Coach had called him into his office before the last road trip and chewed his ass, giving him the I don’t give a shit what’s happening in your personal life, but you’re a professional, behave like one. This team expects nothing less from its captain.
That three-game road trip had come and gone, and Cooper had actually looked forward to getting out of town and away from the tension in his house. The Sockeyes won two and lost one. Cooper played okay, but he wasn’t on his game, and everyone knew it.
The team lost last night’s home game and neither Riley nor Izzy attended. Cooper played like shit, which seemed to be the norm for him lately. The guys looked at him as if he were jinxed. He even caught Brick crossing himself when Cooper walked by, and Brick wasn’t Catholic.
Riley barely spoke to him. Izzy only talked about superficial, meaningless things and hadn’t said I love you once, not even in response to his declarations of love. Wasn’t everything supposed to go better than this when two people told each other they loved each other? Instead everything had fallen apart.
Cooper had created this hot mess, and he just wanted things back the way they were, only he didn’t know how to get back there.
“Cooper?” Izzy raised her head and met his gaze. Despite all the stuff between them, the sex couldn’t be better.
“Yeah.” He smiled at her as she crawled up his body until they were face to face.
“I’ve decided to stay at Betheni’s when you’re home from now on.”
“What?” He sat up abruptly, causing her to slide off his body. She wrapped the sheets around her and sat up, too.
“I think we need some distance. We both know this isn’t going anywhere. It’s better to cut it off now than wait and make it that much harder.” She wouldn’t look him in the eyes.
“Like hell we aren’t going anywhere. I love you.” He stumbled over the last word as his throat constricted, and he choked up.
“I know, but as I once said, love isn’t always enough.” She covered her face, and he was pretty sure she was crying.
“Izzy. Please. Don’t do this.” He was begging like a wuss, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t lose her. She’d become as big of a part of his life as hockey.
“I’ve stayed too long as it is, hoping you’d change, but nothing has changed, least of all you.”
“But I have changed. You gave me access to your location via the stalker app, and I haven’t shown up at one of your parties, have I?” God, he sounded like a pathetic weakling, but right now he didn’t care about his male ego. He cared about convincing her to stay.
She nodded. “No, you haven’t, but there’s more to trust than that. Whatever demons you have locked inside you, won’t let go so you can move on.” Izzy sighed and turned her back to him. She buried her head in her hands. He could tell by her shaking shoulders she was crying, sobbing crying. He reached for her, but she pulled away, and he let her go.
“We can make this work. Give me a chance,” he begged, not caring how pathetic he sounded.
“I’m not leaving Seattle. Not for all the wrong reasons.” She looked up at him with red and swollen eyes. Even so, she was gorgeous, beyond beautiful.
“And you think I’m leaving for the wrong reasons?” God, this hurt. He hurt more inside than he had when he’d been slammed into the boards by Judson Phillips and broken three ribs.
Izzy nodded, as if unable to speak. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and he longed to kiss them away and make her smile again. Only he couldn’t because she wouldn’t let him.
Cooper watched in stunned silence as Izzy gathered her clothes and put them on. He swallowed back the lump clogging his throat and wondered how he’d survive without her.
Chapter 19—Comeback
Izzy sat on the leather couch in Cooper’s family room and stuffed popcorn in her mouth. At this rate, she’d be fatter than a pig in no time. Her jeans were tighter, that’s for sure. In a few weeks, it’d be Thanksgiving, but she wasn’t feeling overly thankful.
It was Friday night, and Cooper had been gone for over a week on a two-week road trip, and dammit, she missed the big muscle-bound jock. And how flaky was that? She’d dumped him for the final time. She shouldn’t miss him. She should be thrilled that she’d freed herself from a man with baggage he kept locked tight instead of trusting her enough to open up his heart and let her see him, bumps, bruises, and all.
Whatever happened during that Seattle summer, his sister blamed him, and he blamed himself—as a ten-year-old boy. How could he even begin to think he was responsible for what the adults in their lives did? But he did, and he seemed to hate Seattle for it. Cooper might be a private man, but even a private man should share his secret pain with the woman he professed to love. She shouldn’t stay with a man like that, but she couldn’t completely let him go either.
Obviously, he felt the same way because he called and texted her on a regular basis, as if nothing had happened, and Izzy couldn’t bring herself to tell him they were supposed to be through. Maybe because she knew they weren’t.
No one was perfect, and she had her faults just as he did. After all, she was estranged from the twins because she wouldn’t accept Avery’s career choices.
Then there was Riley. Izzy didn’t quite understand why Riley was still here. Cooper’s parents were back from Europe and had flown out last weekend to meet Riley, presumably to take Riley home with them. Yet they left without him. Izzy didn’t ask Cooper why as it was none of her business. Or she pretended it wasn’t.