Page 39 of Ice Bet

“I’m not stopping until I lose,” Riley teased, pulling her long, dark hair up into a bun on top of her head. Her bare neck gave way to smooth skin and an even bigger window to her sexy top. I was almost positive she wasn’t wearing a bra either.

After throwing back the last of my warm beer and watching every guy at the party fall under the spell that Riley had been putting on, I stepped up to the table and shoved Sully out of the way.

“My turn,” I quipped, cracking my neck.

Sully opened his mouth, but I stopped him before he could even get started.

“You lost,” I reminded him. “It’s my turn.”

Words died on the end of his lips when Riley beat him to the punch. “That’s fine,” she said. “But prepare to be put in your place, Aasher.” She turned away and mumbled the wordagainunder her breath.

I couldn’t help but smirk at her dig.

She was sharp, and I was becoming duller by the second.

Sully rounded the table and stood beside her.Why was he standing beside her?His challenging gaze caught mine, and I couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth. “You know what, Duster?” I said, looking at her before snapping back to him. “Why don’t we make abet?”

I chuckled as surprise flickered over his face.

Riley’s glossy eyes widened. There was a competitive spark there because she knew the significance of the word. For a brief second, we were on the same team.

“Okay...” Riley’s smile was lazy.She was becoming drunker by the second.“What’s the bet?”

“If I win, you leave with me.” I knew how it sounded, so I added, “And go back to your apartment.” I let my words hang in the air for a moment before dipping down low for only her to hear. “Alone.”

She rolled her glassy blue eyes. “And if I win?”

“Then we stay until you’re ready to go.” I acted indifferent, but there wasn’t a fucking chance I was letting her win.

“She doesn’t need you to take her home. I can take her.”

I completely ignored Sully and the rest of the guys at the party who were nodding. If I wasn’t standing here, they’d all openly volunteer just so they could be alone with her.

Riley’s gleaming white teeth sunk into her bottom lip. I zeroed in on her mouth and my stomach hollowed out. I was going to have to figure out how to deal with the repercussions of our kiss, because I was all sorts of fucked up.

“How aboutyouleave and I’ll stay until I’m ready to go?”

Not a chance.

I stuck my hand out over the table lined with cups. “Bet.”

Her palm was soft and warm. I squeezed it tightly for a second before letting go.

Sully’s hands landed on the top of Riley’s shoulders, and he rubbed them a few times before whispering something in her ear that made her lips twitch. I held back a growl but was thankful for his encouragement, because seeing his hands on her pissed me off even more than her purposefully goading me.

“Ready, Duster?” I teased, seeing her little body sway to the right a little. It wasn’t a question of whether she needed to go home or not.

“Ready when you are.”

“Three, two…one. Go.”

The thing about hockey players? We worked well under pressure.

Although, after watching her for the last hour, I could see that she worked well under pressure too.

We were neck and neck. Usually in flip cup, you had a partner and switched off like a relay, but it was her and me against each other. But we were used to that by now.

“Come on, Ry!” Sully was Riley’s number one cheerleader, and in between flipping my cup and grabbing the next to down, I managed to sneak out an insult.

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