TheGrinder_Kobo
Page 15
Riley nodded though he knew Jake couldn’t see him. “Keep in touch. Seriously.”
“You too. Kick ass tonight, Hatch.”
Jake didn’t say good-bye. The call simply disconnected, leaving Riley with one burning question.
Why had Aly watched the game with his team?
Only because she and Bliss had become friends? Or was he right to think maybe—
Fuck. He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to think about this. He didn’t want it to fuck with his head before the game. Last night had sucked, to be ahead for all of the game and to lose it in the last seconds. Coach hadn’t been happy last night and a few of the guys, Riley included, had gone out to drown their sorrows.
Probably not something he’d do again. He’d gone only because he had nothing else to do. No one to go home to, no one he wanted to call to talk to.
No Aly.
But she’d been at Shane’s last night.
So what? That only proved she liked Bliss.
She hadn’t called or texted him the entire day.
And there’s your answer, asshole.
Time to move on.
He got out of his car and headed into the arena.
* * * * *
“So? Are you ready?”
Aly rolled her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea, Viv. What if he doesn’t want to see me? What if he’s already dating someone else? What if he just doesn’t care that I’m here? I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. This is his job.”
“He’ll feel the same way you would if he showed up at the hospital with a sign proclaiming his feelings for you. You’d melt into a little puddle of goo and promise him sexual favors when you get him alone.”
Sitting in her seat in the Colonials offensive end of the arena, Aly pulled a face at her sister and reached inside her purse to tap the sign she’d made in a moment of sheer stupidity.
It’d seemed like a good idea last night after a couple of beers and a profane discussion with Riley’s friends, who’d been more than eager to help her figure out what her sign should say.
But now that she was actually here, common sense was trying to kick in. Or maybe it was fear.
Hell, maybe he wouldn’t remember what the sign meant.
“Oh, I know that look. Don’t wimp out now, Aly. Come on, we braved the Schuylkill Expressway. Don’t let a little performance anxiety get in your way.”
Yes, the Schuylkill had been a mess today. They’d passed two accidents, had crawled at five miles an hour for long stretches, and got lost twice in Center City on the way to the arena.
Now here she was, waiting to get her first live glimpse of Riley in his uniform during the pre-game warm-up. Trying to work up the courage to walk over to the other side of the arena, walk down the stairs to the glass at the ice, and wait for Riley to notice her standing there with her little sign that was meant only for him.
Could she do it?
Hell, yes, she could.
She checked the clock. Only three minutes until the teams made it out to the ice for warm-ups.
Standing, she took a deep breath. “If this doesn’t work, we’re leaving. Immediately.”
Vivi grinned and settled deeper into her seat. “You forget. I drove. Besides, I figure I’m driving home alone tonight.”
Aly could only hope.
* * * * *
“Okay, boys. Work out the kinks, get loose, and get ready to play.”
Assistant Coach Domenic Mann slapped each man on the back as they passed through the hall for warm-ups and Riley nodded before hitting the ice.
The music was nothing more than a throbbing beat in his ears, the crowd noise barely a consideration at this point. It’d get louder when the game started but he’d learned how to put it aside and concentrate on the game.
Tonight, it was merely noise.
Just like the people gathered at the glass, banging and cheering. None of them were there for him. No one knew him yet. Hopefully that would change and soon. But for now, he was okay with anonymity.
It wasn’t until he and CJ and a few other guys were flipping the last pucks into the ice before the buzzer rang that CJ skated up next to him.
“Uh, Riley.”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Uh—”
“Dude.” Travis flanked him. “There’s some girl here with your jersey on. Don’t know how the fuck you got puck bunnies already but if you throw this one back, put in a good word for me. I got a thing for blondes.”
Riley nearly tripped himself as his head shot up.
“Seriously? Where?”
Travis laughed and shook his head. “Right corner. She’s a few rows up and she looks way too civilized for you. She needs a guy like me.”
His head shot around to the direction Travis pointed and he sucked in air.
Christ, how the hell had he missed her?
Aly stood perfectly still, five rows back from the ice. She was wearing a Colonials sweater and damn if Travis wasn’t right. She was wearing his number. He could just make out the seven on her arm when she lifted her hand to wave. Her wary expression made him smile.
He was so fucking happy to see her, his heart literally felt like it could pound out of his chest.
She was here. Holy fuck, she was actually here.
All the bullshit he’d told himself about how he was over her and how it didn’t matter if she didn’t like him… Yeah, that was all shit. He knew that now.
The only thing that mattered was that she was here. She’d taken that huge first step and showed up.
And he wasn’t about to let her hang.
Skating over to the ice, ignoring the catcalls from the few guys still there, he put his hand on the glass and waited.
The fans on the other side high-fived him but soon realized that he wasn’t looking at them.
He only had eyes for Aly.
He watched her make her way down the stairs, trying to wade through the sea of blue-and-white-clad fans to the glass, where the usher, a guy wearing a huge, shit-eating grin, made a space for her.
She didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure he would’ve heard her anyway. But the smile on her face was all he needed to see.
And then she looked down and pulled something out of her purse.
A piece of paper that she held up on the glass next to his hand.
She’d only written one word in perfect block letters.
Please
Then she put her hand on the glass to mirror his and he smiled until his face hurt.
“Stay.”
He wasn’t sure she’d heard him, but she nodded and her smile widened.
And Riley knew, no matter how the game ended, he’d already won.
* * * * *
The guys were pumped after tonight’s win and the locker room sounded like a frat house on homecoming weekend.
“So, Riley. Guess you’re not coming out to celebrate tonight, huh?”
Ignoring Travis’s sly dig was easy, considering Riley had somewhere infinitely more interesting to be tonight.
