Page 145 of Ice Dance Hockey

“Sorry, baby. I’m being insensitive,” I say, though I kinda want another attitude adjustment like that. I want to feel another dose of the electricity wrought from having someone draw a line in the sand. It won’t be the same, though. Asking for it with words will never be the same as getting my ass smacked with that crisp hand of his in the middle of a moment.

It does something for him, too, in opposite but equal measure, and he rests his forehead on mine until our breaths are in sync and a churlish smile curls his lips. “You turned me into an animal.”

“A hot animal.” My wrists are still pinned above my head. “Are you convinced I’m not going to starve myself? I wouldn’t do that, Rhett.”

“Jack said you stopped eating when I was an idiot.”

“I lost my appetite because I was sick about you, which is a lot different. I was still eating, just less.” Everyone way overreacted about that in my opinion, but I’ll leave that part out. Apparently, so did Rhett. Telling him what else Scott’s been up to is the last thing I want to do with him this riled, but he needs to know.

“Look, you’re gonna be mad about this, but hear me all the way out.”

“Logan.”

“Scott’s been trying to convince me to lose a few pounds to make it easier for him to lift me?—”

“He did what?”

“I didn’t do it. I didn’t listen to him because I’m not that foolish, okay? Rhett, are you hearing me?”

His grip on my wrists tightens. “I knew that guy was bad news. I fucking knew it. You’re getting a new partner. He’s done. His ice-dancing days are over.”

“I didn’t do it,” I repeat. I’ll talk him down from the other stuff later. He’s too wild to have that conversation just now. “That should be enough to prove that I wouldn’t do it.”

I watch the steep rise and fall of his chest, pleading with my eyes for him to hear me.

“I’d feel a lot better if you were seeing my personal sports nutritionist.”

He’s phrased it like a suggestion, but I doubt it’s a suggestion. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll do it, okay? Now, can we put this wild energy to better use?”

Slowly, he nods and a tidal wave of relief washes through me. “I’ll calm down.”

“I didn’t say that. I love it when you’re dangerous like this. Gets my heart going. Everything’s on fire.”

“In that case,” he says, sliding a hand up my shirt. Finally. He releases my hands and lifts me, molding my back to the wall, kissing me softly.

“I’m in love with you, Logan. So fucking in love with you that I don’t know how to function like a normal human anymore.”

My heart races so fast and thank fuck I have him to hang onto. Tears fill my eyes, and my hands shake around his thick neck. “I love you, gorilla, and it fucking terrifies me. I really tried not to fall in love with you so fast. You’ve got to treat me with care, okay?”

“Always.” He rubs noses with me. “Except when you’re in my bed.”

“Except then. Wreck me, baby … and, uh, more of what you did to my ass a minute ago, too,” I say, biting my lip.

One dangerous eyebrow raises, giving me good shivers. “That’s been firmly established.”

All of that does nothing to slow my heart, intensifying the hammering until my ears have their own heartbeats. “Good. Now can I eat your dick?”

“Nope, it’s going to be preoccupied staking its claim in your ass.”

Kinda the same thing.

He spins us, tossing me on the small bed. I’m in a single room—thank God. I don’t know that I would have survived sharing a room with anyone. It’s not as big as my room in Jack’s apartment, but it’s a lot bigger than what I lived in when I lived with Mom. Against the wall is a desk and some shelves. The bed is set high against the wall opposite the desk with a set of drawers underneath it. I have a locker at the arena where I keep all my skate gear.

“I want to bring you home with me tonight,” he says, working on my ice skates.

“Can’t. Weekday curfew.” I have to be in this building from eleven pm until six-thirty am on weekdays or they can kick me out of the program.

“I’ll have a word with the Dean about that when I’m making a large donation, so they’ll forget about the fact that I broke your door down. I also might mention that I thought I smelled smoke.”

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