For the Win (Playing for Keeps Book 1) by Amber Garza Read Free Book Online

me. Yet, every morning when I awoke, she was still gone.
    Nearing the next street, I readied myself to turn. The library was only one block down now.  A breeze feathered over my skin, soft, like silk. A car was parked up on the sidewalk blocking my path, so I swerved around it. My bike sloped downward until my tires hit the asphalt. A car came up behind me so I moved as far to the right as I could. After passing the parked vehicle, I steered toward the sidewalk once again preparing to slide back up onto it. Only I lost my balance for a minute and my tire hit the side at a funny angle. My bike froze, my body pitching forward. I squeezed on the handlebars attempting to right myself, but it was too late. My bike was toppling over, my body with it. As a last-ditch effort, I threw my arms out in order to cushion my fall. My palms hit the sidewalk first, my skin stinging. By the time the rest of my body followed, I was so tangled in my bike I felt the chain cut into my leg. My ankle rolled and pain shot up through my calf. The handlebars smacked me in the face, but luckily my head didn’t hit the ground. Somehow I kept it up. Even though I was wearing a helmet, I didn’t want to chance it.
    A car pulled up next to where I fell, and I groaned. I was so not in the mood for a Good Samaritan right now. They probably thought they were helping, but what I really wanted was to be left alone. I could deal with this on my own. Sitting up, I attempted to peel the bike off. That’s when I noticed how badly I’d scraped my palms. Blood oozed from the lines painted in my flesh. The straps from my backpack slid down my shoulders and arms. I shrugged it off, and it dropped onto the sidewalk.
    My breath hitching in my throat, I turned away, warding off the unwanted memories. Blood always did this. It made me think of that day. The one day I never wanted to think of again.
    “You okay?”
    My head snapped up at the familiar voice, and I hoped I was wrong about who it was. One look and my suspicion was confirmed. Shit. Could this day get any worse?
    “London?”
    “Hi, Cooper,” I responded calmly as if I wasn’t lying on the ground wrapped around my bicycle and covered in blood and bruises. Reaching up, I adjusted the helmet on my head which had slipped down to my eyes. That’s probably why he didn’t recognize me when he first pulled up. If he had, I was sure he wouldn’t have stopped. He probably thought there was some hot chick under this helmet. Boy was he wrong.
    “Here, let me help you up.” He bent down, his arms extended toward me.
    I waved him away. “It’s fine. I got it.” Shifting, I attempted to shove the bike off and stand up, but it was more difficult than I first anticipated. Not to mention that the pain in my ankle was worsening. Biting my lip, I tried one more time.
    Ignoring my protests, Cooper grabbed the bike and lifted it off of me carefully. Then he propped it up on the kickstand and turned back to me. “Can you stand?”
    “Of course I can stand,” I barked. “I mastered the art of standing years ago.”
    An amused look passed over his features. Irritated, I set my hands on the ground and pushed my body up. My body trembled a little as I reached a standing position. I teetered over as I tried to put weight on my ankle. As my body swayed to the side, Cooper’s arms came up to steady me.
    “Whoa.” His grip around my middle was firm, yet oddly gentle. His touch sent an unwanted chill up my spine, but I was afraid to push away. Afraid I would fall over. I was already mortified enough, I didn’t need to add to it. “I better take a look at that ankle.”
    Blowing out a breath, I hesitantly agreed. The last thing I wanted was for Cooper to examine my ankle. In fact, what I wanted was for him to leave and forget this whole thing happened. But I wasn’t sure how I’d get home if he left. I couldn’t even stand on my damn ankle.
    With his arm still around my waist, he helped me to the ground. Then he