Chapter Six
Brinley
The hockey house is impossible to miss with the number of people spilling onto the lawn, cars lining the street, and bass thumping from inside.
We barely make it through the front door before we’re nearly swallowed whole. This place is packed shoulder to shoulder. The air smells like sweat and beer, and I’m starting to think the shower was unnecessary.
I stick close to Sasha, grateful for her easy confidence as she guides us through the crowd.
I recognize some of the players from last night at Broken Saddle. Others I don’t remember seeing there, but I know them from the Rixton roster while researching my father.
It’s like I can feel Cooper without even looking in his direction. My pulse picks up, but I keep walking, pretending I don’t see him as the energy in the room shifts.
“Hey.”
I turn, my heart jumping in my throat.
Cooper stands a few feet away with his hands shoved in his pockets. His eyes are fixed on me with an intensity that makes my skin prickle. He looks freshly showered, his hair still damp, with a Rixton Wolves T-shirt on.
For a second, neither of us says anything.
“You’re Brinley, right?” he asks, voice low enough I have to lean in just slightly to hear him. Like he doesn’t already know.
I nod. “Yeah.”
A beat passes. His eyes don’t leave mine.
“I’m Cooper.”
“I know.”
The corner of his mouth curves in a small smile. Sasha clocks him immediately.
“Ohhkay,” she says lightly, already stepping back. “I’m gonna grab us drinks. I’ll let you two… yeah. I’ll be right back.”
Before I can protest, she disappears into the crowd, leaving me standing there with nowhere to hide.
“I saw you watching our practice today,” Cooper says.
I try to ignore the way my stomach dips.
“You did, huh?” I say, forcing a laugh that sounds wrong even to my ears.
“Yeah,” he says slowly. “Up in the stands.”
My pulse stutters.
“I was just—” I start, then stop, already tangled in the explanation. I change course. “I wanted to thank you. For the other night. At the bar.”
His brows draw together slightly. “That’s why you stopped by?”
I nod, even though my stomach twists. “I didn’t really get a chance to say it properly before. I know I kind of gave you a hard time.”
I’m waiting for him to call out how this wasn’t my first time sitting in on practice. Maybe he didn’t recognize me the first time.
He studies me, head tilting slightly, like he’s lining pieces up and not liking how they fit.
“You sat through our entire practice,” he says, “and left without saying anything?”
“I came back,” I say. “You were already gone.”
It’s not entirely true. He doesn’t call me on it, and somehow that makes it worse.
“You didn’t have to go all the way there twice just to say thanks,” he says.
“I know,” I reply too fast. “I just happened to be nearby.”
His gaze narrows a fraction. “You’re not great at lying.”
Heat creeps up my neck. “I’m not lying.”
He hums, unconvinced. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I say, knowing he’s probably picking up on this lie too.
He doesn’t push. Just says, “Alright,” like he doesn’t quite buy it.
Sasha reappears then, saving me without meaning to, pressing a red cup into my hand. I take a large gulp out of habit and immediately regret it.
I cough, wincing. “What is that?”
“Trust,” she says cheerfully. “I’m grabbing another round.”
She’s gone before I can protest.
Cooper watches the exchange, his expression giving nothing away. When he speaks again, his tone shifts into something more casual.
“So,” he says, nodding vaguely, “I take it you’re new around here?”
I blink. “Yeah.”
“How new?”
“Only a couple of weeks.”
That makes him pause. Just long enough to notice. “Huh.”
There it is again. That sound, like he’s filing something away.
“Where’d you move here from?” he asks.
“Not far.”
He waits, but I don’t elaborate.
A corner of his mouth lifts. “You always this guarded, or am I special?”
I glance at him. “You always ask this many questions?”
He smiles at that one.
“So you moved here alone,” he says. Not a question.
“Yeah.”
“No roommates?”
“No.”
“No family in town?”
Something tightens in my chest, but I keep my voice level. “Not really.”
He studies me a little longer than necessary. “Why do you look like you’re always braced for impact?”
I stiffen before I can stop myself. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah,” he says easily. “You’ve said that already.”
I exhale sharply. “Okay. You know what? Fine.”
He blinks.
“I moved here a couple of weeks ago,” I rattle off. “Student at Rixton U. Undecided major because, well, I have commitment issues. Raised by my mom. No built-in tragic backstory for you to solve or rescue me from.”
His mouth twitches.
“I work nights at Broken Saddle,” I continue, warming up now. “First shift was yesterday. Met Sasha approximately twenty-four hours ago. She’s currently my only friend and, I guess, now my emergency contact.”
He actually laughs under his breath.
“I live in the loft above the bar,” I add. “It’s temporary. Questionable insulation. Possibly haunted. But it came furnished and has a roof, so I’m calling it a win.”
“Haunted?” he repeats.
“Jury’s still out.” I shrug. “Blood type O negative. Left-handed. Allergic to bullshit. And that’s everything I can think of before you ask for my social security number.”
He’s smiling now. Not smug. Just… entertained.
“That supposed to make me stop asking questions?” he asks.
“It’s supposed to overwhelm you into submission.”
“Didn’t work.” He shrugs. “But I respect the attempt.”
I groan. “Of course you do.”
His gaze lingers a second longer than before. “You’re not what I expected.”
I frown. “Expected from what?”
He tilts his head, but his eyes stay on mine. “I don’t know. I just figured I would’ve heard about you by now.”
Something tightens low in my stomach.
“I like to keep a low profile,” I say.
He nods once. “Yeah, that checks out.”
The noise around us seems to creep back in. Sasha reappears at my side, slipping easily into the space like she’s been waiting for an opening.
“Come with me,” she says brightly, looping her arm through mine. “I want to introduce you to some friends of mine.”
I glance at Cooper, caught off guard. “Oh, uh—”
“Trust me,” she adds, already tugging me backward. “It’ll be quick.”
Cooper steps back to give us room, but his attention doesn’t waver. “I guess I’ll see you around,” he says.
“I wouldn’t bet on it.” I smirk.
As Sasha pulls me into the crowd, I don’t look back again. I don’t need to in order to know he’s still watching me.
Cooper acted like he already knew more than he was saying, like he’d clocked the fact that I hadn’t been honest about why I was hanging out at their practice.
And I have the sinking feeling that Cooper Rowden isn’t the kind of man who forgets things that don’t add up.