Page 67 of Front Runner

Between hiccups, Riley wiped her face on my shirt. My girl wasn’t a delicate crier.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she dabbed at the wet spot.

“Cry as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

She nodded, but her tears stopped falling. “I just wanted him to be proud of me.”

“How could he not be proud of you, Lorelai? You’ve worked your ass off to get to this level, and you’re the best receiver on the team. Don’t tell Mac I said that.” I tilted her chin up so she’d look at me. “I throw to you because I know you’ll catch the ball. Coach starts you because he thinks you deserve it. What happened to the woman at the beginning of the season who knew how good she was?”

She gave as sniffly laugh. “She’s going through some stuff. I blame her boyfriend for making her get all emotional.”

“That asshole.”

“Thank you for listening, and only being a jerk for a little bit.”

I winced as a pang of guilt hit me. “We all have our dumbass moments. To be clear, I will always support you, and not only because I like spending time with you naked.”

A half-smile curved her lips. “But partly because you like spending time with me naked.”

Just like that, I was hard under her again. I couldn’t get enough of Riley, and my dick had noticed we were alone in the room. Horrible timing, since the others would be back any minute. I had one more thing to say anyway.

“I’m sorry for overreacting. You have no obligation to tell me things, but I hope you will. I’ll try not to stick my head up my ass the next time.”

The half-smile bloomed into a full grin, and she pulled my head down to kiss me. With effort, I kept my hands where they were on her back. As much as my dick wanted to abandon Friendsgiving for another round of naked time, Mac and Eva wouldn’t allow it. No amount of locked doors would be enough to stop them.

On cue, Mac gave a cursory knock, then walked in with a hand covering his eyes. “Everything good in here or do we need to take another lap?”

“We’re clothed. The coast is clear,” I answered.

Behind him where we couldn’t see her, Eva shouted, “I swear to God, Shaw, if you’re making her cry, I will make you watch every rom-com I own to teach you how to properly grovel.”

I shuddered at Eva’s threat and waved them in before they made any more of a spectacle. Mac made a beeline for the kitchen, but the others joined us on the couches.

“So,” Soren nodded at Riley. “I hear you’re faster than Mac.”

She laughed, and I marveled at Soren’s ability to ease the tension in the room. I blamed Vi for that newfound skill.

Mac came around the corner with his mouth full of chips. “That hasn’t been confirmed by any third-party evidence.”

Noah raised a brow. “We all saw the ending of the race.”

“The race was a tie,” he said.

“Sure.” Noah waited a beat, then turned to Riley. “Want to prove him wrong?”

Riley shook her head. “Nah, I’m good with the tie.”

Mac studied her face, slowly putting the chips down. “Holy shit. Did you fix the race?”

A smile washed away the last of the sadness in her eyes. “I might not have run as fast as possible at the end there."

Mac motioned for her to stand. “Up. Let’s go. We’re doing this.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why? We’re on the same team. It doesn’t matter who’s faster.”

“It’s the principle,” he insisted.

Riley hesitated, and I knew she was trying to salvage Mac’s pride by finding a way out of racing him again. Luckily, Mac’s pride didn’t need any help.

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