Page 86 of Bro Code

He hopped down and dragged his chair back to the laptop and sat down at the exact moment the puck dropped, scrambling to orient himself as the game started and the screen turned into a dizzying diagram of moving dots and data points.

Holly said nothing as she sat down beside him. But Louis could’ve sworn she was smiling.

They won six-four.

Riley played better than he had all season. He wasn’t perfect, by any means – he’d been playing terribly for months, and it would take time to get back to where he was. But his heart rate was steady. His reaction times were tighter. He took chances. He made good calls. He wound up in the penalty box halfway through second period, but Louis suspected that was only because he was getting cocky.

After the game, he packed up his laptop and tablet quietly, with Holly running commands on her data beside him. The urge to tell her I told you so was overwhelming, but he managed not to say it. She probably wouldn’t even believe it. It was only one game, she’d probably counter. One game could be a fluke.

He didn’t want an argument with Holly to sour his good mood, so he said a friendly goodbye and strolled out of the box and down to the tunnel to find Riley.

He found him fielding questions from journalists who wanted to know if he’d had anything to do with the handshake. Riley was damp-haired and grinning, in the suit he always had to wear post-game, and saying he had no idea who was responsible, but wasn’t it great, what an amazing statement.

Louis folded his arms and leaned on the wall at a distance where he wouldn’t be noticed and just watched him and smiled.

When Riley finally detangled himself from the clump of cell phones and mics, he spotted Louis and came over, grinning, duffel bag over one shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” Louis peered around Riley at the reporters, who’d watched him walk away and were now eyeing Louis like he might be a story they were interested in. “Are we worried that they’re watching us?”

Riley glanced back at them. “I don’t know. I don’t think I care?” He looked at Louis. “Do you?”

Louis lifted one shoulder. “I guess not.”

Riley smiled, and he turned and fell in step with Louis as they walked out to the parking lot. Louis’ heart was beating fast. Excitement about what New York had done, post-game adrenaline, or just…walking to the parking lot with Riley. Like they were an item, or something.

In the parking lot he pulled out his phone to call an Uber, and hesitated. Were they sharing one back to the hotel? There was no one out here to see them getting into it together, but still, maybe that was a bridge too far?

It turned out he didn’t need to worry about it, because as he was pulling up the app, Riley stopped him.

“Actually, I, uh–” He hesitated, looking mildly embarrassed. “I may have…done something.”

Louis eyed him. “Done what?”

Riley glanced past him as Louis heard a car pulling around the corner behind them. He turned to see an enormous black stretch limousine. “I may have done...that?” said Riley.

Louis stared at him. “You ordered a limo?”

“Mhm.”

“Like…for both of us?”

“Well, actually…for you, mostly.”

Louis frowned, suspiciously tucking the phone back into his pocket as the limo pulled up. “What does that mean?”

“Well…” Riley opened the door and gestured for him to get in. “I still wanted to do something nice for you. Not that being at your house wasn’t nice, I just…something special. And I figured you’d like this, because it has a privacy screen and tinted windows.” He climbed in behind Louis and shut the door. “So you can fuck in it.”

Louis’ heart jumped and his stomach did a delirious little tumble. He froze on the black leather seat with his backpack still over one shoulder.

“Your mouth is hanging open,” said Riley, looking amused.

Louis quickly shut it. “I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to do that,” he said, setting the backpack on the floor. He’d never actually been in a limo before, but he was almost certain there were rules.

“You’re not allowed to throatfuck a guy in a public restroom, either. But you didn’t seem to have a problem with that.”

Louis’ dick had just gotten hard so fast it had to be some kind of world record. “You paid for it, though, they have your name and credit card. Aren’t you gonna get, like a fine or something, if they catch us?”