Page 14

CHAPTER SEVEN

MYLES

A fter practice and my first class, I sat in a campus cafeteria downing a sandwich.

I didn’t have time to run home and make lunch before my next class started, so here I was.

My gaze took in rows of long tables with students studying and eating.

Fast-food restaurants lined the periphery of the space.

Back in the day, Tyler would have been here with me. I sipped some iced tea from a straw.

My phone buzzed in my backpack, and I slid it out. There was a number I didn’t recognize. Telemarketer? But the number was from Chicago. I answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, is this Myles Cummings?” A male voice said.

“It is.” I picked at the bread on my sandwich. Whoever it was, they knew me.

“Good, this is Dean Wilson. I’m an agent for your friends, Tyler Hodge and Rowan Mackenzie.”

My stomach flip-flopped. Holy shit. “Yes, hi, my dad said he met with you, eh.”

“Yes, I just signed Ethan. He’s a good kid.” He chuckled. “Now about you.” He inhaled sharply. “I’ve been watching footage from last year. You’ve got potential. ”

“I-I do?” Dropping my mouth open, I stared at the table. My heart raced. “So, are you going to sign me?”

“Well, here’s the thing. I’ve spoken to your coaches, and it sounds like they’re going to play you on the first line with Neuman. I’d like to see how that dynamic plays out first.”

My heart sank. “Oh.” Of course, it wouldn’t be so easy for me. I’d have to show him what I could do.

“Myles, I’m sure you’ve improved over last season. I need to figure out how to position you and get an idea of where that could be.”

“Yes, I understand.” I nodded. This would upset Dad. But then, maybe I wouldn’t tell him.

“I have a good feeling about you this year. Just do your best and I’ll be in touch. Okay?” he asked. “You can call me anytime at this number if you have questions.”

“Sure, thank you so much.” I planted my elbow on the table and my forehead in my hand. “I’ll do my best once the games start, I promise.”

“Okay, then. We’ll be in touch. Goodbye.”

“Bye.” I hung up the call. That was weird. If he wasn’t signing me right now, why would he call? I twisted my lips. Maybe to be sure I wasn’t hunting for another agent? But he’d signed my friends and my brother. Fuck if I knew. I sighed.

My phone buzzed in my hand.

“What now?” I looked at the screen. A text message popped up.

JJ

What are you doing later? Want to meet up for dinner?

I pressed my lips together. My schedule was clear, so why not? And then maybe we could talk, and I could figure out where his head was at.

Myles

Sure. How about the Cornish Pasty?

We’d met there for a study group last year and I’d been craving it ever since. I watched the three bubbles flicker on my phone.

JJ

Sounds good. How about six?

Myles

See you there.

After classes, I drove home and strode into the kitchen from the garage with my backpack slung over my shoulder. My gaze stopped on Cooper, puttering around the kitchen with a frying pan in his hand. “Hey, how’s things?” I slipped my backpack off my arm and onto the floor at the end of the island.

“Good, just about to cook a chicken dish. Want some?” With a warm smile, he faced me.

“Uh no. I’m meeting JJ for dinner.” I pressed my lips together. Should I tell him I might break things off with JJ?

“Oh?” Lifting his brows, he set the pan on the stove. “I guess you’ll be home late then.” He opened a package of chicken breast, rinsed it in the sink and patted it dry with a paper towel.

“No, I’ll be home right after.” I watched him work. Was he ready to continue our project for our social media class? “Do you want to work on our?—”

“Naw, just figured, you know, you guys might go back to his place after or…” He shrugged, poured oil into the pan and then tossed a chicken breast into it.

“You guys are seeing a lot of each other.” He dumped spices onto the chicken and covered it with a lid.

“It’s so nice to cook without cleaning a bunch of dishes first. ”

I stepped behind him and looked into the pan. “Looks good.” I’d like to have had a home cooked meal with Cooper, but I had to square things away with JJ tonight. “Hey, I’m going to talk to JJ about, uh, about if we should continue dating.”

His gaze snapped to mine. “Yeah?” He narrowed his eyes. “So, if he wants to continue, what will you say?”

Thinking, I rolled my lips. “I don’t know. I don’t want to be a dick.” Why was this so hard? I should be straight with the guy. “You know, we’ve barely kissed or anything.”

“You what?” The edges of his lips twitched up. “I figured by now you two would have fucked.” He dropped his shoulders.

“No. It’s sort of weird, I think, because we were friends last year. I don’t think either of us wants to ruin that, you know?” I probably wasn’t making any sense. With a huff, I stepped away from him.

He snatched my arm. “Myles, I’ll be here when you get back. I want to know what happens.”

