Page 86 of Desperate Pucker
Maddy
Ipull into the parking lot of a gas station just outside of the Hollis University campus.
“He’s right there,” Ryker says, pointing at a gray, sporty-looking sedan at the far side of the building. It’s backed into the spot, so I park in front of it.
A second later, a young guy climbs out of the driver’s seat. He looks like a younger version of Ryker. Same thick, dark brown hair. Same deep gold-brown eyes. Same sharp jawline. He’s as tall as Ryker but leaner.
He’s the younger, pretty-boy version of Ryker’s rugged handsomeness.
“He looks like you fifteen years ago,” I tease.
Ryker grumbles and rolls his eyes. I chuckle.
When we step out of the car, an amused smile pulls at his little brother’s lips as he looks between Ryker and me.
“Hey, big bro. Sorry, I didn’t know I was interrupting date night for you.”
Ryker just frowns at him. “Pop your hood.”
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your pretty friend?” his brother says.
Ryker glares at him. He turns to me. “Maddy, this is Nick. Nick, Maddy.” He turns back to Nick. “Now pop the damn hood.”
Nick holds up a hand and chuckles. “Okay, okay.”
He ducks back into the car and pops the hood. I open the hood of my SUV, then grab the jumper cables from the back and hand them to Ryker.
“Thanks,” he says before getting everything hooked up between our cars.
Nick walks up to me and rests his hands in his jacket pockets. A smug smile pulls at his lips. “So Maddy. What’s a beautiful woman like you doing with my brother?”
Ryker glowers at him.
“I’m his skating coach. I work for the Bashers.”
His eyebrow lifts as he looks at Ryker. “Really?” He turns back to me. “You look familiar. Did you figure skate?”
I nod. “Yeah. I used to compete, but it’s been a couple of years.”
“She’s an Olympic medalist,” Ryker announces from under the hood of his brother’s car.
Nick blinks at me, then his eyes go wide. “Holy shit, you’re Madeline Macer. You got bronze at the Olympics.”
My cheeks heat, nervous that he’s going to give me a hard time about my public breakdown. But he just grins at me, like he can barely contain his excitement.
“I watched you skate. You’re incredible. How the hell do you look so graceful on the ice?” he says.
I go soft at his sweet compliment. “Thank you. That’s really nice of you to say.”
Nick shakes his head, still grinning. “Oh man, this is awesome.”
Ryker starts up my car while Nick looks around for a second before hopping back into his car and grabbing a pen and a piece of paper. “Can I have your autograph?”
I let out a flustered laugh. “Okay, sure.”
I sign the paper and hand it back to him. He gazes at it with starry eyes and tucks it away in his pocket. He beams at me. “Madeline Macer jumped my car. This is so fucking cool.”
“Your brother tells me that you play hockey too for Hollis University.”
