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.”
“No indication if she’s still alive?” Cooper choked on that last word, somewhat surprised that it hurt so much to say it. Regardless of what Julie had become, she was still that big sister who watched over him, baked his favorite cookies, and took him skating when his father was overseas.
Yeah, he wanted to remember Julie that way, not as a drug-addicted prostitute. She’d made her choices, but he still felt guilt over not finding her sooner and attempting to rescue her, or at least take care of Riley, and most of all about the summer that changed everything all those years ago.
He was pretty certain Riley had seen too much for his young age. He just hoped Julie managed to protect her son from some of the worst life had to offer. His stomach clenched at the possibilities, and more guilt sat heavy in his heart.
“I choose to believe she’s out there somewhere. I had a tip she’d followed a biker to Portland. That’s one of the reasons I called. Do you want me to travel out of Seattle?”
“Absolutely. Hell, if you hear she might be in Antarctica, I want it checked out.”
“Okay, boss. Later,” Russ said and promptly ended the call.
By the time Cooper returned to the film room, Brick had sent the rookies on a mission to buy pizzas—with their own money, of course. Cooper rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of a desk staring out the window, lost deep in his own troubles. Brick and Rush debated on who was the greatest goalie ever. Cooper pushed Brick’s bare feet off the table and shook his head. Neither guy noticed him.
Cedric walked in, looking around the room. He avoided Brick and Rush and sank into a chair next to Cooper. “I figured I’d find you here. Where the fuck did you go last night after the game?”
Cooper frowned. “I, uh, had Riley with me.”
“So you’re going to let a snot-nosed teenager with attitude stop you from hanging with the guys after the game?”
“He won’t be with me for long. Either I find his mother or I send him to my parents when they get back from their Europe trip in another month; then I’ll hang with the team.”
“As captain, you need to hang with us now, especially the new guys who don’t know you.”
“Like I don’t know that?” Cooper blew out a long sigh. He took his team captain duties seriously, and he knew relationships built off the ice extended to the ice. The young guys needed to bond with him, and the veterans new to the team needed to understand this was first and foremost his team.
Then there was Izzy. Where did she fit in? Where did he want her to fit in? Where did she want to fit in?
Riley might be an added complication, but that situation was temporary. It couldn’t be anything but. He didn’t have time for a kid, and Riley deserved more than he could give. He should see Izzy that way, too. Only he couldn’t. Not really.
He wondered where Izzy was tonight. He’d texted her a few times but no response.
His stomach clenched at the thought she might be with Tanner or on a party-crashing assignment. He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated by the unfounded jealousy coloring his thoughts. A woman like Izzy didn’t have that kind of mind-altering sex with a man one night and go after another guy the next night. That was not Izzy.
Cedric snapped his fingers in front of Cooper’s face. Shit, he hated when Ced did that. He shot him a glare even though he knew it would never work. The only things that affected Cedric were loose pucks, the opposing team’s goalie guarding the net, and scantily clad, hot women.
Cedric leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head, one of his patented and deceptively casual poses that were anything but. “What’s the straight story with you and Izzy?”
“Nothing,” Cooper spoke too fast and immediately Cedric’s bullshit radar went on high alert.
“You fucked her.” Cedric grinned at him. “About damn time. I was beginning to wonder about you, my man.”
“I—” Cooper started to deny the facts. Ah, hell, why bother. Cedric was already onto him. “It’s nothing serious.” He shrugged and snagged a handful of peanuts from the bowl on the table.
“Yeah? Is she doing Tanner, too?”
“No. She is not.” Cooper shot forward, getting into Cedric’s face.
“Hey, Coop, calm down.” Cedric held his hands out, palms up. “Jesus, don’t get so riled about her. Makes people think she means more than a quick lay to you.” He jerked his head toward Brick. “If dumbshit there gets wind of your interest, there’ll be no shutting him up.”
“I’m not afraid of Brick.” Cooper forced himself to relax back against the cushion, though his body was anything but relaxed. He was drawn tight and ready for a fight. Too bad they didn’t have a game tonight, except the way he was feeling, he’d spend more time in penalty box than on the ice.
“Of course, you aren’t, but you need every guy on this team to believe you’re all-in, rather than distracted by a woman who has your balls in a vise grip.”
“She doesn’t have my balls in any kind of grip.”
Cedric laughed. “Cooper, that woman knocked you on your ass the first time you laid eyes on her. Remember? I was there?”
