Page 71 of Thunderstruck
I told Derek that I can handle Cole. I guess it’s time to find out if I was right. Hopping to my feet, I help Moxie stand as well and smile at the guys as they approach. “Hey,” I say to Tink at the front. “I hear you guys are going out tonight. Can I come?”
Any of the single guys within hearing distance stop in their tracks, all of them with bright eyes and eager smiles. A few other guys stop as well, but most of the rest head for the locker rooms. Either they are planning to head home to their significant others, or they don’t care whether I join in.
“You want to come with us?” Tink asks. He sounds completely shocked, and I have to do my best not to laugh.
“Is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay!” Wyatt says, scrambling to the front of the pack. We haven’t interacted much since I turned him down, but the smile he gives me is warm. Either he still thinks he has a shot, or he’s happy to just be my friend. I hope it’s the latter because tonight I’m going to do my very best to convince him and Cole to get along. “You hear that, boys?” he says to the others, as if they aren’t standing right there. “Rizzo’s coming with us tonight!”
Cole, who was walking past the gathered men, stops dead. His eyes find mine for only a second before they zero in on the back of Wyatt’s head.
Moxie chuckles at my side. “It might be easier to get him there than I thought,” he mutters for only me to hear.
I agree, and I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face. “I’ve been wanting to hang out with you guys more, especially because I don’t have many friends here.”
Cole’s eyes turn stormy as he looks at me again.
He can’t blame me for saying something like that when he’s spent the last week avoiding me, especially because I meant it. The few friends I’ve made have all been busy this week. Liam left for his tour, and Kasey went with him to San Francisco for the first concert and won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon. Bonnie is doing reshoots while Hank settles into the house he’s renting, and Derek is way too intimidating to hang out with one-on-one.
I look directly at Cole when I say, “I’ve been feeling pretty homesick this week, so hanging out with you guys will be nice.”
“But maybe shower first,” Moxie says, giving the boys a sharp look.
They all scramble for the locker room, leaving me alone with Moxie and Cole. Cole wastes no time stomping up to me and glaring as he asks, “What are you doing?”
I tilt my chin up in a challenge. “Exactly what I said. I need friends.”
His jaw tightens. “Youhavefriends.”
“Not this week, I don’t. They’re all too busy for me.”
A shadow passes over his features, and he folds his arms as he looks between Moxie and me. “You’re planning something, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Moxie says calmly. “I told Carissa about drinks tonight, and she wanted to come.”
Cole chews on his words for a moment. “Well, have fun with that.” He takes a step toward the locker room but stops when I reply.
“I intend to. I don’t know the team well enough, and it will be nice to get to know them away from work.”
“I know what you’re doing.” He doesn’t even look at me as he growls out the words. “But pretending to take an interest in the team won’t get me to go out with them. You said yourself you don’t want to give them the wrong impression, but this will—”
I scoff, shaking my head at him. “Geez, you really are the most stubborn man I’ve ever known.”
He clenches his jaw, eyes locked on the turf beneath his feet.
“Cole, I’m allowed to have friends.”
“They’re not going to see you as a friend.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I really do. Mox, tell her—”
“I’m not getting in the middle of whatever this is,” Moxie says, holding his hands up. His eyebrows are high as he looks between us. “But I do think you should come out tonight or this week will look like a walk in the park compared to what’s coming. I’m going to be down for the count after my surgery Monday, and I won’t be flying out to Portland with you guys. You’ll be on your own for the next game, Cole. Youneedto let them trust you.”
When Cole turns his head to look at us, his irritation has made way for worry, and I desperately want to wrap him up in a hug. I hold myself back, knowing I need to make him come to me if I’m going to break him out of this funk.
“Stop fighting reality,” Moxie begs. “It’s not changing, no matter how much you want it to.”
