Page 49 of Risky Play

“No, that’s weird. You have to have Halloween first!” Kiira exclaimed.

I shook my head at her while the two of them razzed me about being a weird Canadian.

It was a hike to the bar from the skating rink. Since Franklin was Ivy and smack in the middle of Philadelphia, there was actually a rink. That had surprised me in a good way. I was worried about having to find transportation to the rink. It wasn’t an easy walk, but it was manageable.

On the way over, we chatted about our upcoming game and commiserated over Elsa being way too serious about hockey when it was just club. I was glad they felt the same way. It was nice that they wanted to include me and hang out. So far, finding friends at school had been hard. I had friends back in Winnipeg, but I was so far away, it felt like I was all alone here. That was one reason I was grateful for Matt. There might be some awkwardness the next time we saw each other, but I valued our friendship before anything else. My heart would get over it.

When we got to the bar, it was wall-to-wall drunk college kids. I’d never understand why Thursday night was the biggest drinking night here. We grabbed drinks at the bar, squeezing in between frat bros while we waited for a booth to open up. Karen shamelessly flirted with the bearded bartender, who grinned like he was going to get lucky later. With the way Karen eyed him up, he might.

On the TV above the bar, warmups for the game had started, and the between-the-glass reporter was interviewing Aaron Riley. I spied Matt in the background, and unease spread through my chest.

“Riley’s so hot,” Karen sighed dreamily.

I laughed. “He’s happily married.”

“How do you know?” Karen asked.

Oh, boy. I knew because I got drunk with his firecracker wife at my brother’s wedding. But I hadn’t been forthcoming about my relation to one of the biggest hockey stars in the city. Back home in Winnipeg, people treated my brother like a God, and it was nice being at Franklin without that hanging over my head.

Kiira snorted. “I read his wife’s romance book. Dude’s definitely not going anywhere.”

I swiveled my head at her. “You read Fi’s book?”

“Yeah! It was pretty good.”

Karen narrowed her eyes at me. “Wait, do you know his wife? You’re always posting about books on your Insta.”

I blew out a breath. Yeah, I knew her, but I wasn’t sure if I should tell them the truth.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kiira asked.

I sighed. “Do you know who my brother is?”

Karen’s eyes got wide. “No way!”

Kiira raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask, the host came over to us and told us our table was ready. She walked us over to our booth, and I was hoping they’d forget about the conversation, but they stared at me with comical looks of excitement on their faces.

“What?” I asked and buried my face in the menu.

Kiira slapped it away. “No one comes here and reads the menu. Spill.”

“Fine. My brother plays for the Bulldogs.”

“No shit!” she exclaimed, then she frowned. “Wait…who?”

“Noah Kennedy. Duh,” Karen explained.

Kiira’s mouth formed an ‘o’.

“He’s hot,” Karen said with a grin.

I blanched. “Gross, no. But also happily married. I love my sister-in-law. I actually work for her now.”

“Oh yeah. What’s that like?” Karen asked.

Before I could answer, our server came over and dropped coasters on the table. She cocked her head when she saw me. “Weren’t you just here?”

I gave her a small smile. “Yeah. Last night.”