She is so goddamn alluring.
Her shiny dark hair that made her blue eyes stand out even more than before, and the light-pink sheen of arousal painted against her cheeks went straight to my dick and jumbled all my thoughts. I was mentally spent, and every muscle in my body ached, but standing in front of Riley, holding her hostage with her gaze set directly on my mouth, like she was begging me to kiss her, threw every thought out the locker room door.
“Riley,” I warned.
Walk away. Walk away. Walk away.
I knew I was about to make a mistake, but having her in my hands felt so right, even if we both knew it was wrong. Especially me. I never said I was a saint, and after getting manhandled by Savannah’s father and having used all my self-control, I had none left to spare for her.
“Christ,” I cursed, keeping her steady.
The entire locker room disappeared when my mouth captured hers. My lip stung, but her sweet, needy mouth was what I desperately craved. The pain disappeared when a sexy little moan vibrated against my mouth. Her hands flew to my wrists, digging her nails into my skin, and I pressed into her further, wanting so much more than she was probably willing to give.
I wanted to claim her.
I wanted to claim her in front of my entire team and tell them I’d break their necks if they continued with their little games.
She jumped up when I cupped her ass. She pressed herself against me, and I held back a groan. I mauled her face, sucking, licking, and nipping her sweet taste. My hands were everywhere, and my kissing was urgent. I knew this couldn’t go any further, and I knew I’d regret it the second I was alone again, but for now, I was acting like she was mine.
I dragged my lips against her jawline as she fiddled with the waistband of my sweats. Her shaky hand dipped inside, and I saw red. I flexed my hips, anticipating her warm palm squeezing the life out of me.
“This is so fucking wrong, but I have zero self-control right now.” I took hold of her teasing hand and shoved it down farther until she gripped me. I forced out a breath. Riley’s devilish tongue slipped out of her mouth, and I went in for the kill until we both froze at the ringing sound of her father’s voice shrieking with anger outside the locker room.
“Shit.”
Riley slipped down the front of me, and her panic matched mine. Her wide eyes, full of unwavering fear and surprise, told me this wasn’t just some sick game that she was playing—because, trust me, the thought did cross my mind once or twice.
“Stay quiet,” I demanded, hating that I was shoving a girl like her into a locker.
What the fuck am I doing?
The locker slammed, and her father appeared two seconds later with Ford, Theo, and Emory standing behind him.
Theo was frustrated.
Ford’s eyebrow was slanted to his sweaty hairline, and when his eyes moved to the locker, I knew that he knew.
I didn’t have a chance to look at Emory, because Coach stepped forward, and I prepared myself for another sucker punch.
It would be so fucking worth it, though.
“I need you to tell me what the hell just happened, son.”
Son.
He would not be calling me son if he knew his daughter’s warm palm was just wrapped around my dick.
“Aasher.” His tone was low, but there wasn’t an ounce of anger lingering.
He’d never used that tone with me.
To Riley? Yes.
To his wife? Yes.
To the team? Never.
Especially not if he had any indication that I was lusting over Riley to the point that I was still hard, even with an audience.
Clearing my throat, I turned around and leaned against the locker Riley was in. Warm breaths coated the back of my neck, and a shiver worked down my body. “What do you want to know?” I asked, knowing I had to explain everything, even with Riley listening from inside a locker.
“For starters, I want to know how you were able to keep your temper intact. Weeks ago, you nearly put someone through a wall because they talked about my daughter. Today, someone punched you, and you stood there and took it.”
Please, God, don’t let him look too much into that. I’ve sinned, and though I’m not sorry, I’m not ready to die.
Emory, with his grumbly, gritty voice, cut through my desperate prayer. “Took a page out of my handbook, huh? Throwing people through walls.” He laughed but shut up as soon as Coach glared.
“Why did you let him hit you?”
“Because he thought he deserved it.” Theo crossed his arms and leaned back beside me. Fuck. Our eyes met, and when he shifted his attention to the locker behind our backs, his eyes widened.
“Deserved it how, exactly?” Coach asked.
The nerves pushed me to spill, because the sooner I answered his question, the sooner he’d leave.
