Page 70 of What Are the Chances
The typing dots appeared. Then they disappeared. Then they reappeared.
RILEY:You decide.
Fuck. This wasn’t dangerous territory. It was lethal. And I was okay with it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
I’ll see you Wednesday
RILEY
When Will walked in ten-minutes later, my cheeks still felt warm from his last message. Wednesday had never been up there with my favourite day of the week. I had a particularly boring tutor whose practicals were mind-numbing, and my lectures were back-to-back. I needed to skip two to be home for Will, but something told me it would be worth it.
Will had his hands stuffed into his hockey jacket, the tips of his hair still wet from a shower. I turned away to hide the flush that danced up my neck thinking about those showers. Watching Will come apart like that, his tattooed torso glistening with steam and water, had been so fucking hot. I’d literally clocked my best two miles running home, where I’d hastily swiped my vibrator from my side table before taking a shower of my own.
“Sup, Dover.”
Tripp was the guy I always needed in the room. He was either oblivious to tension, or he chose not to acknowledge it.
I plastered a solid smile on my face. “Hey.”
There was an older man with them dressed in a Phil-U tracksuit. He stepped around Will and Tripp, holding out his hand to me.
“Richard Donohue.”
I shook his outstretched hand. “Riley Dover.”
He smiled. “Good to finally meet you, Riley. I’ve been eager to check out your set up. Mind if I observe for a bit?”
Nodding, I gestured to the chair on the other side of the partition. “Be my guest.”
I started with Tripp, motioning through our normal routine. His knee hadn’t been an issue since his last game, which confirmed my suspicions that it wasn’t lock knee. Still, to avoid the soft tissue damage getting worse, we worked through a new set of exercises that I told him to complete before each practice and game.
With each piece of advice I gave I caught myself glancing in Richard’s direction out of the corner of my eye. His stoic nods were a good affirmation. While I trusted myself I liked verifying I was on track.
Will’s check-in was quicker to get through without his shoulder taking up the majority of the session. That wasn’t to say the rest of his body was in perfect shape though. Everywhere was tense.
“You might want to get into the habit of working ice baths and saunas into your recovery,” I said. “The ice baths will help reduce muscle soreness and inflammation, and the sauna is great to help loosen those same muscles. Try a sauna after your practice but before you stretch. And if you don’t have access to an ice bath, cold showers are a good alternative.”
The corner of Will’s mouth turned up. “I prefer my showers warm.”
I swallowed hard, trying to clear the sudden lump of surprise that formed in my throat. I could still feel the light droplets of water that’d splashed over me while –nope.Don’t torture yourself, Riley.
“We have both of those available in the hockey facility,” Richard piped up. “Though I’ll admit, we could be utilising them more. Will, chat to Holloway and sort out an after-practice ice bath session for the team. We’ll make it a bonding exercise.”
Will grimaced. “Sounds like fun.”
Chuckling, I entered my notes into my tablet. I didn’t expect Will had any intention of following through on Richard’s request.
While Will shrugged his jacket back on, I thought back to the first time he’d sat on that therapy table, when we’d been so tense around each other I’d done the whole assessment over the top of his puffer coat.
Since then we’d slept together, he’d given me three orgasms, I’d sucked him off in the locker room showers, and we were set to have sex in just over forty-eight-hours. I was either evolving or getting stupider. The odds were on the latter.
Richard rose from his seat. “We run a program in collaboration with the health science department. Students can nominate to spend a semester with a sporting team and replace their final assessment with hands-on experience.”
I was familiar with the program. My course counsellors had encouraged me to apply. For obvious reasons, I hadn’t.
“I rechecked the applications once I started receiving your emails about Tripp and Will. Your name wasn’t among the list of applicants.”
