Page 23 of Ice Bet

“Rink is closed, Duster.”

Her scream echoed throughout the vast space.

“Chill, it’s just me.”

Her huff made me smile.

“As if I should feel safe with you.” She took her wrath of fury with her when she dipped down to swipe one of the ice skates that had fallen out of her arms. When she popped back up, Idefinitelysmelled her shampoo. She smelled like a fucking winter fairy, and my dick twitched.

“Why wouldn’t you feel safe with me?” I asked. “I walked you home from a party last week for that very reason.”

“You walked me home from a party to keep me safe?” She brushed past me, and if I didn’t move out of her way, I likely would have been cut by the blade of her skate. “You mean to say that youchasedme home so I wouldn’t sleep with any of your teammates.”

“You should put a cover on those.” I pointed to her ice skates as she hurried past me to leave.

“Why are you here?” Riley stopped walking, and she placed a hand on her hip. Her blue eyes were wild with anger, and I kind of loved it. I couldn’t help smiling at the way her little nose scrunched with irritation.

“Well, when I heard you were at the rink this late, I worried that one of my teammates might have talked you into a longtime tradition of theirs.”

She had no idea what I was talking about.

I leaned back on the wall and put distance between us because I knew, without a doubt, I was about to piss her off.

“You know the tradition. Fucking a girl in the locker room the night before a game for good luck?” Riley’s mouth dropped open at my bluntness, and I shrugged innocently. “Don’t look at me. I’m not one to partake in such acts.”

“Yet you think I am?”

Not necessarily,butI knew my teammates, and I knew they were manifesting that particular act with her. If she wasn’t off-limits, I might have found myself doing the same.

“I don’t know. I don’t really know you.”

I expected her to stomp away like the brat that she was, but she surprised me by sticking around. Her nose unwrinkled, and the angry lines on her forehead softened. There was a devilish glint in her eye that twinkled with mischief. I stood in shock as she absentmindedly gained the upper hand.

“Stop following me around, Aasher. Desperation isn’t a good look on you.”

I raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help the curving of my lip.Desperation?

She walked over to me, and the toe of her skate dug into my chest. If I breathed too heavily, I was certain the sharp blade of steel would cut right through my shirt and slice my skin. “Was it your idea?”

I dropped my gaze to her mouth. She had whispered, and I was a fool because I was waiting eagerly to watch her soft lips move again. “Was what my idea?”

“I know about the ice bet.”

Her confession was as sharp as the blade of her skate pressing into me.Fucking stellar.

“I’m beginning to think you’re following me everywhere so you can be the one to get to me first.”

I lowered my voice. “That is not true.”

I grabbed on to her hips and flung her around so her back was resting against the wall. The pads of my thumbs had accidentally crept under her shirt and pressed against her warm skin. Her pupils dilated, and I refused to embrace it. I kept joking that she had an icy, cold heart, but she wasn’t cold at all. She was warm, and soft, and…shit.

“You haven’t told your dad,” I said, not bothering to ask. We would know if she had. “Why?”

Riley’s body brushed against mine as I crowded her space. I saw the lack of self-assurance as I stole her confidence. But she had it all wrong. I was the nervous one here because she had the power to ruin me.

“Maybe I will,” she whispered.

Her sweet breath hit me square in the face, and I felt drunk. I swallowed the words on my tongue and took a step back, releasing her. Her shoulders straightened, and her chin lifted with feigned confidence as she edged toward the door. Before she made her way through with her ice skates pressed firmly against her body, I followed after her and grabbed her by the arm.

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