Rough Love (Tannen Boys 1)

Cooper puts a hand on Liam’s arm and looks back at me. “Hey, Coach B?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t get mad, but you gotta take advantage when you can, ‘kay?” Cooper’s teeth flash again, and Liam chuckles but covers his mouth with his hands.

“Huh?” I say, confused and having no idea what Cooper’s talking about until he starts blubbering.

“Mom? Mom! I thought you weren’t coming back!” He’s suddenly totally hysterical, and I have a heart-stopping moment where I think he was putting on a brave face for me.

Liam joins in the chorus. “Yeah, Mom. I thought you forgot me.” He sounds on the verge of tears.

Allyson and Michelle coo and pet the stinky boys, promising dinner with cookies and apologies.

I realize what these monsters are up to. They are absolutely, one hundred percent playing their mothers for treats. The laughter bursts forth in a tidal wave and both women shoot glares at me.

“Thank you for staying with them,” Allyson says coldly, though her eyes could burn me to ash where I stand.

I cross my arms over my chest, leveling a gaze at Cooper and Liam. They shrink under the weight of my deep frown.

“Boys, why don’t you tell your mothers what we’ve been up to while they were working so hard and worrying so much that they rushed over here to get you?” My tone broaches no argument, and their tears dry instantly, their fake drama dissipating like cotton candy in water.

“We fed the ducks,” Liam says, his eyes on the grass.

“We sat around and talked,” Cooper says.

“No muss, no fuss,” I add. “They were fine until they saw an opportunity for cookies and took advantage.”

Cooper and Liam, suitably chastised, look to their mothers with real tears in their eyes now. “Sorry, Mom. Sorry, Mrs. Michelle,” Cooper says, and Liam echoes the sentiment to his mom and Allyson.

I glance back to Allyson, not expecting an apology for her obviously frosty appreciation when she arrived, but she offers one anyway. It’s with her eyes, not her mouth, but I understand it just the same.

In the lengthening moment, the air between us thickens, heating with possibility even though there’s an undercurrent of distrust.

She looks good, the skirt hugging her hips and her shapely legs tapering down to the sexy heels that would feel great digging into my ass as I buried myself in her. But it’s the swirling confusion I can see in her eyes that calls to me the most. She sets me off-kilter, but I do the same to her. And damned if I don’t want to explore that, delve deeper into it and know what’s running through that mind of hers.

Which makes me furious . . . at myself, at her.

Michelle’s eyes bounce between Allyson and me. “Look, I know you two have some stuff to talk about. Let me take the boys home and feed them dinner . . . with no cookies.” She raises a brow at Liam before looking back to me pointedly. “Go to dinner. I hear Hank’s even has two-dollar drafts tonight. Talk about old times, talk about life and love and whatever else comes up.”

“Michelle!” Allyson hisses. “No, I’ll just take Cooper home.”

Michelle’s scowl deepens, her eyes screaming at me to man up and take advantage of the opportunity she’s presenting on a golden platter. I’m not sure I want it, but I can’t pass it by, either.

“I need to eat before heading home anyway,” I grumble. “I missed Mama Louise’s dinner waiting around with these guys.” I hold up a fist and Cooper pounds it, then Liam follows. They’re smiling now, though it’s cautious. “So, what do you say, Al?”

The nickname slips out again, but it feels comfortable on my tongue so I don’t correct myself. I can hear her breath pause, though, and I know it hit her too.

Her mouth opens and closes a couple of times as she looks between me and Michelle and then down to Cooper. Finally, her spine straightens and she says tightly, “That sounds great, I guess. Let’s get a beer and some dinner.”

One side of my mouth quirks up in what passes as a triumphant smile. I know I probably look like a cocky shit, but I don’t give a fuck. Dinner, a beer, and Allyson. Once upon a time, it was all I ever wanted.

Somewhere, I hear a little voice reminding me to avoid her, but I squash it down forcibly. It’s just food, nothing more. Or maybe I’ll figure out what the fuck’s up with her so we can ‘be adults’ as she wants? Or maybe I’ll fuck her in the parking lot? The possibilities are endless and unexpected, something I usually hate. I like knowing what people are going to say and do even before they do, but I can’t get a read on Allyson. Damn infuriating is what she is.