Page 52 of The Shots You Take

“It’s not that. Being around people drinking doesn’t bother me. I just don’t—” He sighed. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

Adam clapped his hands together. “All right. You got any Sharpies?”

* * *

“I guess he works here now?” Steve said jokingly.

Riley blinked, realizing that he’d been staring at Adam from behind the counter. Adam was near the door, chatting animatedly with three teenagers who Riley was pretty sure were supposed to be in school right now. “He seems to think so.”

“He’s good for business.”

Steve wasn’t wrong. The shop had been busy all day, especially as word that Adam Sheppard was hanging out had spread around town. Adam had been there for nearly three hours so far.

“How long is he in town?” Steve asked.

“Apparently forever,” Riley grumbled as he checked some inventory levels in the computer.

“Harv would have loved this,” Steve said. “Adam Sheppard’s here, everyone’s laughing, and lots of sales.”

Riley realized he was right, and that Adam had kept the energy positive in the shop all day. “He would have,” Riley agreed. He glanced at Adam again and saw that he was showing the kids different hockey sticks from the rack.

Steve laughed. “He’s making sales now.”

At that moment, Mom and Lindsay entered the shop. Lindsay looked at Riley while pointing at Adam. Riley shrugged.

“Well,” Mom said when she got to the counter. “It hasn’t been a slow day, then.”

“Nope,” Riley said.

“Did you see our new staff member?” Steve joked.

“I thought he’d be gone,” Mom said. “I ran into Deb today and she told me he’d checked out.”

“That’s strange,” Steve said. “Not sure where he’d be staying if not there.”

Riley sighed. “He’s staying with me.” He made the mistake of glancing at Lindsay after he said it. Her eyebrows were sky-high.

“Good on you, Riley,” Mom said. Then, to Steve, she said, “I told him to offer up his guest room to poor Adam.”

Poor Adam. Jesus.

“I need to get more pucks from the back room,” Riley said. “People keep buying them for Shep to sign.”

“I’ll help,” Lindsay said immediately. In the back room, she closed the door behind them and said, “He’s staying with you, is he?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Listen, I have been listening to boring gossip from Aunt Ruth about people I don’t know fordays, Riley. What I actually want to hear about is why my brother is tied up in knots about Adam Sheppard.”

“I’m—what?”

“Give me the quick version. What’s going on?”

Riley pulled a box of hockey pucks off a shelf with a grunt. “There is no quick version.”

“Come on.”

“We were friends, and now we’re not.”

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