Page 38 of Reckless With the Rookie
I furrow my brow.“You think I look fancy?”
“You look like you’re going to a parent-teacher conference.”
“Well, good news, bud—I’m not.And more good news—Magnus is coming over.”
Coop bounces from his stomach to his knees in a quick, fluid motion.“He is?”
“He’s bringing pizza and wings and helping me study.”
Coop’s happy expression drops with disappointment.“I want to play with him.”
“This is a chill night.I’m going to study for about an hour and then maybe we can all play a card game or watch a movie.”
“Okay.But not Eli and his friends, right?”
I gently pinch his chin between my thumb and forefinger.“They can play if they want.No one gets left out in this house, remember?”
“Eli left me out.He said I can’t come to the basement when his friends are here.”
That’s a valid point.“The rule is when you have friends over, that’s your time with them, not your brother’s.And the rule is the same for you when you have friends over.”
Coop had a bunch of boys over for a birthday sleepover last summer and it got wild.It took us two full days and nights to recover.
The doorbell rings, and Coop flies off the bed and out of the room to answer it.I follow, and when I see Magnus standing in our foyer with a tall stack of pizza boxes, excitement swirls in my stomach.
His eyes are on me when I get to the bottom of the stairs; I like the way he’s looking at me.
“You brought nine pizzas?”Coop cries.
“Six pizzas and ninety wings.Your mom said Eli’s having friends over, and I didn’t know how many people we’d have.”
I smile at him and say, “Two friends.”
He shrugs, amusement dancing in his sky-blue eyes.“Maybe you’ll have leftovers.”
Once we’re in the kitchen, I call up Eli and his friends, and Eli seems to really enjoy telling them our houseguest is a pro hockey player.
“You can come downstairs if you want,” Eli tells Magnus.
Coop’s jaw drops.I think his brain would short-circuit if Magnus went downstairs with Eli and his friends and I made him stay upstairs.
“Magnus is going to help me study for an hour,” I say.“If Coop can be included in whatever you guys are doing for an hour, we can all play a game after.”
“Monopoly!”Coop says.
“Something shorter than that,” I say.
Magnus stands beside me near the kitchen table, off to the side, while the boys fix themselves plates from the boxes spread out on the island.
“You look nice,” he says, his voice so soft only I can hear it.
“Thanks.You too.”
He’s wearing jeans, a green and brown flannel, and brown lace-up hiking boots.I like this rugged outdoorsman look on him.
“Thanks for bringing all this food,” I say.
“No problem.”
