What Are The Chances (Phil-U #2)

38 I’ll see you Wednesday

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

I’ll see you Wednesday

RILEY

When Will walked in ten-minutes later, my cheeks still felt warm from his last message. Wednesday had never been up there with my favourite day of the week. I had a particularly boring tutor whose practicals were mind-numbing, and my lectures were back-to-back. I needed to skip two to be home for Will, but something told me it would be worth it.

Will had his hands stuffed into his hockey jacket, the tips of his hair still wet from a shower. I turned away to hide the flush that danced up my neck thinking about those showers. Watching Will come apart like that, his tattooed torso glistening with steam and water, had been so fucking hot. I’d literally clocked my best two miles running home, where I’d hastily swiped my vibrator from my side table before taking a shower of my own.

“Sup, Dover.”

Tripp was the guy I always needed in the room. He was either oblivious to tension, or he chose not to acknowledge it.

I plastered a solid smile on my face. “Hey.”

There was an older man with them dressed in a Phil-U tracksuit. He stepped around Will and Tripp, holding out his hand to me.

“Richard Donohue.”

I shook his outstretched hand. “Riley Dover.”

He smiled. “Good to finally meet you, Riley. I’ve been eager to check out your set up. Mind if I observe for a bit?”

Nodding, I gestured to the chair on the other side of the partition. “Be my guest. ”

I started with Tripp, motioning through our normal routine. His knee hadn’t been an issue since his last game, which confirmed my suspicions that it wasn’t lock knee. Still, to avoid the soft tissue damage getting worse, we worked through a new set of exercises that I told him to complete before each practice and game.

With each piece of advice I gave I caught myself glancing in Richard’s direction out of the corner of my eye. His stoic nods were a good affirmation. While I trusted myself I liked verifying I was on track.

Will’s check-in was quicker to get through without his shoulder taking up the majority of the session. That wasn’t to say the rest of his body was in perfect shape though. Everywhere was tense.

“You might want to get into the habit of working ice baths and saunas into your recovery,” I said. “The ice baths will help reduce muscle soreness and inflammation, and the sauna is great to help loosen those same muscles. Try a sauna after your practice but before you stretch. And if you don’t have access to an ice bath, cold showers are a good alternative.”

The corner of Will’s mouth turned up. “I prefer my showers warm.”

I swallowed hard, trying to clear the sudden lump of surprise that formed in my throat. I could still feel the light droplets of water that’d splashed over me while – nope. Don’t torture yourself, Riley.

“We have both of those available in the hockey facility,” Richard piped up. “Though I’ll admit, we could be utilising them more. Will, chat to Holloway and sort out an after-practice ice bath session for the team. We’ll make it a bonding exercise.”

Will grimaced. “Sounds like fun.”

Chuckling, I entered my notes into my tablet. I didn’t expect Will had any intention of following through on Richard’s request.

While Will shrugged his jacket back on, I thought back to the first time he’d sat on that therapy table, when we’d been so tense around each other I’d done the whole assessment over the top of his puffer coat.

Since then we’d slept together, he’d given me three orgasms, I’d sucked him off in the locker room showers, and we were set to have sex in just over forty-eight-hours. I was either evolving or getting stupider. The odds were on the latter.

Richard rose from his seat. “We run a program in collaboration with the health science department. Students can nominate to spend a semester with a sporting team and replace their final assessment with hands-on experience.”

I was familiar with the program. My course counsellors had encouraged me to apply. For obvious reasons, I hadn’t.

“I rechecked the applications once I started receiving your emails about Tripp and Will. Your name wasn’t among the list of applicants. ”

I could feel Will watching me, but I refused to look his way.

“I work part-time,” I lied. “I couldn’t commit to coming to all of the games.”

“That’s a shame,” Richard remarked. “I spoke to Coach Hall and–”

My heartrate skyrocketed. “You spoke to Coach Hall about me?”

“Yes,” Richard went on, not picking up on my alarm. “And he agreed to bring you on for the remainder of the season. I won’t be able to substitute your entire assessment, but I’ll talk to your course counsellor about negotiating a change to your overall grade.”

I was doing my best to focus on what Richard was saying, but it was getting harder and harder. If I’d wanted to put myself through the torture of being in close quarters with the players and coach, I would’ve applied to begin with.

“Even if you start with the games you can make, the experience will be great for you. And if all goes well, I’d happily write you a letter of recommendation at the end of the season.”

The opportunity was more than any student in my class could hope for. Almost everyone I knew had applied for the program and only two had been successful.

“Can I think about it?” I asked weakly.

Richard looked a little taken aback, but he nodded. “You’ve got my email. Our next game is on Wednesday night.” He clapped Will on the shoulder. His good shoulder luckily. “I’ll catch you both later.”

Once he was gone, silence fell over the room. I’d really enjoyed working on the hockey injuries. It was certainly an area I was eager to explore further, and if I could work with a college team, it would be a jumpstart when applying for jobs after graduation. But it was more complicated than that. It always had been when it came to Phil-U’s hockey team.

“Dover?”

I blinked back to the present. I’d almost forgotten Will was still here.

Distracted, I shook my head. “Sorry. You’re good to head off.”

Will didn’t move. “Where did you go just then?”

I honestly wanted to tell him. I used to love talking to Will. He’d always been my favourite person to talk through my day with, or text when random things happened, or use as a sounding board to make decisions. But I couldn’t talk to him about this. There was someone else I needed to have this conversation with, and the thought of picking up my phone to call my dad made me anxious.

“Nowhere.”

After holding my gaze for a moment longer, Will got to his feet. “I’ll see you Wednesday? ”

He was looking at me in question, as though he was giving me an out. He was right in his message earlier. I needed this as much as he did. If I didn’t have a class soon, I would’ve been tempted to kickstart our arrangement right now. Though that ruined the clause I’d given myself. Only on game days. To help him. To help the team.

I raised my eyes to meet his. “I’ll see you Wednesday.”