Breakaway (Beyond the Play, #2)(26)

“It’s not fine, you’re going to hate me!” she says. “I ruined your shirt!”

“Not everyone cares all that much about clothes,” he says, but he grimaces, looking down at the shirt. It’s a vintage-style band tee advertising Nirvana, and the stain is, unfortunately, electric blue. He looks over at me and adds, “Does your date have an overactive gag reflex or something, Red?”

I ignore the nickname and stalk over to the closet. Maybe there’s something in here we can use to clean him up. “He wasn’t my date.”

“Looked like you were about to get something going.”

I pull out a towel and toss it to him. “Not your business.”

“He looked like a prick.” He makes a face as he mops at his shirt. “Izzy, what were you even drinking? This is blue.”

“Tequila something,” she says with a hiccup. Her friend, who had disappeared into the bathroom, comes back with a wet washcloth. She helps Izzy wipe at her face without ruining her makeup, although they need to sacrifice the lipstick.

“No, he was…” I sigh, unable to fake any interest. “Fine, yes, he was a bit of an ass. But whatever, I just wanted to blow him.”

He blinks. “We’re going to unpack that later.”

“We?”

“Yeah, come on, I need you. Help me get my sister out of here.”

I ignore the little tendril of relief that pokes its head up at his words. His sister, not his latest hookup. “Sure, okay.”

“Unless you want to go track down that weasel.”

“You’re terrible,” I say, even as I take Izzy’s arm. “You don’t even know him.”

“And you do?”

I flush. He cocks his head to the side, like he’s witnessing an interesting reaction in chemistry lab.

“I have questions, Red,” he declares. “And as soon as I don’t smell like tequila and my sister’s stomach acid, you’re answering.”

“Is this your idea of flirting?” Izzy mumbles to her brother as we head out of the room, her friend on our heels. “You’re terrible at it.”

“We’re not flirting,” I say with a scowl. “Cooper doesn’t know how to flirt.”

“Neither do you,” he shoots back.

That hurts more than it should, so I keep my mouth shut and focus on not falling down the stairs in my heels. When we’re back on the main floor, we wind through the crowd to the entrance. Cooper’s scowl is even more pronounced, the black energy coming off him in waves as he cuts through the mob of drunk college kids with ease. At the door, he allows Izzy to lean on him, stroking a hand through her hair in a tender gesture that makes my breath stick in my throat. “Give me your phone, Iz.”

She plunges her hand down her front and pulls it out of her bra. Cooper stares at it like it’s a scorpion, which makes me double over with laughter; he snatches it out of his sister’s hand and glares at me. “Not another word, Red.”

“I didn’t even say anything!”

He turns his back as he presses the phone against his ear. Izzy giggles, poking me in the stomach. “He likes you.”

Cooper puts up his middle finger without looking back at us. I’m not sure if he’s telling off Izzy or denying that he likes me. I push down the warmth that wants to spread through me; a drip of happiness that could easily settle low in my belly. Izzy’s just doing what drunk people do: talk.

Izzy hugs her friend, who promises to check in later. She disappears into the knot of people on the dance floor as a guy I vaguely recognize as Sebastian Callahan walks over. Even though he’s not related to Cooper by blood, which I remember Mia telling me ages ago, there’s something similar about them; they both have a determined set to their mouths and commanding energy.

“Oh, good,” he says. “You found her.”

“Only cost me my favorite t-shirt,” Cooper says. “Let’s go, I’m getting a fucking headache.”

“Doesn’t care about clothes, my ass,” Izzy mutters to me as we head out into the night. I bite my lip to keep from laughing again.

Sebastian throws me a look when he realizes I’m tagging along, and I stop on the porch, unsure if I should continue or if I should go back to the party and find Mia, but then Cooper says, irritably, “Penny, come on,” so I loop my arm through Izzy’s again and let her lean on me as we troop across the half-frozen lawn.

In the car, a nice new Jeep which must be Seb’s, because there’s no question that he’s driving, Cooper gives me the front seat and sits in the back with his sister, who is petting his hair again. I text Mia to let her know I’m leaving. Sebastian turns on the radio to cut through the semi-awkward silence, and when “King of my Heart” by Taylor Swift comes on, Izzy hollers along. I sing along too, catching the look in Cooper’s eyes through the windshield. He’s still scowling, but really, he’s fighting a smile.

After a couple minutes, we pull up to a house in town that’s close to my father’s. It’s cheerful looking, with pumpkins on the porch steps and a fall wreath on the door. Seb helps Cooper get Izzy to the door. I follow along, somewhat hesitantly. I thought we’d be heading to the dorms. I’d rather not walk all the way to my dorm from here, especially past midnight, or try to catch the bus.