Cooper wished like hell he could forget. Izzy had been crashing the team party and had followed him into the men’s room. She was about to go down on him when Cedric interrupted. So Cooper followed her into the ladies’ room to return the favor. She’d driven him bat-shit crazy ever since. He’d never done any
thing so blatant at a team function, always behaved like a team captain should behave. Yet with Izzy, all common sense was jettisoned out the nearest window.
Case in point: last night. They’d done it in the neighbors’ pool, and he’d never given much thought to security cameras or being caught by another neighbor. In fact, the danger of being discovered had only added to his sex-crazed insanity.
Even worse, he’d do it again in a heartbeat. Already his mind spun with ways to get her naked this next time.
He should be absorbed in training camp which ran concurrently with preseason games, not lusting after a woman who tied his dick in a knot so tight, he swore he’d explode if he didn’t feel her soft skin writhing under him soon. Very soon.
He wondered what she was doing later.
He had a big house. If they were in the den with the double doors shut, Riley wouldn’t hear a thing. And the master suite was downstairs while Riley slept upstairs.
“Cooper,” Cedric almost yelled at him.
“Huh?”
“You didn’t hear a fucking thing I said. Jesus. You are a pathetic idiot. Get your head out of that pussy and back to hockey.” Cedric shook his head, clearly disgusted. Usually Cooper did the chastising of teammates when it came to women versus hockey. Everyone on the team understood hockey came first during the season. Always. No exceptions.
Now Cooper’s head wasn’t in the game. It was buried tongue-deep in Izzy’s tight, moist pussy. His dick hardened instantly, straining against his zipper.
Cedric glanced at his crotch and rolled his eyes. “Shit, I never thought this would happen to you, and I’m not talking about the hard-on, I’m talking about your obsession with Izzy.”
“I’m not obsessed with her.”
The rookies picked that moment to burst in with steaming boxes of pizza. Grateful for the reprieve, Cooper grabbed the first piece and sat between Brick and Rush, effectively blocking Cedric out.
Only Cedric wasn’t easily discouraged, not when it came to the game he loved.
Worst of all, Cooper knew his buddy was right.
Izzy was a distraction he couldn’t afford.
* * * *
Izzy itched to wrap her hands around a certain thickheaded, selfish bastard’s neck.
Riley put on a brave show, but he didn’t fool her one damn bit. The poor kid was devastated that Cooper hadn’t bothered to show up for his game.
She sent Riley to bed and waited up for Cooper, pacing the floor as her temper soared. She was going to ream his ass and rip into him like he’d never been ripped into. She’d pound some compassion into that thick skull of his if it was the last thing she did.
She heard his SUV pull in the garage after ten PM. Izzy waited at the door for him. He walked in and tossed his jacket on the small table in the entryway. Stress and fatigue drew lines on his handsome face but didn’t detract from his rugged good looks.
Her body immediately reacted to him, and she fought the attraction. Dammit, this was about Riley, and Cooper’s indifferent treatment of the kid. It was not about her body’s attraction to him.
He must have caught movement out of the corner his eye. He turned his head and a slow smile replaced the preoccupied frown on his face. Of course, he was smiling at her. He probably assumed she’d returned for an encore after their hot sex in a warm pool two early mornings ago. And her double-crossing body wanted that encore.
“Baby,” he said quietly in his deep, sexy voice. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. He appeared to be so wrapped up in her body, he didn’t seem to notice at first how stiff she was or how she wasn’t kissing him back.
Izzy put her hands on his chest and shoved him away. He staggered back a few steps, caught off guard by her anger.
“I texted you. You never responded.”
“I was with Tanner,” she baited him.
“Oh.”
She had to give him points for not going all possessive He-Man on her when she mentioned Tanner.
“Is something wrong?” The idiot didn’t seem to have a frigging clue.
“You’re what’s wrong,” she hissed, her claws unsheathed as she prepared to pounce on him like a tigress guarding her cub.
Cooper’s eyes opened wide. He took on the look of a man looking for an escape route from a crazy woman. “I’m sorry. Could you at least explain what I did?”
“You really don’t remember?” Somehow that set her off more than if he’d been apologetic for not making it or come up with a lame excuse.
He shook his head and pushed his hair off his forehead.
“Tanner and I went to Riley’s game this evening. You didn’t show.” She shot each word at him like sharp arrows meant to pierce through his self-absorbed armor.
Cooper pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. “I forgot.”
“You forgot? You forgot?” Her voice rose to a screech, making her sound like the wicked witch. “What was so important that you couldn’t remember your nephew’s first football game?” She glared up at him, anger shaking her body, along with pity for the boy who didn’t have one family member who gave a damn about him.
