Something like love, p.1
Something like Love, page 1
part #1 of Chicago Grizzlies Series
Something like Love
Chicago Grizzlies
Piper Rayne
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
© 2024 by Piper Rayne®
Piper Rayne® registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Cover Design: By Hang Le
1st Line Editor: Joy Editing
2nd Line Editor: My Brother’s Editor
Proofreader: My Brother’s Editor
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* * *
About Something like Love
I want to.
I can’t.
* * *
I’ve been friends with Cooper Rice from the moment we met. He was just as famous a decade ago on our college campus as he is now being the star quarterback for the Chicago Grizzlies.
* * *
But he’s not only talented on the field, he’s also the gorgeous football star women fawn over, posing in underwear and razor ads.
* * *
Here’s a secret those women don’t know—Cooper Rice isn’t a playboy. He’s the kind of man who wants to settle down with a family. He’s content ordering pizza and massaging my feet after my long shift as an emergency room doctor. He listens to me as if he’s as invested as I am in my patients. He has never let me down.
* * *
This is exactly why I refuse to live without Cooper in my life. Eight years ago, I made him promise me that we’d never cross that line. And just like I knew Cooper would, he’s held to that promise.
* * *
Despite our best efforts, our relationship is evolving, shifting into new territory and I find myself unsure if I want Cooper to keep that promise. Ignoring the obvious could tear us apart, but so could giving in, meaning there’s a chance I’ll lose Cooper forever no matter what decision I make.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
Cockamamie Unicorn Ramblings
About Piper & Rayne
Also by Piper Rayne
Chapter 1
Cooper
I’m not usually a guy who gets really nervous before a game. But sitting in the locker room, about to put my pads on, I have to close my eyes to get my bearings. Sweat beads along my hairline, and nausea grows in my stomach. All the commentators’ remarks and predictions for this season cycle through my brain.
I’ve won back-to-back championships, and that’s an amazing feat. Not many players before me have done it, but if I win this year, it would be my third, which is unheard of, never been done before. Everyone is watching us, especially me as the quarterback and team captain, to see if I can make it happen.
“Rice!” Coach Stone calls from his office.
Damon and Miles look in my direction. They know that, yeah, there’s pressure on them to win this year, but most of the responsibility rests in the quarterback’s hands. I clench and unclench my hands, staring down at them.
As I stand at the threshold of Coach’s office, I say, “Hey, Coach.”
“Come in.” He waves me in and circles his finger for me to shut the door.
I’ve grown used to him since I was traded here, and I’ve held my spot for all these years. I don’t sit because there isn’t a lot of time before we need to be on the field.
“Listen, I know you’re feeling the pressure. Anyone would. There’ve been players before you who felt it and failed to accomplish their goals. So, I just wanted to give you a piece of advice before you go out there today. Everyone is looking at us. But I don’t have to tell you that because you’re my most dedicated player. Never had distractions like the others.” He shakes his head, and I’m pretty sure he’s talking about Damon—who was in the midst of having a baby with a one-night stand last year. Coach pokes me in the chest. “You make sure nothing distracts you this year and you’ll be golden. And after three championship wins, you’ll have paved your path to the Hall of Fame. A fourth would be a jar of cherries.”
“I’ll do my best.” I run my fingers through my dark hair.
“You’ll do your best.” An eruption of laughter spills out of him. The man has to see how stressed I am. “Sacrifice this year, and you’re football royalty. Imagine how proud you’d have made your dad.”
He pats me on the back. He lets me leave after that, but he follows me out into the locker room.
“Now, Grizzlies, let’s start this season with a win.” Coach Stone raises his fist in the air. Most of the guys cheer and shout. “Huddle in.”
He gives his speech about how everyone is watching us and how we have the opportunity to put all our names on the map. Then he slaps my back because I’m the captain and need to say something encouraging. This is usually easy for me, but today I have to clear my throat to buy myself some time.
“There’s a lot of pressure out there, people are waiting to see how we look this year. Do they really need to fear us? Are we the sure bet to win again this year? We’ve all played a lot of football—most of us, our entire lives until now. We’ve won games we were supposed to lose, and we’ve lost games we were supposed to win. All I ask as your captain is that you leave everything you have out on that field, and I’ll do the same. Now let’s go!”
Damon shouts after me and gets them all going as we file out of the locker room. He’s always good at riling up the team.
In the tunnel on the way out to the field, I hear my teammate Bradley talking to another player.
