Page 47 of Overtime Goal (Buffalo Warriors Hockey #4)

riley

The next morning, while we were waiting for the trainer, our phones buzzed. Harpy had sent us both the same message.

Logan raised a brow. “Low-key?”

“With this team?” I shook my head. “What are the odds this is some kind of ambush?”

“Very high. You want to go?”

I tipped a hand back and forth. “Might as well. If we say no, they might show up outside with binoculars and a megaphone.”

“Very true. I guess the best-case scenario for dinner is great food and a good time with the boys.”

I laughed. “Worst case, we’re on the spot.”

After a workout and a run, Logan palmed my cock through my running shorts. “Up for a little fun?”

Just hearing it got me hard. “Getting up right now, as you can tell. Shower first?”

“Nope. I like you sweaty.”

Fuck if that didn’t make my cock start throbbing. “I like you that way too.”

A few hours later, after activities, a nap, and a shower, we headed for O’Sullivan’s. We arrived on time, assuming we were about to walk into a full-scale interrogation. Harpy had said “a few of us,” which in Warriors-speak could mean the whole damn team.

I got more suspicious as soon as we stepped inside and the hostess smiled. “Hi, Mr. Grayson and Mr. Riley. They’re waiting for you, so follow me.”

“How many are there?” I asked.

“Sixteen.”

“I fucking knew it,” Logan whispered as she led us toward the back. “We just have to be smarter than they are.”

I snorted. “That’s a given.”

Two-thirds of the Warriors were waiting in a private room set up with a long table, looking very eager.

It was amazing that so many of them were in town, considering we were still a few weeks from training camp.

Dog and Holky were sitting side by side at the center of the table, wearing matching shit-eating grins.

“Hot damn,” Holky said. “The happy couple has arrived.”

My heart skipped a beat. “I hate them,” I whispered.

“Deeply,” Logan agreed.

Packy waved us over. “I guess nobody wanted to sit with me, so take a load off.” He pointed at the two empty chairs on his left, putting us opposite Holky and Dog.

“Subtle,” I said, not even bothering to whisper.

Logan chuckled. “Almost elegant in his restraint.”

Dog started talking as soon as our asses hit the chairs. “It’s great to see you, boys. We had a few get-togethers over the summer, but you never came.”

“Bullshit I didn’t come,” I said, making everyone laugh. “I got the invites. They never worked because I always had a date, hence the coming.”

I was surprised by how easily I stepped back into the old Riley’s persona.

Holky widened his eyes. “Didn’t see you either, Logan.”

I glanced at Logan and could tell he was trying not to look irritated. “I’ve been in Italy. You couldn’t have expected I’d fly back here for a cookout.”

“How was Positano?” Dog asked.

Gabe put on a snarky grin. “Weather okay?”

Mason was sitting next to Dog. “Anything special happen over there?”

Logan did a remarkable job of looking puzzled. “Like what? It was a fantastic time.”

“Aha!” Brody sounded gleeful. “You admit you were together.”

“Fuck off,” I said. “We didn’t admit?—”

“Any revelations?” Harpy asked.

I turned to Logan and whispered, “If we make a run for it now, we can be halfway to Canada before they finish the appetizers.”

He shook his head. “Too late. We’re already stuck in quicksand.”

Thankfully, a server chose that moment to take our orders.

While everyone told her what they wanted, my brain went crazy.

We’d decided in Positano to tell the truth if they asked questions, something we’d reinforced on our way to O’Sullivan’s.

We’d also be as smart with our answers as we could.

Faced with the reality of cross-examination, I was torn.

I would’ve loved to have more time that belonged to us alone.

On the other hand, I was excited to be with Logan and proud he’d chosen me to be his boyfriend.

I didn’t feel like hiding it. Was it weird that, although I’d have loved to have more private time, I was excited that our friends were about to learn the truth?

Fuck it. Weird or not, that’s where I was.

“House salad, New York strip, and baked potato,” Logan said.

The server wrote it down and turned to me. “Mr. Riley?”

“Caesar salad, rib eye, and mashed potatoes.”

“Thank you,” she said, moving on to Harpy.

As soon as she left, I decided a preemptive strike was in order. I leaned forward to see around Harpy. “Abby, you were going home to Russia the last time we saw you. How was it?”

“Was very good, thank you. Mamochka is well, and Russian vodka is still the best.”

“Find another boyfriend over there?” Logan asked before anyone else could speak up. We were on a roll.

“Sadly no, but I keep looking.”

I was about to ask a follow-up when Packy cut in. “You got back a week ago, Logan?”

“Yes, and?—”

“You staying at Logan’s full-time now, Riley?”

I glared at him. “Why would you ask that?”

