No use denying the truth to Cedric so Cooper laced his hands behind his head and stared at that same ceiling he’d been studying all night, casually noticing how different it looked in the dark.
“She’s the reason your boxers are in a twist.”
“Yeah, she’s pissed at me.”
“What did you do this time?”
Cooper sighed. Not one for dumping his troubles on someone else, he gave Cedric the short version about how he missed the game.
“Man, you really are a bigger douche than I ever imagined.” Cedric’s disapproving snort bounced off the walls of the hotel room.
“I don’t understand what they’re both pissed about. After all, Tanner was there.” Cooper spat out the words with venom that surprised even him.
“I detect a little jealousy, my friend. And not just of Izzy and Tanner but Riley and Tanner.”
“Bullshit,” Cooper muttered. “Doesn’t matter to me if Riley worships the dumb shit like he’s the second coming, or Izzy treats him like a lifelong friend.”
“You’re a lame ass liar.” Cedric roared with laughter.
Cooper hated being laughed at, especially when there might be a good reason for it. He sputtered with unspoken words of denial that would only incriminate him more.
Cedric, true to form, couldn’t let it go. “Hey, if wallowing in denial works for you, I don’t give a shit. Just don’t let it affect your game again.”
“I won’t. Nothing comes between me and my game. You know that. We’ve been together since the minors.”
“It did tonight,” Cedric drove him the dagger.
“It’s preseason.”
“You’ve never played any differently in preseason compared to regular season.”
Cooper didn’t have a response for that. A few seconds later Cedric’s phone rang, and he answered it. After a short conversation, he hung up with a grin on his face.
“Seems I left something at the ladies’ apartment. Don’t wait up for me.” Cedric threw on his clothes and slid out the door.
Sometimes Cooper really hated that asshole. Nothing weighed heavily on the Swede, not guilt, or regret, or jealousy. He breezed through life completely unscathed by the crap everyone else dealt with on a daily basis.
Cooper often wondered who would be the man or woman to finally bring his friend down.
Just like a surly nephew and a beautiful party crasher might finally bring Cooper down.
Chapter 10—Smarter Than That
It wasn’t the biggest party the Party Crashers had been paid to crash, but it was one of the toughest. Izzy and her sisters worked overtime to beg, cajole, and seduce the guests into loosening up and having a bit of fun. Even the free-flowing alcohol wasn’t doing it.
Izzy regretted agreeing to crash the wedding of two senior citizen transplants from London. The party was as stuffy as the British royal family. She didn’t get British humor, and they sure as hell didn’t get her and her sisters. Betheni alternated between British and Southern accents which left the guests frowning at her and whispering behind their white napkins. Emma stuffed her face and looked totally at a loss. Avery hadn’t shown and didn’t call. Her sister hadn’t spoken to her since their big fight. At the least, she should honor her commitments.
Izzy couldn’t afford to refund their money, but she feared she might be forced to do just that. Izzy was at a loss on how to get this dullest of dull parties started.
Finally it came to her. She motioned to her sisters to follow her into the hallway.
“I think we’re going about this all wrong. This is a different crowd. They like the symphony, opera, and classical music. Let’s give them some classical entertainment.” She pointed at Emma. “You’re the best singer. I want you to go over to the piano player and start singing. Keep it to slow and classy. Betheni and I will work the crowd, try to get a few of the old men dancing.”
The girls nodded and made for the grand piano in a corner of the oddly quiet room.
A half hour later, the dance floor was filled with dancers and the conversation in the room rose to a polite din. All in all, while it’d been touch and go, they’d pulled off another successful party and their client discreetly passed Izzy a five-hundred-dollar bonus check.
Izzy checked her messages for the first time that evening. Her cell phone had been blowing up while she’d been taking care of business. The flurry started with Aunt Barb.
I’m leaving. You take care of this kid.
Then several texts from Riley doing damage control.
Barb left. She’s mad at me.
Izzy, are you there? Barb’s gone, and Uncle Poop is on a road trip. He’s going to kill me.
Izzy, I need you to call.
Izzy, please, don’t tell Uncle Cooper. He’ll be really pissed.
And so it went. Thank God this “wild” crowd had just about wrapped it up for the night at nine PM. Izzy grabbed her coat and turned to her sisters, filling them in on the disaster.
“You’re going to babysit?” Betheni’s eyes grew big as she stared horrified at Izzy.
“I have to until I can convince Barb to come back.”
A short phone call to Barb on the way to Cooper’s didn’t do much for Izzy’s confidence. “Barb, please, at least stay until I can get someone else.”
“Not a chance, Izzy. This was supposed to be a part-time job, not a seven-day-a-week job. I’m there every night because the almighty Mr. Black is in denial that his young nephew is living in his house. He ignores the kid in the worst of moments, and grunts at him in the best of moments. Then Riley takes out his anger and frustration on me. I’m done.” Barb hung up on her after a few more choice words about Riley and how there wasn’t enough money in the world to make her go back.
When Izzy pulled Cooper’s Lexus into his driveway and opened the garage door, Riley came running out. His panicked expression reminded her that while for the most part he pretended to be grown up, he was still a kid.
She stepped out of the car, and Riley skidded to a stop in front of her. Suddenly all the spunk drained from him and he stared at his feet, kicking the tires of the car.