Page 40 of Rinkmates

He sighs, taking his bowl and sitting at the table. “Again. I’m sorry. Fruit Loops is my stress food. Come on, sit down. Give me compliments about my cooking and light up my day.”

My stomach growls, and the food looks too amazing to resist, so I take the bowl and sit down. “I bought you two boxes,” I grumble, nodding to his cupboard where he hoards his holy grail of sugar.

He looks genuinely surprised. “Oh, thank you. You didn’t have to—”

“You transformed into a gorilla. I had to.” I take a bite of the curry, and—oh shit. “Wow. Where did you learn to cook like this?”

I take another bite and actually moan, the flavors practically explode in my mouth.

Riley stiffens, his eyes glued to me as I savor his food.

The spoon lingers in front of his slightly parted lips and he looks pained.

“What?” I say, my voice muffled with a full spoon of this red goodness. His gaze flicks to my lips, and he shifts awkwardly in his chair. Is he okay?

“Nothing,” he says, finally putting that spoon in his mouth. “I’m just happy you like it.” He clears his throat. “Our team had dinner at a Thai restaurant where they cooked in front of the tables, and I talked with the chef and got some recipes from him. It’s his gaeng phet but without celery. I’m allergic.”

“Funny. I always thought you were the type to have chefs cooking for you at home.”

Riley snorts. “Well, my family does. I only learned to cook in college. I don’t like to have too many random people at my house. I need someone helping with cleaning since I’m away alot, and I don’t want to spend my weekends dusting everything I haven’t touched.”

I nod, remembering how surprised I was to see him doing his own laundry last week. Maybe I pictured rich people wrong.

“But otherwise, I like taking care of my own things.”

I smile at him and then take another bite and moan again. Damn, this is good. His cooking stirs something deep inside me that I can’t ignore.

Riley clears his throat again. Is he okay?

My trembling hand loses grip of the spoon, causing it to clatter against the bowl with a loud clang. “Sorry,” I say and quickly keep on eating. I’ve never had this before. That a man could make me have all these feelings about him. Just hours ago I fantasized about killing him with lavender, and now. Well now, I want—

Damn it. It’s easier when he’s not nice to me.

I can focus on hating him. But when he looks at me like that, like he’s undressing me with his eyes, I get the feeling he sees nothing but me. My heart races, and I don’t want to think about that because he clearly has other women on his mind. I’ve seen the fan mail he gets—hundreds of women begging for his attention. If it wasn’t for our contract, he could just text whoever he wants, like he’s browsing a catalog for hookups. The thought sends a pang of jealousy through me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask, his gaze still focused on me, making my skin tingle.

There’s that smile again. Damn it. I hate this smile so much I know it’s all I’ll think about later. It’s infuriating how much power he has over me with just a look.

“I think I like cooking for you, James. Those little sounds you make. Be careful. You might turn me into an addicted man.”

I snort, trying to play it cool, but deep down I am swooning. But I don’t want to swoon. Shit. “I didn’t moan.” Oh, I did.

“You did.”

“You wish.”

“I may.”

We stare at each other again. My cheeks areburning.

I release a breath and stand up. Are my knees shaking? Shoot. They are. I can’t let him see how much this little banter is affecting me. But more importantly, he can’t know he’s making me wet between my legs.

“Good night, thanks for the curry.” I put the bowl in the dishwasher and lock myself in my room, not daring to come out again.

The day startedon a different note.

Not only do I finally get to hit the ice with Aiden, but it seems like Riley genuinely feels sorry for flipping out over the cereal. He got me a romance novel and acted like it was no big deal, but I’m surprised he remembered I mentioned liking romance books. I didn’t think he’d be the type to remember details like that. The blurb sounds so fun, and I’m looking forward to diving into it during our breaks or downtime between training sessions. It’s been years since I bought myself a paperback.

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