Page 36 of Hooking Up with the Hockey Player

The longer we kiss, the more of this I need. My hips lift, seeking her warmth, friction, anything. I feel like I might explode if I don’t get more. I want desperately to touch her skin, but her shirt is tucked in, and I’m afraid tearing at her clothes will ruin everything, and I won’t risk that.

Holding myself back, I make the smallest, shallowest movements with my hips, giving in as much as I dare to my need for something, my hands roaming her body until they fall to her thighs, fingertips slipping beneath the edge of her shorts. I stop there, the fabric lying just past the first knuckle of my fingers, gripping her thighs and using all my willpower to stop myself from going farther.

She stills, her lips leaving mine, but her face still close, her eyes blinking at me through those rimless glasses, dark and fathomless, and I desperately want to know what she’s thinking, what she’s feeling, but before I can ask, the sound of an engine cuts through the night. Gravel crunches under tires. Shit shit shit shit shit. Please don’t be Dozer, please don’t be Dozer, please don’t be Dozer. Go away, go away, go away!

But my desperate plea to the universe, to Dozer himself, goes unanswered. Car doors open and close, and a drunken giggle carries through the still night down to us, Dozer’s voice murmuring something I can’t make out in return.

Anna pulls back more, her gaze clear now instead of cloudy with lust, her eyebrows pinching together as she looks around. “Who’s that? What’s wrong?”

Giving her thighs one more squeeze, I move my hands to the safer territory of her waist, resting just on the swell of her hips. “Dozer and Jenny. They’re back earlier than I expected. I figured they’d stay out and close down the bars.”

Anna smirks. “Depending on where they went, they might’ve. Even in the summer, things don’t stay open that late around here. Arcadian Falls is more of a festivals and outdoorsy tourism kind of place. Not a nightlife kind of place.”

Her lips are pink and swollen and so kissable, I can’t help but dart in for one more kiss. I catch her by surprise, because she puts her hands up and lets out that adorable squeak she makes when surprised, but then she kisses me back, her hands coming to rest on my shoulders.

I know that Dozer and Jenny are likely to make their way out here, though, because they’ll see the fire. Our alone time is about to be?—

“Oh, Troo-ooy!” Jenny singsongs, then giggles.

Dammit.

Dozer shushes her immediately. “Jenny, you gotta keep it down. Nick and Tina are getting the kids to bed. We don’t want to keep them up.”

“Oh, right,” Jenny loud whispers. “Shhhh!” Her drunken whisper isn’t much quieter than her full voice.

Anna’s already scrambling off my lap, and I miss the feel of her body against mine already.

“I should go,” she murmurs, her eyes darting to the stairs where Dozer’s helping his drunken girlfriend of the week down to the fireside. “It’s getting late.”

I want to protest that it’s not that late, but I don’t. Realistically, I’ve taken up enough of her day. And while I think she probably would’ve stayed longer if it were just the two of us, Dozer and Jenny’s appearance has effectively finished the evening for Anna and me.

Standing, I reach for her hand, giving her lax fingers a little squeeze. That seems to bring her back to life, because she looks up at me with a soft smile, her fingers curling around mine and squeezing back. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

Her head dips in a nod, and if she were going to say something, Jenny stumbling to the closest chair and dropping into it renders her mute. “Aww,” Jenny coos. “You guys are the cutest! Aren’t they the cutest, Dozey-Bear?”

Dozey-Bear?

Dozer shoots me a murderous glare when I look at him, a smile already stretching across my face at the nickname. “Don’t,” he mutters to me. “Yeah, Jenny. They’re super cute.”

“No!” she protests, belligerent. “The cute-est. Not just super cute. The most cute.”

“Uh-huh,” he agrees, clearly used to her argumentative side coming out when she’s been drinking. That must be a blast for him. I wonder how much longer this’ll last? My money’s on him showing up to my place with a six-pack the night after we get back to Seattle to drink away his sorrows over the breakup. Or celebrate? It’ll be a bit of a toss-up, I’m sure.

“Watch the fire for me,” I tell Dozer. “I’m going to walk Anna to her car. I’ll be right back.”

“Ooooh,” Jenny squeals as I turn my back to them, leading Anna to the stairs. Dozer immediately shushes her, but she’s having none of it. “Don’t shush me!” she practically screeches. “You shush!”

“Tina and Nick are getting their kids to bed,” I hear him tell her in his most soothing voice as Anna and I climb the stairs to the deck.

She glances over the railing at them, a smirk on her face. “How long have they been together?” she asks quietly, nothing but curiosity in her tone.

I snort, glancing down at them too. Dozer’s looking at me, which tells me they can hear us. One hand on her back, I steer her through the house, making sure to open and close the door as quietly as possible, especially after Dozer and Jenny tromped through like a herd of elephants a few minutes ago. Despite my care, a glaring Tina appears at the top of the stairs, arms crossed, her face ready to do battle. But when she sees it’s us, she relaxes a fraction.

I hold up a hand in a silent wave, then point to the front door, indicating that we’re heading out.

Tina waves back, giving us a spare, exhausted smile.

Anna waves as well, and I open the front door as quietly as I can, pulling it to the jamb behind us but not letting it latch to avoid that much noise at least.

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