Page 74 of The Shots You Take

Adam seemed to be staring at Riley’s arms. “You look good. Like, really good. The beard, the hair, the body. You’re a fucking dreamboat, Riley.”

Riley knew he was blushing, but he also felt a more pleasant heat gathering low in his belly. He’d felt far from sexy all week, but the way Adam was gazing at him now was exciting.

Still, Riley ducked his head and muttered, “A dreamboat who can barely stay afloat, maybe.”

* * *

They’d decided, later, to watch the Washington versus New Jersey game. At first they’d sat on opposite ends of Riley’scouch, keeping the conversation in the safe zone of hockey. During the first intermission, Riley had filled a bowl with chips for them to munch on, which had brought them closer together. Now, during the third period, Adam was barely registering what was happening on the television, because Riley was asleep against his good shoulder.

Adam doubted, even if it had been his bad shoulder—even if he’d been in immense pain—that he would have woken Riley up. It was all so wonderfully familiar: the weight of Riley’s head, the tickle of his soft hair where it just barely touched the side of Adam’s neck, the sweet, peaceful sighs.

As happy as he was to have Riley pressed against him, he was just as happy that his friend was getting more sleep. He was happy that Riley felt comfortable enough with him to fall asleep like this.

Adam had lowered the volume on the TV almost all the way and had turned off the lamp beside him. In the corner, on his dog bed, Lucky was snoring much more loudly than his owner. Adam felt a swell of affection for him. Riley had found a good companion in Lucky.

Riley’s hand was resting lightly on Adam’s knee, his fingers curled and occasionally twitching. Adam, helpless, brushed them with his own.

It was absolutely baffling that Riley was single. That no one had snatched him up over all these years. Besides being a former NHL star (yes, star, no matter what Riley said), he ran a business, had a gorgeous home, and he was extremely handsome. More handsome with age, Adam thought. He was fully out of the closet, he didn’t drink, he didn’t seem to have any vices at all. His only active addiction, as far as Adam could tell, was to antiques. Had no one noticed how perfect he was?

Their loss was Adam’s gain. Not that Adam was clear on what exactly Riley wanted from him. And Adam wasn’t surewhat he could realistically offer Riley at this point. Probably not enough. He was tied to Toronto, at least for now, and he hardly expected Riley to want to spend time there. Adam would be willing to do something long-distance if that’s what it took. He’d come to Avery River as often as he could. Whatever Riley wanted.

Adam was getting way ahead of himself. His method of problem solving had always been heavy-handed. Riley had once jokingly described him as someone who would smash a window before looking for a door. And that’s exactly what Adam had done to their friendship; he’d had scary feelings for Riley, and instead of facing them, he’d latched onto Maggie.

Smash.

He was now fully holding Riley’s hand, stroking his thumb over his knuckles. He realized that the game had ended and another was about to start. He had no idea who won.

Riley jerked suddenly, then said, “Was I asleep?”

Adam released his hand, hoping Riley hadn’t noticed him holding it. “A bit, yeah.”

Riley sat up, rubbed his face, then stared at Adam’s shoulder. “Sorry.”

“No problem.”

“I should go to bed.”

“Okay.” Adam turned off the TV, then followed Riley up the stairs. He felt woozy, his head filled with a weird mixture of guilt and infatuation, like he’d just awoken from a sexy dream about Riley. While Riley had dozed on the couch, Adam had been holding his hand and falling more deeply in love.

They paused awkwardly outside the guest room, Adam hoping that Riley would invite him to share his bed again. But why would he? Last night had been…well, weird and intense. Today had been good, but it hadn’t made anything clearer about what they were doing. He didn’t think Riley hated himanymore, so that was progress, but as for trying anything resembling a relationship…

Also, Adam had taken casual sex off the table last night, so it would probably be strange for Riley to invite him to literally sleep together. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “You slept well last night.”

“I did, yeah.”

“And you fell asleep pretty easily on the couch there.”

Riley’s lips twitched. “True.”

“I was just wondering…do you think it has anything to do with me?”

“It’s possible.”

Adam’s heart soared. “Maybe we should stay close then, y’know?”

“If you want.” Riley rubbed the back of his neck. “I probably will fall asleep right away. So if you’re thinking—”

“I’m not. Really. I just want you to sleep. And if you want to know what I’m getting out of it, well. I like being close to you.”

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