Page 4 of Catching Coy
Lucy, 23
Phoenix, Arizona
Model
“I watched Coy Jones play at ASU, like, in the arena. This was totally meant to be.”
* * *
The next woman,Lucy, was much shorter than Gillian. She had her own Catch jersey—number 12—tied in a knot over a pencil skirt, but also wore a pair of trendy tennis shoes. Her blonde hair was thick and straight, hitting at at least her mid-back. Coy had heard the announcer say she was a model, and it showed in the confidence of her walk toward him.
“Hi, Coy,” she said, throwing her arms around him and holding him for a few seconds longer than Gillian had. When she pulled away, she kept her hands at his waist. “I can’t believe I get to meet you. Wow. I’m Lucy. I watched you play at ASU when I was in high school.” She beamed at him. “This is crazy, right?”
Her wide smile did infect him. She didn’t have the irresistible dimples Bellamy did, but her lips were full and grabbed his attention. Made him wonder about kissing her.
“Go Sun Devils,” he said, smiling back.
“Go Sun Devils.” She bounced up on her tiptoes and planted a short kiss on his lips, surprising him, before she smirked and waved as she walked back to the bench.
He couldn’t help glancing over at Bellamy. She wore wide eyes and bit back a smile. “Wow,” she mouthed at him and he sucked back laughter. He would not be forgetting Lucy anytime soon, which he supposed was the point. Except the kiss had been so brief, and Coy had been so surprised, that he hadn’t gotten a chance to take it in. Which, he supposed again, was also the point.
* * *
Bristol, 28
Denver, Colorado
Lawyer
“I have an amazing case record, and I definitely have a good argument for winning over Coy!”
* * *
The next woman’sintroduction was half over before Coy brought himself back to the present, but he at least caught her name, Bristol. She stuck out her hand as she reached him, which completed her all-business aura she was giving off, right down to the tight, black bun on top of her head. She didn’t hug him like the others, only held his hand as they spent a few seconds talking about Denver, and then she’d moved on.
He shouldn’t have, but Coy looked over at Bellamy again. Something about sharing his reaction to Lucy had worked and now he wanted to know what she thought about Bristol. But he couldn’t read her expression. She smiled, but it held reservation. Then she turned away, and Coy had to pay attention to the girls being introduced to him.
Charlotte, a NICU nurse from Colorado, Willa, a waitress from Nashville, Cam, an interior designer from New York, and Stella, a teacher from Idaho were all introduced, all of them pretty and nice and not making the kinds of impressions the other women had. But he knew that could change quickly in the course of the day—one of them might prove to be far more interesting. He should have taken notes during all that binge watching.
That left only one woman, and Lyra, a writer from Nevada was being announced.
Well, he assumed that was Lyra and not the actual Mountaineer mascot walking toward him right now. He did note that the mascot with an oversized head and swathed in climbing gear wore a Catch uniform, right before she started running and then did several gymnastic moves that landed her right in front of Coy. The crowd erupted, crazy about the performance and Coy couldn’t help but join in. Costume aside, that had been pretty amazing.
The woman pulled off the over-large mask, revealing a redhead beaming at him. “Hi, I’m Lyra.”
“That was awesome.” He couldn’t help laughing and clapping some more. She bobbed into a curtsy, wiping some hair out of her face with the too big hand of the Mountaineer mascot before grinning at him again and skipping off to the bench.
“Turn and look at the women!” Agnes called out, and Coy did a slow turn toward the bench, catching Bellamy’s eye one more time as he did so. She held up ten fingers, her judgment of Lyra’s performance. At least Nico would love the grin that Coy cast on the girls as he turned to face them and held up his hands for a round of high-fives.
Chapter Four
Charlotte, 28
Fort Collins, Colorado
NICU Nurse
“I work with babies, so I’ve seen a lot of sweet things in my life, but Coy Jones tops my list.”
