Riley swallowed hard, remembering the rare good times, but at least his mother loved him. That was more than he could say for Cooper. “I just want Uncle Cooper to find my mom so life can go back to the way it was for everyone.”
Izzy studied him, pity in her kick-ass eyes. He hated pity more than he hated crying. He lifted his chin and gave her his best nothing-bothers-me look. She wasn’t buying it.
“What was your life like, Riley?”
“Okay, I guess. I mean, I don’t have anything else to compare it with, but my mom needs me. We have to find her.” His voice broke, and he stuffed the last of his hot dog in his mouth so he wouldn’t be expected to talk anymore.
* * * *
Izzy decided to back off on questioning Riley before he started crying and embarrassed them both. He concentrated on his junk food, and she concentrated on Cooper. God, he was beautiful, all raw power and athletic grace. He skated around the ice as if he owned it, body and soul. If it hadn’t been for Junior here, they’d have done it in the entryway.
Damn.
Izzy wanted to do it in every room of Cooper’s house, well, except Riley’s room because that would be just plain weird.
When Cooper skated close to her, he tapped his stick on the glass and winked. She grinned at him.
Despite the bulky hockey uniform, the man’s fluidity on the ice made her panties wet and her breath hitch. Imagining the bare skin and muscles under the layers of clothing made her even hotter.
“It’s okay if you sleep with him. I don’t care.”
Izzy snapped her head around to stare at Riley, mortified that he’d witnessed her drooling over his uncle like a pussycat in heat. “We’re just friends.”
Riley narrowed his eyes and studied her. “Yeah, right.”
“We are.” Not that she wanted it to stay that way lately, or at the least, she wanted to progress to the with benefits type of friendship.
“Then are you with Tanner?”
“Tanner?” Izzy had to laugh. She supposed it was a logical question from Riley’s point of view but not Izzy’s. Tanner did nothing for her, while Cooper did everything.
“I’d understand if you liked him better. He’s nicer than my uncle.”
“No. No, not at all. Tanner and I are definitely just friends.” Izzy ignored the “nice” remark.
“So you want to be more than friends with my uncle,” Riley observed. It was a statement, not a question. “He sure has the hots for you.”
Izzy wracked her brain for a way to steer this conversation to safer ground. “How’s school?”
Riley clammed up. “You asked me that last night. Nothing’s changed.” He brightened. “Are you coming to my game this Thursday?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
He smiled, a very rare happy smile, and Izzy smiled back.
The crowd chanted as Cooper skated to center ice for the face off. It was too loud to talk anymore, Izzy and Riley stood and clapped and cheered with the rest of the rabid Seattle fans.
Izzy had never seen NHL hockey before. It was fast, at times brutal, at other times a poetic symphony of skaters all in tune with each other. And it was sexy as hell, even though she held her breath and clutched the armrests when a big brute slammed Cooper into the boards. How he managed to skate away as if nothing happened she’d never understand. The offending defenseman took a turn in the penalty box, and Izzy rose with the crowd to heckle the jerk.
Cooper would need a nice, long soak in a warm tub and a massage after this was over. He’d sink down into a luxurious bubble bath, close his blue eyes, and she’d work her magic on those bruised and sore muscles of his. Then she’d let him work a little magic of his own on her starving body.
She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear that image from her mind.
Cooper promised he’d change if she gave him a chance. Deep down in her heart, she doubted a jealous, possessive, controlling man could ever change into a trusting and laid-back guy. She knew he’d try, really try, and while he was trying why not run the man through his paces? She’d never held off on having sex with a man who attracted her. Why was Cooper any different? It sure as hell wasn’t because they wouldn’t be damn good in bed together. In fact, she’d bet her party-crashing business that they’d dance the night away in the sheets.
Her reasons for not sleeping with him seemed ridiculous now. Especially since she’d resigned herself to only having a right-now relationship with the sexy hockey star. He’d leave Seattle at the end of the season with a fat new contract elsewhere, and she’d never leave. She loved Seattle. He hated everything about it. The trees and mountains made him claustrophobic, so he’d told her. He hated the rain. Hell, he probably thought it was too green.
