Page 66 of The Risk

I blink politely. “Not well?”

His face is cloudy. “She talked the entire time, and she wouldn’t even let me kiss her good night.”

“Wait, you’re saying youwantedto kiss her good night?” Fitz speaks up. He’s leaning on the edge of Summer’s desk. His girlfriend, meanwhile, is back inside her closet, flipping through hangers.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,Colin,” Hollis says haughtily. “Just because she’s crazy doesn’t mean I don’t want to make out with her.”

“Classy,” I tell him. “You’re a real romantic at heart.”

He waggles his eyebrows. “Hey, the Hollis store is still open. Pop in whenever you want, Jensen.”

“Pass. Anyway, so no kiss, huh?”

“Nope!” He looks outraged. “She doesn’t kiss on the first date. She’s making me wait! Until datethree.”

Fitz doubles over in laughter. “Hold on a sec,” he wheezes. “You’re going out with her again?”

I snicker. “Two more times?”

“I don’t think I have a choice,” Hollis moans. “Apparently I’m taking her to a movie on Tuesday.”

Fitz nods. “Nice. It’s half-price on Tuesdays. You should go see the new Marvel movie.”

“I don’t want to see the new Marvel movie, you jackass. I don’t want to go out with this girl. She’s too young and too annoying and—” He startles, then sticks his hand in the pocket of his sweatpants. He produces his phone and blanches at the screen. “Oh my God, it’s her.”

“You saved her in your phone?” I demand.

“Shedid. She grabbed my phone in the middle of dinner and created a contact for herself. She saved it as Rupi with the heart-eyes emoji. She’s in my phone with heart-eyes, for fuck’s sake.”

I roll onto my side and quake with silent laughter.

At the desk, Fitz is shaking his head in amusement. “You know you can change that, right?”

Hollis is too busy answering the call. He barely gets out a “hello” before excited chatter pours out of his phone.

Fitz and I exchange a grin. I have no idea what Rupi’s saying, but she’s talking a mile a minute, and the horrified expression on Hollis’s face is priceless. This is the most entertainment I’ve had in years.

“But I don’t like romantic comedies,” he whines.

The tinny chattering continues.

“No, I don’t. I don’t want to see a movie. If you’re so determined to hang out, then let’s go somewhere and bang.”

Shrieking ensues.

I curl over in hysterics.

“Holy shit, fine! We’ll go see your stupid movie, but you better make out with me, Rupi, and don’t give me any bullshit about not kissing on the second date, because if you were any other chick we’d already be banging.”

The rest of the world no longer exists to Mike Hollis. He climbs off the bed and wanders out of Summer’s room. His flustered voice drifts in from the hall. “I am not a sex maniac! I haven’t had sex since I met you.”

I glance at Fitz. “Is that true?”

“I think so. But let’s be real—it’s not like he was a hookup king before that. He talks a big game, but he’s actually a lot pickier than he lets on. I don’t believe he gets laid half as often as he claims.”

“Oh, he definitely doesn’t,” comes Summer’s muffled response from the closet. “That boy has no game whatsoever.”

“He’s a hockey player,” I point out. “Hockey players don’t need much game off the ice. The groupies are always happy to see them.”

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