Page 24 of Risky Play

“I want to prove myself. I belong on the team,” he grumbled.

I put my camera down. “Okay…I get that.”

“No, you don’t.”

I tilted my head down in a nod. “Yes, I do. Do you know what it’s like being Noah Kennedy’s baby sister? Every coach in pee wee assumed I’d be just as good. I love hockey, but people think I should live and breathe it and want to join one of those women’s leagues. People put a lot of pressure on you when they learn your brother’s a legit hockey superstar.”

He held up his hands. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”

“Geez, now you sound like my brother.”

The corner of his lips upturned into a smile, and I quickly snapped a photo of him. Right at that moment, as the afternoon sun glinted across his chestnut-colored hair, he looked like a God. The kind I’d want to worship on my knees.

Fuck, I was horny.

“That’s perfect. Don’t move,” I told him, and I snapped a few more shots. These were going to be awesome.

After taking a couple more, I pulled my camera away from my face and checked my watch. “I got it.”

“Really?”

“Let’s go inside, and you can pick one. Then I’ll do edits on it and send it over to you so you can post with all the ad copy and such.”

His gaze clouded over.

Okay…I might have gone into work mode on him. “Help me pick, and I’ll do the rest.”

We went inside the house and sat on the couch together while I scrolled through my camera and asked him his opinion. Matt’s thigh pressed against mine as he leaned over to look at my camera. I had to tell myself to breathe because his big body pressed against mine had my libido thinking naughty thoughts. God, I wanted to be naughty with him so bad.

He pointed at the screen. “Go back.”

In the photo, he was smiling like I wasn’t taking these to help with this sponsorship. As if that flirty smile was all for me and he was happy to see me.

He put a hand on my thigh, and I hitched in a breath. “This one?” I asked to quell the nerves.

He squeezed my thigh. “You’re amazing. This is great.”

I slid away from him and grabbed my laptop. I loaded the photo and opened my editing software.

“Thanks,” Matt said.

“Sure,” I told him brightly.

Matt stretched his arm over the back of the couch, silently watching me work. This was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I hoped I could find work with a PR firm after I graduated.

An alarm blared upstairs, and I slid further down the couch. If Noah woke up from his pregame nap and saw Matt and me cozy on the couch, he’d blow a gasket.

“Can you email me that?” Matt asked. “I gotta get dressed for the game.”

I waved him off. I sat crossed-legged on the couch and touched up the photo until it was perfect. I then emailed it to Matt and gave him the copy to include with hashtags.

My brother came down the steps wearing a suit, and his face lit up when he saw me. “Hey, I want to talk to you about something.”

I closed my laptop and steeled myself for yet another argument. I told him last night I didn’t want to move here, but Dinah already warned me he’d ask again.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I want to pay you for the work you’re doing for Dinah.”