Catching Coy (Love in Little River Book 3) Read online

  “Hi, I’m Gillian,” she said, embracing him and then rocking back.

  “Coy.” He held onto her elbow even as they pulled apart. “UCON, huh?”

  “Best in the nation.” She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

  “I guess we’ll see about that, won’t we?”

  “I can’t wait to get to know you better.” She slid her hand into his, smiled, and then squeezed it before she walked away, taking a seat on the bench behind him at the same time the announcer began his introduction of the next woman.

  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’s introduction 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.”

  Bellamy planned on going back to the ranch once the introductions were over, but being caught up in The Catch, watching everything she’d been obsessed with for years live, had her approaching Agnes and asking if she could stick around to watch Coy get to know the women that afternoon before he sent two home. Since the crew and cast would eat dinner here at the gym tonight, she didn’t even have responsibilities back at the ranch. With all the dates and get-togethers the show entailed, the meals would be light, one of the reasons they’d decided to send Bellamy’s mom off on vacation rather than keeping her around to help.

  Agnes had cast her a smile. “It’s fun, right?”

  “Better than I even imagined.”

  “Just wait. We get to see the best stuff. Sometimes it’s far more boring than after we edit it, but sometimes it’s way better than we can make it.”

  The women and Coy had all been shuffled off to respective locker rooms while they transformed the gym into a party with a pep rally theme. Bellamy stuck around some of the crew who sat in the bleachers, waiting for them to bring Coy and the women back in. She checked her phone, noticing a message from Nash Roberts. She’d stayed friends with him after his and Roxy’s breakup, made easier by the fact that Roxy had spent a lot of time on the road with Tag.

  We gotta catch up on “He Spies, She Spies” before the new season starts next month. Tonight?

  The detective show had become their thing when Roxy had first gone on tour with Tag after they’d started dating. It made Bellamy cringe inside as she realized how much of her life lately was taken up by her favorite shows. She sighed as she sent off a text. It’s Catch season. You know what that means.

  Nash’s answer was a GIF of a man gagging. You guys have so many secret guests lately I might as well just watch Spies myself.

  This was the third time this year that Bellamy had to be under radio silence for an exclusive guest. We’ll catch up soon. She made sure to tag this with plenty of pleading emojis.

  The women came out before she got Nash’s answer, each of them taking up various positions around the room. Gillian and Bristol grabbed a ball, both shedding their heels to dribble around while they waited. It didn’t surprise Bellamy that sweet Charlotte had gravitated toward Lyra, still decked out in her mascot suit. Lyra was the clear oddball for the season, and Charlotte was the sweet one.

  Agnes was sitting a couple of rows below Bellamy, tapping on her iPad, so Bellamy leaned over. “You’re gonna make him keep Lyra or Lucy, right?” she said, voicing a theory she and Roxy were diehard believers in. “For the drama.”

  Agnes’ thin lips stretched into a cat-like smile and she gave a short laugh before turning back to her iPad and not answering. Yeah, they were definitely going to make sure one of them stayed.

  Willa, Lucy, and Stella had all gone for food. Bellamy couldn’t help the grin of pleasure when she noticed the guitar case that one of the crew members set next to a sofa. Bellamy had pegged Willa for the one here for a platform so she would bet that guitar was for her.

  A crew member brought Coy out, and Bellamy forced herself not to grin like a besotted girl—the same expression on the faces of the eight women on the court who had stopped their activities
and turned toward him. Coy Jones was so off-limits, even if he had turned to her for her opinion after meeting every woman.

  But … his hazel eyes sort of made Bellamy’s heart spin, especially when they stopped on her as he walked on, even for a brief moment before he turned his attention to the women hurrying toward him. Lucy beat them all, rushing up to him and hugging him again.

  Bellamy leaned forward and watched him mingle with them all. She couldn’t hear all of their conversations, which was a bummer, but she’d catch up when they aired the season. It would be fun to have seen all the interactions and not just the ones they edited in.

  When Willa pulled Coy over to the sofa and the guitar for a private conversation, Bellamy blessed the heavens that it was situated close to the bleachers where she sat. She got to lap up the whole thing.

