Page 39 of Scoring Position

Ryan moved one of his too, first showing it off to the camera. “See, they’re just little guys. Very straightforward.”

“Literally every rookie on this team has four inches on you.” Nico said.

Then he took Ryan’s queen.

Ryan groaned and moved a pawn to defend against the bishop. “I stand by it.”

“Don’t forget a pawn can become a queen. Remember that time I mated you with pawns?” Nico took the pawn.

Ryan took the bishop, mouth slightly dry. “That never happened.” It had. “I don’t know, I think Nico is probably a rook. They’re big and fast and they can see a lot of the board at once. Not as much as a queen, but a lot.”

Nico moved a knight, and Ryan suddenly realized how wide open to attack his king was. He moved the queen’s bishop in front of it. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

Nico moved his other knight.

Ryan was distinctly nervous now. He should castle. He got his knight out of the way.

Nico took D4.

Ryan castled. “I think maybe I’m like a knight. I’m the guy you want in the paint in front of the crease, you know? Me and the knights, we do our best work up close.”

Nico took his bishop. “Check.”

“Motherf—” Ryan cleared his throat. “Crap.” He slid his king over.

“I think you probably are like a knight,” Nico agreed. Was this some kind of mind game? “You’re the guy standing by the net, ready to tip a shot or make room for somebody else.”

As if to punctuate this, he took Ryan’s knight. Rude, and also hot. Ryan took his other bishop.

Nico finally moved his queen. Ryan was sweating now. He took a pawn to cover it.

Maybe Nicowastoying with him, because he only castled. Asshole.

Ryan was sure Nico could’ve found a way to finish him off sooner, but he let the game drag out a few more minutes before mating Ryan on the back rank with a rook, his queen covering the escape square.

“Is this the part where I flip the board?” Ryan joked. But he offered Nico his hand instead. “Good game.”

Nico took it… and Ryan yanked him down and ruffled his hair. “What are you—” Nico asked, and then Ryan wasyelpingbecause Nico had stood up under his shoulder and now had Ryan in a fireman’s carry.

Chess pieces scattered everywhere.

“Uh,” Ryan said. This move had not been any better thought out than his chess game. Now he was staring at Nico’s ass in his loose shorts and hoping Nico didn’t notice Ryan was half-hard in his, pressed against Nico’s chest. “Cut?”

When the video dropped a few days later, Ryan wondered if they didn’t give the PR department enough credit. The video was charming, a successful “harmless hockey bros” narrative. Nico looked approachable but also ruthlessly competent. The shortness of the video only made his win look quicker and more decisive.

Tara video called him to laugh in his face. “Oh my God. I’m not sure if I should coo about how adorable you are or laugh at your crush.”

After that harrowing conversation, Ryan figured forewarned was forearmed, and he took to the internet. For once the comment section was a pleasant surprise—a few predictable shitheel comments, a few more lamenting that the Fuel weren’t this fun to watch on the ice (harsh but fair), a handful of viewers convinced they were dating, but the majority focusing on superficial fun stuff.

The team lapped it up in the locker room. Greenie and Grange were especially fond of teasing Ryan for the easy takedown. Would the height jokes ever die?

Kitty wouldn’t stop glaring at him, but what was Ryan going to do? Solemnly promise that he had no designs on Nico’s virtue? Better not to poke that sleeping dog.

Somehow Ryan was living with the only other out guy on the team, and for some unknown reason, it was working. It was workingwell.

Except that he wasn’t scoring. On the ice, he wasn’t doing much at all. He’d done what Rees wanted with Nico, and now Ryan was expendable.

No wonder he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

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