Page 107 of Risky Play

“Yeah?”

“You’re probably the only guy on that team Noah would approve of. It’s almost like he hand-picked you.”

“I don’t know if sweet pea would like that,” I blurted out.

My sister’s eyes got soft. “Aw, you call her sweet pea? That’s so cute.”

“Shut it,” I growled.

Dinah laughed. “Okay, I’m done. I knew something was up, and I had to say something.”

“What if she doesn’t want to talk to me?” I asked.

Dinah waved me off. “Nope. I’ll make her come to the game with us tomorrow.”

“How?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle that.”

Luna nudged me. “You focus on winning in front of your girl, and then you can get her back.”

“Okay, okay. I’m not sure I love you two teaming up against me.”

“You love us!” Dinah cheered.

I shook my head. I did, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

Tomorrow. I’d fix it all tomorrow.

I hoped.

When I went to bed, I shot off a text to Maddie.

ME: Can we talk after my game tomorrow?

I didn’t wait for a response before falling asleep. I’d find out later if she still wanted me. Or if I was going to be left with this gaping hole in my heart.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

MADDIE

I stared at my phone.

* * *

MATT: Can we talk after my game?

He sent that last night, and I still didn’t know what to make of it. What was there to talk about?

All my friends had been telling me to suck it up and go talk to him. That I shouldn’t care what my brother thought because it was my life. I wanted to believe they were right, but worry coursed through me. Every time I imagined telling Noah, I pictured how he rang Jaime’s bell on the ice. Noah wouldn’t do that to his own teammate, right?

I was confused about Matt’s motives because yesterday, I saw him spying on us at practice. He was with Ty and a girl I didn’t recognize, but I felt his stare on me while we ran through drills. They were gone before I finished the next one, so I didn’t know what that was about.

My phone buzzed and I declined the call from Dinah. I had been avoiding her, and she knew something was up. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could avoid the house, especially since my brother was saying how he hadn’t seen me in a while. I kept telling him I was busy, but he’d probably show up here one day demanding what was going on.

I rolled my eyes at Dinah’s text message and left her on read.

I furrowed my brow when I saw Ty was calling.