Dad: Keep your head in the game this weekend. I know it’ll be tough because of who they are, but we’ve raised you right.
I leaned against the glass and typed several different variations of messages to my father but ended up clicking my phone off instead. I’d already managed to text Savannah back, and that was enough to get my blood flowing with dread.
Hockey was comforting to me, but when you were forced to play against your ex-girlfriend’s brother who chose to believe a lie instead of the truth, it didn’t feel so comforting after all.
“Sorry I’m late.” Riley clambered down the dark hall toward the ice. Her dark hair was down, and I thought of nothing but wrapping my fingers in it again and swallowing her sweet little gasps.
I was ruined.
We needed to have a five-foot perimeter around us at all times after last night.
I cleared my throat and pushed off the wall to the rink. I gripped my bag and slung it over my shoulder. The lights were still gleaming above the glistening ice, and after we crossed the line last night, I wasn’t tempting fate again.
The lights were staying on, and a barrier as strong as the Great Wall of China was going to be built between us. How dare she ask me to treat her like any other girl when we both knew she wasn’t, and fuck me for agreeing.
“Did you bring them?”
Riley’s baby blues popped up, so innocent looking, but after knowing what her pussy could do, I knew she wasn’t as innocent as everyone assumed. “Yeah.” She held up her bag. “That’s why I’m late. I had to run back home to grab them.” She looked at the books in my hands. “Why do I need my schoolwork?”
“Well…” I turned around and put my back to her. The door to the rink opened up, and her tiny gulp had me turning and looking at her over my shoulder. “We’re going to get you comfortable on the ice.”
“More comfortable than last night?” She giggled.
My blood sang at the same time my shoulders tensed. I was on edge, and it truly had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the upcoming game on Friday. “You’re breaking the promise you made me.”
“What promise?”
My tone sliced through the chilly air. “You promised not to speak of last night—ever.” I slipped my attention to her legs. She wore jeans. Good. “And where is your chastity belt?”
Riley snorted, and her smile was infectious. She was so damn pretty when she smiled. She hid it from me nine out of ten times. If I was lucky, I could catch a smile when she was with Sutton or whenever she was fucking with the team to get back at them, but right now, she was smiling at me.
I hated myself for liking it.
Her hand crept to the bottom of her black sweater, and she pulled it up.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter. She thinks she’s hilarious.
“Is this good enough for you, Dad?”
Dad. That’s right, her dad was my coach.
“You think you’re funny, huh?” I shook my head, trying to hide my own smile. Her tight jeans fit around her waist to perfection, showing off her long legs, but hanging from the thin black belt was a padlock.
“I am funny.”
I was fully amused but pretended I wasn’t. “Get on the ice.”
She stepped backward, and it took everything in me not to storm her, put her over my shoulder and onto the ice. I knew she’d follow, though, because she wasn’t a quitter.
“Get on the ice and bring your backpack.”
The rink still felt chilly to me, despite being used to the freezing temperature. It was different without my pads and practice jersey on. The long-sleeve shirt I had on didn’t quite cut it, but I pulled my beanie down a little farther over my ears and sat on the ice, waiting for my ass to grow numb through my jeans.
“I don’t have all night,” I shouted, pulling open my backpack.
I was taking easy college courses, but I would still graduate with a degree in management—something my parents thought would be good if playing pro didn’t work out or if I got a career-ending injury. At least I would still have one foot in the hockey world and use my degree to manage a team or even the NCAA.
That was what Tom Gardini did, and he was practically a legend—especially to Theo, who was stopping at nothing to get in his good graces.
“Fi–fine.”
I smirked. Riley’s shoe popped into my peripheral vision, and her tiny steps into the rink were that of a toddler beginning to walk for the first time.
“My eleven-month-old cousin takes bigger steps than that, Riley. Get on the ice.”
“You’re such a dick,” she muttered, picking up the pace and heading to where I was sitting.
I mumbled, “Not what you were saying last night.”
Her gasp was as loud as my chuckle, but when she slipped beside me, I quit laughing altogether. I used my honed reflexes and caught her before she fell. I cursed when her ass landed right on my dick. My book flew to the ice, as if it were making room for her on my lap instead of it.
