Page 63 of Risky Play

“This place is cute,” she said after taking a sip of her wine.

“D likes it because it’s not too upscale.”

Maddie nodded. “That sounds like her. How do you feel after the road trip?”

“Tired. And we have another game tomorrow.”

“Right. D’s been nagging me to come, and I don’t have a game.”

I perked up. “You’re going to come?”

“Yup. I haven’t been to any this season. Still figuring everything out with school, hockey, and working for Dinah.”

And having a secret boyfriend. But I didn't say that out loud. I liked this girl a lot, but I couldn’t help but think hiding our relationship from her brother was going to backfire badly.

“You’ve got a lot on your plate,” I said instead.

She smiled at me from over her wine glass. “Not enough to not make time for you.”

I smiled back at her, and we clinked glasses. When our food came, I laughed at how she moaned. It was great food, and I wanted to have her moaning like that later while she was underneath me.

I brought up my sister Luna while we ate dessert. “Hey, so I have a weird request.”

She rested her cheek against her hand, tilting her head in curiosity.

“My sister’s applying to Franklin, and she’d love to talk to someone here.”

“Oh!” The surprise was written across her face. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“Yeah, you’d like her. She plays hockey, too.”

Maddie smiled. “I’d love to meet her. Tell me about her.”

I grinned. “Well…she’s nineteen. She took a year off because she didn’t know what she wanted to do, but also because she was worried about wasting my parents’ money if she didn’t like it. I told her I’d take care of it.”

Her eyes softened. “You said you’d pay for her school? Franklin’s really expensive.”

I nodded. “My parents sunk their life savings in IVF to have me and Luna. If I’m making more money than my sister ever will in her lifetime, I want to help her.”

She put her hand over mine. “Matt, that’s so… Wow, I admire you so much. I didn’t know that about you or that you had a sister.”

I pulled out my phone and showed her a picture of me and my sister on draft day. Luna was so sure I was going to get drafted, and when the Bulldogs drafted me, she immediately denounced the Minnesota Tundra and started rooting for my new team.

“Oh wow, I see the resemblance. She’s cute.”

“I guess? That’s my sister.”

She laughed. “Her grades must have been good, though, if she’s thinking of applying.”

They were. We were all shocked she took a year off because Lu took a bunch of AP courses and had college credits already. She was so smart she questioned my agent about stuff in my contract before I signed with the Bulldogs.

“Well, I would be happy to tour her around and talk to her about the hockey team whenever she comes in,” Maddie said with a smile.

“That would be great. If I asked Ty, she wouldn’t take him seriously.”

She laughed. “Ty seems…fun.”

“Yeah, he is, but he fools everyone. That dude’s serious about his studies. If he wasn’t, he’d be going to Minnesota for hockey. But Franklin has great opportunities in the medical field.”