Page 4 of Overtime Goal (Buffalo Warriors Hockey #4)
logan
He widened his eyes. “Being early’s a virtue. I can wait out here until eight if you want me to.”
I sighed, unable to hide a smile as I let him in. Once the door closed, we moved in for our usual hug, but Riley paused and held out a fist.
“Really? A fist bump?”
“It’s either this or an awkward handshake. I don’t hug wet dogs.”
As we laughed and tapped fists, water was dripping all over the floor. “I need to get dressed, so make yourself at home.”
“Thanks. You want snacks?”
“Go for it.” I headed to my room. It was good to see him, and I was sorry I’d been so hesitant. We’d been friends too long for things to be so weird.
I tugged on jeans and a sweater, made a halfhearted attempt at taming my hair, and gave up.
Walking back to the TV room, I burst out laughing.
Riley was already curled into what had basically become his side of the sectional, surrounded by what looked like half the food in the house.
His lips were already stained neon orange from cheese puffs, and for an instant, I had the crazy idea he’d gone a round with a paintball gun.
“Didn’t you eat dinner?” I asked.
“You know how I feel about snack foods.”
I dropped onto my usual side of the sectional and stared at the buffet he’d put together. “That’s enough to feed the whole team.”
“What can I say?” He gave me a crooked grin. “I panic-grabbed. It’s a thing.”
I sighed, biting back another laugh. “Give me those chips.”
He handed me the Doritos and picked up the remote. “TV?”
“Sure.” This was our usual routine, so no problems so far.
While he scrolled through options before landing on a sci-fi movie he’d been talking about, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.
His brown hair had flopped over his eyes, and my chest warmed as I studied his face.
It was heart-shaped with high cheekbones, full lips, and bright green eyes that gave away more than he probably wanted.
Sometimes, when he turned them on me, it was like stepping into the sun on a chilly day.
When my thoughts turned to his body, I started a book about a spy who, by page three, had gone from predator to prey. Trying to read was no use, though, thanks to Riley’s regular interruptions.
“Do you know who Jeremy Keever is?”
“Nope.” I looked up from page six. “Should I?”
He pointed at the TV. “Check him out, the chrononaut. I googled him, and this is his first movie. Doesn’t he look exactly like Brody must have at fifteen?”
“That guy’s not fifteen.”
“Wikipedia says he’s twenty-three, but I’m calling bullshit. He looks like a middle school kid with a gym membership.”
“He looks twenty-three,” I said. “And sexy as hell.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Riley shot me a look and went quiet. I made it to page eight before the questions started again, and this time, he kept them coming.
“How much do you know about time travel?” he asked.
I snorted. “Not much, considering it doesn’t exist.”
He rolled his eyes. “I mean in science fiction.”
“Still not much. Not my genre.”
He hit me with questions about temporal paradoxes, tachyons, and wormholes. My answers were mostly nonsense, and he made a big show of judging each one. After I told him all I knew about the grandfather paradox, he gave such a dramatic eye roll it probably counted as a neck stretch.
I sighed. “Why are you asking if you already know this stuff?”
“I don’t know it.” He nudged my knee with his foot. “But I can smell bullshit from a mile away.”
“Fuck off.”
“Eat shit.” He grinned and turned back to the screen.
Reading continued to be a lost cause. I spent more time pretending to be annoyed by the interruptions than looking at the pages, especially since Riley kept glancing my way.
At one point, I threw a little pillow at him; he caught it and tossed it back.
I’d been half-listening to the movie for a while, and by the time the chrononaut took his fifth pointless jump, I gave up and set the e-reader aside.
“All right.” I scooted over beside Riles to steal some cheese puffs. “Explain why this guy keeps bouncing around through time, wrecking everything he touches. And don’t skip the dumb details.”
A grin spread across Riley’s face. “It’s the butterfly effect. Ever heard of it?”
“Yes, but how does it fit in here?”
He explained enough to bring me up to speed, and we watched it together. Gradually, he got more comfortable as he shed his hoodie, kicked off his shoes, and pulled the throw from the back of the sectional to wrap around himself.
“Why don’t you make yourself at home?” I asked.
“Thought I already had.” His expression was a mix of mischief and happiness.
I shook my head, making sure he saw it, but I was so content I wanted to purr. Except for Riles, most of my visitors were teammates stopping by. We had fun, but that’s all it was. Riley was different because he made everything feel better.
Halfway through the movie, he shifted until he was sprawling sideways on the sectional. When his feet landed on my legs, right in front of my crotch, I froze. He glanced over and gasped when he saw how close his ankles were to my dick.
He yanked his feet back. “Shit, sorry. Didn’t mean to do that. I was just stretching out.”
“No problem.” I reached for his legs and settled his feet on my thighs. “I can handle your weird feet.”
He scoffed. “What the hell? My feet are elegant. Many women have said so.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess. These were women who were chasing you, not the other way around.”
“Just for that, I’m taking my feet back.”
He tried to pull them away, but I grabbed his ankles. “Don’t even think about it. You stole the blanket, and your feet are warm. I need all the help I can get.”
Things were quiet for about a second before he started chuckling. It was soft at first, then grew into a full-blown laugh.
“What?” I asked.
“You need all the help you can get, huh? Don’t you have an app to find guys for that?”
My cheeks were suddenly very hot. “Fuck off. You know that’s not what I meant. Is your mind always in the gutter?”
He snorted. “Thought that was already well established. And I’m not the one with pictures of naked men in my bathroom.”
“Those are art prints. The pictures were taken by some of the best photographers in the world.”
“So you say.”
I backhanded his foot. “The closest you come to art prints is pulling up Pornhub on your phone.”
“You watch Pornhub too.” He gave me the side-eye. “Last time I used your laptop, you hadn’t even closed the tab.”
“Bullshit.” He was probably right, not that I’d admit it.
“Want to see the picture I took as evidence? It’s on my phone.”
He wouldn’t have taken a picture, would he? “Fuck you.”
The chirping continued as the movie wound down. It made us laugh, easing away the awkwardness of the last couple of days. When the movie ended, we turned off the TV and took the leftover snacks back to the kitchen.
We were at the counter drinking water when Riley’s eyes changed. Now they had a flat, weary look. Tiredness was probably part of it, but I suspected he was worried about having more of the nightmares that had bothered him for months. I met his gaze. “You staying?”
He hesitated before answering. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to.”
“The guest room’s always available to you.”
He glanced away, as if he didn’t want me seeing his relief. “Thanks, Logan.”
We paused in the hall outside the bedrooms, mine to the right and the guest room directly opposite. “Let me know if you need anything,” I said. “Hope you sleep well.”
“You too.”
He licked his lips, and the flash of pink tongue kicked my pulse up a notch. I took a deep breath. “Glad you came over.”
“I had a great time.”
I nodded. “Same. Good night.”
Our eyes locked, and neither of us moved until a clock chimed in the front of the house.
I turned and went into my room, closing the door behind me.
After washing up, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
It had been one of the best evenings I’d had in a long time.
I needed to stop pretending I didn’t want more than this, but what good would it do?
I was gay, and Riley was straight. He might freak out again if I told him how I felt, and then I’d be more alone than ever.
My stomach clenched as I reminded myself we would never want the same things.