Page 157 of Hat Trick

“I love extra work,” she says. “Sorry to interrupt! I’ll text you instead, Ri.”

“Everything okay?” I ask, and another round ofoooohscome from the back.

“Everything is great. Just wanted to say hi.” I hear the smile in her voice and wonder what she’s up to. If she’s having a good day and doing anything fun. “I don’t want to interrupt guy time.”

“You’re not interrupting. They all suck,” I tell her, and Maverick gasps.

“Fuckingrude,” he mumbles. “We had a moment when I put my hands over yours on the wheel, Mitchy.”

“Wow. I’m really bummed I missed out on this.” Lexi laughs. “You all have fun. I’ll talk to you later!”

Everyone except Liam yells out a goodbye, and when I hang up the call, Hudson is grinning at me.

“I don’t want to hear it,” I say.

“You’re so down bad.” Hudson smirks. “We’ve all been there.”

“Except Grant. He’s too young to understand love.” Maverick ruffles my hair. “Have you told her how you feel?”

“Nope.”

“Are you going to tell her how you feel?”

“Nope.”

“Riley,” Hudson says gently. “You went through a traumatic event that showed us how short life is. Wouldn’t you rather get everything out in the open instead of hiding it? What if you never get the chance to let her know you’re head over heels for her?”

“She doesn’t want head over heels, so I keep my mouth shut.”

“She might with you,” Liam says, surprising me.

“I’ll think about it.” I put the car in drive, then purposely slam on the brakes to another round of screams. “And stop meddling in my personal life, you nosy assholes.”

“Worst dayever,” Liam growls, and I grin at him in the rearview mirror.

FORTY-TWO

LEXI

There’sa doughnut waiting for me on my desk when I get to work on Saturday morning. The boys have an afternoon skate and won’t come in until later, so the arena is quiet to start the day, and I don’t know who is lurking around. A quick check of my calendar tells me I have no appointments with any players until eleven, and I lift the treat to inspect it.

“I didn’t poison it,” Riley says from the entrance to the locker room, and I drop the pastry so I can lob a stapler at his head in an effort to protect myself. “Jesus Christ. It’s just me, Lex.”

“You cannot sneak up on a woman alone in her office without announcing yourself.” I put a hand on my desk and take a deep breath, my heart skipping a beat when I realize it’s him. “That’s not nice.”

“Did you forget about our session this morning?”

“Shit.” I look at my calendar again and spot the little R in the right-hand corner of today’s date. Our sessions have moved to twice a week instead of every day based on his improvements, and with the season ending in less than a month and our fight for the playoffs amping up, my brain is all over the place. “I did. I can’t keep track of what day it is. Sorry.”

“I should be the one apologizing. That was creepy of me to startle you.”

I scoop the doughnut up and groan as I take a bite. “Apology accepted. This is the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth.”

Riley laughs and sits on the edge of the treatment table. “I would say I’m offended, but I had one on the way over, and I have to agree.”

“Thank you for this.” I lick a drop of jam away from the corner of my mouth and smile. “How did you know I needed something to get through the day?”

“I know everything.” He takes off his sneakers and lets them fall to the floor. He stretches out on the table with his arms behind his head. “How do you want me today, Lex?”

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