He’d been able to keep his attention focused squarely on the game, but the second the final buzzer rang, he’d started to grin. And not because his team had won. Well, not only that.
“Hell, I wouldn’t be going out with you tonight if I had someone who looked like that waiting for me tonight,” Colin responded. “Damn, Riley, how’d you snag her, anyway? Seriously, man, she looks way too smart for you.”
Riley didn’t bother to look up as he shoved his legs into his pants then shrugged into his shirt. He was on a mission and wasn’t about to be deterred. But he did manage to shoot Colin and Travis the finger over his shoulder.
While the two of them laughed, Riley rolled his tie and stuffed it in the pocket of his jacket. He didn’t want to take the time to knot it. Coach had already done his post-game talk, which meant Riley was free to go as soon as he was ready.
And he was pretty much ready to go now�
��when he remembered he’d driven in with CJ. Because he was sharing a hotel room with him.
Shit.
He stopped, totally stymied.
“Uh, Riley?” Sitting next to him on the bench, CJ looked up, frowning. “You okay?”
“Yeah, but I need you to find somewhere to crash tonight. I’ll make it up to you, I swe—”
CJ’s laughter cut Riley off.
“Dude, I’m not stupid. As soon as I saw Aly at the game, I checked around. I’m gonna crash at Malone’s place tonight. He’s got an extra bed since O’Neill’s still in the hospital—”
Riley grabbed CJ by the nape and yanked him forward to kiss his head. “I love you, kid.”
CJ pushed him away with a laugh. “Yeah, yeah. You owe me, Rye. Just don’t fuck it up.”
“Don’t plan to.”
Seconds later, Riley was out of the locker room and into the hall. Pulling out his phone, he breathed a sigh of relief to see a text from Aly.
Not sure where I should meet you so I’ll wait outside until I hear from you. If something changes, I’ll go home with Vivi and you can text me.
Hell, nothing was going to change his mind. She’d made the next step and he was going to make sure the only way they kept moving was forward.
I’m done. Where are you?
Already on his way out of the building, Riley stopped and looked around. There were still a crowd of fans milling around, waiting for the crush at the train station to ease. He didn’t think he’d be recognized. He wore a beanie that hid his hair but had forgotten to factor in the suit. Dead giveaway.
“Riley! Will you sign my program?”
A little girl in pigtails and a Colonials sweater asked him to sign her souvenir stick, the smile on her face adorable. Of course, he said yes. Five seconds later, he had a crowd of people around him.
And the vague remembrance of a conversation with the team PR woman to be polite at all times and not to open his mouth too much.
Which was a virtual impossibility for him.
He spoke to everyone who stuck something in his hands. Mostly they were kids who wanted him to sign their sweaters or their programs. He’d done it thousands of times before but never on an NHL sweater.
His face hurt by the time he’d signed every piece, he’d smiled and talked and took photos.
And when he looked up after the last person walked away, he found Aly, smiling at him from a bench lining the walk to the entrance.
She had her hands stuffed in the pockets of her coat and she looked cold. Standing when she saw he’d noticed her, she walked toward him. He met her halfway, trying to find the perfect thing to say.
She looked like she was doing the same thing, her smile a little strained, like she didn’t have a clue what he was going to say.
When she stood right in front of him, he realized he didn’t need to say anything.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pressed his lips against hers and kissed the hell out of her.
He kissed her like a parched man gulped water after three days in the desert.
Her lips softened under his and her arms went around his waist to hold him almost as tightly as he held her. He lost himself in her taste and her touch. Not even the catcalls from the security guards and the few lingering fans made him want to stop.
Hell, if he could continue to kiss her and still get to his hotel room, he would’ve considered it.
He didn’t know how long they stood there, kissing each other like they hadn’t seen each other in weeks. He couldn’t get enough of her, probably would never get enough of her. This… She was exactly what he wanted to come home to every night.
But when Aly pulled away, he let her go. Reluctantly. And not far. He kept his arms around her shoulders and her body tucked against his.
“I fucking missed you.” He spoke before she could say anything and probably should’ve taken time to think of something better. But the truth was, he meant every word. “I don’t want to miss you again. I want you to be the first person I see when I get back from a road trip. I want to be the first person you want to talk to in the morning and the last person you want to talk to before you go to sleep. And I want to be inside you as often as I can. Starting in the next half hour.”
Laughing, she slipped one hand under his beanie, into his still-wet hair, and tugged him down for another kiss that made every part of his body hot and ready. Some more than others. “I missed you too, Riley.”
His cock hardened even more than it already was. The walk to the car would be interesting. “You have no idea how damn glad I am to hear that.”
Her smiled softened a little. “I’m not sure how we’re going to figure out the distance, but,” she pressed her fingers to his lips when he opened his mouth to respond, “I want to make this work. I will try my damnedest to make it work. I would rather have you some of the time than not at all.”
His heart practically hurt at the sweet tone of her voice and the look in her eyes. “And I will take you any way I can get you. Every way. All ways.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Some ways we haven’t tried yet.”
She laughed again and settled her hands on his shoulders, staring up into his eyes and making him wish for a dark corner. “Then take me to your hotel and let me do bad things to you.”
“Honey, you can do anything you want to me. As long as I get to return the favor. I will make it my mission in life to please you in ways you never imagined.”
Pulling his head down, she rubbed her cold nose against his. “I think I’ll be the one owing you favors. And I’ll love every minute of it.”
His grin grew even wider. “Then let me show you some of my moves, hon.”
“I’m all yours, Riley.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pointed them in the direction of the parking garage. “Damn right, babe. Damn right.”
The End
Stephanie Julian
Stephanie Julian has been a daily news reporter, a freelance feature writer and a movie, theater and music critic but what she loves most is writing heat with heart. She’s happily married to a Springsteen fanatic and is the mother of two sons.
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