Score Her Heart: A Marriage of Convenience Hockey Romance (Philadelphia Bulldogs Book 2) by Danica Flynn (best mystery novels of all time .txt) 📗

from off the coffee table. I had invited Katie over too, and they were arguing about whether my life was playing out like a fake marriage trope or a marriage of convenience trope.

Dicks.

“What position does your man play again?” Brad asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

I flicked him off. “Riley’s a D-man.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Brad asked with a laugh.

I shook my head. “Defense or blueliner.”

“It’s why he’s so big,” Katie joked.

I laughed.

Riley was a solid mass of muscle in front of the net, but he wasn’t the biggest guy on the team. He was a skilled skater and good at getting in front of the offense. I watched number twenty-two skate across the ice into the face-off circle. Benny was the biggest player on the team, and on skates, he looked way taller than his six-foot-four height.

I pointed at the screen. “Riley’s not even the biggest guy on the team; Benny is.”

“He’s dreamy,” Katie cooed.

I shook my head at her. “Calm your tits; he’s taken. I think. He’s the one who helped me move in here. He seems like a total sweetheart. He’s Riley’s best friend on the team.”

Brad whistled as he looked around the place again. I was aware that Riley’s condo was impressive. From the granite countertops to the wide windows with the nice city view, he did live in luxury. It was so weird that I was also living here now.

“He’s worked really hard all his life for these millions,” I defended him.

Brad held up his hands. “Hey, I didn’t say anything. So explain it again, how do you have an offsides in hockey if it’s like, you know, on ice?”

I ignored his question because I saw Riley get checked hard into the boards. Right in the fucking numbers. Where was that fucking penalty?

“Shit!” I yelled.

Brad and Katie scanned the TV to see what I was seeing. “What happened?” Katie asked.

“Riley took a bad hit,” I yelled, not particularly at them.

I chewed on my nails. I loved this sport, but I worried so much about the damage it could do on the players. Especially now that one of those players was my husband. Riley had minor injuries throughout his career, but being the person on the sidelines watching him wreck his body, I was afraid for him.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Katie asked.

I nodded, but I wasn’t that confident as I watched Riley hop onto the bench for the shift change.

I loved watching Riley play hockey. I spent most of my life watching him on the ice, and it always made me so proud to see his accomplishments. I watched his big body tear across the ice, and I could almost hear the delicious sound of his skates biting into the surface. I loved the sounds of the game, that scritchy-scratchy noise of blades and the thwack of the puck into the netting. Watching hockey on TV was fine, but it was nothing like live hockey. I could have asked Riley for tickets tonight, but I didn’t want to overstep my bounds. I knew I was a wife now, and I should be in the wife’s room or whatever, but I wasn’t sure if his teammates even knew he was married. Maybe he took his ring off when he left. We hadn’t really talked about it.

I jumped and cheered when I saw Riley block the shot and the Bulldogs get possession of the puck. Noah Kennedy had the breakaway and scored the game-winning goal. “Fucking right, baby, that’s how you do it!” I exclaimed.

Katie and Brad laughed at me. Brad shook his head. “You really are a hockey fan.”

“I’m from Minnesota; it's kind of not a choice!”

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Brad exclaimed and reached down into his bag to pull out a paperback book. He handed it to me, and I nearly peed myself with laughter at the cover with the half-naked man with ice skates in his hand. “My wife really liked this one and thought you might like it.”

“Oh yeah, I think I read the first one in this series. They are very steamy.”

Brad smiled. “I’ve met Ruby a couple times. She does the whole self-pub thing.”

I thought about doing the self-pub thing before, and despite what people said about it being easier, it was not. You had all the control, which was great, but also bad because you were in charge of everything yourself. It was a lot of work. I didn’t think I was built for that.

I peered at the name on the cover in interest and flipped to the back, where a brunette in cat-eye glasses stared back at me.

Katie’s eyes sparkled. “I know! You should write a steamy romance book next!”

Brad had his agent face on. “You could do it under a pen name if you want; it might be a good idea.”

“Hmmm…I don’t know. But I will definitely enjoy reading this,” I said evenly. I finished the rest of my beer and took it into the bin in the kitchen. “You guys okay to drive?” I asked.

I didn’t have a car because I never needed one with public transportation, even though SEPTA was reliably unreliable. Just because I didn’t drive didn’t mean I didn’t want my friends to get home safe.

“I’ll take an UBER,” Katie assured me.

“You sure? I mean, we do have a bed in the office if you want it,” I suggested. Katie’s apartment in Mt. Airy was a bit of a hike from Center City, and I worried about her being alone at night.

“I’ll drive you home,” Brad offered. Brad didn’t drink, so I knew he was okay to go.

“Oh, no, it’s out of your way,” she said.

“Katie, take the ride. Mt. Airy isn’t that far from Chestnut Hill. Thanks, Brad.”

Brad gave me a thumbs up, and he helped me clean up. I hugged both of them goodbye and thanked them for coming over. Brad was right, I did need to relax, and then I could work on my book with fresh eyes tomorrow.

I put away