Page 29 of Desperate Pucker (Denver Bashers #6)

Maddy

Ipull into the parking lot of a gas station just outside of the Hollis University campus.

“He’s right there,” Ryker says, pointing at a gray, sporty-looking sedan at the far side of the building. It’s backed into the spot, so I park in front of it.

A second later, a young guy climbs out of the driver’s seat. He looks like a younger version of Ryker. Same thick, dark brown hair. Same deep gold-brown eyes. Same sharp jawline. He’s as tall as Ryker but leaner.

He’s the younger, pretty-boy version of Ryker’s rugged handsomeness.

“He looks like you fifteen years ago,” I tease.

Ryker grumbles and rolls his eyes. I chuckle.

When we step out of the car, an amused smile pulls at his little brother’s lips as he looks between Ryker and me.

“Hey, big bro. Sorry, I didn’t know I was interrupting date night for you.”

Ryker just frowns at him. “Pop your hood.”

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your pretty friend?” his brother says.

Ryker glares at him. He turns to me. “Maddy, this is Nick. Nick, Maddy.” He turns back to Nick. “Now pop the damn hood.”

Nick holds up a hand and chuckles. “Okay, okay.”

He ducks back into the car and pops the hood. I open the hood of my SUV, then grab the jumper cables from the back and hand them to Ryker.

“Thanks,” he says before getting everything hooked up between our cars.

Nick walks up to me and rests his hands in his jacket pockets. A smug smile pulls at his lips. “So Maddy. What’s a beautiful woman like you doing with my brother?”

Ryker glowers at him.

“I’m his skating coach. I work for the Bashers.”

His eyebrow lifts as he looks at Ryker. “Really?” He turns back to me. “You look familiar. Did you figure skate?”

I nod. “Yeah. I used to compete, but it’s been a couple of years.”

“She’s an Olympic medalist,” Ryker announces from under the hood of his brother’s car.

Nick blinks at me, then his eyes go wide. “Holy shit, you’re Madeline Macer. You got bronze at the Olympics.”

My cheeks heat, nervous that he’s going to give me a hard time about my public breakdown. But he just grins at me, like he can barely contain his excitement.

“I watched you skate. You’re incredible. How the hell do you look so graceful on the ice?” he says.

I go soft at his sweet compliment. “Thank you. That’s really nice of you to say.”

Nick shakes his head, still grinning. “Oh man, this is awesome.”

Ryker starts up my car while Nick looks around for a second before hopping back into his car and grabbing a pen and a piece of paper. “Can I have your autograph?”

I let out a flustered laugh. “Okay, sure.”

I sign the paper and hand it back to him. He gazes at it with starry eyes and tucks it away in his pocket. He beams at me. “Madeline Macer jumped my car. This is so fucking cool.”

“Your brother tells me that you play hockey too for Hollis University.”

He grins. “Yup. Star center.”

“Way to be modest,” Ryker says behind me.

“You know I’m kidding,” Nick says to Ryker before grinning at me. “I am pretty good though.”

I can’t help but chuckle. This kid oozes cockiness and charm, but he’s also sweet. That’s a dangerous combo. I bet he slays with the female students at his college.

A twenty-something woman walks out of the gas station, her arms full of snacks. When she walks to her car, which is parked next to Nick’s, he smiles at her and offers to grab her car door.

She goes starry-eyed as she stares at him. “Such a gentleman. Thank you.”

He winks at her. “My pleasure.” He glances down at the package of candy in her arms. “Sour Patch Kids kind of night?” he asks with a smile.

She giggles. “Oh, definitely. I couldn’t resist my craving.”

“You should always give in when you’re craving something.” He winks again. “What’s your name?”

“Sofia. What’s yours?”

“Nick. You go to Hollis?”

She nods. “I’m a grad student.”

“I play on their hockey team. You should come to a game sometime.”

I hold back a laugh as they exchange numbers. This kid is way too smooth.

He shuts her car door and waves as she drives off.

Nick looks at me. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. You gotta shoot your shot.”

He grins. “Exactly.” He fists-bumps me and I laugh even harder.

