Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
EVAN
“Ev! Rio!”
When my brother’s voice interrupts Rio about to tell Cooper exactly who he is to me, I decide I’m officially in hell.
There is no way this night could possibly get any worse.
I’ve always tried to keep my personal life and my work life entirely separate—a long-standing habit that comes from having a brother who is one of the most famous athletes in the country and my ever-present need to prove myself on my own.
But now, with Cooper standing next to me looking irritatingly gorgeous in perfectly fitting jeans and a Strikers hoodie, his hair tousled and eyes the brightest blue I’ve ever seen under the night sky and the stadium lights, those parts of my life are about to clash in spectacular fashion.
I do not love it.
Also, for some weird reason, I’ve been achy and exhausted all day.
I slept through my alarm this morning for the first time in my entire adult life, so I missed my early morning writing session and only made it to the office five minutes before Cooper did.
It fucked up my entire day, and my mood is shit.
I almost cancelled on Rio and skipped the game, but the thought of facing my parents’ disappointment for not just skipping the box, but not showing up at all, had me pulling on Chris’s jersey and dragging myself into Rio’s car.
Rio better be ready to buy me all the snacks because I’m going to need them to get through this night.
Turning towards the field, I paste a smile on my face because my brother deserves my full happiness. “Hey, superstar!” I yell.
“Looking good mi amor,” Rio says, blowing Chris a kiss. “Your ass in pinstripes is a sight to behold.”
Chris beams at us, his excitement for tonight obvious. The energy in the stadium is electric even though first pitch is still forty-five minutes away and it’s a cool, crisp night, absolutely perfect for a baseball game. And no one loves the game like my brother does.
“Happy to see your faces. Meet me in the family room after the game?”
“I’ll be there,” I say, aggressively avoiding eye contact with Cooper. Maybe if I pretend he’s not there, I won’t have to explain why I’m currently in a conversation with the starting pitcher of the Boston Strikers.
“You know it, baby. Pitch your ass off!” Rio calls.
Chris pats his heart twice and points at Rio, looking at him with so much love that my chest aches and my eyes burn.
I freak out for a brief second when I think I’m about to cry actual tears.
I never cry, so I have no idea what the fuck is wrong with me.
Even when Chris turns and jogs down into the dugout and I’ve recovered from my attack of emotions, I still don’t look at Cooper, suddenly extremely interested in the nearly empty field.
“Friend of yours?”
“Something like that,” I mumble, still refusing to meet his eyes.
“Hang on.” The curiosity in Cooper’s voice is what finally has me turning to him, watching as his eyes bounce from the Rhodes jersey I’m wearing to my brother’s face, which is suddenly splashed all over the jumbotron. “Chris Rhodes is your brother.”
“You bet he is,” Rio says happily, clearly enjoying my pain. I elbow him and he just chuckles. “I’m going to get hot dogs. Good luck with all of this.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Asshole. Get me a cherry slushie too.”
He grins and kisses my cheek. “Like I would forget your love of a ballpark slushie.”
Rio jogs up towards the concourse, and I turn back to Cooper, expecting him to ask me for an introduction to Chris or say something hero-worshipy about the Strikers’ star pitcher.
I’ve been here so many times before. But instead, Cooper just gives me that look he has, like he’s seeing far more than I want him to.
Far more than I usually show to the world.
“So, your brother is a professional athlete, huh? I bet that’s not always easy. ”
There is so much complex truth in his statement that, for a second, I just stare at him, wondering how to even respond. I’m saved from trying to figure it out by a cheerful voice from behind Cooper.
“Seriously, Coop, leave it to you to make a friend at the baseball game. After my husband you’re, like, the friendliest guy alive.” Looking over Cooper’s shoulder, I see a pretty brunette who looks oddly familiar.
“Call me your husband again, Gorgeous. You know what it does to me.” The guy next to her slides an arm around her waist and presses a kiss to her head, then grins at Cooper, who I absolutely would not classify as the friendliest guy alive.
“Besides, he hasn’t been all that friendly lately.
That woman at work is really getting in the way of cheerful Coop. I miss that guy.”
“Fuck off, Noah.” Cooper shoots a glare behind him at the guy I suddenly realize looks a whole lot like Cooper.
