Dear Heart, I Hate You
“I watched it! Sort of.” Her face crinkled as she looked at me with a worried expression. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me, wasn’t it? To spend more time talking to Katherine than watching your brother play? Shit. You’ll never take me again, will you? I’m a bad hockey date. You probably hate me now. I understand if you never want to see me again.”
Her unfiltered thoughts kept spilling from her mouth, each sentence more paranoid than the last, but instead of scaring me, her words actually excited me. “You’re nuts. I don’t hate you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” I leaned over the center console and kissed her soft cheek. “You can come meet my brother, right?” I hadn’t even asked her if she had other commitments.
She frowned at me. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Sorry, I just wanted to be sure that it’s okay that we do that. You don’t need to get back early and go to bed, or have an early meeting in the morning for your conference? I just realized that I hadn’t even asked you.” After starting the engine, I turned on the seat heaters for both our seats.
Her expression relaxed. “I’m good. I’d love to meet him. But thank you for asking.”
I placed my hand back on her leg where it belonged. “Ready?”
“Yep. Ooh, have I ever told you how much I love whoever invented seat heaters? Because I do. I love that guy.”
“What if it was a girl?”
“Then I love her.”
She was absolutely adorable.
I drove us to Cooper’s hotel and let the valet park the car. Based on the number of scantily clad girls hanging around in the hotel bar, we had obviously arrived before the team. Not wanting Jules to see that shit, I walked us toward the lounge area near the elevators.
I spotted Katherine before I noticed Cooper walking behind her. He was taller than me, which should be against the rules. Older brothers should always be taller, smarter, and stronger. Damn it.
When I said, “Here he comes,” Jules sucked in a breath.
“Shit, Cal, he’s a giant. And he looks just like you. Only bigger.”
Cooper and I did look a lot alike. He had green eyes instead of hazel and his hair was a little darker than mine. But with our features and the shape of our faces, you could definitely tell we were brothers.
“I’m aware,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes.
“Bro!”
Cooper’s booming voice filled the small area as I rose to my feet and gave him a manly hug. We clapped each other’s backs before he tossed an arm around my shoulder and looked curiously at Jules.
“Who’s this beautiful lady?”
“This is Jules. Jules, this is my little brother, Cooper.”
Cooper scoffed at me, obviously bristling at the word little, and stepped over to give Jules a giant bear hug, lifting her off the ground so her legs swung in the air, and Katherine laughed.
“You’re much prettier than Lucas. Don’t you dare tell him I said that,” he directed toward me before returning his attention to Jules, “It’s really nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.” When he plunked her on the ground and she added, “Great game tonight,” I bit back a grin, knowing that she had no clue how Cooper had done.
“Thanks. What are you doing with this knucklehead?” He grinned, nodding his head in my direction.
“Slumming it,” she deadpanned without skipping a beat, and Cooper burst out laughing.
“I like her,” he said, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying that I did too. Obviously I did but I wasn’t ready to declare it—to him, to her, or to anyone else.
He reached for Katherine’s hand and pulled her in for a tight hug. I loved Katherine like a sister, and couldn’t have been happier that my little brother found someone like her to spend his life with. They went through some crazy shit back when they were in college together, and after a freak accident, both of them had almost died. I wasn’t sure what that kind of thing did to two people who cared about each other, but I was pretty certain it created a bond that wasn’t easily broken. Trying to remember a time I’d ever seen them argue or fight, I searched my mind, but I couldn’t think of one.
“You guys hungry?” Cooper asked, and I blinked twice before nodding.