Page 22 of Expose on the Ice

We stand there, locked in a heated stare-down. The air between us crackles with tension, and I suddenly become hyper-aware of every detail. The way her chest rises and falls with each breath. The faint flush on her cheeks. The curve of her lips as they quirk into a smirk.

Then she smirks.

And it dawns on me.

She knows exactly what she’s doing. This is her plan.

Get the guys on side, challenge and frustrate me, get me hot and bothered.

And it’s working.

I need to get out of here.

Now.

Without another word, I brush past her, my shoulder grazing hers as I storm towards my room. I can feel her eyes on me, burning into my back as I fumble with my key card.

“Sweet dreams,” Lily calls after me, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

I slam the door behind me, leaning against it as I try to catch my breath. My heart is racing, and I can’t tell if it’s from anger or something else entirely.

The stakes of the game we’re playing couldn’t be higher – my past, my secrets, my career, my future – and she’s winning. No, screw that. She isn’t just winning, she’s skating rings around me.

I need to get away from her. My mind races, trying to think of options. Could I feign an injury and head back to Omaha? Nah, Mark and Coach would make me stick around…

Fuck.

There’s no escaping her, yet I also can’t stop thinking about her.

My mind in overdrive, I pace the length of the room, my hands clenching and unclenching at my sides. I’m caught in the middle of a battle between the spark of attraction I’ve tried to ignore, the anger that burns between us.

I stop abruptly, raking a hand through my hair, more frustrated than I’ve been in a long time. Angry at myself for letting her get under my skin. Scared of what she might uncover. And turned on, no matter how much I don’t want to admit it.

I clench my jaw, my gaze falling to the bed. Suddenly, an unexpected rush of desire takes me by surprise. A need to forget, to escape, to assert some control over this situation. Usually, I’d try to hit the ice, but I can’t guaranteeshewouldn’t be there.

No, the only place I can be alone and get somedamnrespite right now is in my room.

Before I’ve fully processed what I’m doing, I head towards the bed, my heart pounding in my chest. I can still see her face, her arched brow, the smirk that taunts me. I can still hear her voice, each word laced with a challenge.

My hands move to my belt, then lower my pants, my thoughts consumed by her. I imagine her eyes, the way they dare me to act, and my mind races with thoughts of how to respond to that dare, to assert some control overher.

As my hand eases inside my briefs, wrapped around my cock and starts to work, a kaleidoscope of Lily’s body races through my mind, passing moments stitched together into a movie that turns my hand into a turbocharged piston.

Those curves…

Up and down.

Those legs…

Angry. Aggressive.

That cleavage…

Powerful.

Those lips…

In control.

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