Chapter Thirty Two

**I tried a little bit of a different approach to this chapter, I felt like mixing things up hahaha. I hope you all like it! (:



To the best of my knowledge, the rest of the guys were going out tonight which was fine by me because I needed a night to myself. Mark would probably go out for a drink with the team so I’d get to be alone in the room which is nice sometimes. It’d give me a chance to relax and clear my head which I needed desperately. Most of the guys weren’t really talking to me that much anyway, so it was already like I was on my own. It didn’t bother me though, I knew it’d all blow over in a few days and we’d be back to goofing around, like always. I just couldn’t understand why I was being painted as the villain? If anything, I was only trying to protect Geno. Well, that’s what I told everyone else. In truth, I was trying to ruin any relationship Riley had with Geno or Max because I was jealous and selfish. That’s basically what it came down to, me trying to get the best of both worlds. I thought that once Max and Geno both left her, I’d be the shoulder to cry on. Needless to say, my plan backfired and her relationship with Max was stronger than ever. At least one Malone was happy.

Once I got back to the hotel room, I changed into some sweats and plopped down on the bed. Sure enough, Mark had gone out for a drink and the silence surrounding me was a welcome friend. I smiled to myself, enjoying the simple pleasures in life, comfortable sweats, a plush bed, and the fact that after a few years I could retire and have enough money to live on for the rest of my life. Yes, besides the fact that I didn’t have Riley and missed her terribly, life was alright. After a few minutes of laying down, letting my mind wander, I decided to venture down the hall for a bottle of soda. Before I got very far, I heard multiple voices coming out of Staalsy’s room. I figured it must be Max and Marc helping him decide what to wear. He had mentioned something earlier, while we were on the bus, about having them come over to help him pick out an outfit. God only knows why, Max looks like he dresses himself in the fucking dark. Cardigans? Really? We’re hockey players, not fifteen year old girls. I stopped a moment to listen to their conversation.

“What do you think, Max?” Jordan asked.

“They’re both fucking hideous,” he answered quickly. I laughed to myself. Even though I couldn’t stand the guy right now, he could be pretty hysterical at times. As I was thinking about this, a sound behind me made me jump. I could have sworn I was seeing things, but after I let my eyes focus, I knew my vision was spot on. Riley was at the hotel door next to mine, Max’s room, searching for a key above the doorframe. Max must have left it there for her. At once I felt my blood begin to boil as a blind fury swept through me. I clutched onto the side of the wall until the feeling passed and I was able to gain control of myself. When that moment came, I made my way back down the hall and towards her.

“Riley?” I whispered, trying not to startle her. My effort was for naught because she jumped about a foot in the air. For a moment, when she looked at me, I didn’t see any of that aggression she had been sending my way for the past couple of days. I saw the start of a friendly smile that soon turned to a frown when she realized who it was and our current situation.

“What do you want?!” she snapped, keeping her voice low. Her eyes pierced through me and I tried to remember what I had been rehearsing in my head since we started fighting in the first place.

“What are we doing here?” I answered her question with another question. She looked confused for a minute, but quickly regained her composure.

“I’m going into Max’s room. And you were leaving.” She turned her back on me and began to fumble with the key.

“Riley, I miss you.” She stopped before putting the key in the door and turned to me.

“You’re kidding me, right? After all of this shit you put me through, you have the nerve to tell me that you miss me?! Ryan…I…I can’t do this right now.” She turned back around, put the key in the door and turned the handle. She was seconds away from crossing the threshold and I had to say something to stop her.

“Don’t have sex with him. Please.” I watched as she stopped in her tracks. It was only a matter of time before she would walk inside, slam the door, and leave me standing out here. I’d be out here alone before I could count to three. One. Two. Three. Four? She was still standing there, frozen in place and it was another minute before she spoke.

“You had your chance,” she said icily. “And it never would have worked out.”

“I’m asking for another one. A second chance.”

“It doesn’t work like that. At least not with me. You made my life a living hell and you want me to forgive and forget?”

“Please, let’s try again.” She hesitated a minute, then turned to look at me.

“One, I love Max. And two, you don’t deserve me.” And with that, she walked inside and slammed the door. I stood there a minute, waiting, as if she would walk back out and say “got ya!” before running into my arms. But it didn’t happen, just like I expected and I walked quietly back to my room, without even getting my soda.

As I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, I actually wished Mark was there. He would offer me a distraction from my own thoughts, he might save me from myself. I could hear my heart beat drumming steadily in my ear and that noise alone was enough to drive me up the wall. When I heard the door click open, I sprang to my feet, happy to see another human who could tolerate me.

