COPE
Luca bouncedup and down on the balls of his feet. “I can’t believe I get to meetallof them. Every single one. Randal the Ravager. Frankie the Finisher. And Marcus freaking Warner.”
Gretzky yipped as if agreeing with him, and then the puppy tumbled as he tried to attack his leash. I tried not to scowl at that final name. If Marcus was mean to Luca just because he despised me, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself from decking him in front of dozens of little kids. At least most of them weren’t here yet.
Arden’s lips twitched from where she stood behind Luca. “Yeah, Marcus is my favorite player on the Sparks, too.”
There was no helping my scowl this time. “Traitor,” I shot at her.
Arden laughed, picking up Gretzky. But I didn’t miss the unease in her gaze as it traveled over the vast space. She wasn’t one for large groups, always wondering if there was a chance someone from her past life would show up and recognize her. So, it meant even more that she was here.
“Don’t worry, Cope. You’re still my number-one favorite of all time,” Luca assured me.
I chuckled and held out my knuckles for a fist bump. “Good to know you’ve still got my back.”
“Always,” Luca vowed.
In the way only a kid could, he’d bounced back from finding out pieces of the truth about his father and had taken the media attention in stride. We’d had Arden and Kye or Anson and Rhodes take him to and from hockey to avoid his photo ending up in any media coverage. But Luca had turned it into a game, pretending to be a superhero escaping all the villains—the reporters being the bad guys. And he wasn’t wrong there.
But Sutton and I still kept a close eye. She’d asked him a couple of times if he had any more questions, but Luca said no. And my family had swooped in to surround him with all the love. Hence why all of them had homemade jerseys withHollandon the back, along with Luca’s number.
But something about seeingHollandhad something lighting deep inside me: the need to see that name changed toColsonon the jerseys. Because I wanted Sutton and Luca to have my last name. To feel every bit a part of my family as possible.
“Oooooh, I see hottie hockey players,” Lolli called, doing a shimmy. She’d blinged out her jersey so it sparkled in the rink lights. “Do you think I could get one of them to throw me against the boards?”
“Lolli,” my mom hissed. “Children will be present at this event. Please, rein it in.”
Lolli just waved her off. “It’s good for them to see healthy sexuality.”
Fallon pinned her with a stare. “I’m not sure asking one of these poor, unprepared players to throw you against the boards is healthy sexuality.”
Lolli let out a huff. “Always ruining all my fun.”
Kye wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come hang out with me. We can cheer on the violence and bloodshed.”
Lolli grinned up at him. “Well, that is my second favorite thing to do.”
Thea looked up from the table where she and Sutton had spread out an array of baked goods for everyone to snack on while we got set up and waited for the kids to arrive. “I thought special brownies were your second favorite.”
“That’s just a way of life, dear,” Lolli assured her.
Sutton laughed, light catching in her eyes. God, she was beautiful. I could stare at her forever.
“You’ve got a little drool,” Arden muttered, wiping at the corner of her mouth with a smirk.
The urge to elbow my sister in the gut was strong. “Shut up.” I looked back at Sutton and mouthed, “You okay?”
She nodded, but I didn’t miss how she pulled her lip between her teeth. Before I could make my way across the room to her, the doors to the rink opened, and players and staff poured in. My family greeted them, having met most over the past several years.
Luca wasn’t bouncing up and down now; he was full-on jumping. “Frankie the Finisher!”
Frankie’s lips twitched. “You must be Luca. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Luca stilled. “You have?”
Frankie shot me a look. “Reaper goes on and on about you. Said you fly across the ice.”
Luca’s eyes widened as his head snapped toward me and then back to Frankie. “I’m trying to get faster.” His voice dropped. “Teddy was teaching me, too.”