Furrowing my brows, I glanced at his hand wrapped around my biceps. Why was it so important? “Yeah, sure.”

He freed me and checked a pot with steaming broccoli resting on the stove. “If you want me to cook us both dinner, just text me on your way home.” He glanced at me. “I’m happy to do it.”

“Yeah? Looks pretty healthy too.” I leaned my ass against the counter. Who knew he was so into cooking? At some point, he would battle with Ace over the kitchen.

“It is.” He flipped the chicken and turned off the burner for the broccoli. “Where are you meeting JJ?”

“This Cornish pasty place down by campus. We went there last year with our study group.” I peeked at the clock on the stove. Shit, it was five-thirty already. “Hey, I better go.” I dug my keys out of my backpack.

“Okay.” He tipped his head for a beat and twisted to face me. “Myles, I hope things go well.” He tensed his mouth .

“Yeah, thanks.” I squeezed his hand and walked out the door. This entire conversation had been a little awkward.

After parking in the lot at the restaurant, I strolled to an overhang with a red tile roofline.

The place sat hidden in a stucco plaza that looked to be from the 1980s.

I opened one of a set of glass doors and stepped inside, looking around.

It was quaint, with dark woods and fancy red wallpaper lining the walls.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and one side of the room held a long bar with white leather stools and Guinness taps.

Did someone design this place to resemble a UK pub, but botched it?

JJ sat in a booth with black tufted leather seating, waving at me. “Myles, over here.”

As I strolled to him, he slid from the booth. “You look good.” He planted a quick kiss on my lips. “I’m having a Guinness. I mean, you have to in a place like this, right?” He glided into his seat.

I slid in across from him. One beer wouldn’t hurt my morning skate. Might even help. “I’ll have one too.” I picked up the menu and scanned over it. Cooper’s chicken had looked pretty good at the house. Maybe I could get something similar?

“What are you getting? Trying something new?” He sipped his beer.

“Yeah, I think I’ll try the rosemary chicken pasty.” I set my menu down and tented my fingers over it. I should wait until we’d ordered to bring up the conversation we needed to have.

A waiter stopped by the table and we ordered with JJ getting a Mexican-style pork and chili pasty.

“So, how’s Coop getting along at your place?” JJ placed his forearms on the table and wove his fingers together, his gaze meeting mine.

With a nod, I said, “Good. He was cooking chicken and broccoli when I left.” I watched the waiter set my beer down, and I picked it up and drank some. The creamy, cool bubbles glided down my throat with the hint of bitter and sweet. It was a lot heavier than I was used to, but I liked it.

“Good for him. He’s probably trying to get in even better shape than he is already.” JJ smirked. “The guy’s got abs for days.”

“He does.” With a chuckle, I nodded again. Should I ask him how he felt about me? No, I had to ease into this.

JJ’s smirk fell. “Are you seeing a lot of him now that you’re living together?”

Shrugging a shoulder, I said, “I guess so. I mean, I see him every day now. He’s literally in the room next to mine.” I sipped my beer. “It’s nice having him around. Ace is cool, but he’s got Zoma, so the two of them are in their bedroom a lot.” I rolled my eyes and tutted.

“Oh, yeah.” He ran his fingers up and down his beer glass. “So, I wanted to ask you. Did anything weird happen between you two the night he got wasted?”

My brows snapped up. “Uh, weird?” Like him kissing me? “Nope, nothing weird. I just put him to bed after I got him home.”

He pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “Okay, cool.”

“JJ, we need to talk, eh.” Was now a good time? I studied him, staring at his beer.

“Is it Cooper?” With a wince, his gaze rose to mine.

“No, it’s not Cooper.” Why was he fixated on him? I worried my lower lip. “It’s uh, us.” I waved my index finger at us. I couldn’t take it back now. My whole body tensed.

He inhaled deeply. “Okay. It’s not working, is it?” He clenched his jaw. “I mean, we’ve had plenty of chances to hookup, but it seems weird to. Right?”

My tense muscles relaxed. Thank God, he was feeling the same way. “Yeah, it seems weird. We have a great friendship, and it feels like dating might ruin that, you know?” Plus, there was no damn spark for me.

He huffed a laugh. “Yeah, I was really attracted to you last year, but now…” He flashed his eyes at me and held up his palm. “No offense, but I’m just not feeling it.”

As a grin crept over my lips, I said, “Same.” I shook my head. “Shit, I’m glad this goes both ways, eh?” I sniggered. The pressure was off.

“Yeah, I feel sort of bad for Cooper. He really wanted us to be together.” He leaned back as the waiter dropped off our food. “Oh damn, that smells heavenly.”