Page 24 of Riley

“Fuck!” I growled, grabbing the puck as Rileybrattilysquared his shoulders, nodding to me cockily.

“You were saying?” he taunted.

I slid the puck back with force as he tried to block me. But it was no use. This was my favorite game at Wizards, and I’d grown up playing it in my parent’s basement.

There was no way I was going to let him beat me at my own game. My goal rang, and I smiled wickedly.

“I said, I amcoming for you, Riley. Tonight, I will own you.”

Riley aimed another shot, and I managed to block him. We were officially tied.

He grunted in annoyance, and I had to admit the change of tone, the undercurrent ofbraton him was making me damn near salivate.

I whipped the puck back, angling from the side, and it slid in with ease.

Riley cursed, throwing his arms in the air. But we still had two points left until the game would be over.

The next shot from Riley was so fierce, the damn puck flew off the table. I caught it before it hit the ground.

“Nice try,” I said, slamming it back down, hitting it with precision as it struck its goal, seamlessly.

“Fucking hell,” he breathed, now visibly shaken. One point left, and he was mine.

“Should we sweeten the stakes?” I asked, licking my lips, knowing full well I had this in the bag.

“Really, Eric?Nowyou want to be all cute and cocky?” he said, slamming the puck down, setting his shuttle on top of it. His gaze bore into mine like a fire, imploring me to flinch. But flinch I would not.

“Winner chooses the next date,” I said with a smile. A part of me wanted to immediately erase the word, which I hadn’t meant to say, but before I could, Riley shot his puck directly into my goal.

Fuck!

I breathed in deep. This was it, the tie breaker. The moment of truth.

His steady gaze held mine, unwavering.

I let out a deep breath as I held his gaze, and took my shot.

Riley stopped it, slamming his shuttle on top of the puck and shucking it back at me from an angle. The puck bounced like a pinball off the sides, and I tried to stop it, its momentum building with each ricochet.

And just as I went to block, the contact and the air pushed it right into my goal.

Fuck!

Fury ignited me, heating my insides once more. I flashed my gaze up at him, to see the shock and awe on his face, watched as it spread into a grin that was somehow childish but also sexy as fuck.

I tossed the shuttle down as I stalked over to him, standing tall against his frame.

Riley smiled down at me smugly, touting the brattiest, “I win,” I’d ever heard. He settled his hand on my hip, his lips turning up into a warm, victorious grin.

The feel of his palm against my hip, burning through the fabric of my shirt was damn near electric.

“Fuck you,” I breathed, feeling overwhelmed by the sight of this man. Of his warm eyes, of his heated touch, of the way I wanted nothing more than to fall into him like a damn meteorite.

Riley leaned in a fraction, his lips inches away from mine.

“Eric...”

I didn’t miss the way his Adam’s apple bobbed, or the maddening hardness pressed against me. Instinctively, I slid my hand up his trim, solid chest, over his back. His pulse thrummed beneath my fingertips, and I found it hard to focus on anything except the one thought in my brain.

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