Page 27 of Risky Play

MATT: Thanks for the help today. You’re amazing. I’m grumpy.

ME: Wow. I had NO idea.

MATT: Don’t be sassy, sweet pea.

ME: You love it! Sorry you can’t play tonight. Let me know if you need help with another sponsored ad. I’m your girl.

“Ooh, does new girl have a secret lover?” Kiira, our goaltender, crooned as we walked in together.

I belted out a laugh at the blonde goofball. “No! Just a friend. Ready for me to fire shots at your head today?”

“Oh, bring it, Kennedy!”

I grinned. “Oh, I will. You’re gonna be eating my pucks!”

The goaltender was always the weirdest one on the team, but I loved Kiira. She was fun and, so far, one of the few players I bonded with. That was okay. It took time to get used to a new team dynamic. At least one thing in my life was sorting itself out. I’d figure out the rest this year at Franklin.

Chapter Eight

MATT

“Bar tonight?” I asked, looking around the room at my sweaty teammates.

It pissed me off that I was a healthy scratch tonight, and I needed to release this tension. Earlier, Riley had pulled me aside and told me not to worry about being benched. He took the mantle of Captain to heart after G retired. He was a good guy, and I appreciated it, but it still didn’t make me feel better.

I spent most of the game watching from the executive box and scrolling social media. That was bad. Half the time, I scrolled through Maddie’s account like a lovesick puppy, and the other was spent reading all the tweets from fans bemoaning how we sucked.

That was why Noah advised me to not check my mentions and to not, under any circumstances, search my name. I listened to him on that one, but it was hard when you got tagged in stuff. No wonder so many of my teammates didn’t do social media.

TJ gave a sad shake of his head. “Nah. Max had a rough day with the kids.”

Before I got here, everyone said TJ was the biggest party boy, but lately, he rushed home to his family. Max let him loose on the road—that’s when I saw the wildcard come out. But at home, he’d fallen into settling down as a good husband and father. Which meant the boys ragged on him non-stop about it.

“Really?” Benny asked. “I never thought I’d see the day. TJ ‘party boy’ Desjardins’s an old man!”

TJ threw a towel at Benny. “Shut it. Not like you can’t wait to get home to my sister. Rather spend time with my family than hang out with you jerkoffs.”

“Well, I’m in. Buy me a beer, Cally,” Benny told me.

I laughed. “Okay.”

“I could use a drink,” Noah said.

“Who else?” I asked.

Cully already snuck out of here. He wasn’t one to go out for drinks when we were home. He was more content rushing home to his girl and their kids. I roomed with him on the road and knew that was mostly because they were total nerds and he wanted to get some gaming in with her. A lot of the older guys with kids shied away, especially if it was a school night.

“Nope. My wife’s pregnant and tired,” Riley announced.

We all stared at him at the revelation.

“For real, dude?” Noah asked.

He gave us an infectious grin. “Yup. Baby number two, we’re excited.”

“D didn’t say anything to me,” Noah grumbled.

Riley laughed. “Fi asked her to keep it a secret until we were sure.”