“Cooper Briggs went undefeated his entire high school career.”
“Cooper Briggs was a number-one draft pick.”
“Cooper Briggs played three years in the NFL and never lost a game he started as quarterback except the one that ended his career with an injury.”
“Cooper Briggs built a company with limited startup and went public less than four years later and opened at the highest market rate of any single entrepreneurship.”
“Cooper Briggs is one of nine children.”
“Cooper Briggs is the spitting image of his father, Walker Briggs.”
But the one that people said more than any of the other things combined was, “Cooper Briggs is a ladies’ man.”
At least, that was the PG version. Other not so flattering examples included: horn dog, player, womanizer, and pussy magnet.
The reality was, I loved women and they tended to return my affections. It had been that way since I was in kindergarten and asked Brittney T. if I could kiss her when we both ended up at the bottom of the slide together. She’d said yes, and the moment our lips touched, my fate was sealed. I loved girls, even at the tender age of five.
But lately, my fate was on vacation or something. I’d had zero interest in any of the women that I’d hung out with for at least the last year, maybe longer. Most of them had made it very clear that they were more than willing to hookup. I’d say they were downright eager to get down and dirty. But I just didn’t feel the same drive, the same desire, the same lust that I’d apparently taken for granted for the first twenty plus years of my life. I wasn’t blind. I still found women attractive, but it was on a cerebral level. On an animalistic level? Not so much.
Last week, I’d pressed the pedal to the metal and tried to go the fake-it-till-I-make-it route with Molly, a sweet girl with thighs that should’ve had me on my knees begging, and I’d stalled before I’d even left the garage. There was no amount of foreplay that could wake up Mr. Sleepy, and I’d tried it all.
If I had a type, Molly Hanson was it. Brunette. Petite, but curvy. Sweet smile—that was a must-have feature. Pretty eyes and a good laugh. Great sense of humor. She could hold her own in a conversation. She loved animals and family. She was a kindergarten teacher who spent every spring break in college building houses for Habitat for Humanity.
On paper, she was everything I looked for in a short-term, casual relationship.
I was what some called a serial monogamist. I never cheated and was a one-woman man, that woman just changed…often. But it had been over a year since I’d had any kind of relationship.
My phone dinged with a text and I noticed the time.
“Shit,” I hadn’t meant to go down the broke-wiener rabbit hole, but that’s exactly what I’d done.
I was due up on the bachelor auction block in less than ten minutes. Tonight was a big night for my best friend Jade, and I didn’t want her stressing about me being a no-show. She’d worked her tail off organizing this gala. She owned a party-planning and consulting business and tonight was the big leagues. So when she’d asked if I would participate in the auction, I’d agreed to be a sacrificial lamb.
Did I want to get dressed up and be paraded around for some wealthy debutantes or worse rich housewives of Dallas? Hell no. But Jade could ask me to do anything and my answer would be yes.
Excluding family, she’d been the only constant female in my life. She’d been my person. My plus one. My best friend, really.
I grabbed my jacket from the passenger seat and made my way into the venue where the la-di-da rich people’s annual fundraiser was going down. As I entered the ballroom, I could feel eyes turning in my direction. Eyes that belonged to women dressed to the nines and most likely attending with their husbands. I ignored the attention and stopped a busboy that walked by and asked him where I was supposed to be for the auction. He directed me to the double doors beside the stage.
I walked through them and immediately spotted my friend. With long, dark hair, flawless olive skin, and a body that would stop traffic she was difficult to miss.
“Thanks for not going with overalls.”
Those were the first words out of Jade’s mouth when she saw me decked out in my Ralph Lauren three-piece suit and tie. Earlier that morning, as a joke, I’d texted her a picture of myself in denim overalls with no shirt underneath, one of the straps dangling down the leg, and a piece of hay sticking straight out from between my teeth.
I’d captioned that little masterpiece: I’m ready for the ball.
Jade hadn’t texted back, which didn’t surprise me since I’d known she was busy. The only reason I’d done it was to give her mind something to think about other than everything that was at stake for her big night. I’d wanted to give her a distraction.
Before I had a chance to say hi, Jade’s mouth opened in a silent yawn.
I felt my brow furrow. “You look tired.”
She smirked a little. “Thanks, Coop. That’s exactly what every girl wants to hear when they spend two hours getting ready.”
“You look gorgeous, don’t get me wrong. But you look tired.”
I knew that the gala wasn’t the only thing causing her to lose sleep. She’d recently reunited with her ex and one of my childhood friends, Hayden Reed. The two of them loved each other, but they were proof that timing was everything.
She exhaled a long sigh as her head hung and her shoulders slumped. A flutter of worry ran through me and I looked around to see if there was any water or maybe something stronger that I could get her. That’s when everything came to a screeching halt. From one second to the next, the world around me faded and all I could see was an angel in red.
“Jade.”
“What?”
I gestured at the heavenly being who’d captured me so completely—the most beautiful woman, by far, I’d ever laid eyes on. She wore a strapless red dress, which hugged Jessica-Rabbit curves. Her honey complexion was practically glowing, even from across the room. Her hair shimmered beneath the unforgiving florescent lighting and I knew, in that moment, my life as I knew it had changed forever.
“Who is that?”
Jade’s gaze followed mine. “That’s Vanessa,” she stated as if I should already know. “My college roommate. You’ve met her, haven’t you?”
“No.” I said definitively.
I would’ve remembered it the same way that I was always going to remember this day: as the moment my entire world shifted on its axis.
Jade tilted her head. “Oh, you’re right. I don’t think you have. Come on, you have to meet her.”
She started across the ballroom, but I didn’t follow. I couldn’t. I was frozen in place.
After a few steps, she turned to face me. “Coop? You don’t want to meet her?”
“No…Yes…No…” I couldn’t even answer. Forming the words was impossible. I was entranced, watching Vanessa talk and laugh with the man lucky enough to be standing with her.
Jade’s eyes widened and she strode back to me and poked her finger forcefully into the middle of my chest. Her voice was tight and authoritative when she commanded, “No, Coop. Not Vanessa.”
Rebellion flashed through me. If there was anything in the world that could make me want Vanessa more than I already did, it was being told I couldn’t have her. “Why not?”