A woman couldn’t reason with a pig-headed man like that, so why try? Why not use him for what his body had to offer and have fun doing it? She wouldn’t get any complaints from Cooper about that. Sure, she’d probably fall for him over the next few months, but she’d survive. If she was good at one thing, it was surviving. She’d been doing it for years.
He’d move on, and she’d move on. No harm, no foul, at least not permanently. Izzy had been in love before, and she’d fallen out of love just as quickly. Cooper wouldn’t be any different. Sure, it’d hurt, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Izzy wasn’t a romantic like her sister Emma, who believed everyone had one forever love. What a load of crap. She wasn’t a party girl like middle child Betheni, though she did love her men. And she didn’t avoid men altogether like Emma’s twin, Avery, who preferred the company of horses.
The crowd around Izzy roared. Cooper had scored a goal, and she’d missed it, she’d been so deep into her own world. Belatedly, Izzy leapt to her feet and cheered as she watched the replay on the big screen. Cooper skated by, tapping the glass with his stick first in front of Riley then in front of her. He grinned. She grinned back. So did Riley.
She stayed in the present for the remainder of the game, which the Sockeyes won by one goal. Afterward, Riley begged Izzy to wait with him outside the locker room.
Cooper was the last one to come out. He stopped and looked around, all sexy with his hair still wet from his shower, and dressed in his street clothes. When he saw them, a slow grin spread across his face and made her want to spread her legs for him. Right here. Right now. How crazy was that?
Oh, God. This had to stop.
Cooper fought his way past several reporters until he finally got to them. He fist bumped Riley and picked Izzy up and spun her around, kissing her soundly. When he finally put her down, he draped his arm around her shoulders.
“Told you so,” Riley whispered in her ear.
“Let’s get out of here and grab a pizza. A bunch of the guys and their families are heading to that place down the block.” Cooper didn’t wait for an answer but pulled her along with him as he cleared a path through the crowds and turned down a hall leading to the team’s private parking area.
He opened the passenger door for Izzy when her phone rang. She backed up a step and gave him an apologetic smile. “I need answer this. It’s Betheni.”
Cooper nodded, his impatience clear, while Riley said nothing and waited nearby.
“Izzy, you have to come home. Fawn and Rock are here, and they’re insisting on borrowing some money. I don’t what to do. The only money we have saved is for the power bill and our tuition.” Rock and Fawn Maxwell were their parents. None of the sisters called them Mom and Dad because they’d never fulfilled the role of parents. Part of a washed up rock band, To the Max, they chased every impossible opportunity, convinced they’d hit it big again with a zealousness they’d never shown toward parenting.
“God, fucking dammit,” Izzy muttered under her breath. She’d give anything for normal parents who supported their kids instead of the opposite.
Both Cooper and Riley stared at her, and she realized she’d spoken out loud. With a disgusted sigh, she said, “Sorry, something’s come up at
home. I can’t join you for pizza after all.” Or that soak in the tub she’d been fantasizing about all night.
“Anything I could help with?” Cooper offered with a boyish eagerness.
“Yeah, me, too,” Riley added, not to be outdone by his uncle. He shot Cooper a glare as if to say she’s my girl, hands off.
Izzy would’ve found them both amusing and sweet if it wasn’t for her panic that Fawn and Rock would manipulate and guilt her sisters into handing over all their cash before she could get home to stop them. Without further explanation, because Izzy didn’t get outsiders involved in her screwed-up family dynamics, she pecked both Cooper and Riley on the cheeks, ran back down the hallway, and out of the arena, sprinting across the parking lot to her car.
Traffic clogged every street and alley, forcing Izzy to wait impatiently for her turn. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, muttered obscenities under her breath, and constantly glanced at the small dash clock.
