“I’d love to. When’s the first one?”
“Thursday night.” He literally squirmed with excitement, giving Izzy the distinct impression no one had ever bothered to attend any of his activities in the past. Sadly, she could relate.
“Two nights from now?”
“Yeah. Maybe you could go with Uncle Cooper. He has that night off,” Riley added hopefully.
“I don’t think that’d be a good idea.”
Riley’s face fell. “Don’t you like him? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. He’s a hard ass.”
“I do like him, and he’s a great guy.” Izzy found herself defending Cooper. “You should cut him some slack. He’s not used living with anyone or having the responsibilities that come with a teenager in the house.”
“He doesn’t want me here,” Riley’s jaw jutted out stubbornly, reminding her of Cooper.
“Of course, he does,” she lied, and Riley saw right through it.
“I didn’t ask to live here. I just wanted help finding my mother.” Riley crossed his arms over his chest. “I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can, but you shouldn’t have to. Now’s the time to enjoy being a kid without adult responsibilities.” Izzy spoke softly. She understood, more than he’d ever know.
“I’m not complaining. My mom needs me.”
“I’m certain you’re a good son.” She patted his arm and he managed an embarrassed smile. “I had absentee parents, Riley. They were gone a lot. While they sometimes left us with food and money, it was never enough. That’s how Party Crashers got started. At first, my three sisters and I crashed parties to have a meal, especially weddings because everyone doesn’t know everyone else. My parents taught us to play instruments, sing, and dance at young ages, so we entertained in exchange for our supper. If they had karaoke, we sang. If they had dancing, we danced up a storm. If there was a piano, we’d play it. No one ever complained. In fact, those that realized we were party crashers thanked us for making the most epic parties ever. That’s when we realized we could make money crashing parties.”
“That’s so cool. Can I crash a party with you sometime?”
Izzy smiled indulgently. “We’ll see.” She glanced up to see Cooper leaning in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, and an unreadable expression on his handsome face. A muscle ticked in his jaw, giving away how upset he was.
The doorbell interrupted any further conversation. A few seconds later, Tanner appeared with his buddy and wide receiver Hunter McCoy, followed by Cedric. Cooper stood behind them, scowling and looking as if he’d like to use his stick to smack that arrogant grin off Tanner’s pretty face.
Tanner immediately headed for Izzy and gave her a kiss on the cheek, while Cooper literally steamed. Tanner obviously loved every minute of it. He straightened and focused his laser-sharp quarterback gaze on the teenager who was gaping at him with an open mouth.
“Hey, buddy.” Tanner grinned and reached out to shake hands. Riley fell all over himself in his haste to stand.
“Oh my God, you’re Tanner Wolfe.” Riley looked ready to pee his pants, while Cooper looked ready to strangle Tanner with his bare hands. Izzy stood, poised to run interference or break up a fight, whichever came first.
“One and the same. And you’re—”
“—my nephew.” Cooper stepped between the two. “You have homework to finish, Riley, and we have a meeting.”
Riley’s face fell, and he shot Cooper a look of pure dislike. Cooper caught it, judging by the jerkiness of his movements and the hardening of his jaw. Izzy’s heart went out to him even when it shouldn’t.
“Get that homework done, Riley, and we’ll talk later.” Tanner squeezed his shoulder and offered a friendly smile.
“Would you come to my game Thursday night? Izzy and Uncle Cooper are going.” Riley couldn’t seem to contain himself, but when he caught the annoyance on Cooper’s face, he stared at his feet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“Hey, just so happens I’m free Thursday night. I’d love to.” Tanner winked at Riley, who immediately brightened again, despite the murderous glare on his uncle’s face.
“That’d be awesome,” Riley gushed like only a kid could. “You’re my favorite athlete.”
Cooper stiffened as if he’d been slapped across the face, but only Izzy appeared to notice. She moved closer to him and touched his arm. He stared down at her, the pain stark on his face. For a moment they were the only two in the room, as they gazed into each other’s eyes.
Cooper bent his head and spoke only for her ears as they followed the rest of the group into the living room with Cedric leading the way as if it were his house. “That’s fucking awesome,” he said sarcastically. “He never treats me like that. Most of the time I think he hates me. The rest of the time, he barely tolerates me.”
“Cut him some slack, Cooper. You don’t know what kinds of ideas his mother put into his head.”
“I have a good idea they weren’t complimentary toward me.”
“Of course not. She’s an addict, and her life is everyone else’s fault but hers. You’re doing right by him. That needs to be enough for now. Let him hero worship Tanner. Your role isn’t to be his buddy, but his parent.”
Cooper ran his hand through his hair, pushing it off his face. “I never wanted to be anyone’s parent, let alone a teenage boy’s.”
“Sometimes we don’t get a vote when it comes to the challenges life throws at us.”
“You’re right, Izzy. As always.”
“And don’t you forget it.” She nudged a smile out of him with those words.
He opened his mouth to say something, but Tanner interrupted, hating it when he wasn’t the center of attention.
Izzy settled them all down and tried to run a meeting. It would’ve been easier to herd cats than to channel the testosterone in that room tonight.
At least she kept Tanner and Cooper from duking it out, even as they argued over every little thing. It was going to be a long evening. And forcing herself to stay out of Cooper’s magnetic pull made it exponentially more difficult.