18. SKYE

18

SKYE

It was Frisbee.

Ultimate Frisbee, to be precise.

Cooper and I had arrived about an hour ago, and much to my relief, the setting was just as he'd described. Only his immediate family, his grandparents, and his aunt, uncle, and cousins were in attendance. Rhea and Ava were both present as well, but Marco had not arrived yet.

Even with the number of people present, it was still far more intimate than Cooper's party had been. And I liked that, because I felt much more comfortable and believed I'd be able to connect with at least one or two of his family members.

From the moment we'd gotten here, Cooper and I had mingled with his family. Everyone was making small talk, grabbing drinks, and enjoying the sunshine. But it became clear there was something big on the horizon when Cooper's grandparents revealed they'd decided on having a Frisbee tournament.

Ever since I'd met him, it was obvious Cooper had a competitive side. What I hadn't anticipated was seeing all of his brothers and cousins were the same way. They were eager to get things started. And just as he said, most of the women opted out of the battle.

Of course, Cooper proved it was my comfort he had at the forefront of his mind. "Are you going to be okay hanging with my sisters, Rhea, and Ava while I play? Or would you rather I sit this out?"

"Go and play," I urged him. "I'll be fine."

Cooper had proven he wasn't the kind of guy who'd ever put me in a situation that would be harmful or uncomfortable for me, and I knew this would be no different. So, I had nothing to worry about. But it meant the world to me that he was content to put my needs before his wants. It was incredibly sweet.

With my assurance I'd be okay, Cooper and I walked toward the action. His grandparents, like his parents, had a sizeable property with a massive open space in the back of the house to not only host a BBQ but for the game, too.

When we'd gotten close, Cooper had urged me to grab the empty seat beside Rhea. My seat and hers were on one end of the semi-circle of chairs that had been claimed by Ivy, Jules, and Ava.

"Hey, Skye," Jules bubbled. "It looks like you're being smart, like the women in this family."

I smiled at Cooper's youngest sister before turning that smile on the rest of them. "Yeah. The volleyball in the pool was one thing, but this would be pushing it for me. You don't mind if I join you, do you?"

"Not at all."

I glanced up at Cooper, who was clearly pleased with his sister being so welcoming. "Go have fun."

"Okay. Don't let them tell you any lies about me," he advised, holding his hands over his head and creating a makeshift crown. "No matter what they say, I'm an angel."

I rolled my eyes and sat down as he ran off. Ivy had her eyes on her brother and mumbled, "I've never seen him like this."

"Pardon?"

Turning her attention to me, she said, "Don't get me wrong. Cooper is generally pleasant in situations not involving work, but he's different."

"Yeah, I agree," Ava chimed in. "This is another level, if you ask me."

"I… Is it a bad thing?" I asked, feeling my belly tighten painfully with worry.

Ivy and Ava shook their heads, but it was Jules who answered. "No. I think we're all just feeling a bit of shock. That's all. Trust me, this is wonderful."

Okay, so that made me feel much better. The coiling feeling I'd felt in my stomach unraveled with relief.

When my eyes slid to Rhea for additional confirmation, she said, "I'm with you, Skye. I've never seen the grumpy side of Cooper. He's always been nice to me. Then again, I've really only seen him in these types of situations."

I still hadn't gotten over the fact everyone seemed to believe Cooper was a grouch. He was never angry or moody around me.

"I get the feeling if Cooper hadn't met Skye, you would have eventually seen it," Ivy said. "You just haven't had enough time around him yet for it to come out."

It seemed they believed I'd had a profound effect on Cooper's mood. It warmed my heart to think I had the power to impact a man like him in such a tremendous way, and I couldn't hide how it made me feel. The corners of my mouth tipped up in a smile.

Just then, there was a bit of a commotion out in the middle of the field. We all looked in that direction and saw that despite the loud voices, everyone seemed to be happy. It was all just a bit of friendly fire.

"Well, I have been around Cooper enough to notice the competitive side to him," I confessed. "That man doesn't like to lose."

"Ha! That's a Westwood trait," Ava declared. "All the guys are like that."

"Speaking from experience, I can confirm that's the truth," Rhea added. "Wyatt refused to be denied."

"Can I ask how you and Wyatt met?"

Before Rhea could respond, Jules declared, "Oh, boy. You better buckle up for this one."