The usual ten-minute drive home turned into a thirty-minute drive. Finally she screeched to a halt in front of their apartment and took the stairs two at a time.
She threw the door open and three shocked pairs of eyes glanced up at her from where they sat at the small dining table.
“No—” she almost wailed.
Betheni as the second-oldest, even though she was the most irresponsible, spoke first. “They took all our cash. I tried to tell them no but they were insistent.”
Avery sighed, leaned her elbows on the table, chin on her hands. “They started in on that same-old, same-old story, blaming us for their career going down the tubes and saying we owed it to them.”
“They promised to pay it back,” Emma added, always trying to believe the best in everyone.
Izzy sank into the one empty chair, beating herself up for not taking the time to deposit the money into their bank account. Their last party-crashing client paid in cash, and she’d had Cooper’s thousand, too. Now she had none of it. Stupid move on her part, but she’d been hoarding it for tuition and been worried if she deposited it too soon, it’d be used to pay other bills.
Betheni smacked her sister on the arm. “They’ve never paid back a penny they’ve borrowed from us.”
“When they hit it big, they will,” Emma insisted.
“Oh, seriously. You can’t believe that bullshit.” Betheni rolled her eyes. “They will never hit it big again. They’re has-beens. The best they’ll ever do is get a gig at a local casino.”
“That money was to pay the twins’ tuition. It’s already past due.” Izzy rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
“Will they kick us out of class?” Emma worried, as she exchanged a secretive glace with her twin sister.
Avery sat up straight and looked Izzy directly in the eyes, then she dropped a bombshell. “I’m going to quit anyway. I just didn’t know how to tell you guys. This is the perfect time.”
“Quit? You’re not quitting. I’ve worked my ass off to keep you guys in school.” Izzy’s voice rose to a screech, but she couldn’t help it. She’d given up her own college education to work two jobs so her sisters would be able to get degrees.
“I’m going to train horses and give riding lessons. Sam needs an assistant, and she offered me the job. I start next Monday,” Avery declared looking every bit as stubborn as Izzy had ever seen her.
Betheni and Emma leaned back as if getting ready for an explosion.
“What? You are not quitting college to work with horses. What kind of a career is that?” Izzy was livid. She stood up and paced the room before she did bodily harm to her sister. No one spoke or even moved.
Avery cleared her throat. “I love horses. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. You’re the one who pushed me toward college. I don’t want to go, and you’re not forcing me anymore.” Avery looked around the table at her other sister. “None of you are.”
“What if you get hurt? Then what? How will you support yourself?” Izzy stopped a few feet from her sister’s chair, hands on her hips, her body vibrating with anger.
“I’ll be fine.”
“You won’t be fine. You’ll be a barn bum the rest of your life.” Izzy couldn’t stop the disgust from creeping into her voice.
Avery shot to her feet, fighting mad. “You’re just afraid that I’ll forever be a burden just like Rock and Fawn are. Well, guess what? As of right now, you no longer have to worry about me. I’m leaving.” She stormed to the hall coat tree and grabbed a jacket. Ignoring Izzy, she turned to her other sisters. “I’ll come back later for my stuff when the controlling she-bitch sister isn’t here.”
On that note, Avery stomped out the door. A second later Izzy heard her piece-of-crap truck, badly in need of a new muffler, roar out of the parking lot.
Her remaining two sisters quickly made themselves scarce, while Izzy sank down into the chair, feeling shell-shocked and confused. She’d dedicated her entire adult life and a good portion of her childhood to taking care of her sisters. She’d known the moment would come when they’d no longer need her like they once had, but she never thought it would erupt like it had tonight. Never once had it occurred to her that her sisters didn’t actually appreciate her meddling or her involvement in every facet of their lives, down to their career choices and their boyfriends.
Several minutes later, Izzy still sat there, staring at the wall.
“Hey,” Betheni said as she peered around the corner.
“Yeah?’ Izzy said quietly.
Encouraged by her calm response, Betheni slipped into the room and sat in a chair.
