchased for me to leave here after we got soaked by the rain. The matching raincoat is in the closet by the door. Alise cackles loudly when I don’t come back with a snarky retort.

“Sure thing. The elevator is here. Love you, bye.” I hang up the phone before rushing out the door and to the elevator. I press the call button and focus on the lights above the doors, counting down from the top floor.

I’ll never forget how broken I found Cooper, sitting on the floor of the elevator. I hoped that I’d be able to go downstairs to the car and back up before he arrived. I had a forest green negligee I purchased specifically as my personal Christmas present for Cooper, not that I’d have worn it for long. But the minute I saw him pressed against the wall, mumbling “I can’t. I can’t,” I couldn’t think of anything else but getting to him.

I don’t know if anyone other than me has seen this side of Cooper, his need to seem strong and like he has his shit together for everyone, his usual persona. It's something else we’ll need to talk about because I never want to see him like that again. I know what it feels like to be so lost in your own mind that you can’t move. I’d still be like that if it wasn’t for my therapist. Therapy has worked wonders for me since Dad and Imani died, and I think it will help Cooper fight his own demons, as well.

The elevator signals its arrival to my floor, and I step in. The ride to the lobby is short, but I better motor if I want to get back before Cooper wakes up. I pat my pocket for my phone, just in case he calls, looking for me, as the door opens.

“Ms. Ramona…” Stanley says, but I run toward the door, not giving him a second glance.

“Sorry. In a hurry,” I say over my shoulder, pressing on the double doors. “Cooper is upstairs if you need him for something.”

I probably shouldn’t be shouting into an open lobby that Cooper is sleeping upstairs in his apartment, but how would anyone know the last name of the Cooper I’m talking about? He could be some random dude with the same name as a famous NHL player who lives in the building.

I shrug my shoulders. The damage is already done. Hopefully, Stanley is as good at his job as Cooper says. The moment I’m out the door, I’m pushed back by a wave of sound. Lights are flashing in my face, and I pull my hand up to protect my eyes and stumble forward.

“Are you sleeping with both Hendrix brothers?” a voice says as I whip to the right.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I shout into the crowd as people keep moving toward me. I stumble backward as a sharp pain shoots up my left leg.

“What about Cole? Are you trying to get your hooks into him, too? Was that why he was in town over the Christmas break?”

My head swivels from side to side as they all keep firing questions in my direction, and my back presses against the doors. “Help me,” I plead, my eyes locking with Stanley’s behind the door.

“I’m trying, Ms. Ramona. Can you move forward so I can push the door open?” He continues pressing against the door from the inside. I can feel the door press into my back but closequickly behind me. I try to take a step forward, but the crowd surges forward, pressing me even harder against the doors.

The handle of the door digs into my back as I continue to move. “Please. Please, back up. You’re crushing me into the door.”

The pain of the handle pressing into my flesh is becoming unbearable as someone stumbles forward, knocking me off balance as I tip to the side. My hands flail in front of me, trying to grasp onto something. All the people surrounding me step out of the way, and I fall to the ground. My shoulder slams hard into the pavement, and I gasp in pain for moments before my head smacks against the concrete. As my vision goes black, I catch the faint red and blue glow of lights flashing all around me.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Cooper

My eyelids flutter open before I clamp them tightly shut against the bright light streaming through the window. “Fuck.” I groan, rolling onto my stomach, searching for my beauty.

I sit up straight in the bed, my eyes scanning the room for any signs of where she went, but come up empty. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and do a double take when I see the time on the clock. 10:30? I haven’t slept past 8:30 a.m. in over a decade. I must have been exhausted after everything that happened last night.

I never wanted Ramona to see the side of me that wasn’t completely 100 percent in control. I wouldn’t say I’m a control freak, but how can I expect someone to rely on me to protect them when I can’t even stop myself from having a simple panic attack?

Instead of running in the other direction, she dove right in, wrapping me in her arms and reminding me that everything was okay. I saw in her eyes how broken she was after I said we needed to break up, but a determination to rival even my own quickly replaced it.

When we finally came up for air, we talked more about what happened with Annamarie and came up with a plan together on how to deal with her. Her plan isn’t much different from my own, but we’ll be together when we do it.

My phone lights up with a text message as I swipe it off the nightstand and head into the bathroom. I place it on the counter as I grab my toothbrush from the holder and turn on the faucet. I smile to myself at the purple toothbrush Beauty put there the last time she spent the weekend with me.

“I’m sick of using my fingers to brush my teeth,”she griped before dropping the toothbrush into the holder next to mine, where it’s lived ever since.

My cell buzzes loudly, vibrating so much that it falls off the counter onto the floor. I unlock the phone, the entire screen is covered with message notifications from Alise, Momma, Remy, and Beau. “What the hell is going on?”

As quickly as I swipe the notifications, more fill the screen. I even have a missed call from Ms. King. My entire body tenses as I drop my phone, running out of the bedroom and screaming Beauty’s name at the top of my lungs.

“Beauty! Ramona, are you here?” I check every room in the front of the house and the kitchen, noticing that the small kitchen table is set for two. Glasses of orange juice and milk sit to the right of each place setting.

I chuckle to myself, my heartbeat slowing down to a normal rate. Ramona had a fit when she found out Momma still does all of my cooking and vowed she’s going to make sure I have a fresh meal whenever she’s here. I’m guessing she decided to start today with breakfast.

Just then, I hear my phone ringing in the bathroom, and I jog back in that direction. The sense of urgency to find her is gone. She probably went to the store around the corner to find something she wanted to add to dinner. My fridge is stockedwith almost every condiment the average person has, but of course, she could find that one missing ingredient I don’t have, which would ruin everything if she didn’t have it.

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