Page 39 of Busted Dreams

“What the hell are they doing here? Who invited you ass wipes?” Darren rose from the couch along with several other players and approached.

“Time for us to go,” Rhys said as he gave them one last look, then wrapped an arm around me. The music quickly swallowed up anything going on behind us as we left. It wasn’t until we were in Rhys’ SUV that I asked him about it.

“Who were they?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and grunted. “Two hockey players from the games last weekend. But one was from Denver and one from Fort Collins.”

That was why they looked familiar. If I went back and looked through my photos from the game, would I see their faces? Were they the ones wearing their anger like a tightly wrapped cloak around their shoulders until it looked like they might choke on it?

Now that I was really thinking about it, the quiet one tonight must have been the one Rhys tried to talk to after his Fort Collins game.

“What?” My outrage shot through the proverbial roof. “Why were they at a Grizzlies party?”

“My guess? To make trouble. Neither team has the funds we do, even though hockey isn’t cheap. They have the most heart, but they’re also are the most violent. Part of the reason everyone loves our games. It’s made us natural rivals.”

“But you started shit, then we left.” I twisted in my seat, the seatbelt biting into the soft skin of my chest. That wasn’t Rhys’ MO at all. He was more of the stoic Viking who walked away from conflict because he was so high above it, there wasn’t a chance it could touch him.

The soft glow of the dash lights reflected off of his eyes when he turned his head just enough to glance at me. He looked softer in this light.

“Actually, I was letting Darren know they were there. He doesn’t like them any more than I do. And I wasn’t exactly starting shit then leaving. I wanted to get you out of there, just in case they tried to fight us. It wouldn’t be smart for them. At all. The scouts are looking at them too, even though they didn’t win, and if they catch wind they’re creating drama outside of the game, they’d soon find themselves at a community college teaching peewee leagues than in the universities under a scholarship. To me, not worth it.” The words rumbled out, sliding over my skin.

I wasn’t drunk anymore. Not even close, but my body still tingled, and the more I listened to him, the more I wanted to crawl into his lap.

“Are you okay over there?” Reaching across the smooth leather console, he found my hand and tucked his fingers between mine.

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

Giving me a light squeeze, he replied, “Because you went quiet on me.”

“Sorry, I was thinking.” Coming back into the town of Silver Ranch, it wouldn’t be long before we were back at his place.

Thoughts I’d been having since the guys came into my life played through my head on a constant loop as I studied his profile. From this vantage point, his straight patrician features stood out in stark relief against the darkness. His long straight nose had a barely there bump from a previous injury. Full lips with a slightly fuller bottom lip. Hair that was normally kept short was starting to curl around his ears. I wanted so desperately to comb my fingers through his thick, white-blond hair.

Would he care? Would he think I was being silly?

Would he do the same to me?

Heat started low in my belly as I leaned in just a little bit, breathing in a deep breath. His cologne was so subtle, he barely wore any at all, but combined with his natural scent was like an aphrodisiac to my sheltered sense.

He parked next to the cottage, and the porch light we’d left on streamed a washed out light right through the windshield, highlighting both of our features and leaving us unable to hide.

For him, it didn’t matter. I always saw the real him. I knew him in a way no one else did.

For me… His gaze caught fire as soon as he noticed me staring at him instead of opening my door like I should have been doing.

How long had we sat there? Me staring at him, and him at me.

My desire must have been plain on my face from the heated looks he didn’t even try to temper.

“Astrid,” he whispered.

“Rhys,” I whispered back.

His SUV was large, taking some maneuvering to lean over it enough to kiss him. Threading my fingers through his thick hair was just as heavenly as I knew it would be as I pulled him to me. He let me lead the kiss. I sucked and nipped, doing all the things I learned I loved over the past few weeks.

The kiss turned wet as I found his tongue with mine, tangling in a delicious dance that had me rubbing against the console and moaning into his mouth.

“Astrid, wait.” He pressed a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

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