He glanced around as he jogged up to Izzy and Tanner.
“Hey, you made it.” He grinned as he shook Tanner’s hand. Izzy gave him a big hug. Man, would the guys all be jealous that this hot older woman just hugged him. He didn’t know which would impress them more, Tanner or Izzy.
They were guys—so he’d vote for Izzy.
“I wouldn’t miss seeing my best guy play for anything,” Izzy said, as she straightened his shoulder pads. “You look tough in that uniform.”
“Thanks.” He shuffled his feet, suddenly embarrassed.
“I’m always game to watch young talent.” Tanner winked at him, as several of Riley’s teammates crowded around Tanner, all talking at once.
With Tanner occupied with the guys, Riley turned toward Izzy. “Where’s Uncle Coop?” His voice sounded too hopeful. He didn’t want anyone to catch on that he cared.
Izzy narrowed her eyes and her mouth drew into a thin line. “I’m not sure he’s going to be able to make it. He’s working late at the training facility tonight.”
All the good feelings from earlier drained out of Riley. Like sister, like brother. His mother never made it a priority to attend any of his school events or games. Not even one time. But his mother didn’t like team sports much, and Cooper did.
Izzy must have read the disappointment on his face. She reached out and squeezed his arm. “I know he’d be here if he could.”
“I don’t care. He’s a selfish jerk anyway. He doesn’t matter to me. I just want to find my mother and get out of his house.” Riley felt hot tears well up in his eyes, which fucking pissed him off. Uncle Cooper didn’t deserve his tears or anything else.
Riley expected Izzy to chew his butt for calling his uncle a jerk, but she didn’t. In fact, he got the impression she agreed with him.
“He’s not a football guy anyway,” Riley added, as if that made Cooper’s absence okay. They both knew it didn’t.
“Guys, get back over here. We have a game to play,” Coach yelled at them.
Riley pulled on his helmet and smiled at Izzy and Tanner. “Later.”
Tanner grinned at him. “Have a good game.”
“I will.” Riley ran to the bench near the sidelines. He’d wanted to play quarterback, but years of off-and-on participation in sports didn’t help. For a quarterback, he was too far behind the other guys. So Coach put him at tight end because he was big, strong, and athletic. Surprisingly, he had good hands, too, with a great vertical leap and better than average speed. Must be those Black genes. From what his mom told him, they’d all been good at sports.
So despite his lack of playing time, Riley was starting in his first freshman football game. Winning a spot gave him a rare sense of accomplishment. He’d spent so much of his life watching out for his mother that it felt weird to do something completely for himself. For once, he didn’t let the guilt ruin his day.
Riley caught three passes, one that he ran in for a touchdown. He could hear Izzy and Tanner cheering from the sidelines.
Afterward, Izzy drove Riley home in Cooper’s second car, a Lexus sedan that seeming boring and old like his uncle. She helped Riley with his homework, and reminded him his bedtime was at ten. His uncle still wasn’t home. He was probably out banging some chick or partying with the rest of the Sockeye team ’cuz those things were more important to his uncle than Riley would ever be. He might as well get it through his thick skull. Cooper didn’t want him, and he’d unload him the first chance he got.
Izzy joined Riley for a big glass of milk before he headed to bed. Riley wished his mother could be like Izzy or that he had a big sister like her. Or an aunt. Instead he had Uncle Poop, the shithead.
Cooper loved training camp, the locker room smells and the guys jawing with each other, the sound of skates on ice and sticks connecting with pucks, and the coaches shouting encouragement and suggestions. He loved it all and absorbed it like a sponge built exactly for this and nothing else.
And for those few hours on the ice, nothing mattered, not even Izzy, but the second he stepped off the ice, her sparkling brown eyes and luscious lips invaded his thoughts. God, had it only been less than two days since they’d done it in the pool? Seemed like a few minutes ago and yet a lifetime too long since he’d seen her.
Once training camp ended for the day, Cooper attempted to bury himself in game tape, while schooling a couple promising rookies. Brick and Rush slummed with them, harassing the rookies and bullshitting with Coop. Obviously, they’d struck out with the sisters they’d been bragging about earlier and figured talking hockey beat going home alone. Besides, the two idiots were like sponges when it came to hockey even if they perpetuated a devil-may-care attitude. They didn’t fool Coop one bit. They hung on his every word, asked all the right questions, and contributed their own insights.
Now that training camp had started, Coop paid Barb to come in about three, cook dinner, and stay until he got home. Tonight he planned on making his night a late one, though he couldn’t shake that nagging feeling he was forgetting something. It’d come to him eventually. For now, Cooper had to get Izzy out of his mind and absorbing himself in hockey, his first and only true love, had worked on the ice earlier though not so much now.
Cooper’s phone rang, and he glanced at it. His PI was calling. With a nod to the guys, he took the call out of the room.
“Hey, Russ. What do you have for me?”
“Not much, Cooper. I’m busting my ass following leads that go nowhere. Most people in her profession don’t trust outsiders, and they aren’t exactly forthcoming with information.”