A flare of disappointment speared me. It shocked the shit out of me because my last attempt at a relationship had ended in disaster. It wasn’t my thing. People getting too close, wanting to know the secrets I did everything I could to keep buried. It was better this way—Warrior being taken.
Because there was one truth I couldn’t deny: I’d always be better off alone.
3
SUTTON
Luca bouncedup and down on the bench as the coach I recognized from the times I’d been here with Luca during free skates stepped in front of the bleachers.
“Welcome, everyone,” Coach Kenner called.
The kids all cheered in response.
Kenner grinned. “I’m glad to hear you’re all excited.” His gaze skimmed over the crowd, pausing on me. His smile turned warm. He was likely a decade or so older than my twenty-nine but was attractive and fit.
I searched for a flicker of something, anything, but there was nothing. He was exactly the kind of man I needed to feel a flutter for: kind, responsible, good with kids, and with a steady job. Still, nothing. It was like I was dead inside.
But then I remembered the flush I’d felt at the sound of parking lot man’s voice. The way my skin heated and prickled with awareness.Crud.That sort of charmer was not in the cards.
“All right, if you’re excited now, just wait,” Kenner went on. “I have a pretty epic surprise for you… I’d like to introduce our second coach for the entirety of camp. Please welcome Copeland Colson. Also known as?—”
“The Reaper!” countless kids yelled, including mine.
Luca was on his feet, shouting and cheering, but I could only stare as I looked up, up, up into dark-blue eyes. The pieces came together in jerky snaps. I’d known one of the Colson brothers played hockey but had thought he lived in Seattle and only came home for a week or so at a time. But here he was. And not only was he a hockey player, he was also my son’s obsession—and the man I’d called a creeper in the parking lot.
I wanted to crawl under the bleachers and die.
“Hey, everyone,” he greeted. “You can call me Coach Cope or Coach Reaper if you want. I’ve always wanted to be called Coach.”
Everyone laughed, and I was pretty sure the mom next to me let out a longing sigh.
“I can’t wait to hang out with you for the next month. We’re going to have a blast and play the heck out of some hockey!”
More cheers erupted.
“All right, kids,” Coach Kenner called. “Hit the ice for a light warmup.”
Everyone around me started moving, but I caught Luca’s arm. “Are you sure about this?”
He had that wild-eyed look he got when he’d had too much sugar. “Are you kidding, Mom? This is thedream!” He pulled his arm free and waddled to the rink in his gear that made him look like an Oompa Loompa. I just had to watch him go.
A throat cleared. My gaze snapped to the source, but I already knew what I’d find. Cope stood there, a smile playing on his lips—lips that looked made for kissing and… I shook myself out of my stupor.
Not going down that road.
I straightened, meeting his gaze dead-on. Well, as much as I could, being at least a foot shorter than him. “Coach,” I greeted.
That smile widened. “Like the sound of that.”
“Power hungry?” I muttered under my breath.
Cope just chuckled, and damn if my skin didn’t react the same way it had earlier. Every nerve ending stood at attention like they were crying out for Cope’s touch. I curved my arms around my waist, hugging myself as I tried to ignore the shiver running through me.
Cope frowned. “Cold?”
“I’m fine.”
“Might want to bring layers tomorrow. Can get pretty chilly rink-side.”
