Page 81 of The Shots You Take

“It’s okay. I’m tired anyway.”

“I wanted to show you a good time.”

“You did.” Riley raised himself up on an elbow. “I still don’t know why you chose to hang out with me when you could have gone clubbing with the guys.”

Adam’s smile was soft and sleepy. “Wouldn’t have been fun without you, Riles.”

And that was when Riley fell the rest of the way in love with him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

April 2024

“You usually go a lot faster than this, don’t you?” Adam puffed.

Riley smiled mysteriously while looking straight ahead, his cheeks barely flushed as he jogged beside Adam on the sand. Adam couldn’t remember the last time he’d done a beach run, and he was struggling on the uneven surface.

Also, Riley was in really,reallygood shape. Possibly better shape than when he’d been a professional athlete, and certainly better than Adam’s current condition. And if Adam fell a few strides behind just so he could admire Riley’s ass in his tight jogging pants, well. Everyone had their own fitness journey.

Lucky was joining them too, though he occasionally became distracted by various objects and then would have to sprint to catch up. They’d gone the length of the beach and were now about halfway back to where they’d left their water bottles and sweatshirts. Adam was looking forward to that water bottle.

The tide was out, and the beach was veiled in fog, making the place seem magical and very remote. Adam loved it. And despite the fact that he was struggling a bit, he was loving the exercise too. It felt good to really work his body after severaldays off. He knew, despite his bad shoulder, that he was lucky to be able to do this. Lucky to have both of his knees and his hips and his ankles. He knew other former NHL players who had less to work with.

When they were a few strides away from their belongings, Adam dug deep and cranked up the speed, pushing himself ahead of Riley.

“Are you fucking serious?” Riley said.

Adam laughed as he raised a fist in the air in victory, then fell to his knees on the sand. “I win,” he panted. Then, “Fucking hell.”

Riley stood over him, hands on his hips, and shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

Adam fell to his back, his arms and legs spread out like a starfish. “Just gonna let the sea take me.”

Riley grabbed his water bottle and took a long drink. Adam enjoyed the view from below.

Then Lucky arrived and started licking Adam’s face.

“Ugh, stop. I’m alive, I’m alive,” Adam sputtered.

“Lucky,” Riley said sternly. “Here.” He poured some water into a small metal bowl he’d brought, and Lucky began to drink happily.

“I should probably do that too.”

“You’ll have to wait until Lucky’s done first.”

“Ha.” Adam held his right hand out, and Riley took it and pulled him up. Adam scooped up his own bottle and soon decided slightly cold tap water in an aluminum bottle was the best tasting thing in the world.

“You all right?”

“Yes,”Adam said testily. “Icanrun, you know.”

“I mean your shoulder.”

“I wasn’t running on my hands.” Adam grimaced. “Sorry. My shoulder’s fine. I’m just grumpy because I’m not good at running on sand.”

“It took me a while to get good at it.”

“Well,” Adam said, then decided not to finish the sentence. He didn’t have a while to spend here, running beside Riley on the sand. He would be leaving the day after tomorrow.

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