“She’s busy a lot, but we’ve been able to go out a couple of times. Tomorrow night, she finally has a night off, so I’m taking her to dinner and a play.”
By she, he’s talking about my best friend, Ellery Wallace.
“And Coop?” the other player whispers, probably thinking that I can’t hear him. I don’t even have my helmet on.
“Completely fine with it.” Bradley’s smugness comes through in his tone.
I’m not completely fine with it. I’m not even remotely fine with it, but I don’t tell Elle who she can date. We’ve been best friends since our junior year in college, and though I don’t like the fact she’s dating one of my teammates, it’s not my place to stop her from living her life.
“Really. I always thought…” the other teammate whose voice I don’t recognize says.
“Concentrate on the fucking game!” Damon shouts at them and walks alongside me. “Like you need to hear that shit right before a game.”
I shake my head. “I’m fine. It’s not like I don’t know they’re dating.”
Damon chews on the inside of his cheek. “Of course you do.” He points at the stands. “There’s our number one fans.”
He jogs over to three seats at the fifty-yard line. The ones where Ellery, Bryce, and Adeline all sit, except today Adeline has her and Damon’s baby, Clover, with her. Clover’s wearing her pink headphones and Damon’s jersey. Damon lifts himself onto the ledge to kiss his daughter’s cheek, and all the people around them react with awws.
“Siska! Warm the fuck up!” Coach Stone yells as if Damon is in junior high school and messing around with his friends.
My eyes catch Elle’s, and my heart calms seeing her decked out in my jersey with my number written on her face with glitter. She smiles and presses her hands down in the air, telling me to calm down.
For a moment, all the anxiety making my heart pound simmers down. I’ve been here before. She’s done that same movement in the stands before big games. I smile, thankful that she’s centered me. I mouth “thank you,” and her smile grows wider with the cocky look that promises she’ll be telling me “I told you so” after we win this game.
It’s odd to know someone so well, but there is no one else in my life I could talk to without using words and walk away feeling so heard.
“Hi, Elle!” Bradley comes up next to me, waving and interrupting us.
I glance at him on my right. He’s shorter than me by a few inches, but his huge thighs are why he can race down the field and catch the ball.
“I’m not so sure I like the fact that the girl I’m dating is wearing your number,” he says, his smile never fading toward her as he continues to wave.
“Well, I’m her best friend, so good luck getting that to change.”
My stomach drops at the thought of coming out here one day and not seeing Elle in my jersey. She’s worn my jersey since my junior year of college. Rarely does she miss any home games unless she gets called in, and even then, she makes it to part of the game a lot of times. She’s my biggest fan, my biggest cheerleader, and if this douchecanoe thinks she’s going to wear his jersey because he’s taken her to coffee a few times, he’s dead wrong.
“I think I’m going to buy her one,” he says and walks away.
“What did he say?” Miles stops in front of me.
I’m guessing he’s asking because my outward expression matches my inward feeling. I’m a minute away from fighting Bradley on the sidelines. I turn away from the women, not wanting Elle to see my reaction because she’ll ask me later and I have no excuse.
“Bastard says Elle should be wearing his number.”
She is dating Bradley, although it’s only been a few dates and nothing remarkable from the little I’ve heard her discuss with the girls. I never ask. I’m not a masochist.
“Hell, Bryce didn’t wear my number for a long-ass time.”
I lift my eyebrow at Miles, and we both laugh. Bryce wouldn’t openly do that unless she knew the relationship was going the distance.
“True,” he says. “But there’s no way Elle should wear Bradley’s.”
I want to thank Miles for having my back, but we probably sound like a bunch of high school kids trying to claim these women.
“What’s the chatting about? Stop flirting with the women in the stands.” Coach Stone walks by us, clipboard in hand, putting his headphones into place.
“She’s my wife,” Miles says, following him over to the defense side.
I say nothing as the third-string quarterback, Derek Garfield, comes over to help me warm up my arm with some throws.
By the half, we’re up by one touchdown thanks to Damon’s magic hands. My throw wasn’t great, but he got the tips of his fingers on the ball and secured it like it was Clover in the end zone.
“Why aren’t you throwing to me?” Bradley asks on our way through the tunnel.
“What are you talking about?”
“I was wide open.”
I shake my head. “Did you not see my ass on the ground how many fucking times?”
He stares at me as if he’s reading my mind. “You never missed me last year.” Storming off, he gives me one glance back before heading into the locker room.