“Who are you?” he asks, looking at me curiously.
This is just too perfect. I snicker, looking at Cooper and then back at the guy. “I’m pretty sure I’m the woman at work.”
“Oh my god,” Cooper mutters, looking so aggrieved that I’m suddenly having the time of my life, all previous discomfort forgotten.
“No fucking way! I’ve been wanting to meet the woman who has been making Cooper such a grumpy asshole. I’m Noah, his older brother.”
“And I’m Hannah,” the woman says, and in a flash, I know exactly who she is.
“Holy shit, you’re Hannah Evans!” It comes out before I can stop it, but seriously, what’s a girl to do when faced with one of her favorite authors of all time?
Hannah grins at me. “Romance reader?”
“Uh, yeah, since I was like twelve. Every single one of your books is my favorite. I can’t wait until your first re-release next week with your publishing deal.
I seriously don’t know how you do it.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cooper looking at me like he’s never seen me before in his life.
It occurs to me that I’m in the process of smashing my very serious lawyer who does lawyer things persona to pieces, but I have no chill right now.
“We don’t know how she does it either!” Cooper groans, pressing his fingers to his eyes in exasperation as two other women pop up behind Hannah, smiles on their faces.
“These are my sisters, Jo and Amelia,” Hannah says.
“Well, Jo is my actual sister and weirdly, she’s also my sister-in-law since she married Cooper and Noah’s oldest brother Jordan a couple months ago.
Him.” She points to a tall guy at the end of the row looking at us with interest. “And Amelia is engaged to the fourth brother, Elliot.” She gestures to a guy who has hot nerd written all over him, and sweet Jesus, Wyles genes are absolutely spectacular.
“So, I guess she’s my almost sister-in-law.
” Hannah shrugs. “It’s all kind of complicated. ”
“It’s really not, Hans. Hi, I’m Jo.” The woman wearing a pink Strikers hat and pink Converse grins at me. “You don’t look at all like you have fangs or a control panel to power your robotic side.”
“She’s a romance reader, Jo Jo, and she’s one of Hannah’s fans,” the woman who must be Amelia says with a smile. “She can’t be nearly as bad as Cooper says she is. I think maybe it’s just that Cooper can’t handle a little friendly competition."
Cooper makes a strangled noise, and I bark out a laugh, ready to get on my knees and beg these women to be my best friends, even if they do belong to Cooper.
Female friends aren’t something I’ve ever really had—grinding it out to succeed at all costs since high school doesn’t really make you many friends.
But seeing the way these three women are together makes what I’ve missed out on all the more obvious.
“So, you’re Evan Rhodes.” Hot nerd brother gives me an appraising look that screams reserving judgment. “My brother has been really unhappy the last year or so.”
I shrug, keeping my voice light even as my head throbs at the insinuation that I’m the reason Cooper has been unhappy. Even though, yeah, I probably am. And likewise. “That’s just the way BigLaw goes.”
“Leave her alone, El,” Amelia says, linking her arm with his. “You’re in academia. You know better than anyone what a cutthroat work environment is like.”
“We all do,” Jordan says with a we’re closing ranks tone to his voice.
These two are such a marked difference from the brother who radiates puppy dog energy that I would be fascinated if I wasn’t suddenly having a very untimely conscience attack.
And potentially the beginning of a migraine.
“But you made cheerful, friendly Cooper a miserable asshole. That’s not very nice of you. ”
“Yeah, well, he’s not the only miserable one,” I shoot back, immediately regretting it as all three brothers narrow their eyes at me, the three girls looking at me with interest. My skin crawls at being the focus of everyone’s attention.
I glance at the field and the rapidly filling stadium, willing the pre-game festivities to start in order to distract everyone from this conversation.
It was fun for a minute, but now it’s the opposite of that.
“Want to join a book club?” Jo asks out of nowhere. “It’s a romance book club. It’s just the three of us, and these guys’ mom and grandma. It’s a really fun time, and we’re always looking for new members and—”
“No!” Cooper blurts out, cutting Jo off and glaring daggers at me, his entire demeanor giving Don’t you fucking dare.
I can feel my face fall at his sharp tone, and it makes the wild part of me want to say yes to Jo’s invitation just to see what would happen.
The wild part of me needs to take a fucking seat.