Cooper scrubbed his hands over his face, looking distressed and out of his comfort zone. “I—I couldn’t stop thinking about us in the pool so I stayed late to help some rookies and get my head back in the game.”
Whatever answer she’d been expecting, this wasn’t it. Thoughts of her distracted him to the point where he’d forgotten Riley’s game? Flattering, but no excuse. Not in her book and definitely not in Riley’s.
“Tanner remembered, and Riley isn’t his nephew.” She squared her shoulders and drew up herself up straighter, toe to toe with Cooper.
“Tanner should’ve been watching game film. He’s had a crappy season so far,” Cooper countered. By the expression on his face, he realized he’d stepped in it too late.
Izzy almost smiled. “And still, Tanner made Riley his priority, while you, the man who should’ve done the same, didn’t even bother. You’re a selfish ass.”
“Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t tell me you’re sorry. Tell Riley. Your callous disregard for him broke his heart.”
Cooper had the audacity to roll his eyes. “That’s bullshit, and you know it. Riley doesn’t like me. He’s using me just like his mother always did. He wants something out of me and once he gets it, he’ll be gone and won’t look back.”
The truth hit Izzy right between the eyes. The mighty Cooper Black was scared shitless he’d get attached, and Riley would reject him and walk away. Cooper was afraid of getting hurt. Imagine that.
It made total sense to her considering how Cooper dealt with the personal relationships in his life. Or in fact, didn’t deal with them. Ignored them, skirted around them, ran from them, attempted to control them, but didn’t face them head on.
The only thing Cooper was capable of facing head on was hockey.
And she was certain she knew why.
Cooper didn’t believe he could do anything well but hockey.
Not even love.
Izzy almost choked on that thought. She’d never considered Cooper a love match, definitely a rough-and-ready sex match—another area he excelled in.
She gazed into those deep blue eyes of his, those same eyes that’d been dark with lust last night, and backed a few steps away from him. Anger brought out passions, and while she’d love a repeat of two mornings ago, she’d be damned if she’d reward the man for his bad behavior.
“Cooper, did you ever pull your head out of your selfish ass to really think about Riley and what he’s been through? He thinks he’s a throw-away, and you’re one in a long line of people who’ll toss him out with the trash the first chance you get. He played a really good game. He has his uncle’s athletic talent.”
“He does?” Cooper seemed genuinely surprised.
“Of course, he does. Haven’t you paid any attention? He moves like an athlete. I can see it even though he’s
at that awkward teenage boy stage.” Izzy was exasperated with this man. Could he really be that dense?
Probably so. In her experience, it was a common male trait.
“Riley needs you. He needs stability in his life. He needs to know someone has his back.”
“I give him everything he needs. He lacks for nothing.” Cooper’s jaw tightened and he stared over her head at some distant point.
“Everything? You call throwing money at him, everything? What about giving him yourself? Your time? Your attention? Your compassion?”
“I can’t.” Cooper shook his head. “I don’t want him to get attached to me. He’ll be moving on as soon as I find his mother.”
“You’re going to let this poor kid go back to a rat-infested, drug-riddled apartment with a mother who turns tricks and does drugs?” God, she wanted to shake some sense into him.
“I doubt it’s all that bad.” He shifted from one foot to the other. This conversation obviously was making him uncomfortable. Well, he deserved to be uncomfortable because allowing him to stay in the sheltered world he chose to live in wasn’t working for her—or Riley. She doubted it was even working for Cooper.
“Have you ever taken the time to talk to him about what it was like?”
“Uh, no, but I doubt he’d tell me anyway.”
“You are impossible.” Izzy grabbed her purse from the floor, and the car keys from the entry table.
“Where are you going?” He followed her into the garage.
“I’m going home. Understand?”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “But—” He tried to open the driver’s door but she was faster with the lock. She waved at him and blew him a kiss, backing out of his garage and driving down the street. Her last view of Cooper was of him standing in the driveway, mouth open, arms spread out wide.
Izzy started to laugh, hysterically, then her laughter turned to tears.
* * * *
A road trip had never looked so good. By the weekend, Cooper was oh-so-ready to get out of town. They flew into San Jose early Saturday for a three-game California and Arizona road trip. Then they’d finish the pre-season with two home games. They’d lost tonight, and Cooper had played a crappy game, which matched his mood. His personal life had him too distracted, and his head wasn’t in the game, which pissed him off. He was a professional, damn it, and he’d played long enough to leave his personal issues off the ice.
Crashing the Net Page 11