Page 37 of The Grinder

Chapter Four

Riley eased open the door to his apartment.

The landlord still hadn’t fixed the squeaky hinges and he didn’t want to wake Justin. It was almost two a.m. and his roommate would probably be asleep—

“Guess the date went well.”

Justin grinned at him from the couch, where he held a beer in one hand and a game controller in another.

Riley gave him the finger before heading into the kitchen for a beer.

“Still up playing with yourself, I see.” Riley sank into the other end of the couch.

“Hey, now. No fair picking on those of us less fortunate. I’m guessing from the grin on your face, you had a good time.”

Riley shoved his elbow into Justin’s side. “What are you, my mother?”

“No, just the guy who hasn’t gotten laid in three months.”

“Ashley still mad at you, huh?”

Justin grimaced at the mention of his longtime girlfriend, who still lived in their hometown of Kanata, Ottawa.

“Yeah. She keeps harping on me about taking that offer in Toronto. And I keep telling her it’s the worst damn team in the league. Why the fuck would I want to go there when I can play for the damn Cup defenders? You’d think she didn’t know I played fucking hockey. Fuck that. Now…tell Daddy J all about your date tonight.”

Justin smirked at him and Riley couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re a sick motherfucker, you know that, right?”

“But I know you want to spill your guts.”

Riley took a swig of his beer and shook his head, still grinning. “No, I really don’t. It’ll be all over the locker room tomorrow.”

“Do you actually give a shit what the other guys think? Dude, your conquests are legendary.”

The beer suddenly didn’t taste as good as it had as he watched the on-screen battle rage.

Justin wasn’t wrong. Riley did have a reputation. One he hadn’t been concerned about for years. Different girl every other night. No repeats.

Until this season. This season, he’d sworn off hookups, had committed himself to his career with no distractions.

After tonight… He couldn’t fucking wait to see Aly again. He’d wanted to go to bed with her and wake up in the morning to see her, hair messy, skin warm and soft from sleep. He would’ve stayed if she’d asked. She hadn’t. And that just made him want it more.

She had no idea how much of a break from the norm that was for him. And he didn’t want her to know.

“Yeah, well, maybe I’m turning over a new leaf this season.”

Justin went silent and Riley shot him a glance.

“Dude, seriously? You just met this girl and now you’re all ready to reform your manwhore ways?”

Riley shrugged. He didn’t want to get into a discussion about his dating habits at two in the morning when he should be in bed.

“Maybe I’m starting to think about what I want to do after this season. What I want to do…after hockey.”

“Seriously?”

Justin’s shock rang clear in his voice. Riley slid him another glance and found his roommate staring at him with his mouth hanging open.

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