Page 78 of What Are the Chances
Sliding my hands along her back, I edged up her zip-up sweater and kissed the warm skin on her stomach. I was grateful herno kissing ruledidn’t apply to her entire body.
I darted out my tongue, licking a path lower and letting it fall beneath her lacy underwear. Following the movement with my hand, I slipped one finger inside, parting her.
“One more for the road?” I questioned.
On a breathy exhale, Riley nodded eagerly. “Take as many for the road as you want.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Vendetta against myself
RILEY
I must have a vendetta against myself. First I’d anxiously spent the morning waiting for Will to turn up, and now I anxiously waited outside the hockey team changerooms for Richard to buzz me in. If things went pear-shaped, I was blaming this on Will. He’d talked me into it. All collateral damage was on his shoulders.
The door swung open and Richard appeared, smiling warmly. “I’m glad you made it work, Riley. The guys have just started stretching.”
He stalked back the way he’d come without another word. Not allowing myself a moment longer to agonise, I followed him into the lion’s den.
He gestured to things as we walked along the hallways, giving me a mini tour. I didn’t reveal that I’d been here Sunday morning – on my knees in the shower sucking off one of his star players.
“Here’s a pass so you can come and go on your own,” he said, handing me a lanyard. “After the team is finished stretching they’ll get dressed for a pregame skate before coming back into the locker room to gear up for puck drop.” He shoved open a door with his hip. “I’ll introduce you to them and the staff as the night goes on.”
I got no warning before Richard opened another door that led to the room all of the players were currently in. This wasn’t some stereotypical rom-com moment where all eyes moved to me, there was too much hustle and bustleback here for them to notice an extra body. One player did notice me though.
Will discreetly smiled at me from across the room. He was wearing a grey training shirt and black athletic shorts, and he was foam rolling his abductors, mid-conversation with Tripp.
“Riley?”
I searched for the voice in the busy room. Beth, Parker’s friend and the person responsible for resorting me to Will’s swag, skipped over. Her platinum blonde hair was curled in fun waves, and she was wearing snug jeans with a Phil-U polo. One that was much too tight and ended above her midriff, which I expected was the plan.
I, on the other hand, was in leggings, a Phil-U sweater, vest and trainers. Not to mention I hadn’t washed my hair since it’d gotten sweaty earlier during my session with Will. I’d tied it in a high ponytail with a shit ton of dry shampoo.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Beth flashed a phone in my face. “I volunteered to help with the hockey team’s socials this season.”
I’ll admit it was nice having a friendly face here. Even if that face had likely onlyvolunteeredon the chances of picking up.
“It’s a full-time gig,” Beth explained. “There’s three of us that roam around getting content. Then we send it off to the social media manager and she turns it into cool posts. Look.”
She opened Phil-U’s hockey team’s Instagram and loaded the Stories. Sure enough, six minutes ago there was a Story posted of the team stretching. I don’t know how Will dealt with that, keeping his focus on his stretches when there were people filming his every move.
“What are you doing here?” Beth asked.
“I, um–”
“Riley. Come with me,” Richard called out.
I shot an apologetic look at Beth. “I’ll catch you later.”
When Richard held open the door, I followed without question.
“Tonight will likely be hectic, but I want you to tail me like a shadow. That’ll give you a good idea of what happens on a game night.”
I liked the sound of that. Richard’s background was the NHL itself. He’d stepped into this role as a segue to retirement, wanting a better work-life balance. There was a wealth of knowledge in his brain that I wanted a front row seat to.
Two students from my class were already waiting in Richard’s office. Richard must have given them a head’s up that I’d be here because they smiled warmly.
