Breakaway (Beyond the Play, #2)(45)

We arrive at the park after just a couple minutes of walking. Even in autumn, it’s pretty, with gold-and-brown leaves covering the sidewalk. People dot the lawn; an older couple walks arm-in-arm, a woman with a shopping cart feeds the birds, a man watches as his toddler plays in the leaves. At one end, there’s a restaurant with a rooftop patio. I’m sure it’s packed during the summer, but right now, the tables and chairs are stacked against the wall, hidden underneath tarps. The host leads us to a table by a window overlooking the park, where a guy who looks just like Cooper, minus the beard, sits with a blonde woman wearing a pair of dangly earrings with charms shaped like tiny strawberries. When she sees us, her eyes light up, and her smile is so warm I’m immediately set at ease.

“Coop!” James says, standing to clap Cooper on the back. “So glad you’re here.”

I can’t stop staring at Cooper and his brother. Their eyes are the same shade of deep blue, their hair the same thick, almost-black brown. Cooper’s nose went crooked because of a hockey injury in high school, but otherwise they’re the same shape, and so are their strong jawlines. I wonder if Cooper has facial hair not just because it’s common for hockey players, but because it helps to distinguish him a bit. And Bex? Maybe it’s impossible to be unattractive when you’re engaged to the hottest new quarterback in the NFL, because she’s stunning.

“Cooper,” she says, standing too and hugging him tightly. “I’ve missed you.”

He smiles at them both as he steps back. “I missed you too. This is Penny.”

“James mentioned you’d be bringing someone,” Bex says. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” I say with a little wave as we sit. I get a peek at her engagement ring and my mouth almost drops open. I manage to stop myself, but holy crap. I’d be too scared of losing it to wear something that expensive on my finger all day. The diamond is huge, and it’s framed on either side with sapphires. “I’m Cooper’s… we’re friends.”

“And co-volunteers,” Cooper says. “Also, there’s a friends-with-benefits thing going on. Really, I’m her sex coach—”

He cuts off as I stomp his foot underneath the table, but not before the server arrives to take our drink orders. She pretends to ignore us, but I think she’s mostly caught up staring at James, who she clearly recognizes. She stutters a bit as she reads out the specials.

The moment she’s gone—with as much venom as I can muster while Cooper is grinning at me like the unrepentant lettucehead he is—I say, “You’re a menace, Callahan.”

James laughs. “I like this girl.”





25





COOPER





I give Penny a sideways look as she steals yet another fry off my plate. “If you want my fries, just ask.”

“I thought the swoop-and-steal method would be more effective,” she says, her hand darting in to grab another one. She dips it in ketchup—ew—before popping it into her mouth. “I’m regretting everything about my life right now.”

“Cooper is usually a lot stingier about sharing his food,” James says. “You must rate, Penny.”

She smiles at me with her mouth full. I roll my eyes as I angle my plate away from her. It’s her fault for ordering a salad when the burger was right there at the top of the menu. “You ought to know by now that if life offers you French fries, you take them.”

“That’s a good motto,” she says after she takes a sip of her iced tea. “You should make that into a sticker. I’d put it on my Kindle.”

“Right next to the ‘smut goddess’ one?”

She nearly chokes on her drink, giving me an outraged look. “I showed you my Kindle in confidence!”

Bex looks between us with her eyebrows arched. I busy myself with my food. This lunch hasn’t been excessively awkward or anything, but it’s clear that Bex—and probably James, let’s be real—thinks something more is going on here, and that’s not the case. Sure, Penny is possibly the best girl I’ve ever met, but it’s my job to help her get more comfortable with sex, not fall for her.

“That hit at the game last weekend looked rough,” I blurt to change the subject.

James sighs heavily as he sets down his water glass. “Yeah. That wasn’t fun.”

“I was so scared he got hurt,” Bex says. “Longest minute of my life.”

“Shoulder is still aching,” he says. “But it’s not my throwing arm, so we’re just dealing with it. Not the first time I’ve played banged up.”

I nod in commiseration. I’ve been fairly lucky on the injury front. Throughout my hockey career, I’ve dealt with relatively mild things like broken noses and pulled hamstrings, but I’ve never snapped a bone or tore anything.

“I used to figure skate competitively,” Penny says. “That ended when I tore my ACL.”

James and I both shudder. If there’s any phrase you never want to hear when you’re an athlete, it’s ‘torn ACL.’ That’s a bitch to rehab and come back from. My first year at McKee, a senior went down with it, and he never got back on the ice for his last season.