Page 64 of Hat Trick

“But fuck it,” Riley continues. “He’s getting paid. I’m getting a checkmark in the box next to the things I’m supposed to do. Everyone wins.”

“There are going to be lots of exciting things on the trip. You have the Florida sunshine. The guys on ELCs complaining about having a roommate even though they’re twenty-one.Oh. You can’t forget the food on the charter plane.”

“You have to be joking.”

“I’m serious!” I swat at him. I expect him to pull away, but he doesn’t. “Those cookies the flight attendants hand out areheavenly. I mentioned how much I liked them, and the new girl working our flights this season gave me a box to take home with me. I’ve been eating them for days.”

“I’ll give you the Florida sunshine, but it’s going to be awkward as hell to watch a game in an arena that’s not ours. At home, I know everyone. I can stand in the tunnel and not feel like some creep who’s lurking and staring at the athletes. In Miami, people aren’t going to know who the hell I am.”

“You could put on gear and sit on the bench,” I suggest. “As long as you’re fully dressed, you’re allowed to be there.”

“A skate that fits my prosthetic foot? I’m not sure that exists,” he says.

“We’ll figure something out.” I look him up and down, trying to see if I can spot any goosebumps after his chivalrous act of undressing benefited me, but probably didn’t benefit him. My eyes home in on his pocket, an odd shape pressing against the fabric of his gym shorts. “What the hell is that?”

“What’s what?” Riley glances down. He snorts and reaches into his left pocket. “A lime.”

“Do you regularly carry fruit around with you?”

“No.” He tosses it in the air, catches it, and switches it to his other hand. “I wasn’t sure Maverick had any. I stopped at the store on the way over.”

“You—” I blink. It feels like I’m missing the punchline of a joke. “I’m confused.”

“You mentioned you liked limes in your drink. Didn’t know if that only applied to cocktails or all forms of fluid.”

“When did I mention that?”

“June,” he says simply, and he leaves it at that.

I stare at him. For a second, it feels like the world tilts on its axis, becausewhat the fuckdo you mean he brought me a lime because he remembered an offhanded comment I made months ago? And—god. Come to think of it, it was the night we were all out celebrating The Cup. The night he lost his leg. The night his entire life changed.

What is he doing remembering my drink preferences?

“Oh.” I swallow, not sure what else to say. My heart is somewhere near my throat because it’s trying to escape my body. My skin is prickly with awareness. What the actual fuck is this unknown feeling coursing through me? “Right.”

Gratitude,I think.

Awareness of a man doing something nice for me because he wants to, not because he wants to sleep with me.

Friendship that differs from what I have with the girls.

Riley wraps his fingers around my wrist and slowly turns my hand face up. His thumb brushes along the vein on the inside of my wrist before he lets go and sets the lime in the center of my palm.

“Which is it?” he asks.

“Which is what?”

“The lime preference. Is it in all drinks? Cocktails only?”

“You really want to know?”

“Mhm.” Riley leans in, invading my space, and I don’t do anything to make him leave. “I really do. Won’t be able to sleep tonight until you tell me, actually.”

“We wouldn’t want that.” I grip the lime and bring it to my chest, my eyes on his. “I like it in all my drinks. I have a bottle of lime juice I keep in my fridge, but it’s not as good as the real thing. Always slips my mind when I’m at the store.”

“I can be your lime guy.” He tosses me a coy smile. “If you want.”

“I like the sound of that.” I smile and slip the lime in my pocket. “Thank you, Mitchy.”

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