“Eaton! Where were you?” I asked as he came inside and rummaged through his bag.

“You knew where I was, down at the hotel bar with the rest of the guys. I just came up to get my American Express. We were playing a few hands of poker, I lost, this next round’s on me.”

“Oh.” I was completely disappointed that he wasn’t here to stay and it must have showed on my face.

“Hey man, why don’t you join us? I’ll even buy your cheap ass a drink.” He grinned at me while waiting for my response. Before I had time to answer him, we heard a dull, rhythmic thudding coming from the other side of the wall. “Ha! Sounds like someone’s getting lucky tonight.” Mark turned to the wall and banged on it with the hand that wasn’t holding the credit card. “Yeah Max!” He turned back to me and continued our other conversation. “Now, I know you don’t wanna listen to that all night. So, get dressed and meet me downstairs.” I agreed only to get him off my back, but in reality he was right. I really didn’t want to hear that all night. I got dressed at lightning speed and made my way down towards the bar. As I passed Max’s room, I prayed to God that maybe, just maybe, she’d be thinking of me. I knew it was a long shot so as I headed towards the elevators I wished that it was me in that room instead of Max.

Chapter Thirty One

The time I spent on the road felt brutally long and the fact that I wasn’t playing my best game didn’t help either. I didn’t have any points in the game against St. Louis or when we travelled to Columbus. I couldn’t buy a goal. What I needed was a night away from everything and that’s exactly what the boys wanted to do tonight. After the win in Columbus, we decided to head out for some drinks. Beforehand, though, Jordan had insisted that Marc and myself come over to his room and help him pick out an outfit. And I was the one who had “lost my dick”? Sure enough when I walked in, they were arguing over these two shirts Jordan had laid out on the bed.

“What do you think, Max?” Jordan asked, holding both shirts up for my viewing.

“They’re both fucking hideous,” I said, being blatantly honest. I really wasn’t in the mood to be someone’s fashion consultant. All I needed was some type of alcohol coursing through my bloodstream.

“Whoa, someone’s touchy tonight,” Marc commented. “A little sexual frustration?” At this remark both of the guys snickered and high fived. I had told Marc and Jordan about Riley right after it happened and they found it to be the funniest thing in the world.

“Yeah, you can’t score on or off the ice!” Jordan chimed in. I threw the first available thing at them which happened to be my phone. “Hey!” It hit Jordan right in the stomach and bounced onto the bed. At that moment, it started lighting up, signaling that I had a new text.

“Who’s it from?” I asked, slumping down in a chair on the other side of the room.

“Riley,” Jordan replied. He opened the phone and I saw his eyes go wide. “HOLY SHIT!” I immediately jumped up from my seat and ran over.

“What?! What’s wrong?!” I watched as Jordan looked up from the phone and a smirk formed across his face.

“Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s perfect. And I think you’ll agree after you see this.” He handed me the phone and there on the screen was a picture of Riley. She was wearing this corset-like thing that revealed a lot more than I was comfortable having Jordan see. Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I turned to find Jordan still smiling.

“Forget everything you saw. Right now.”

“No way, dude. That image is burned into my mind forever, and believe me, I’m fucking ecstatic about it. I’ll be using that later.”

“You’re fucking disgusting,” I snapped.

“What, what is it?!” Marc asked, trying to snatch the phone from my hand.

“Just a picture,” I said nonchalantly.

“You can’t not let me see it!”

“Sorry,” I said, making my way towards the door, “I’m putting it back in the room so no one will be seeing it tonight.” I left Jordan’s room and made my way back to my own. I opened the door and was immediately plunged into darkness. Fucking Marc. Shutting off lights every damn place we went. He was all into conserving energy these days. I stepped into the room, turned on the lights, and stopped in my tracks. There, on the bed, laying on her side, propped up on her elbow, was Riley. She was wearing the exact same corset as in the picture I had just received and looking at me with this self-satisfied smirk.

“Well, hello, Max,” she said.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to visit you. I figured you must have been getting awfully lonely on the road. Am I right?” Her tone was light and innocent, but I was well aware of her ulterior motive.

“I’ve been doing pretty well,” I respond, trying to keep my breathing in check. She laughed lightly and sat up, moving to the center of the bed. Her arms were behind her and her legs crossed and stretched out in front of her. I was now able to see her breasts spilling out of the top of that bustier and my natural male instincts began to take over.

“What do you want, Maxime?” she asked, her voice low and enticing.

