Page 41 of The Grinder

Riley took a longer look at the twenty-one-year-old, surprised and waiting for the punchline. When it didn’t come, he said, “What’s up?”

CJ shrugged. “Just wanna work on a few things. I know I need to get better in the corners and you’re damn good at that. So maybe we could work together for a while.”

“No problem.”

The kid broke out in a huge smile. Midwestern farm boy from his gold hair to his broad shoulders and his powerful legs, CJ used those legs to propel him to blazing-fast speeds. He had one hell of a natural talent, but he was still young and still growing into that body. He also had a stutter that only appeared off the ice.

“Great. Thanks! So, how’d your date go last night? She was really pretty.”

And the kid had no filter whatsoever around his teammates.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Riley reached out and smacked the kid on the back of the helmet. “Do a couple more laps before I kick your ass.”

CJ turned and back-skated, grinning all the way down the ice. “Only if you can catch me.”

He didn’t bother to chase CJ. The kid would come back to him, like a huge, gangly puppy, ready to play.

Riley had much prettier prey to pursue.

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