Since we’re only up by one touchdown, the coaches scramble to decide which plays we’ll run in the second half and which ones we’re throwing away.
The best thing about football is how easy it is for me to push anything personal out of my mind. All that matters right now is that at the end of the game, the scoreboard says we won. That means I’ve done my job. So I focus on Coach Stone, then I get my team razzed to go out and fight for the win.
When the time ticks down in the fourth, we’ve won, but it’s a long season. Coach Stone is right—I can’t have any distractions this season.
Chapter 2
Ellery
The ER is eerily quiet when I walk in for my shift. Passing the nurse’s station, I wave and say hello, then I head into the locker room.
“Dr. Wallace,” Dr. Murphy says, putting his stethoscope in the pocket of his white jacket. He’s older than me, and even though he’s new here, he’s biding his time until someone higher up the chain leaves. He’s power-hungry, and the two of us don’t get along that well.
“Dr. Murphy.” I turn my back to him, fiddling with the lock on my locker until it opens.
“I saw your boy’s win on Sunday. Quite a game, but it must be different watching it live.” I look over my shoulder to find him staring at himself in the mirror, fixing invisible strands of hair that have gone awry. “How do you get all his home games off?”
I roll my eyes because my head is buried in my locker, and he can’t see me. This isn’t the first time he’s asked me about Cooper. It’s well known that Cooper is my best friend, but usually people ask me for tickets, and that’s not what he’s implying.
“As soon as the schedule’s out, I ask for the days off.” I toe out of my gym shoes and put on the clogs I only wear in the hospital, then I take out my white coat.
“So organized. So on top of everything. Doesn’t hurt that Daddy is the head of the department, right?”
I turn around and slam my locker shut. “Just say it, Clay.”
He finally stops admiring himself in the mirror and faces me. “You get special treatment, and you know it.”
He has no idea how many times I was reprimanded in front of the other residents about the decisions I made. I got it harder, not easier, because of who my dad is. Other residents would be told “excellent job,” and I’d be told I didn’t go far enough into the diagnosis.
“If you think my dad gives me special treatment, you’re mistaken. You haven’t been here long enough to know.”
The latter part is the truth. Dr. Murphy only joined the team last year when he came to us from another hospital. The only thing he knows is that my dad heads the emergency department.
“I get the same number of days off as everyone else, and I trade shifts all the time. Hell, I’m here way more than you.” I head toward the door, not in the mood to work an entire shift with him.
“Man, you’re easy to rile up,” he murmurs under his breath.
I stop right before opening the door and take a deep breath to stop myself from turning around and stomping back over to him. There are few people I hate in this world, but Clay Murphy is right up there at the top of my list.
I open the door, and my friend and fellow doctor, Alice, stands on the other side. “Whoa, I was just about to come get you.” She must see Dr. Murphy behind me because her smile drops, and she turns away from the door. “Oh, I see.”
“Something must’ve happened because he’s back on the whole ‘daddy’s girl’ thing again,” I say under my breath as we head down the hall.
“Why does he care? I think he might like you.”
I stop and stare at my friend. We became residents the same year and formed an instant friendship. At least if I have to work with Dr. Murphy today, I get to work with Alice too.
We both laugh. “We’re not in the fourth grade anymore, Al. The boys shouldn’t flirt by being mean.”
“He seems like the type though, no?”
He walks by us, his cologne wafting behind him as if we were crop-dusted.
“That cologne is just god-awful.” I cough into my elbow.
“Really? I kind of like it.” She stares at his backside, and I stop at the intake desk, watching her for a moment.
“Oh my god, you like him,” I whisper-shout.
How could she?
Okay, so Dr. Murphy is attractive. He has a runner’s body, but the muscles in his biceps suggest he lifts weights too. His hair is always styled to perfection, and his skin has this glow to it. And… his smile is nice, although it’s never pointed in my direction. I’ll admit, I can see why my friend is attracted to him. Most female patients go gaga for him when they come in. A lot of the men too.
“No,” she says in a way that I know means she’s lying. It’s the same way she denies she ate the last of the candy in our communal drawer.
“I can see it, liar.”
“Funny,” she says under her breath, sitting down and waiting for the physician’s handover.
“Excuse me?” I sit next to her, staring at the board to see what’s going on in the emergency room currently and where we’ll need to pick up.
“It’s just funny that you can see me crushing on Clay, but you’re ignorant to your ‘best friend’ crushing on you.”