“To fuck you into next week,” I answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Then what are you waiting for? I want you so badly.” Her words were dripping with lust. “I want you right now, Max. I want you to make me scream.” That was what broke me. I pretty much made a running leap at the bed and began pulling and untying and unclasping and clawing and scratching and doing absolutely anything to get her out of that corset. “Wait.” She backed away from me and held me at arm’s length. By this time I was throbbing with pain and desperately needing a release.

“What?!” I growled, crawling towards her.

“If I let you do this, you’re meeting my parents.”

“Okay fine.”

“No, listen to me. There will be no backing out. You’re meeting them. And so help me if you try and talk your way out of this, you will never ever be bringing your dick anywhere near me ever again. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, God, yes! I hear you. Now just get the fuck over here please?!”

“As you wish.” It was finally time for me to get what I wanted. I felt like a sex-starved maniac even though, in reality, it hadn’t been that long. I pulled her towards me and finally released her out of that skin tight bustier, carelessly throwing it to the floor. Now it was time to decide, please her first or please myself? She was so thoughtful to come all the way here just to surprise me, but she was the one who put this stupid ban on sex in the first place. What to do, what to do? I looked down into her face, brimming with adoration and lust and I made up my mind. Please her. I moved my mouth down to her breasts, sucking on the right nipple first, then the left. Her little moans told me I was going in the right direction. While I continued working my tongue, I let my hand travel further down her body until I found her clit. I massaged it in little circles before letting my fingers enter her. “Jesus Christ, Max!” I smiled to myself, enjoying the way my name sounded when she was out of breath. I then moved away from her chest and ducked my head so I could begin teasing her clit with my tongue. The action of my tongue working in conjunction with my hand had her writhing beneath me. “Faster, Max. Please.” I loved that I had her begging. It was making my already hard dick throb even more. When I had her just about on the edge, I backed away from her, removing my fingers. “That’s just mean!”

“No, I just wanna fuck you so badly. I can’t wait any longer.” I quickly removed my pants and slid my dick into her. I felt her shuddering beneath me and then as I found a rhythm, her little whimpers turned to full on moans. I slammed into her, completely losing myself in the moment. I heard the thudding sound of the headboard smashing into the wall, but it sounded distant. “Come for me, Riley. Come on, baby. Come for me.” Moments later I had her screaming in orgasm as mine closely followed. We collapsed together as I pulled out of her, breathing heavily.

**
I smiled down at Riley who had her face nestled comfortably in my shoulder. She fit perfectly in my arms, like we were molded to one another. I looked over at the clock whose red numbers were flashing 3:27 and figured Flower must have been in on this scheme and rooming with one of the other guys. He was a good friend, always looking out for me. I had to remember to thank him later. Riley began to stir and I felt her lips on my neck.

“I thought you were asleep,” I whispered into the top of her head. She shook her head no, but didn’t move her position.

“I was just closing my eyes for a little bit. You know I can’t stand to be away from you for too long, even if it is just sleep.” That statement made me feel a kind of happiness I had never felt before in my life. I’d never had someone want me so completely and fully that even being apart in sleep was too long. As if reading my mind, Riley continued. “I’m so glad we’re together. I’m so glad I found you. I love you, Max. So much. More than I’ve ever loved anyone. And stop smirking, I know this is corny. Humor me.” She finally looked up at me and had a playful look in her eyes underneath the serious expression she wore. I didn’t know how to respond to that. There was so much that I wanted to tell her, but I couldn’t find the words.

“I…I want to buy you a boat.” I’m sure this statement made absolutely no sense to her which is exactly why she propped herself up on one elbow and looked at me like I had eight heads.

“Um…what?”

“A boat. There’s a story behind it. When my parents where first dating, my dad didn’t have a lot of money, but he always wanted to do these extravagant things for my mother. Well one day, they happened to be walking by a marina and my mom saw this gorgeous boat. My dad could tell that she’d love to own it so he made a promise to himself that as soon as he had enough money saved up, he’d buy her that boat. So, a couple of years after they were married and long after my mother had forgotten all about that boat, my dad brought her to that same marina and gave her the keys to her new boat. It looked exactly like the one she fell in love with in the first place. She loved being out on the water and now she could do it whenever she wanted. My dad told her that he’d do anything for her, even buy her boat because he loved her that much and wanted her to be happy. So, bringing this all back to us, I would do absolutely anything for you, even buy you a boat, because I love you.”

“Even though you took a long circuitous route to make your point, that story was very cute and I think I’ll let you buy me a boat.”

“Pssh who are you trying to kid? I don’t have enough money for that!”

“Then this relationship is over.” She rolled over with her back to me and I could feel her laughter vibrating within her ribcage.

“Good, I can’t stand you,” I said before wrapping her in my arms and drifting to sleep.