5. Cody
Cody
Sloan is sitting in my car. I don’t know how Jax did it, but he convinced her to take the front seat and then he shoved Jude into the back. Neither one of them said a word and Jax hasn’t stopped talking since he set eyes on her.
“So, Sloan, where do you live now?” I can hear the smirk in his voice and know he’s up to something.
I'm sure he’s viewing himself as my wingman and will do his best to talk me up while keeping Jude distracted. But I'm not interested in a love triangle.
The way I see it, Sloan made her decision when she came back to Rosewood and didn’t contact me. She had my cell phone number and there’s no reason she couldn’t have called me. She didn’t want to.
“I live in the Rosewood Plaza apartments.”
I chuckle at how she’s giving Jax the information he’s asking for, but nothing extra. She’s really making him work for it.
“Oh, one of my friends lives there. He’s on the third floor. Maybe you live near each other.”
Sloan glances at Jax over her shoulder. I'm sure she’s rolling her eyes or making it clear she knows what he’s up to. They always had a funny relationship. They weren’t afraid of calling each other out every chance they got.
“Oh, what a coincidence. She lives on the third floor too! Apartment 5.” Jude happily supplies the information Jax wants.
Jax tugs out his phone and a second later my phone pings with an incoming message. I'm sure it’s a text with her apartment name and number. He wouldn’t let himself forget the information after working to get it.
“Good to know. You know, in case we wanted to mail you a gift or something.”
“Jax, I swear, if you show up at my apartment I'm calling the cops,” Sloan hisses.
“Sloan, why wouldn’t you want to hang out with the Jax Robinson?” Jude gapes at her.
It’s almost embarrassing how much he’s obsessed with us. He isn't even paying attention to his girlfriend, he’s too busy being swept up into the idea of hanging out with his idols.
“Yeah, Sloan! I'm the Jax Robinson. People line up just to take a photo with me.”
“I'm kind of shocked your head can even fit in the photos with how huge your ego is.” Sloan smiles sweetly at him.
I glance in the rearview mirror in enough time to catch Jax rolling his eyes. He isn't mad though. This is just the way their relationship is.
Pulling into a spot at Kennedy’s Pub, I turn off the engine and let out a sigh. As much as I want to hang out with the guys, I just want to go home and relax. My muscles are sore and I'm exhausted from the hours I’ve put on the ice this week.
We climb out of the car and I'm a little stunned when Jude leaves Sloan behind and follows Jax inside.
“How have you been?” I ask softly as we take our time moving through the parking lot. I'm in no hurry. I know it will be loud in there.
“It’s weird to be back in Rosewood, but it’s been good. I feel like so much has changed.”
“That’s what happens after a few years. Things change no matter how much you don’t want them to.” I swallow hard and keep walking.
I can't deny it hurts knowing she’s been back for so long and never sought me out. I thought we were perfect when we were together, but maybe that was one sided. Maybe she wasn’t happy in our relationship, even though I was.
“Cody…” She grabs my arm and stops me from opening the door to the pub. She tugs me off to the side so we’re not in the way and stares up at me. “I'm sorry.”
“For what? There’s nothing you should apologize for.” I keep my voice void of emotions. That’s how I need to be with Sloan. Absolutely emotionless.
“For avoiding you since I came back. You’re right, a lot has changed over the last few years. Including me. I guess I was just nervous you wouldn’t want to be friends with me again.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know. It’s been so long. I was afraid things would be different or you wouldn’t be interested in hanging out. I guess it was easier to leave our relationship behind and not ruin what we used to have.”
“You didn’t even give me a chance, Sloan. After everything we’ve been through, didn’t I deserve a chance to show you I'm still the same person?”
She opens and closes her mouth, but nothing comes out.
Though I understand where she’s coming from, it’s not fair.
She’s been back for an entire year and I didn’t know.
I would’ve gone out of my way to make sure she got settled into her new life.
I would’ve made time to hang out with her, even if it was only as friends.
I would’ve done almost anything for her.
“We should probably get inside before Jax comes looking for us.” I move towards the door and hold it open for her. I don’t want a response from her. She clearly doesn’t have one.