“Makes sense, that’s all.” Packy’s grin was pure evil. “Your condo’s downtown, and Logan has more room at his house.”

Mason snorted. “They’ll probably use Riley’s condo for their city place. Stay there when we have games at the arena, or if they want to go out.”

“I bet they’ll be at Logan’s most of the time,” Blunt said. “It’s much closer to the practice facility.”

The server brought our drinks, and I was swallowing some iced tea when Holky piped up. “Riley, you went to Italy with Logan, didn’t you?”

It took me too long to come up with an answer. “I saw him there.”

“So you were there.”

“Never said I wasn’t.”

Holky put on an expression I remembered from our nights making the rounds of clubs. “Tell us about all the sexy women. I hear there were supermodels.”

I gave him my best eat-shit look. “There are plenty of beautiful women in Italy. And yes, I had dinner with Natalie Langdon.”

Dog leaned in, grinning like a frat boy. “Yeah, we saw that. But did you…”

“Did I what?”

He made the okay sign with his left hand and shoved his other index finger into it a few times.

“Eat shit,” I said. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Bullshit,” Packy called out. “I’ve heard so many details from you over the years, I felt like we were still in juniors.”

After everyone had a good laugh, Gabe looked at Logan. “How about you? Men go crazy for the blond, muscle type.”

Harpy spoke up. “You know what they say. Blonds have bigger dicks.”

Everyone laughed again, and Brody, who was also blond, said, “Goddamn right we do. And we’re proud of it, right, Logan?”

Logan grinned and pointed at him. “Sure as hell are.”

“Have a lot of dates over there, Logan?” Gabe wasn’t letting it go.

Logan touched my shoe with his and left it there. “There was one guy I couldn’t get enough of.”

Blunt snorted. “God, with you two horndogs both there, it’s a wonder you didn’t blow the roof off the place.”

Before I could think of a retort, Holky put on a snarky grin and stage whispered, “Maybe they were busy blowing something else?”

Abby coughed into his hand and said, “Each other.”

Yet again, everyone laughed their asses off.

Logan leaned over the table. “I’m confused about something. What makes you think Riles and I were together?”

“You admitted it when you came in,” Brody said.

Logan scoffed. “Did not, goofball. You asked how it was over there, and I said it was fine.”

“I said I was in Italy,” I added, “and I saw Logan there.”

Gabe chuckled. “Come on, guys, fess up. You don’t want to get struck by lightning.”

“What lightning?” I asked.

Dog cocked his head. “Do you really expect us to believe you’re only each other’s emotional support Warriors?”

“What the hell does that mean?” Logan asked.

Packy snorted. “You two have been codependent for years.”

So it went. The guys chirped us throughout the meal, trying to get us to say something incriminating.

I was chewing my last bite of steak when Harpy looked over at me. “You should come clean. Logan, we told you on locker cleanout day to take Riley along.”

Holky grinned. “Your posts gave it all away.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

Dog gave me a get-real look. “Come on, dude. For a month, Logan would post a picture of something, and it wouldn’t be long until you posted another shot of the same thing.”

“Sometimes only a few minutes later, or vice versa,” Holky said, always helpful.

“Tell us about all the selfies,” Packy said.

Some guys groaned, while others laughed again.

“What about selfies?” I asked. “Everyone posts them.”

Brody snickered. “Come on. First, you’d put up one of yourself wearing a big grin, and?—”

Gabe finished for him. “A few minutes later, Logan would post one with a grin of his own, taken in the exact same spot.”

“And there was one of the two of you together at a restaurant,” Dog said.

“There was?” I didn’t remember either of us posting that one.

“And the paparazzi pics,” Mason said. “Looked like you were having fun shopping.”

Without missing a beat, Blunt cut in. “There’s one thing I don’t understand. What?—”

Edwards elbowed him. “Dude, there’s a helluva lot of things you don’t understand.”

Blunt backhanded Edwards’s arm. “Eat shit.” He turned to me. “What happened with the model? I saw the pics of you two, and she’s hot as hell. Didn’t you have some fun with her?”

“I wondered that too,” Dog said, wearing a shit-stirring grin. “You said you didn’t fuck, but?—”

“My agent arranged that dinner,” I said. “She’s really nice, but nothing happened.”

Edwards narrowed his eyes. “Sure about that?”

I returned his stare. “Absolutely certain.”

“Did she shoot you down?” Blunt asked.

“No,” I snapped. “I wasn’t interested.”

“Hey,” Mason said. “Stop trying to deny what’s really going on. You and Logan have been best buddies for years, and when you go out with Natalie Langdon and don’t even try to fuck her, that tells the tale.”

“What tale?” Logan asked.

Harpy cleared his throat. “I agree with everyone. There’s no shame in going on vacation with a friend. But after everything we saw this summer…”