To say I was intrigued would have been an understatement, so I settled myself in for Rhea's answer. Only, that was short-lived.

Because a flying disc went whizzing through the air, pulling my attention away from the women. Apparently, all of the Westwood men were men of action, not just Cooper. I would have expected they'd all need some time to sort out teams and rules, but they just jumped right into the game without needing to spend much time talking about it.

Color me impressed.

Rhea laughed, forcing me to look in her direction again. "There's never a dull moment around here, that's for sure," she said. "Funny you should ask about how Wyatt and I met, Skye. I have an ice cream shop on my family's farm, and back in March, Wyatt walked in, looking to purchase part of our land for the amusement park expansion. I turned him down, and I thought he graciously accepted. But then he turned up at the spot I go running every morning, and I was convinced he was stalking me."

My eyes rounded. "Was he?"

She shook her head, a bright smile on her face. "No. But I was stubborn and refused to believe him. We ran together without speaking to each other for quite a while before he wore me down."

"And if anything, it was almost as though Wyatt had taken a page out of Cooper's book for some time in the beginning there," Jules noted. "He's a determined guy, but Rhea wasn't making things easy for him."

It seemed the Westwood men had a particular way about them. I was no stranger to that determination. I didn't have the full story yet, but it was evident Wyatt's persistence had paid off, considering Rhea was sitting here now. If Wyatt was anything with Rhea like Cooper had been with me, I couldn't say I didn't understand why he'd been successful.

"Oh, shoot!" Ava cried out. I snapped my head in her direction to see her standing from her seat with the remnants of her drink in her hand. The rest of it had spilled down the front of her shirt. "This is lovely. I'm going to go get this cleaned up. I'll be back."

"Do you want help? I can find another shirt for you," Ivy offered.

Ava shook her head. "I think I have something in my car. I'll let you know if I don't."

As Ava walked off, Ivy let out a laugh. "It blows my mind how she does what she does for a living and still manages to be accident prone. All that coordination, and she consistently spills something or winds up with unexplained bruises."

"What does Ava do?" I asked.

"She's a professional dancer. In fact, she's gearing up to head out on tour in a few days and is expected to be gone for the better part of the next year," Ivy shared.

"Wow," I marveled. Clumsy or not, I admired Ava. I couldn't begin to imagine getting up on a stage and dancing in front of such large crowds. "I could never do that."

Jules and Rhea nodded their agreement as Ivy said, "I couldn't either. But she loves it."

"How does she manage being away for such long stretches of time?" I asked.

Before Ivy could respond, one of the guys yelled, "Heads up!"

My body braced for impact as I attempted to discern where the threat was looming. Surely, something was flying in our direction.

Just before the disc got too close, Liam caught it. A second or two later and Jules would have gotten whacked in the head with it. "Thanks for keeping us safe, Liam," Jules shouted.

He glanced back at his sister, offered a half-hearted smile, and returned, "Always."

While it was clear he was genuine and meant what he said, there was something else lingering there. His features were strained, and the tone of his voice was a bit forlorn.

Or, so I thought.

When Liam returned to the middle of the field, doing as we watched, any of the tension I thought was there was gone.

So, I let it go.

Partly because I didn't think I was in a place to make assumptions or even ask about Cooper's brother's mindset. But the bigger reason I didn't keep my thoughts focused on Liam was because it was at that moment when I realized just how intense the game had gotten. The men were covered in sweat, several of them having lost their shirts. Cooper was one of them, and I wasn't too proud to admit it took some strength not to start drooling. Sure, I'd seen him shirtless during his birthday party, but this felt different for some reason.

"That was close," Rhea said, pulling me out of my fog.

"Yeah, I guess so. But having lived with four older brothers for so long, I expect as much," Jules replied.

"Give it some time, and you'll start to worry if stuff like that doesn't happen," Ivy added. "And to answer your question about Ava being away for such long periods of time, Skye, the answer is relatively simple. She loves dancing and has always wanted to do what she's doing. She's living out her dream, and all I can say is that I admire her courage to keep chasing that."

Nodding my understanding, I said, "Well, that's got to be so exciting for her to travel all over the world."

"Where are you going, Tate?" Cooper yelled out.