“Good thing you’re wearing that padlock,” I whispered, trying to make a joke. But it wasn’t funny. All it took was one touch, and I was a goner. I wanted to kiss her again.
Shit.
I shoved her gently and ended up sliding her several feet away on her butt.
She swallowed slowly and breathed out of her nose. “What are we even doing?”
“Taking another baby step.” I pulled out two more books from my backpack and rested them in between us, horizontally. Riley furrowed her brow before pushing her dark hair behind her ear. I caught the shine of the little hoops she wore and wondered why the change in earrings. Trying to look nice?
“And the books between us…?”
I flipped open my notebook and pulled off the cap of my highlighter with my teeth. I kept it there, paying her no attention as I mumbled, “A barrier.”
Her lively laugh echoed around the rink. “Are you kidding me?”
Our eyes met, and her gaping mouth was more of a smile. “When was the last time you laughed while in the rink?”
The apples of her cheeks turned pink. I thought so.
I raised an eyebrow. “You have a paper due in your marketing management class, so get to writing. We know how you like to formulate plans. Come up with one to keep your chosen marketing campaign on track.”
“How the hell do you kno—”
I held up the book closest to her.
An idea sparked when it blocked her face for a second.
I started to stack my books on top of each other. “Your class is right before mine. I see you walking with Sutton every Wednesday. I also saw Sully and Jasper walking with you two. What did they want? To get you drunk at the next frat party to help their chances at winning their bet?”
I continued to stack my books, blocking her altogether.
“You are such a stalker.”
“And you’re a tease.”
The books between us came clambering down to the ice. One slid to my foot, and the other slid to hers. I reached forward to grab it at the same time she did and grabbed her hand instead.
Tingles raced up my arm at the touch, just like they did last night with my hand between her legs.
“Yep.” I pulled the book out of her grasp and began stacking them again. “A total, fucking tease. Ask anyone on the team. They’ll agree.”
“I’m purposefully teasing them, though. Of course they’d agree.”
“After I put those skates on your feet and get your ass back on track for tryouts, you won’t be teasing anyone.”
I heard her bratty tone through our wall of books but ignored whatever she had to say.
“For the next several days, we’re going to do our homework on the ice, eat dinner on the ice, and hell, maybe even sleep on the ice. You’re going to get comfortable with it again before we put our skates on. Got it?”
“Yes, Dad. I’ve got it.”
“And one more thing.” I leaned back and caught her soft gaze. “Stop fucking calling me dad.”
Riley rolled her pretty eyes and sucked in her lips to avoid smiling. She put her hand to her forehead and saluted me before going back to her paper.
I did the same.
My phone vibrated, and I knew it was my mom this time instead of my dad. If I ignored a text from him, he always made sure my mom sent me one too.
Mom: Your father said he texted you and that you didn’t text back. We’re here if you need us. Good luck tomorrow night. Wish we could be there.
I typed a quick response because I knew they’d keep it up if I didn’t acknowledge the elephant in the room. I was doing my best to ignore the worry over the game, but I knew that Coach had noticed my distracted mood in practice earlier. He pulled me aside, and for a second, I thought he was going to ask about Riley, but he didn’t. He drilled into me and told me to get my shit together. Theo was right behind him to do the same.
They weren’t wrong.
I was playing like shit.
Even knowing that Savannah wasn’t coming to the game, I was still dreading playing against her brother. He wasn’t a better player than me, but his vendetta was just as large as his father’s.
“No book wall tonight?”
I sat up a little taller and watched Riley skim over the ice with more confidence than I’d ever seen from her—well, except for when she was knee-deep in booze, winning flip cup against the entire hockey team at the last party.
A thought came to mind, and it was perfect timing. I was too on edge to sit here in the rink with her soft breaths in my ear, looking all pretty and tempting while scribbling in her notebook as I sat a yard away, forcing myself to stop thinking about the face she made when I gave her an orgasm.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She hesitated, taking a step back. Her brows furrowed, and the slight shimmer on her high cheekbones caught the lights from above.
I pulled out my phone and sent a group text to my roommates, plus Ford because I’d never hear the end of it.
“Follow me, Duster. We’re doing something new tonight.”
