Page 23 of Wilder Puck
He walks over to me and mutters, “I tried helping but Colton, man.”
“He’s coco,” I say, and Chase laughs. I pat his shoulder. “It’s all good. No one’s in trouble.”
“Easy going Ryan Wilder. Man, I don’t know how Coach is your dad sometimes. You’re fucking cool as ice, dude. Your dad? Cold as ice.”
I laugh. “Still made from the same substance. Ice is ice.”
He lowers his voice. “So, you didn’t answer your phone earlier?”
I glance over to where Baddie’s laughing at Colton's drunken antics. “Yeah, she was already at my place when I got home.”
Chase nods approvingly. “That’s a good sign. What'd she say about the whole girlfriend thing?”
“She didn’t seem to mind it.”
“My man.” He bumps me on the shoulder playfully. “This is good. Really good. Now you just gotta boyfriend the shit out of her, show her what she's been missing.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “What are you two drinking? You’re like two little giggling schoolgirls.”
Chase clinks his bottle to mine. “Loser’s potion.”
I laugh, shaking my head.
I take a swig of my beer.
What a night.
My team just lost epically, I lied to my hard-ass coach father about dating my best friend, told her about it and now we’re pretending to date because my teammates want to play matchmaker.
Addie catches my eye across the room with a smile and a wink. I give her a questionable look, and she points her two fingers at her eyes and then points them at me.
Great, she’s got her eyes on me. I take another sip from my cold beer and smile gently at her. She better not rail into me too hard later because I won’t be able to handle it.
Chapter 9
The look on Ryan's face right now is absolutely priceless. That adorable mixture of amusement and barely concealed terror, like he knows I'm about to give him so much crap but he's powerless to stop me. I love moments like this when I get to abuse the power of our friendship just a little. Narrowing my eyes, I give him my best "I'm watching you" gesture, wiggling two fingers from my eyes to his. His own eyes widen and I have to bite my lip to keep from cracking up. Oh yeah, he's definitely going to be overthinking every little thing he does around me for the rest of the night. Score one for Addie.
Next to me, Colton is throwing out ideas of his latest genius idea –– a signature coffee drink he wants to call the Molten Colton. I have to admit, the name’s not half bad. In Colton's grand business plan, the Molten Colton coffee cups would have his face on it with a hockey stick and a puck. Because of course, they would. This boy never does anything halfway.
His enthusiasm is contagious though, and I find myself grinning as he throws an arm around my shoulders.
“Ryan!” he shouts, his loud voice in my ear. “I'm stealing your girl, bro. She'smybest friend now!”
Before I can respond, Ryan is suddenly right there behind us, his tall frame radiating warmth against my back. “In your wildest dreams, Colt,” he scoffs, reaching out to pry Colton's arm off me. “Get those dirty hands off her.”
A shiver runs down my spine at the playful possessiveness in his tone. I tilt my head back to look up at him, a teasing smirk on my lips. “Careful, Ry, he pitched me a whole brand and drink idea. I might be swayed to the dark roast side.”
Colton nods. “We're gonna have mugs with my face on them. And Molten Colton is a way cooler name than Cryin’ Ryan, just saying.”
Ryan narrows his eyes in warning. “Hey now, don't be dissing Cryin’ Ryan. That's a classic.”
“Yeah, and it's a best-seller,” I chime in, my protectiveness showing now because I gave the name Cryin’ Ryan. Then I smirk. “Well, second to Baddie Addie.”
Colton waves a dismissive hand. “I'd bet big money that Molten Colton is gonna blow both of those out of the water.”
Chase and Ryan exchange amused glances, chuckling at Colton's claim. Andrew just shakes his head. He’s been listening this whole time and keeping to himself.
“Molten Colton, really?” Ryan asks, his voice laced with friendly skepticism.