“I only want what’s best for you guys.”
“We know that.”
“A career with horses isn’t a career at all. I don’t want to see her make such a big mistake. She’ll be mucking stalls for the rest of her life.”
“Lots of people would say party crashing isn’t much of a career either,” Betheni pointed out in her usual blunt manner.
Betheni had a point, as much as Izzy hated to admit it. “It pays the bills,” she said defensively.
“Avery will get over it, Izz. She’s a big girl. She needs to make her own decisions and make her own mistakes. You have to stop running interference for us and start living your own life.”
“I’ve been the parent for so long, it’s not like I can turn it off.”
“You need to try. Why don’t you get horizontal with that sexy hockey star? Then you’ll quit obsessing about us and start obsessing about different ways to fuck him.” Betheni grinned; never one to hold back, she said what she thought and to hell with the consequences. Which explained why she went through men and jobs like a mother of quadruplets went through diapers.
“Really, Bets.” Izzy used a childhood nickname of Betheni’s. Not only was it a shortened version of her name but all bets were off when it came to Betheni’s potty mouth and outrageous behavior.
“Izzy, you know you wanna.”
“Maybe,” Izzy admitted, feeling her face heat up.
“When’s the last time you screwed a guy’s brains out or had one fuck you senseless?”
Izzy refused to answer that question because it was too much of a statement about her sorry life.
Betheni’s eyes grew wide as the truth dawned on her. “You’ve never slept with Cooper?”
Izzy shook her head. “Crazy, I know, especially considering how we started out hot for each other like rabbits. I guess I just wanted us to slow down and date first. I had a hard deadline of one month before I would jump in bed with him.”
“And you guys didn’t make it one month.”
“No, he turned into a jealous, controlling ass and jeopardized our business in the process. No one will ever control my future. Ever. Especially not a stubborn man.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t hook up with him in the naked sense of the word.”
Izzy sat up straighter and grinned her most wicked grin. “That’s what I’m thinking. No relationship to mess things up. Just plain and s
imple sex.”
“You?” Betheni sounded shocked.
“Why does that surprise you?” Contrary to what Cooper said, Izzy was not a prude. She enjoyed sex as much as the next woman.
Betheni shrugged and studied her bright-red fingernails. “Because there’s something different about Cooper. That’s why you didn’t show any interest in Tanner even though he was all over you.”
“In that case, why wouldn’t I jump Cooper’s bones?”
“You tell me. Why haven’t you?”
“I would’ve tonight if it hadn’t been for all this drama.” Izzy mouth pulled down into a frown and her stomach dived as she remembered what started all this. “Rock and Fawn took all of our money stash?”
“All of it. Every last penny. Of course, they promised they’d pay us back as soon as they got paid for the next gig.”
“Yeah, right.” As if their parents’ promises meant a damn thing. “How am I going to pay the bills and tuition?”
“How are we going to pay the bills and tuition? We’re in this together. Remember? Stop taking this all on yourself. At least we don’t have to worry about Avery’s tuition,” Betheni said wryly.
“Please don’t remind me.”
“Izz, we’ll work it out. Maybe we can get an advance from Ethan’s mother for the Kids for Play thing we’re doing.”
“She’s already advanced money to us twice. I can’t ask again.” Izzy stood, her mind made up. “Dammit, I’m going over there and getting our money back right now.”
“They were heading to the Overtime Tavern. They’re playing there tonight.”
“Fine, I’ll go there.” Determination coursed through Izzy. Dammit, she would not let them take this money, not when her sisters so desperately needed it, including Avery. She had every intention of convincing Avery to stay in college, once she gave her a day or two to calm down.
“I’ll go with you. You’ll need moral support to face Rock’s skewed logic and Fawn’s extreme guilt trips.”
Izzy nodded, grabbed her coat, purse, and car keys, and threw open the door, ready to do battle, only to collide with something solid and warm.
Crashing the Net Page 8