Page 27 of Playmaker

Some asked me for “loans” or gifts. Those people I quickly removed from my life. Some were aggressive, like I owed them. A lot of people thought that if we were out at dinner, I had money and should pick up the check. I wasn’t cheap, and didn’t mind spending my money, but I didn’t like being an ATM.

Then there were people like Callie, who wouldn’t acceptanything. The people who were terrified of taking advantage were almost as much of a pain as the takers. It was a minefield to tiptoe through. It made me nostalgic for school, when a group of hockey players had been living in a big old house together. Everyone chipped in equally to pay for pizza and beer. We were all on the same footing.

I leaned toward her. I didn’t give a fuck if someone thought my posture was a problem, but I had money and celebrity to let me get away with things. Callie was desperate to fit in, so I’d corrected her to protect her.

Her lips tightened. “Which one of us is getting the most out of this arrangement?” she countered.

I didn’t want her to be keeping a tally on this. “You have no idea what my family is like, so you shouldn’t assume you’re getting off easy.”

There were those wrinkles in her forehead, reshaping the freckles.

“Callie, if you’re going to be a human calculator through this, it’s not going to work. I offered this deal freely, and of sound mind.” Close enough. “I don’t like lawyers, at least lawyers like that Benson guy. I’m happy to help you, for my own personal reasons. I would like you to come to my sister’s wedding. It’s an easy solution to something that’s a potential problem. Lots of stupid shit has happened in my family, and you are the perfect person for me to take.”

She swallowed and her cheeks turned red. Wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but it wasn’t going to beYes Cooper, that’s going to work out great.

“Am I the perfect person because I’ll embarrass them?”

The waiter delivered our drinks before my jaw dropped on the floor. Callie didn’t look at me again as she ordered—the chicken, cheapest dish on the menu—and I took the easy out with a steak.

Callie had herself under control by the time he’d swanned away. I took a quick scan of the dining room, saw a few gazes drop when I looked, a few that wanted to catch my eye, but none close enough to hear us. “Hey.”

She moved her attention from her drink to me. Her cheeks were still flushed.How far does that go?I wanted to give my dick a punch.Not now. Not with her.She’d be sure this was part of some negotiation.

“I’m not going to be embarrassed by you as my date. It’s exactly the opposite.”

She didn’t need to say a word. Her skepticism was broadcast by that little frown on her brow and the set of her lips.

I didn’t like to talk about my family, but hell, if all went well, she’d meet them, so I might as well tell her. “I come from a long line of lawyers.”

Her mouth formed an O and I reminded myself not to think about her lips and what they could do like that.

“Yeah, mostly family firm, very proud of themselves, very stuffy. I’m an outlier.”

The only one not to focus on law or finance as a career. I’d gone about as far from that as possible. And I was even more successful than they were, which I loved, and my father and brother were totally pissed about. It was one of the many perks of my job.

“When I decided not to go to Harvard, but to a school that launched a lot of NHL players, they weren’t impressed. My career, especially that I’m so good at it? That’s what embarrasses them. They like to think I’m a dumb jock, because the idea that I was smart enough to follow the mold and didn’t just chaps their asses. Showing up with an intelligent, successful lawyer, exactly the kind of person they hang out with but the kind of person they assume I could never meet playing hockey? Totally on point. You are absolutely perfect for my wedding date.”

Her eyes were wide as she took all that in.

“The fact that we’re not dating? You’re not with me to marry me for my assets? Totally fucks with their expectations. I would pay you to do this, but I’m pretty sure you’d refuse. So, we do each other a favor.”

I hadn’t spent that much time talking about my family since…I had no idea. Not my favorite topic, not something that came up a lot in conversation.

“You want me as your date, as a friend, so you can tell your family to get fucked. That’s what you’re saying?”

That summed things up quite nicely. “That’s it.”

She moved her cocktail over a fraction of an inch. “And your family is like Benson? Not all lawyers are the same.”

“Aren’t most of them?” I was perhaps a little jaded on the topic of lawyers.

Callie shook her head. “No, not all of them. But I’ve had to work very hard to get where I am, harder than Benson has ever had to. So I get what you’re saying. I’ll be your date.”

I grinned.Yes!

She held up a finger. “I’m not going to be an asshole to anyone. Not Benson, and not your family. I have my own future to think about. But if you need a tax attorney to impress them?—”

She smiled, and holy hell, that smile did something. It took away the tension in her expression, lit up her eyes. “You have a deal.” I held out a hand to shake on it.

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