Page 10 of Love You Too

“Don’tyou have practice early tomorrow?” Trix’s pink lips turn up into a shy smile as I trail a finger from her shoulder to her wrist. My thumb lingers at her pulse point, and I rub the soft skin gently as our fingers intertwine. Her soft sigh is a balm to the intense workout I just finished with the team.

I pull her flush against my body and use the side of my other hand to trace the features of her face, grazing her temple, her cheekbone, her chin, her neck.

No wonder I was late for this morning’s training, unwilling to pull myself out of her arms. Unwilling to heed my coach’s warning about jeopardizing my future.

Trix’s head falls back, and I lean closer to inhale the fresh scent of her shampoo and the sweet smell of her skin. My lipsdrop to her neck and kiss her softly, enough to light up her senses and send a shiver down her spine. She presses into me and tips her lips up to mine.

I want to devour them, but I just barely brush against them, exhaling a long breath. It takes all my self-control not to kiss her hard and deep right here in the hallway outside her dorm, but I know I can build her desire even more by withholding everything I’m dying to give her.

“Ren,” she gasps when my lips brush hers once more. I cradle her face in both hands and angle her sweet mouth more perfectly against mine. Then I give her a tiny bit more of what she wants, but not everything. She makes me so damn crazy, and I have no problem working harder to make her feel the same way.

I know I should quickly kiss her good night and go back to my place for a decent night’s sleep. She’s correct that I have practice in the morning, and I need to put in a good performance. I’ve been dragging this week after we stayed up all night over the weekend.

But all I can think is that I want a repeat. “I have practice, but I want to spend the night with you.”

My mouth takes hers more insistently this time, and her lips part as her body sinks against my chest. She’s all soft curves, and I let my hands roam down her back and settle on her hips, pulling them harder against me so she can feel how much I want her.

She sighs, and I slide my tongue into her mouth, tasting her like it’s the first time. It feels like I’m falling off a cliff when I touch her, free-falling into a world where nothing else exists. I never want to leave this perfect place, so I push away any niggling thoughts about the future.

I kiss her harder, plunging deeper, losing all awareness of time and space. There could be a full football team and a marching band in the hallway with us, and I wouldn’t know it or care. But then I stop, gingerly pulling back and tipping myforehead against hers. Her chest rises and falls in rhythm with my own pounding heart. It’s been like this with us since we first sat next to each other in class, a magnetic pull I couldn’t ignore.

I’d always kept single-minded focus on hockey, wanted to go pro for as long as I could remember, but there was no ignoring Beatrix Corbett. Impossible.

“I love you, Ren.” She whispers the words into my ear as though they’re a secret only I can know.

I’ve been wanting to hear those words ever since I said the same to her—ever since I stopped fighting my emotions and allowed my heart to stray from what was always my one true love—hockey. And now I have everything I could possibly want in the world.

So fuck hockey practice. Well, not really. But I can be tired tomorrow.

A part of me knows I’m fighting a battle against myself, sabotaging what I’ve worked for, and…a part of me doesn’t care. That’s the dangerous part. She makes me not care. But I’ve waded in too deep, and there’s a rip current.

“I love you so fucking much, Trix. Promise me you’re mine forever.” The words rush out before I can stop them.

“I promise.” She’s breathless, hands coming to my neck and tangling in the ends of my hair.

I shouldn’t be talking about forever or anything beyond a few months from now, when I’ll graduate and move to Canada. The contracts are all but official, and there’s no way I’ll be able to have a long-distance relationship and also put in the work required of a rookie player surrounded by the fanfare of being a top prospect.

My coach warned me as soon as he found out I had a girlfriend. My mother warned me as soon as I got my first offer.

I shouldn’t be in a relationship because it’s causing me to fuck up. I’ve showed up late to practice so many times after spending the night with Trix that the coach has openly questioned mycommitment to going pro. Anyone else would be benched by now, but my coach wants the notoriety that comes from having a player recruited to a starting position in the NHL. I’ve taken advantage of that and pushed it to the limit because I know the league won’t pull my offer now.

Right?

Until I hear otherwise, I’m not changing a thing. Not when the most incredible woman I’ve ever met just told me she loves me.

I can show up to practice tired one more time. “Invite me in. I’ll worry about practice in the morning,” I growl in her ear.

She opens the door to her room, and we tumble inside.

CHAPTER 5

Beatrix

Present Day

It’s absurd.

No more do I have time in my schedule to look at Ren’s dumb renovation project than I do to spend time with Ren—a man I shouldn’t trust any further than I could kick him with a muddy boot.

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