Page 60 of A Scoring Chance

“Okay. Let’s go say hello.”

“Out of all the times to listen to something I have to say, you pick now.” I doubt he wanted me to hear that, but he isn’t wrong. He’s been begging me to at least talk to our brother, hoping that one conversation will mend the hurt between us. But it’s not that simple. Nothing between Cole and me has ever been that simple.

I knock loudly on the door, and it flings open. Cole stands there, shock written on his face. He looks almost the same as he did the night he walked out of Momma’s house, just older and a lot more muscular. I haven’t seen him since the game last year when I hurt my knee, but he looks good. Exhausted but good. His hair is a similar shade as mine, just darker and cut closer on the sides. He’s dressed almost the same as Beau. The only difference is his pants, sporting the Wolverines’ red and royal blue team colors instead of our green and beige.

We stare at each other for a few seconds before Beau speaks up. “Hey, Cole. How’s it going?”

“What the fuck is he doing here?” he snarls, stepping out of the locker room and letting the door shut behind him.

“Can’t I come and wish my baby brother good luck?” I shrug, trying to act as normal as possible. I can’t very well just come out and ask him if he’s being threatened with a trade or a pay cut in the middle of the locker room. Something like this takes finesse, or time, both things I don’t have much of.

“No. Not without strings, so what the fuck do you want?” Straight to the point. That’s how it’s always been with Cole. Hecharges in head first like a bull in a china shop. That’s probably what got him into this situation in the first place.

“I talked to Remy about what’s been going on.”

“Nothing has been going on, Cooper. When are you going to get it through your thick head that I can take care of myself?” Cole turns to head back into the locker room, but I grip his shoulder.

“Please, Cole. I just want to help.”

“You know how you can help? Just disappear. I prefer you much better when you’re a selfish asshole who only thinks of himself. You’re good at that. Why don’t you ruin someone else’s life?” He shakes off my hand and heads back into the locker room.

“That went well...” Beau chuckles, throwing his arm over my shoulder, but I shrug it off. I don’t know why I thought Cole would listen to me after all these years. He’s still just as stubborn and hardheaded as he was at eighteen. Too stubborn to know that I always have his best interest at heart.

I duck from beneath his arm and head toward the front of the arena. “Get to warm-ups. I have to go wait for Momma at will-call.”

“Cooper.”

I know that tone. Beau is ready to give me one of his lectures about trying to understand where Cole is coming from and all that bullshit. But what about where I’m coming from? Remy told me that the Boise Wolverines are dangling my brother’s career in front of him, hoping to add another Hendrix brother to their roster. If I told him that, he’d no doubt offer himself up instead, which would ruin his career and piss Cole off in the process. Not to mention he’ll have to break his very lucrative contract with the Timberwolves, as well. It will not end well for him.

“Just fucking go, Beau. Good luck today.”

Beau pulls me in for a one-armed hug. “Thanks. I wish you were out there with us.”

“Me, too.”

Chapter Twenty

Ramona

“Is all this really necessary?” I motion around the stretch limo that was waiting outside Cooper’s building when we walked out a few minutes ago.

“Yes, it is. Do you know how much parking is at the arena?” Alise slides across the seat to hand me a champagne flute.

Did I mention this thing is fully stocked with every kind of alcohol and snack you can think of? When I saw a limo parked in the same place Cooper’s truck was before, I thought nothing of it, but I was surprised when Ms. Melanie greeted the driver and climbed in through the open back door. Alise quickly followed, leaving me standing on the walkway alone. It took Darius about three seconds to get hyped about his first limo ride, practically begging the driver to let him sit up front with him. How do none of them think this is strange?

“Couldn’t we just take an Uber or something?” I take a healthy pull from the glass. I mean, when in Rome, right?

People still do things like take Ubers in the city, don’t they? I have to admit I don’t spend much time in the city. Things could be different now. Okay, probably not. The only thing different about this trip into the city is Cooper Hendrix.

“Do you honestly believe that either of my sons would let any of us take an Uber?” Ms. Melanie says from across from me, her own flute of champagne in her hand.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed that Cooper has a slight problem with overreacting. His need to protect those he cares about overrides everything, including his common sense sometimes.”

She has a point. Ever since we met, Cooper has been trying to take care of me. But the question is, who is going to be there to take care of him? I would love to be that person, but a part of me wonders if he will let me. There’s a side to Cooper that seems closed off from everyone, a pain that radiates through his entire being at times. And that’s something I know a little about. Last night, Cooper let me give him a little of my pain, and hopefully, I can repay that soon.

Now is not the time. I force a smile on my face before asking, “And this is how you normally get to games?”

Ms. Melanie doesn’t say a word, just smiles and finishes her glass of champagne.

---