“My high school girlfriend was sent away our senior year because she had a severe eating disorder. I didn’t know about it until it was too late, but her parents blamed me. They assumed that I had told her she was fat or not good enough because, truthfully, I was a shitty boyfriend. I didn’t treat her with respect, and I blew her off a lot. But I never said anything negative about her appearance. Ever.”
I cleared my throat. I hated talking about it, and it was even more demeaning to have to explain it to several people—one of them being Riley.
“Her dad lost his shit. Pulled strings and called the dean at Rosewood, which is—”
“How you ended up at Bexley U instead.” Coach added.
I nodded. “Savannah’s dad is the mayor of my hometown. He’s made my parents pariahs, and they were forced to help me pay for Bexley U because my scholarship magically disappeared.”
“Wow.” Both of Ford’s eyebrows rose. Either he forgot that Riley was locked in the locker behind me, or he was baffled at my story.
“That’s why they never come to the games. They can’t really afford to make the drive.”
“What a fucking asshole,” Emory mumbled. “And the girl?”
“Savannah?”
He nodded.
“She’s fine. She got treatment, and after she was released, she apologized to me and told me she reassured her parents that I had nothing to do with it.” I shrugged. “They still want someone to blame. I knew it was going to be a tough game. I knew her brother was coming for me.”
Coach stood, and angry lines carved into his reddening face. “That’s complete bullshit. There are plenty of fucked-up little shits doing far worse to young girls in high school and college for him to come at you and openly assault a player of my team for doing nothing wrong.”
I tensed because I knew exactly why he was so fired up.
I tried to lighten the mood. “It’s alright, Coach. I probably deserved a punch. He’d been saving that hit for, like, three years.”
Coach put his hands on his hips. He looked at me for so long I started to think he knew that Riley was behind me. I watched Ford and Emory out of the corner of my eye, as they threw up hand movements behind his back to move the meeting along. It was apparent to all of my teammates that we weren’t alone.
“You didn’t deserve to be punched.” He shook his head. “I know you are a good guy, Aasher.”
My fate is sealed.
If he ever found out that I made his daughter come all over my fingers in the rink, he would retract that statement in a heartbeat, and I would be dead. It would be even worse if he opened the locker behind me and his daughter stepped out with my blood on her mouth because we’d been kissing moments before—and kissing was putting it mildly.
“Be ready for practice on Monday,” Coach threw over his shoulder. “If we’re lucky, we’ll make it to the cup and have another chance to pay back Green University for everything they did tonight.”
I stayed pressed against the locker even after we all heard the locker room door shut. Theo slowly turned to me, and he would probably kill me if he knew that Riley was a breath away from us, hidden away with swollen lips that I caused. If there was anyone on the team that had more riding on a good season and impressing scouts, it was him. He wouldn’t be happy if he knew I was playing with fire and potentially messing everything up.
“Finish fucking your puck bunny and go get some sleep.” His hand landed on my shoulder, and he gave it a squeeze. “You deserve it.”
I shrugged his hand away. “Uh, thanks. Did you wanna suck my dick too, or…?”
Theo rolled his eyes and stalked off, hauling his bag higher on his shoulder. Emory and Ford turned to me when silence filled the locker room. Ford’s shoe squeaked over the floor, and I tried to block him, but he was too fast. His hand sprung forward, and he undid the latch and out barreled Riley, red-faced and sweaty.
“Aw, fuck,” Emory mumbled, moving his way around the bench and disappearing. “I saw nothing.”
Ford caught Riley by the waist and hoisted her up before she fell to the floor. “And what exactly were you two doing before we came in here?”
He knew exactly what we were doing, but Riley attempted to lie anyway.
“I was just making sure he was okay.”
“With what? Your mouth?” he asked, taking her by the shoulders and directing her to the mirrors. My blood was on her lip, and she hurriedly wiped it off.
What was I thinking?
It was very clear that I couldn’t be trusted.
Not tonight, anyway.
“I need to go.” I grabbed my bag and rushed through the door.
That night in the living room, her sweet laugh was the only thing I could hear over the shuffling of cards and clanking of poker chips. I wanted to be the one making her laugh.
I was in timeout, though.
I stayed locked in my room because now that I knew Riley was just as tempted as I was, we both needed some space.
