Page 30 of The Shots You Take

Riley was at his mom’s house now—without Adam because there was no way Riley was going to let him invade more areas of his life. Not even after Adam had worked his ass off at the shop without complaint, because he’d known, no matter what Riley had said, that he needed help.

What a fucking dick.

“I hope you’re in the mood for lasagna,” Mom said when Riley entered the kitchen. “We’ve got three of them.”

“One for each of us,” Lindsay said cheerfully. For the first time in a week or so, there were no additional people in the house. Riley was grateful.

“Paula gave me some brown bread.”

“Keep that for yourself,” Mom said as she gestured towarda corner of the countertop, where a stack of loaves of various breads sat. “I’m going to need to buy another freezer as it is. Here, sit. I made tea.”

They all sat at the round kitchen table, and Riley tried to ignore the empty chair. Lindsay poured tea into mismatched mugs from a teapot covered in a handmade cozy that looked like a hen. Riley’s mug had the Toronto Northmen logo on it.

“How’d it go at the credit union?” Riley asked.

Mom sighed heavily. “Oh, you know. Nothing too complicated, but it was still…hard. At least I didn’t have to explain much about the situation. Not in this town.”

“You should have let me come with you,” Lindsay said, at the same time Riley said something similar.

Mom waved her hand. “It’s done. But—” she looked at Riley “—what do you think about taking over the shop officially? Owning it yourself, I mean.”

“Me? But shouldn’t we share it?” He glanced uncertainly at Lindsay.

“It’s yours,” Lindsay said firmly. “I haven’t even worked a shift there in over a decade. And you love it.”

He did love it. But would he still love it, now that Dad wouldn’t be working alongside him? “It seems unfair, though.”

Lindsay laughed. “Unless you’re secretly earning millions under the table at that shop, I don’t think we’re being all that generous here.”

Riley huffed. The shop was definitely not earning millions. It did all right, as the only sporting goods shop in the area. They certainly lost business to the larger chain stores in New Glasgow, Amherst, and Truro, and these days they lost even more to online stores, but Tuck’s had been a fixture here since the fifties, and people were loyal. As long as Tuck’s stayed on top of the trends, stocked what people were looking for, andprovided friendly and knowledgeable service, they’d survive. It didn’t hurt that Riley was something of a local celebrity.

“But what about you, Mom?”

“I’m almost seventy. I’m happy to help out if you need me at all, but I’m not interested in being in charge.” Mom had been the secretary at the school for nearly thirty years before retiring, but had worked at the shop during the summers. It had never been her passion, but he knew she cared a lot about the family business she’d married into.

“I’ll do my best with it,” Riley promised. “I’m not Dad, though.”

Mom reached across the table, and Riley gave her his hand to squeeze. “He was so proud of you, and the work you put into that store. I know he was never worried about the shop’s future.”

It was nice to hear, even though Riley’s eyes went misty. “Thanks.”

“So I heard Adam helped out today?” Lindsay asked.

Riley took a long sip of his tea, swallowed, then said, “He did.”

“You must have had lots to talk about,” Mom said.

“I guess.” Riley was stuck on the things theyhadn’ttalked about, and the things that had only been hinted at. Like thefucking bonfire.

Since Adam had mentioned it, Riley’s brain had been running a clip show on a constant loop: Adam, nearly twenty-four years old, glowing in the firelight and smiling up at the stars; Adam on his back, sand clinging to his neck and arms as he pulled Riley closer; Adam arching and gasping Riley’s name as he came into Riley’s fist; both of them cleaning themselves in the ocean after, laughing and stealing kisses in the moonlight. Riley had been absolutely euphoric, dizzy with how much he’d loved Adam, and wishing this could all be real. Thatthis could be their lives every day, instead of being reduced to sporadic moments when all of the conditions were perfect. When Adam was just tipsy enough, just horny enough, just weak enough to want Riley.

The summer after that one, Adam had married Maggie. There hadn’t been a wedding to speak of—they’d eloped to Niagara Falls when they’d learned Maggie was pregnant—which had been the only small mercy. At least Riley hadn’t had to endure the agony of watching Adam get married. He’d only needed to endure the agony of watching Adambemarried.

“It’s weird seeing him again,” Riley said. “I don’t know.”

Lucky wandered in after wrapping up his inspection of the entire house. He squeezed between their legs under the table and lay down, tail thumping against Riley’s ankle.

“I’ve been getting messages from all sorts of people who I haven’t talked to in years,” Lindsay said. “I get it.”

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