“Hey, lover boy.” Ryker says from the driver’s seat of my car. “Turn on your car.”

Nick looks at Ryker like he’s forgotten he was here too. “Oh. Right.”

He hops in his driver’s seat. A second later, his engine starts up.

“Alright!” Nick shouts. I smile and look back at Ryker. He rolls his eyes, but I can tell by the way the corner of his mouth twitches that he’s fighting a smile.

After a few minutes, Ryker and Nick disconnect the cars and put the jumper cables back.

“Drive around for a while so the alternator can charge your battery,” Ryker says to his brother. “At least twenty minutes.”

“I will.” Nick turns back to me. “Hey, would you take a photo with me? I wanna post this on my socials and show my friends.”

I smile. “Sure.”

He hands Ryker his phone. “Way to give off creepy stalker vibes, Nick.”

“He’s fine,” I say. It’s honestly really sweet how excited he is to see me. It’s been a while since I’ve had a fan interaction that was this genuine and kind. I’m so used to people sneaking pictures of me or mocking me for my breakdown.

Nick stands next to me with his arm wrapped around my shoulders. Ryker snaps a few photos and hands the phone back to his brother.

“It was so cool meeting you, Maddy,” Nick says. “Thanks again for the jump.”

“No problem. Your brother did most of the work.”

Nick pats Ryker on the shoulder. “Thanks, big bro.”

Ryker nods. “Be more careful with your car.”

Nick sighs like he’s mildly annoyed. “I will.”

“This model of car is notorious for having a crummy battery life.”

Nick groans. “I know, Ryker.”

“You just had to get something flashy.”

Nick rolls his eyes. “You’re never gonna let me live that down, will you?”

“Never.”

“Live what down?” I ask.

“Ryker bought me and our sister new cars when we graduated high school. He let us choose the kind of car we wanted.”

Warmth hits the center of my chest at how generous that was.

I look at Ryker. “That’s so sweet of you,” I say.

His bearded cheeks flush. He looks at his brother. “This guy wanted a G-Wagon.”

I burst out laughing. Nick grins. “Can’t blame me for trying to get you to buy me the most badass car ever.” He looks at me. “Unsurprisingly, my brother had a few rules on the kind of cars he’d buy us.

“The only rule I had was that they had to be safe,” Ryker says.

“Safe cars are so lame,” Nick mutters. I hold back a laugh.

“Anna didn’t have a problem with a safe car,” Ryker says.

“Because Anna doesn’t care about cars the way I do,” Nick says before turning to me. “I needed something that looked good, you know?”

“Well, your good-looking car ended up having a shitty battery,” Ryker says.

Nick smirks and rolls his eyes. He hugs Ryker. After a second, Ryker hugs him back.

“Thanks for saving my ass again, big brother.”

“Drive carefully, okay?”

“I will.”

I smile as I watch them. I can tell that underneath all the ribbing and teasing, they care about each other a lot.

Nick turns to me and pulls me in a hug. I chuckle, surprised.

“Thanks a lot, Maddy. It was awesome meeting you.”

“You too.”

“You should come over to my parents’ house for brunch sometime,” Nick says. “Ryker, Anna, and I go over there once a month for family brunch. They’d love to have you.”

“Oh, um…” I look at Ryker.

He looks at his brother, then me, the expression on his face unreadable.

Nick elbows his brother. “It’s been a while since you’ve brought a girlfriend over. Mom’s gonna flip,” he says.

There’s a weird dip in my stomach. Things between Ryker and me are definitely in the more-than-friends zone…but we’re not dating. I’m not interested in that. After getting my heart broken by my ex, I don’t know if I will ever be ready to get serious with anyone again.

“We’re not…I mean…Your brother and I aren’t…” I stammer, feeling the heat of Ryker’s gaze on me.

The cheeky smile drops from Nick’s face. “Oh, shit. Sorry. I just figured you two were a thing.”

“It’s fine,” Ryker says gruffly.

I smile at Nick, despite how awkward this is. He hops into his car and waves as he drives off.

And then Ryker and I climb back in my car, and I drive back to my place, the awkwardness of what we aren’t to each other filling the air between us.