Problems Who? Cocktails And Sober First Dates
Day 161 of The Andie Chronicles
My bag was full of mismatched outfits, most of them heavy winter clothes suitable for Melbourne, not for Surfers Paradise at any time of year. I didn’t need the heavy knits, nor did I need the obnoxious puffer jacket you would wear to the snow.
All I needed was a light knit dress and a pair of sandals and I would look perfect for my date with Cooper Crusher.
It broke every rule in the dating handbook, but as soon as I noticed his phone number on the swing tag, I messaged him. Introduced myself. Asked him out for a drink.
Even though the show had started, he replied almost instantly. By the time the third match was over, we had a venue, time and enough flirtation to power the venue's lighting grid.
When he came out to wrestle, the main event once again, I could see him searching the crowd until he found me. His mouth curled a small smile, not breaking character, but enough to tell me he knew where I was.
By this time I had the t-shirt on and I was yelling his name like everyone else. To be with this crowd, to feel part of something, to have an uncomplicated interaction with a member of the human race, I felt more like myself than I had in months.
Douglas who?
James who?
Highway who?
None of it mattered at this moment.
Despite forgetting the dramas I left behind in Melbourne, I had a whole new problem on my hands. A first date.
This was the first time I was dating someone since Douglas. Sure, I had a brief moment with Alex Martens, but jumping back on the same horse you’ve once rode is not like finding a new pony.
And let's face it, as much as I felt like I knew Cooper, I didn’t know him from a bar of soap. The guy in the ring wouldn’t be the guy showing up at my hotel bar at seven o’clock.
I was late coming down to meet him. I hated myself for that, but for what seemed like the millionth time recently, I was stuck waiting for a lift. It would seem we organised our date when everyone else in the building wanted to go out, too.
Cooper was sitting at the bar when I arrived. His long hair swept over his shoulders, but it wasn’t wet this time. It was neat, tidy, back behind his ears. Apart from his muscles that were barely contained in his smart cheque shirt, you wouldn’t know he was a wrestler by trade.
As I approached him, he saw me from the corner of his eye. He stood immediately to greet me.
“Hello, gorgeous.”
He kissed me on the cheek before pulling out the bar stool and helping me onto it.
“Can I get you a drink?”
Part of me wanted to have a glass of champagne to take the edge off. The other part of me didn’t want anything to do with the liquid that confused my life and played havoc with it at all the wrong times.
I looked across the bar at all the beer taps, bottles, and glasses and hesitated. “I might have a soda water.”
Cooper smiled. “Me too actually. I’m training in the morning.”
“Oh really? Tell me all about that.”
You’re reading The Andie Chronicles, the 2023 romance-fiction series from the 1 Lovelock Drive (1LD) universe.
By the way, this all started when Andie turned thirty-five, and her then-boyfriend didn’t call her.
Or the day after that.
Or the day after that, too.
Everything started to unravel when her BFFs got into bed with her ex, too… ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
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A little lost on what’s happening at 1 Lovelock Drive?
Well, you see, Andie’s break-up started back in February and so much has happened since then. These stories will help you catch right up! xx
