Cooper comes out a minute later.
I don’t bother looking his way, but I can feel him. He takes a seat at the end of the bar again. He doesn’t order anything. He just sits there.
When I finally give in and glance his way, he’s staring intently at his phone while he’s typing away.
I tell myself not to care. If he thinks I’d betray him, that’s his own issue.
I move down the bar, taking orders and refilling drinks. One of my regulars strikes up a conversation about Bigfoot, and I laugh along with it even though I’m not really hearing a word he’s saying.
Every time I look at Cooper, he’s still messaging on his phone.
At one point, his phone rings. He stands and walks outside without so much as a goodbye. I don’t know who it is, and quite frankly, I don’t want to know.
I busy myself wiping down the counter and restocking the bar. When he returns a few minutes later, he doesn’t sit down this time.
He waits until I glance in his direction, and he tilts his head, motioning for me to come over. I hesitate long enough for him to notice.
Dave steps up behind me and tells me to take a break. I sigh as I round the bar.
“What?” I ask.
“I need to go take care of some things,” he says.
“Okay.”
“I’ll be back in an hour when you’re off.”
I cross my arms. “Why?”
“I figured I could give you a ride back to the hockey house. I want you to stay with me tonight.”
I stare at him. “No.”
“Brin—”
“No,” I repeat. “Once again, you’re trying to tell me where I’m sleeping tonight.”
His shoulders tense.
“I’m staying at my apartment tonight.”
He steps closer, lowering his voice. “Will you please just trust me?”
The wordtrusthangs there between us.
“Trust you?” I huff out a quiet laugh, but there’s nothing funny about it. “After the conversation we just had?”
His jaw tightens. For a second, it looks like he wants to argue, but he stops himself.
“I’m not doing this here,” he says. “I need you with me tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because I do.”
“That’s not an explanation.”
He glances toward the front of the bar like he’s measuring how much to say. When he looks back at me, the anger has eased, his gaze softening.