  “I’m so glad we get to chat for a minute,” Willa said, laying her hand on Coy’s knee. Bellamy expected what came next, that Coy would lace his fingers through hers. Their connection hadn’t been like the way he’d stared after Gillian, or the curiosity with a hint of let’s-keep-that-up after Lucy’s kiss. Really, it hadn’t even come close to the electricity bouncing during Bellamy’s pre-introduction conversation with Coy, if she was being objective about her analysis.

  But Willa’s wavy blond hair curled around her shoulders like an old-time movie star, and her green eyes were wide with long (cough obviously fake cough) lashes. In short, she was gorgeous and Coy kept leaning closer and closer.

  “Tell me about yourself.” He put an arm up on the back of the couch. A glance at the other women showed covert glances shooting that way every few seconds as they all waited a “respectable” amount of time before they jumped in and stole Coy for themselves.

  “Would you mind if I did something a little different?” She reached for the guitar, already taken out of the case and resting in a stand next to the couch. “I think this is the best way to show you the real me.”

  “I’d love to hear you play.” Coy adjusted his sitting position so that he could face Willa, who rested the guitar in her lap.

  “So, given where we are, I think it’s only fitting that I sing this song…” Willa strummed a few chords that sounded familiar to Bellamy, and she guessed right away that Willa was using one of Tag’s songs. Had that been her choice or the producers? This was classic.

  “There’s a place, where everyone’s at Coy’s game on Friday night…”

  Oh. My. This was better than anything on any season of The Catch that Bellamy had ever seen. Willa was singing “Roxy’s Song!” Bellamy snatched her phone out of her pocket, careful that Agnes didn’t see her videoing. Roxy and Tag had both signed the non-disclosure agreements the show required, so Bellamy didn’t feel too guilty for recording this to show Roxy later. It was literally her song.

  “And there’s a boy I know, who’s part of my whole soul,” Willa continued, and Bellamy had to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. On the other side of the gym, Bellamy caught Bristol smirking at the couple, the same you’ve-got-to-be-kidding me expression that Bellamy likely wore now. Charlotte had her head tilted to one side, the only person in the room other than, maybe Coy, who thought this was oh-so-sweet. Coy clapped at the end of Willa’s serenade, and Charlotte did as well.

  Bellamy watched over the course of the next couple of hours, enthralled as each girl got their time. She would have given pretty much anything to follow the crew members who took the girls aside for their confessionals and especially when Coy went to do one of his, but she didn’t think she could swing that. At least she got to be there when Lucy confessed to Coy that her heart had stopped the moment she saw him and asked if he believed in love at first sight, because she did.

  But then she’d had to watch Coy make out with Lucy, so that made it a toss-up about whether it was worth it. She pictured how she would have turned to Roxy if they were watching together. Purely physical. They both would have rolled their eyes and pretended to gag, even if Coy had some pretty sexy moves going on, the way he slipped his arm around Lucy’s waist and gently tugged her closer.

  Bellamy thought she was enjoying the whole thing until the moment the women were ushered back to the locker room and Coy stepped up the bleachers and sat next to Bellamy. That’s when she realized how tight she’d been holding her shoulders as they finally relaxed, and the fact that the calming feeling winding through her was relief.

  Oh dear.

  “Okay,” Coy said, leaning back against the bleacher. “Give it to me.”

  “Uh, what?” She scooted an inch or so away, even though she hated that.

  “You just watched the whole thing and you’re not monetarily invested in any of it,” Coy said. Agnes shot him a half-hearted glare, which made Coy laugh, then the producer got up and crossed the gym to talk to one of the cameramen. “Tell me what you think,” Coy said.

  “That would be cheating.” Bellamy leaned back against the bleachers as well, keeping plenty of space between them so their hands wouldn’t brush or anything.

  “Cheating? To give me your unbiased opinion?” He tilted toward her, bumping her shoulder. “Come on.”

  “Coy Jones—”

  “Why do you keep calling me by my full name?” He didn’t right himself after bumping her shoulder, so now they sat all huddled up together. They were practically cuddling. What would Agnes say if she came back and caught them?

