Fighting For a Second Chance (Fighting 1)

Putting one foot into the water, a chill runs up my leg from the water being freezing cold. I thought it would be warm in Miami in the middle of May. This is exactly why I stay away from the water. Cooper laughs and explains a huge rainstorm came through recently, which caused the pools and oceans to get colder.

He grabs a hold of me by my waist and pulls me into the water, holding me close. I use him as my human buoy to hold myself up. My legs are wrapped around him as we float lazily in the water. His hands gently massage circles on my ass as he holds me close to him, nuzzling his face into my neck. I’m so relaxed in his arms I almost start to drift off when I can feel the same bulge from last night push between my legs.

Needing a distraction, I ask, “What’s your favorite color?”

He looks at me like I’m crazy but then responds. “Um, if I had to pick, I would say black, I guess.”

“Black isn’t a color, silly. It’s a shade.”

He chuckles at my fact. “Well, then black is my favorite shade.”

I let him keep his answer and ask another question.

“What’s your favorite food?”

He thinks for a moment and responds with a bit of a frown. “Definitely my mom’s lasagna when she used to cook.”

I get stuck on the part about his mom, but choose to leave it alone. I’ve noticed he doesn’t like to talk about his parents or his life outside of right here and now.

“Yum, lasagna is good. What’s your favorite movie?”

He stills his hands from rubbing on my ass and gives me a smirk. “Are we playing twenty questions? Because if we are, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to work both ways.”

“I’m just trying to get to know you. My favorite color is pink, and my favorite food is Crème brûlée. Now what’s your favorite movie?”

He gives me a soft kiss to my lips, one that I hope will continue but ends too quickly. “Batman. My favorite movie is Batman. I could watch it every day.”

I laugh at that.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” I shrug. “Just imagining a grown man watching Batman.”

“Hey, now! Have you seen Batman? Batman is not just for kids. He’s a grown man himself who saves Gotham from all the bad guys.”

I laugh even harder. “Okay, okay. It’s a grown man movie, and no, I haven’t seen it.”

“You’ve never seen it? Then you don’t get to judge.”

“Ha ha! Okay, Coop. I’ll take your word for it. What do you like to do in your free time?”

“Wait, first, tell me what your favorite movie is.”

“Okay, don’t make fun of me, but Love and Basketball.”

“So, you like basketball?”

Oh boy, he’s totally going to make fun of me. “No, I just love how the girl is so strong, and how over years, through all their crap, they love each other. And in the end, even though the odds were against them, they end up together. Okay, now tell me what you do in your free time.”

He doesn’t even think about it when he says, “Work out. I love to work out and do MMA.”

“What’s MMA?”

“Mixed Martial Arts.”

“Oh! Like the Karate Kid?”

He bursts out laughing. “So, you’ve seen The Karate Kid but not Batman? Yes, like that movie, I guess. What do you enjoy doing?”

I have to think about this because I don’t want him to realize I’m an eighteen-year-old, recent high school graduate, with no job. I decide to just be honest but vague. “I enjoy reading, but books can be expensive, so when I find a book I really like, I usually read it several times.”

“That’s commitment right there,” he says with mock seriousness.

“Oh hush!” I move out of his arms, getting just far enough away to splash him with the water. His face is drenched, and the water is dripping down his hair. Cooper’s gaze heats with intensity, causing me to back up a little more. I’m not sure what he’s going to do, so I wait in anticipation. As soon as the words “it’s on” leave his mouth, I take off, but before I can even swim two feet away, he jumps at me and grabs me by the waist, spinning me around. I close my eyes tight so when the chlorine hits me it won’t burn my eyes, but no water comes.

Suddenly, I feel his lips on mine, but once again, he pulls away quickly, leaving me with nothing more than a tease. It can barely count as a kiss, but it makes me want more.

Several hours, questions, and drinks later, and I’m beat to death by the sun and ready to go back up to the room. Cooper agrees, and we head back up. When we get inside, I start to head to the bathroom to change out of my bathing suit and rinse the greasy sun screen off my body when Cooper stops me. He rubs his hand down my arm and looks into my eyes like he’s dehydrated and needs me to personally rehydrate him. He moves toward me, closing the distance between us as his lips crash into mine. I gasp softly into his mouth because holy shit! I’m finally going to experience my first real kiss.