As soon as we step inside the pub, I begin looking for Jax and Jude. I spot them in a corner booth with Tanner, Huxley, Griffin, and Killian. I place a hand on Sloan’s lower back and lead her over to them.
The second Jax spots me, his attention zeros in on my hand and a slow smile spreads across his lips. He knows exactly how upset I was when Sloan moved away. I have no doubt he’ll do everything in his power to push us back together again.
As much as I’d love that, I don’t want Sloan to date me out of a weird sense of loyalty or obligation. Plus, she has a boyfriend. She clearly isn't looking for someone new.
“Don’t you two look cute together!” Jax’s smirk spreads wider. “You always were an adorable couple.”
“Oh, I'm sure.” Sloan rolls her eyes.
“I'm serious! Cody’s a catch. Check out those dimples and sharp jawline. Any woman would be lucky to have him as their boyfriend.”
“You know, that seems like less of a compliment when you’re his identical twin. It feels more like you’re fanning your own ego.” Sloan plants a hand on her hip and arches a brow at Jax.
“Dang, Robinson. She’s busting your chops like never before.” Tanner chuckles.
“Slide over so we can sit.” I motion for the guys to squeeze in a little more.
Aunt Kennedy renovated the bar a few years ago.
Dad and Uncle Blake did an amazing job transforming the space.
They decided to make a few larger booths because of how often the Pit Bulls players were hanging out here.
As soon as Jax and I joined the Pythons, we started bringing the first line here as well.
The regulars of Kennedy’s Pub know we hang out here and they leave us alone for the most part. Every once in a while, we’ll get a fan asking for an autograph or a picture, but we’re mostly treated like every other person. That’s why we come here. Why we love it.
“Do I get to sit next to my boyfriend or is that not allowed?” Sloan asks Jax.
“Aw, c’mon, Sloan. I was just getting to know my new friend. Are you really going to take him away from me already? That isn't really fair.” Jax pouts, putting on a real show.
I'm sure Sloan can see through his act, but Jude is eating this crap up. He’s loving how much attention Jax is showing him and he’s too dumb to realize Jax couldn’t care less about him. He’s giving me the chance to spend more time with Sloan without Jude interrupting us.
“Yeah, babe. We’re having a good time,” Jude pipes up like an idiot.
Sloan grumbles something under her breath and slides in next to Killian. I take the open space next to her and lean back, trying to relax.
Resting my head back against the booth, I let my eyes close.
It’s been such a long week. I'm more than ready to go home and climb into bed. If we hadn’t seen Sloan, I would’ve dropped Jax off here and gone home, or convinced him to go home with me.
I'm only here for her, yet the exhaustion of the day is setting in.
“Are you ok?” Sloan asks softly.
“Yeah, I'm just beat. Games are rough and they zap all the energy out of you. Especially when I spent the entire game protecting Jax.”
“Why do you do it?”
“Because he’s my brother.”
“You say that like it’s so simple.”
“Because it is that simple. I’ll always protect him. He’s my best friend and my brother. I’ll sacrifice myself every game for him.”
“If you got hit wrong, your career could be over.” She stares up at me like I'm crazy.
“Yeah, and I’d survive. I don’t live and breathe hockey, Sloan. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but I don’t feel like it defines who I am.”
“And Jax feels like he’s no one without being a hockey player.” She nods her head, understanding what I'm saying.
“I don’t think it will always be like that for him, but right now? Yeah, it defines him.”
“If it isn't my favorite hockey players!” A woman squeals from my right. I glance over and find Emma and Bella standing there with big smiles on their faces.
“There are my girls!” Jax’s grin gets impossibly wide. He loves when Emma and Bella show up at Kennedy’s to hang out with us.
Emma and Bella grew up on Mulberry Lane with us. Their dads are twins and the girls basically look like twins too. Jax used to joke around about how we should marry them and then our kids would look identical too.
I’ve always viewed them like sisters. I know there has been some attraction between the kids of Mulberry Lane over the years, but not for me.
My focus was always on Sloan and once she left, I only cared about hockey.
Bella and Emma pull two chairs up to the edge of our booth and take a seat. Emma chats with the guys while Bella listens and watches everyone carefully.
