Page 77 of The Power Play

“Uh, nope.”

“Never? Not even in school? A high school sweetheart or teenage heartbreak?”

“Nope and nope. I wasn’t allowed to date in school.”

“And you actually followed that rule?”

“Believe it or not, I tried to be a good girl at one point,” I shove at his arm with my shoulder.

“So, when did that stop?”

“Hey, I can be averygood girl for you sometimes, if you recall,” I wink at him.

“You can also easily be the opposite,” he retorts.

“Guilty.”

“So now you just take advantage of innocent, nice men that let you stay in their house while yours is infested with creatures?”

I gasp, and shove at his shoulder harder while he laughs. “I remember you practicallybeggingme to stay with you so don’t even get me started. Also, last I checked you’ve very much liked being taken advantage of.”

He looks at me with mirth, eyes shining with humor and the way the sun is reflecting off the water lighting his gorgeous face. I want to scream about how not fair it is for him to be this good looking. Especially looking at me like that.

“Guilty,” he mimics me, right before sliding a hand up the side of my neck, holding me there while pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

Instinctually, I bring my hands up to his chest, gripping his shirt while teasing the seam of his lips with my tongue, taunting him to take it further. He taunts me right back by just barely giving me a swipe of his tongue before pulling back slightly.

I pull on his shirt harder, and he chuckles against my lips before kissing me how I want. Which is borderline indecent for the public, but there’s no one around anyway. His tongue tangles with mine and I let out a low moan at the contact, the feel of him against me. His warm body pressed completely against mine while his lips, tongue, and teeth tease my own.

He pulls back before I’m ready but doesn’t give into my attempts to get him back as he stands to his full height above me.

“You’re distracting, you know that?”

I smirk, “That’s not the first time I’ve been told that. And I didn’t hear you complaining.”

“Oh, I wasn’t, feel free to kiss me any time.”

We begin walking again and when our fingers graze against each other, neither of us pull back.

“Why do you have those sayings written around the bathroom mirror?” Charlie asks, as our fingers brush again.

I suck in a breath as the touch lingers slightly longer this time. “Those are my affirmations. I like to say them at least once a day to have a positive mindset.”

When our hands brush this time, and our fingers tangle slightly together neither of us separates them. We aren’t exactly holding hands, but it’s close.

“I was thinking about them before a game and if I should steal them from you,” he admits.

“If you want you can. Might help you get in the zone or whatever you need before a game.”

“I’ll have to try it and see if I need to add them to my rituals.”

I nod, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“Hm. Still playing hockey, hopefully have another couple Stanley cups under my belt.”

“You think you’ll stay playing in Denver?”

“I’d love to, but you never know and can get traded at any time depending on your contract. I have a no trade clause for two years, but after my contract is up anything could happen.”

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