Page 29 of What Are the Chances
As I got settled, I tried picking up on Riley’s mood. I wasn’t naïve in thinking Saturday night meant we were friendlyagain. Hell, we’d been bickering up until the moment we went to sleep.
“How did your shoulder hold up yesterday?” she checked.
“Okay. But it’s sore this morning.”
I didn’t bother lying. I couldn’t exactly hide it.
“Take off your hoodie and I’ll look.”
I did as Riley said, slipping it off and setting it on the bed beside me. As Riley stepped closer, her familiar sweet scent enveloped me, leaving me momentarily disoriented. Her hair, loose today, cascaded over her collarbone as she leaned forward.
She sunk her fingers into my shoulder with more confidence than last time. When she touched a particularly sore spot, one sensitive enough to cause my arm to jar, I instinctively reached out. My hand landed on the back of her thigh, my fingertips instantly prickling with familiarity. With nothing on but athletic leggings, I could feel the warmth and firmness of her leg. I remembered it well too. Those same legs wrapped around my torso, or hooked over my shoulders, or on either side of my face, or–
As Riley cleared her throat, I snapped back to reality and hurriedly summoned all my willpower and dropped my hand.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Without my touch, the rigidness slowly left Riley’s body.
“It’s fine. I guess I could be a little gentler.”
I scoffed at that. “You think?”
The pressure she was applying now was perfect. It was still painful, but a good type of pain. One that told me she was tending to all the right places. She went through a range of exercises, moving my shoulder up and down before getting me to rotate it.
“You should have your trainer start taping your shoulder before practice and games.”
I grimaced. “That’s not an option.”
Riley raised her eyebrows in question, encouraging me to elaborate.
I sighed. “It’s not painful enough to be benched. But if I asked him to strap it, he’d bench me anyway.”
“Caufield.”
Riley’s tone was a warning.
“I know my body, Riley.”
“No. You’re obsessed enough with hockey to ignore what your body is telling you.”
Maybe. Probably. But that wasn’t going to change now.
“You do realise I’m meant to report these sessions to your athletic trainer, right?”
I didn’t need to ask her to leave this part out. I knew the unspoken message was clear to Riley.
She exhaled, shaking her head in disbelief. “You haven’t changed.”
“And you have?”
She defiantly held my gaze for a moment before turning and reaching for the tape. There were plenty of guys with taping in the locker rooms, so I wasn’t worried about standing out to my trainers or Coach. My friends might notice though, particularly Levi. I’d need to minimise time without a shirt. Speaking of...
I tugged on my tee. “Is this in the way?”
“Um.” A blush crept up Riley’s neck. “Probably. Do you mind?”
It was just skin. Besides, nothing she hadn’t seen before. I slipped out my right arm but kept as much as I could of my left side clothed.
