Page 19 of Playoff
The corner of his mouth curved up. "I didn’t expect you to be so formal."
"Playing nice on the first day of school."
He laughed. "The team has a lunch spread, but I wondered if you'd like to go out. Since it's the first day of school."
I shrugged. "You're my ride, so sure." I threw the towel in the laundry bin and reached for my boxers. I'd worn my jeans and a favorite T-shirt with the LA logo on it.
Cooper frowned. "You need new clothes."
I agreed. "Starting with a coat."
"I can help you with that."
He could. Not only did the clothes he was wearing look good, but he had a reputation in the league for how he dressed—and how he worked on his teammates to up their style game.
"Sure." Any place he took me would have good quality. It wouldn’t be cheap, but I had money and was willing to spend it if I got value in return.
Once I was dressed, he led me back out to the parking lot. I shivered, the damp cold seeping through my jacket. I ran my hand over my head. Even though I didn’t have wet hair dripping down my neck, I wanted more than the hat on my head for protection.
He drove us to a hole-in-the-wall not far from the practice arena. No one looked at us as we walked in to place our orders at a worn counter on the side. The place was decorated, if you could call it that, in faded browns from decades ago.
"What's good?" I asked. The menu was a hodgepodge of North American, Asian and even some Indian dishes.
"Everything I've tried. Is there anything you don't like?"
"Lobster."
He raised a brow. "Lobster?"
"Yep. Anything else should be fine."
He turned back to the menu, placed who knew how long ago under the sheet of plastic covering the counter. "Want me to order for both of us?"
"Sure."
"Grab a table and I'll be right there."
The place was busy, but a couple in the corner were picking up their belongings so I dropped my ass in a chair as soon as they moved. Cooper sat down across from me shortly after.
“So,” I said.
“So?”
“Is this the usual ‘make the new guy welcome’ thing?”
Cooper’s brows shot up. “Straight to the point.”
I shrugged. “Life is short. I want to enjoy my food.”
He leaned back in his chair. “New guys are normally dragged out to an expensive restaurant after their first away game and told to cover the tab.”
"Original." Every team I'd joined had done that to me.
"Sometimes the classics are the best."
That could hurt a rookie’s bank balance, but I’d been making money for years. “I can handle it. You want to talk to me about my reputation?”
“I’d rather work that out for myself. But there are some things I prefer to discuss in private. Stories have started to pop up about your parents.”
