Scoring Position (Hockey Ever After #2)

by Ashlyn Kane

Nico loosened up a little more, and Ryan figured that was as good a sign as any. “I want to ask you one more thing, okay? Don’t get mad. I’m just asking, without judgment.” Now Nico gave him a very slight side-eye. “That kinda makes it sound like it’s gonna be judgy.” Ryan huffed a laugh. He’d figured that Nico had a sense of humor buried in there somewhere. But still, it was kind of a judgy question… and one firmly rooted in Ryan’s burning curiosity. “Why don’t you join the cellies?” He desperately needed to know. He could tell by the way Nico’s expression froze and then reddened that the question caught him off guard. Had he expected Ryan not to notice? When he didn’t answer, Ryan prodded. “I mean, some people just don’t like to be touched. If that’s it, though, I think you should tell the guys. They’d respect that.” As he’d hoped, Nico took the bait. “No, that’s—that’s not it.” He grimaced. “It’s embarrassing.” “You don’t have to tell me. But if there’s a reason you don’t want to do it, you should think about telling the team.” He needed to word this next part carefully. He didn’t want Nico to feel any worse. “Because if they don’t know why you won’t, they think you’re not happy your teammates scored.” Read, They think you don’t like them, when I’m pretty sure you’re just mad at yourself for not contributing more. Nico was all kinds of tied up in his own head. Ryan really needed to work on his mental phrasing. Nico paled. “Oh.” Poor kid. He’d said touching wasn’t the pr...