Tate, shirtless like his brother, was heading back toward the house, one hand holding the other. He turned to look back at Cooper and the rest of the guys. He held up his hands and declared, "Injury. I'll be right back."

I shook my head in disbelief, returned my attention to Rhea, and tried to get us back on track. "I'm sorry. We sort of got distracted here. So, how exactly did things go down between you and Wyatt? I hope you don't mind me asking, but I'm curious how you went from not talking to him at all to being here celebrating the 4th of July with him and his family."

"I don't mind at all," she assured me. Then Rhea went on to tell me how things had gone down for her and Wyatt over the last few months. They'd certainly experienced a whirlwind to get to where they were now, but it was obvious things had worked out for the best for them.

Listening to it all, getting to know Rhea, and seeing just how happy she was now that she and Wyatt were officially together, I couldn't help but think about my own situation with Cooper.

Rhea had made it clear things were tense between her and Wyatt in the beginning. Cooper and I hadn't experienced that. But where our situations were similar was in the persistence of the men who'd walked into our lives. Though the reasons for keeping the men at bay were different, the result was the same.

Wyatt refused to give up on having something special with Rhea. Cooper refused to give up on having something special with me.

And if there was one thing I took away from Rhea's situation, it was that as much as she believed she needed to take the time she did to get to know the real Wyatt, she knew she lost some time in the beginning because she was stubborn.

In my situation, I'd held Cooper at arm's length because my heart had been broken too many times to want to suffer through something bad again. Cooper stood his ground, put in the work, and made me believe in the possibility of something permanent again. Although it hadn't been months or years yet, I could only hope I wouldn't live to regret what I'd done by not hopping right into something serious with Cooper.

"So, where exactly do things stand for you and Cooper?" Rhea asked.

At that question, I noticed how Ivy and Jules leaned in a bit, awaiting my response. I didn't mind that they wanted to know. Cooper was their brother, and it was obvious they cared about him the same as he did them.

"Well, we're not officially together or anything like that, but just like Wyatt took his time to wear you down, I think Cooper might be having that same effect on me," I confessed.

Rhea smiled, Jules beamed at me, and Ivy offered a nod of approval. Before any of them could say anything in response, Ava returned wearing a new shirt.

But that wasn't all. It only took one look at her face to see she was upset.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed, either.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Jules asked her.

Ava shook her head, swiped at her cheeks, and insisted, "Nothing. I'm just being silly. I loved that shirt, and despite how quickly I tended to it, I just don't think it's going to survive."

"Are you sure?" Ivy pressed, clearly not buying Ava's explanation.

Ava forced a smile on her face. "Of course."

It was obvious to all of us that Ava wasn't okay, but whatever was bothering her wasn't something she wanted to share. Figuring it would be best to try to divert the attention away from her, I said, "So, Jules, I was wondering how your pastry program was going and if you were finding it beneficial. I know you just started, but from what I tasted a few days ago, you're already a stellar baker."

Happy as ever, Jules sat up and said, "Thank you." She then went on to tell me about her pastry program, the things she was learning, and how excited she was to complete the program, so she could finally open her own bakery.

I listened intently, wanting to be sure I made the effort to really get to know Cooper's family.

But at the same time, I couldn't stop myself from glancing over at Ava from time to time and noticing the dejected look on her face. There was no way her mood shift could have only been about that shirt.

And when I finally turned my attention toward the field again, I was certain I'd figured it out. Maybe I didn't know the details, but if I had to guess, something happened between Tate and Ava. Because whenever he wasn't in the midst of a play, his eyes sought her out.

A movement to the left of Tate caught my attention, and that's when I saw Cooper staring at me. He was half-naked and grinning at me.

God, the man was stunning. My hands had been resting on my thighs, and my nails dug into the skin there, since I couldn't do what I really wanted, which was to touch him instead. And when he didn't look away, I knew I had to give him some kind of reaction.

The only thing I could bring myself to do was to smile back at him and offer a wave. That's when he gave me a wink, turned, and got back to his game.

Maybe I didn't know what happened between Tate and Ava. But if what Rhea had already experienced with Wyatt and what I was currently going through with Cooper was any indication, maybe it wouldn't be long before Ava was smiling at Tate, feeling those very same feelings.

Having experienced the worst of it, where I was now, where I knew I wanted to go, I didn't think it was a bad place to be.