Kisses of Fire (boyxboy)

Chapter 46 - Break

Ever since finding out what Mike said about him at the festival, Cooper had been a bit distant with River, and he was starting to catch on. It all started on Sunday night when Cooper didn't text him when he got home and lied, saying his phone died, and on Tuesday when River posted a selfie with their goodnight caption. To at least show him he was still alive, Cooper posted a picture Wednesday morning, but River did nothing to acknowledge it. He didn't know what it was that bothered him about the whole Mike thing, and that was the main reason he was practically ghosting River; he was trying to figure it out. He was getting lonely, though, and hoped it would all be over soon.

On Wednesday, he was studying for his Latin test that he had no faith in when Riley walked in. "Hey, Cooper," She said, sitting in her seat across from him, seeming like her usual happy self.

His eyes went wide for a second as he remembered her and forced a smile. "Oh, hey. Where were the past couple of days?" She had been out since Monday, so he hadn't seen her in class, which led him to once again forget about her.

Rolling her eyes, she folded her arms on the desk, "My brother got me sick."

Cooper just nodded and checked his phone, looking at the time; class was about to start, but that wasn't the only reason he'd checked his phone. River knew Cooper always freaked out when it came to his Latin class, so he'd always send a good luck text in the morning the day of a quiz or test. It was the afternoon now and still no like, dm, or text from him, which saddened Cooper even more.

"Do you want to go to the movies this weekend?" Riley asked as their teacher walked in and told them to get ready for their test.

Looking over his notes one let time, Cooper answered Riley's question, not paying any attention. "Yeah, cool." When the teacher put his test on the table, he sighed and got his pen out to start.

The test took the whole class, and he almost didn't finish but guessed on the final answers, not caring. As everyone walked out of the class, Riley caught up with him, smiling. "So I was thinking we get a bite to eat before the movie. It's Saturday, so it's going to be really busy."

Cooper stopped walking and looked at her, "Wait, this Saturday?" When Riley nodded, Cooper frowned, "Oh, um, I can't really do this weekend." He saw her face drop and instantly felt bad about the whole situation, relationship included. "I'll figure something out, though." If he went out with her in the afternoon, he'd be free for his date with River that night. That was if it was even still happening.

"Okay, just let me know." She said happily.

He smiled at her and walked away, heading to the gym for athletics.

He needed to break up with her.

...

Two days later, on Friday, as he got ready for his game, he couldn't help but feel nervous. It was the first game he was playing since everything involving Connor and also the first game since starting the extra training with his dad. The other problem was he still hadn't talked to River, and he felt like he had no motivation to play. They hadn't even texted one word to each other since Tuesday, and it was the longest they'd gone without it since they started going out.

Going out to the gym, he saw the stands filled but didn't pay any attention to it as he went to warm up with the team. When it came time to start, he and Miles spoke with the other captains and ref, and when they were done, Miles slapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"Is that the coach from Kentucky?" He asked, pointing into the stands.

Looking to where Miles was pointing, he saw that it was, in fact, the basketball coach from the University of Kentucky, one of the best college basketball teams.