Page 61 of Ice Bet

I did the same.

* * *

My phone vibrated, and I knew it was my mom this time instead of my dad. If I ignored a text from him, he always made sure my mom sent me one too.

Mom: Your father said he texted you and that you didn’t text back. We’re here if you need us. Good luck tomorrow night. Wish we could be there.

I typed a quick response because I knew they’d keep it up if I didn’t acknowledge the elephant in the room. I was doing my best to ignore the worry over the game, but I knew that Coach had noticed my distracted mood in practice earlier. He pulled me aside, and for a second, I thought he was going to ask about Riley, but he didn’t. He drilled into me and told me to get my shit together. Theo was right behind him to do the same.

They weren’t wrong.

I was playing like shit.

Even knowing that Savannah wasn’t coming to the game, I was still dreading playing against her brother. He wasn’t a better player than me, but his vendetta was just as large as his father’s.

“No book wall tonight?”

I sat up a little taller and watched Riley skim over the ice with more confidence than I’d ever seen from her—well, except for when she was knee-deep in booze, winning flip cup against the entire hockey team at the last party.

A thought came to mind, and it was perfect timing. I was too on edge to sit here in the rink with her soft breaths in my ear, looking all pretty and tempting while scribbling in her notebook as I sat a yard away, forcing myself to stop thinking about the face she made when I gave her an orgasm.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She hesitated, taking a step back. Her brows furrowed, and the slight shimmer on her high cheekbones caught the lights from above.

I pulled out my phone and sent a group text to my roommates, plus Ford because I’d never hear the end of it.

“Follow me, Duster. We’re doing something new tonight.”

20

RILEY

The locker room was empty,but the lingering scent of athletes and their body wash remained. I glanced at my father’s office and saw the light off with the door shut.

“What are we doing in here?” I asked.

Aasher opened his locker and pulled out his practice jersey, along with a face mask and pads. His smirk was a permanent fixture on his face as he walked over to me with confidence. He dropped the gear at my feet.

“We’re gonna skate tonight, baby.” He winked, and the amount of nerves that filled my stomach was enough to make the blood drain from my face.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Aasher dropped the shoulder pads onto my tiny frame and I stumbled backward. The door opened, and another pair of hands flew to my waist.

“Good thing I was here to catch ya.” I turned around to see Berkley holding me steady. “You ready to play?”

“Play?” I spun around and glared at Aasher, but his eyes were on Berkley’s hands around my hips instead of the confusion that was absolutely evident on my face.

Berkley backed away and disappeared when Ford came through the locker room door next, slurping on his milkshake from The Bex. Sutton pushed him out of the way a half-second later, stealing the milkshake from his hand and sucking the last few remnants down. “I hear we’re playing hockey.”

“No, we’re not,” I corrected, glaring at Aasher. I knew I looked ridiculous because I was standing there in my skinny jeans with oversized pads draped on my shoulders.

“Wasn’t aware you were a quitter.” Aasher was in front of me, and the ghost of a knowing smile was the only thing I focused on. I almost stepped on his foot because I was pissed that he was putting me in this position, but I was sort of appreciative too. Aasher knew that the last thing I wanted was to become a spectacle again and to lose my shit on the ice in front of anyone else.

He knew I was nervous, and he was aware that he was pushing me out of my comfort zone. I could tell by the way his hands brushed my hair away from my face gently before pulling the face mask down. Sutton was pulling on the same gear from Ford. She fake-bit his finger when he tried to help her.

“Relax,” Aasher whispered, pretending to mess with my mask. His bright-green eyes shifted between mine. “It’s just another baby step. No one is asking you to do a quadruple axel out there. This is for fun.”

“It’s not fun for me.”

He tightened my helmet. “Exactly. That’s our goal for tonight.”

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