Kisses of Fire (boyxboy)

Chapter 34 - Cuts and Bruises

Hey guys, just a reminder to reread or skim through chapters 22, 23, and 24 for reference.
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At six, River was picking up Cooper, and they were heading to the party. His mom had another event, so his dad went to help her, leaving Cooper by himself all day. He woke up with a boner and spent most of the afternoon jacking off; he was embarrassed to say it was to gay porn, but that was a secret he'd never tell. He felt nothing but regret after doing it and forgot about it by the time River picked him up.

On the way there, they caught up on what went on the past three weeks.

"So, how was your birthday?" River asked, lowering the music.

"It was fun; I just went to the skatepark and hung out with my parents."

River let out a breathy laugh, "You're so simple."

Cooper turned to him, on the verge of feeling hurt. "Is that an insult?"

Did he just call him boring?

Letting out another laugh, River glanced at him before looking back at the road. "Not at all. You don't need a lot to be happy."

A small sigh of relief escaped Cooper as he shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I haven't really been feeling it with my other friends. They've been acting weird all week." He was referring to Miles, Parker, and Jason.

Even after the game, when he came back from talking with River, they had already showered and watching the game, so when Cooper finished showering, he sat with them but was never acknowledged. The rest of the time, he just talked to Riley, and she wanted to go out today, but since he already had plans with River, they rescheduled.

"Yeah, what's up with that? I noticed it too during the game; I've seen y'all play, and you usually have pretty good teamwork." Even River noticed.

Propping an elbow on the window, Cooper rested his head on his knuckles. "I don't know, but my dad was pissed about it. Even though we won, he still complained about it at home." He had gone on and on about their poor teamwork and debated punishing them for it.

"Was it more because you're his son or because they weren't cooperating?"

River asked a good question, and Cooper thought about it but scrunched his nose and shook his head. "Nah, when it comes to being coach, I don't really matter. I do, but he doesn't treat me any different from the team; if anything, he makes me work harder than the others." Cooper was good because his dad pushed him to be the best he can be, and the young boy was never satisfied with anything.

"Well, you're good, so I wouldn't let them get to you. If you lose, it's not your fault, as long as you played your hardest. You're also captain; they chose you for a reason. From what I've learned, you can't get much done without a captain, and you showed them that when you won the game."

"I felt like I was hogging the ball."

"Yeah, and so what. I've done that before; as captain, you're in charge of your team, and that means when they're slipping, you pull them out. You need to be more aggressive and stop letting people walk all over you because another part of being captain is having respect from everyone."

No one was showing him any respect.

They arrived at the party and just like always it was busy. They got off and walked in, and the smell of weed instantly hit Cooper's nose.

"Come on." River said, leading the way to the living room where there were drinks. "You want something?" He yelled over the music.

They agreed they'd drink but not get drunk, especially since River was driving. River poured him a drink of whatever and handed it to him leaning down to say something. "Don't drink anything unless it comes from me. Just stay with me."