Where Emma’s the outgoing and life of the party type of girl, Bella’s much more reserved and is happy sitting back and watching what’s going on. She isn’t afraid to get in the middle of everything when she wants to or needs to though.
“What would you do if you didn’t play hockey?” Sloan asks quietly.
“I don’t know. I guess I hoped I’d have a family by now. Seeing Charlie and Sophia get married and start families… They’re so happy. I want that too.”
“Did Charlie finally marry Wyatt?” She arches a brow.
“Yup. They have a little girl named Carter.”
“Gah! That makes me so happy. I wanted them to get married so badly when we were younger! How long have they been married?”
“A little less than two years, I think. They broke up for a long time, but they found their way back to each other. I’ve never seen either one of them happier.”
I let my words hang in the air. I really want to tell her we could be happy together too. We could find our way back to each other and start dating again. We could get married and start a family, just like we wanted to before she moved.
“They’d love to see you. Everyone on Mulberry Lane would.”
“Oh, I'm sure. Should I come over for Sunday dinner?” She rolls her eyes.
“Sunday dinner? I totally think you should come to Sunday dinner!” Jax speaks up. I swear the man has super-sonic hearing when he wants to.
“Jax,” Sloan groans. “I'm not-”
“That would be awesome! We should totally go,” Jude cuts her off like the idiot he is. He’s too focused on getting closer to Jax to realize he’s ignoring his girlfriend and helping Jax push Sloan back into my arms.
“Maybe we should talk about this later,” Sloan practically growls at her boyfriend. He doesn’t even notice. He’s too busy discussing it with Jax and asking what they should bring.
“You obviously don’t have to come to Sunday dinner,” I whisper.
“Jude isn’t going to shut up about this,” she groans as she drops her face into her hands, looking more than defeated.
“I’ll deal with it.” I rub a hand up and down her back, just like I used to do when we were younger and she was stressed out about something.
“You’ll deal with my boyfriend who cares more about Jax’s feelings than mine? Yeah, no thanks. I’ll deal with him.”
“You shouldn’t have to deal with your boyfriend, Sloan.” My brows furrow, what type of person is Jude? He doesn’t seem good enough for her.
“Well, not every guy can be perfect and understand what I'm thinking without me saying a word,” she sighs and shakes her head.
“Yeah, but I could. I always knew where your head was. I think I can still read you like an open book.”
“Oh yeah? What am I thinking right now?” She arches a brow.
“You’re wondering how long it will take you to convince Jude to leave,” I whisper so no one else can hear me.
“You’re thinking about how all you want to do is go home and take a nice, long bath.
You know all you’re going to hear about for the next two weeks is Jax and Cody Robinson and it’s going to drive you crazy.
You’re trying to decide if you just left, would Jude even notice or care. ”
She stares at me for several long seconds. Her eyes narrow and she opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.
“Now you’re wondering how I still know you so well.” I smirk.
“We’ve changed, Cody,” she says softly.
“I know we have, that doesn’t mean we couldn’t still be great together.”
I stand to my full height and toss Jax my car keys. I'm done with being here, but I don’t want to leave Jax, Jude, and Sloan stranded without a car.
“You headed home?” He asks, but what he’s really asking is if I'm ok. He’s a better brother than what most people realize.
“Yeah, I'm exhausted. I’ll order a ride and you can drive my car so you can take Jude and Sloan back to get their car at the stadium.”
“Sounds good, brother.” Jax nods. He knows I want him to keep Sloan safe.
“I’m headed out too. I can drive you home,” Emma says as she stands to her full height. “Sophia has me opening at the bakery in the morning. If I go to bed right now, I might get five hours of sleep.” She grimaces at her watch.
“Jax, could you drive me home?” Bella sticks her bottom lip out in a pout.
“Of course. Come sit next to me.” Jax motions for the guys to move over and as soon as Bella’s seated next to him, he drapes his arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer to him.
“It was nice to see you, Sloan.” I nod my head in her direction, then I follow Emma out of the pub.
“Are we going to talk about this or…” Emma trails off as she glances up at me. When I don’t say a word, she nods her head and chuckles. “Not. Right. Obviously, we won't discuss the elephant in the shape of Sloan Weathers that was in that room.”