  “Um. That’s just what we always call you when we’re watching your games. Do you not notice that everyone just calls you that?” She focused on that explanation instead of how she wouldn’t mind adjusting so that Coy could put his arm behind her. It would make this whole situation more comfortable anyway.

  “Yes, I’ve noticed how game announcers tend to use my full name, but we’re friends.” He pointed at Bellamy and then back at himself.

  She burst into laughter. “I met you yesterday.”

  “I’ve already given you a nickname, Bells.”

  “No one calls me that.” She sat up to distract herself from wanting Coy’s arm around her.

  “I do.” He kept leaning back and she was pretty sure he scooted closer so their legs were touching. Oh boy. “So, Bells.” He laughed at her scowl. “Help me.”

  “Coy Jones,” she began again, laughing at his scowl. “I have seen every single season of The Catch and my fair share of behind-the-scenes stuff as well, and also like every post-Catch interview there is. And Roxy and I have never failed to pick the winners.” She wouldn’t count the year Candance didn’t win golf-pro Bo West’s heart. Roxy had gotten that one right, so technically Bellamy wasn’t lying. “So, cheating,” she reminded him.

  He sat up and studied her. “Okay, now I’m dying to know your pick.”

  “So am I,” Agnes said, making Bellamy jump. How had Bellamy missed her coming back over? Shouldn’t she be herding the women or stirring up drama or something?

  Bellamy smiled at both of them. “I need to discuss some things with Roxy first.” She waved her hand. “Besides, these things take time. We usually can pick out the top contenders on the first day, but not the winner. I’m gonna need to see more first.”

  Agnes nodded then turned to Coy. “You gonna be ready to send two home in half an hour?”

  He choked. “Half an hour?”

  “Forty-five minutes, tops.” She gave him an official nod and walked away.

  He whirled back to Bellamy, real panic in his expression. “See, you have to help me. What if I send someone home who could be it?”

  Bellamy’s heart clenched. Of course she wanted to believe that love was real on the show and not just all scripted stuff, but part of her had always thought, in the back of her mind, that it couldn’t be love at the end, could it? Did that sort of thing really happen?

  “You really do care.” It was sweet. And it made her want to puke because if one of these women was the one, it meant she wasn’t.

  Coy pressed his lips together. “I want to take it seriously, even if it is f
or entertainment. I said yes to Nico on the chance that there’d be a woman here who wasn’t in love with the idea of Coy Jones and could just be in love with me.”

  “Isn’t that exactly why they’re all here?” Bellamy pointed out. “To meet you?”

  “They don’t know who the next Catch will be when they sign up. So sure, they’ll know it’s some athlete, but he might not be famous or anything.” He was studying her so close, she had to swallow back nerves bouncing around her stomach.

  “Or he might be Coy Jones,” she said, forcing a smile.

  “Help me.” He put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, leaning in too close to her, especially if he wanted her to think clearly. “You saw everything today.”

  She ran through it all in her head. Willa wanted the attention, Bellamy was pretty sure. But she was beautiful and had a good voice and there was a chance Bellamy was wrong about her. Coy and Gillian had clicked, finding a shared love of basketball, and Coy sounded invested in Gillian’s company. Bellamy was pretty sure he wouldn’t go far with Lucy, but it made for good kissing and everyone liked that—probably even Coy. She wasn’t sure about Bristol. She’d seemed to be analyzing everything the other women did for most of the day, more focused on them than on Coy, if she wasn’t with him personally. She had a head for competition.

  “Keep Charlotte,” she said. “She’s the sweet one, and everyone wants to have a bff on the show.”

  “Duh, Bells.” Coy laughed at her. “She’s definitely a keeper.”

  “I can’t advise you beyond that.” She gave a shrug, hoping she hadn’t shown the pinch of jealousy in her face.

  “Bells.”

  Sweet cream, he had to stop calling her that. “Who’s your first instinct to cut?”

  “Lyra and Cam.” He grimaced, and Bellamy caught herself nodding. She grimaced too. “They’re fun, but I don’t want to lead them on. I like a quirky girl, but I don’t think I could handle them. It’s not a good fit.”