She made him laugh, made him stretch his comfort zone, made him think, and she didn’t take his shit. Instead she flipped it right back at him. Most people didn’t do that, and strangely, he liked it. He liked her here with him, keeping him in line, and keeping him excited.
Only she wasn’t here. No one was. God, he wanted to hop in his car and hunt her down. But he couldn’t. He’d promised, and he kept his promises.
At loose ends and out of sorts, Cooper trudged upstairs. He wasn’t sure why, but he went to Riley’s room. He stood in the doorway and glanced around, a typical kid’s room. The messiness drove him crazy, but he forced himself to look past it. Who was this kid who’d lived in his house for a month? He didn’t know a damn thing about him, didn’t know about his past, didn’t know about his hopes or dreams. Nothing. And he hadn’t wanted to know.
Until now.
Cooper walked around the room, stopping to stare at the signed poster of Tanner Wolfe on the wall. He snorted and rolled his eyes. Cooper picked up a worn five-by-seven on the nightstand of Riley and his mother. Cooper’s sister didn’t look good in the photo. Her eyes were unfocused, her smile a little forced. Riley’s huge smile didn’t quite hide the sadness in his eyes, old eyes, much older than they had a right to be.
Anger gripped Cooper, anger at his irresponsible sister and a more than a little anger at himself. Riley deserved so much better than he got from his mother or his uncle. Riley deserved stability.
In that moment, Cooper vowed he would do the right thing. Once his parents returned, he’d send Riley to live with them. They were good people, and Riley would be loved and well-cared for. He’d be better off there than with someone like Cooper who travelled a lot and didn’t have time for a teenager.
Cooper put the photo down and accidentally brushed against a stack of papers. The papers scattered to the floor. What kid did anything with paper anymore? Cooper stooped to pick them up and stared in shock, his mouth dropping open. They weren’t girlie pics or anything like Cooper might’ve expected to find in a teenage boy’s room. They were printed photos of Cooper, lots of them, along with a Sockeyes program opened to Cooper’s page. But there was more. There were pictures of Cooper as a Giant, his old team.
Cooper shook his head. The kid had collected photos and kept tabs on him?
Fuck.
What did that mean?
He thought Riley resented him, even blamed him for his mother’s problems because to an extent Cooper blamed himself. But worshipped him? Cooper never would’ve guessed.
Now he felt like an even bigger shit and deservedly so.
Izzy dragged her tired body into Cooper’s house and glanced around. She expected him to be waiting up for her, but it was late, after midnight. Those senior citizens had partied down once Izzy and her sisters worked their magic. She thought they’d never leave.
“Cooper?” she called, glancing around the dimly lit entryway. “Cooper?”
“Hey.” He stood at the top of the stairs grinning down at her, but his grin didn’t reach his eyes. Something troubled him, and she sure as hell hoped it wasn’t her being at a party. They’d broken up before over his jealousy, and Cooper had promised this time would be different.
Broken up before?
Did that mean they were a couple again? They sure as hell were sex partners, but only a fool would deny they didn’t have chemistry that went beyond sex. Nor could she deny she only wanted Cooper, wanted to see his sexy smile, see his blue eyes darken with desire, and hear his hearty laugh. God, she just wanted him. His imperfections made him perfect.
“Hey,” she called up to him as he walked down the stairs toward her. He skipped the last couple and swept her in his arms, kissing the hell out of her.
“I missed you,” he whispered against her hair. “Take me with you next time. I can crash a party as well as anyone.”
She leaned back and stared up into his deep blue eyes. “Are you kidding me? First of all, you’re the jealous type. Second, people will recognize you.”
“Yeah, I guess.” He kissed her forehead. “But I did miss you.”
She’d heard him the first time but chose to ignore his words. Missing someone meant you were getting attached, and attachments led to dependency on each other. Izzy did not depend on anyone, and she never would. Never. Not even sexy-as-melted-chocolate Cooper.
Izzy touched his rough cheek. He had that stubble thing going on lately, and it was hot. She opened her mouth to invite him to the bedroom, and stopped. There it was again. That flash of sadness. She doubted anyone else would have caught it, but she did.
“Cooper, what’s wrong?” She cupped his strong jaw in her hands and kissed his chin.
His eyes darkened, and he smiled. “Nothing, now that you’re here.”
She almost believed him, but she’d seen something, and she’d never been one to let well enough alone. “What is it?”
She caught his quick glance up the stairs.
“Did you know Riley has a bunch of pictures of me in his bedroom?” Cooper said.
“Were you snooping in Riley’s bedroom?” No wonder he’d been upstairs.
“It’s—it’s not what you think. I wasn’t looking for anything bad. I just wanted to know him better. I haven’t done a very good job of that,” he said sheepishly, shifting his weight from one foot to another in a rare display of discomfort.
Izzy couldn’t mask her surprise. “No, you haven’t, Coop.” She wouldn’t cut him any slack where Riley was concerned.
He looked up at her, letting her see the sadness in his eyes this time. “Yeah, I’ve been an ass. I was disappointed he didn’t come home with me tonight, and—and—caring like that shocked me.”
“You were disappointed?” She honestly thought he didn’t like Riley underfoot.
“I wanted to talk to him about his game. As a pro athlete, I’m pretty good at analyzing stuff. Even though I don’t play football, it’s very similar to hockey in a lot of ways, and I had some tips for him on his game.”
“Really?” Her heart swelled with affection for this strong, proud man. “I think he would’ve liked that.”