Page 46 of Risky Play

Benny ran a hand through his beard. “Yeah, it was bad. His dad and him got me drunk and then had me doing lines on the ice the next morning until I wanted to puke. Alain only accepted me because I got up into his face about Rox. What does that have to do with your lady problems…” he trailed off before he could complete his question, the answer already hitting him. “Oh, fuck. Who?”

“Maddie.”

“Who?”

“Noah’s little sister.”

Benny cringed. “Oof. And you live with him. But that shouldn’t be too bad. Noah’s a level-headed guy.”

Yeah, he was, but not with Maddie. It looked like he wanted to murder me at his wedding.

“It gets worse,” I revealed.

“What did you do?”

“I took her virginity, and then I left this morning without a goodbye.”

Benny rubbed his temples and breathed out an annoyed sigh. “One, virginity’s a social construct, and Rox told me you two already did oral, so technically, you already had sex. And two, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

Rox told him? What the fuck?

“I told you I fucked up. And why does your girlfriend know that?”

Benny laughed. “She only told me because she thought it was funny we had similar stories. But again, what’s wrong with you?”

I groaned. “I was going to be late for morning skate. To be honest, I think she just wanted to have sex. I’ve been her wingman.”

His eyes were on the road, but I saw the way his face scrunched up in confusion. “Her what?”

“She helped me with a sponsor thing I needed to do, and I was supposed to help her find a guy who could deflower her.”

“Are you sure she wasn’t trying to get you to be that guy?”

Wait a second. He was onto something. Maddie had picked out the douchiest guys she could find when we went out. Had she done that on purpose? Last night, she said she wanted it to be me. Was her dragging me to all those parties just an elaborate ruse? Did sweet pea really play me like that?

“I’m not sure,” I admitted.

“You like her?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to be her boyfriend?”

Yes. I did. I wanted to resist her, to keep her in the friendzone, but I wasn’t sure I could. Maddie, with her sweet smile and her passion, made me want to listen to her forever. I loved being near her and talking to her, even if it was just a couple of texts. That’s why I knew going to her dorm last night was a bad idea. But I did it anyway because she made me want to be bad with her.

“I really like her,” I admitted.

Benny turned down on his street and drove into the parking garage of his building. “Okay, tell you what. First, you apologize. Second, you need to tell her what you want. Rox and I weren’t on the same page when we got together. If she wants a casual thing, no point ruffling feathers by talking to Noah.”

I nodded. Right. If she wanted to use me for sex, we could go back to the friendzone, and I didn’t have to tell Noah anything. We could pretend it never happened.

Benny parked his SUV. “Gotta admit, kid, it surprised me you asked for my advice, but you can’t ask Noah about fucking his sister.”

“Benny!”

The dick laughed at me. “Come on, rookie, let’s eat. Focus on the game tonight, and then you can go talk to your lady about whatever’s going on. You need to work that shit out with her before you go to Noah.”

I nodded and followed him up to his condo. He was right. I knew he was right, but it didn’t dislodge the rock in the pit of my stomach.