Page 78 of Ice Bet

“Ah, Rosewood.” I clicked my tongue. Her old stomping grounds.“Are you coming to the game?”

“I come to all the games.” Riley tried to grab the hair tie again, but I smirked and pulled it away at the last second. This was what we called flirting, and I shouldn’t have been participating.

“You gonna sit in the first row again?”

“I guess you’ll just have to see.” She reached up one more time and failed.

Her hand landed on my chest as she steadied herself. My palm splayed on the small of her back when she peered at me.

A hot swallow worked itself down my throat. I briefly glanced around the rink when the temptation grew stronger.We are alone. No one would ever know…

I ground my jaw and chucked the hair tie halfway across the rink. “First one there wins.”

She gasped in surprise when I took off skating, listening as she created tracks across the ice just as quickly as I was. I swooped down, snatched the hair tie, and put it on my wrist. I smirked and did a half-turn, only to be knocked backward by her speed.

My head nearly cracked on the ice, but I tightened my abs and gripped on to her torso, keeping her pinned to my front as I broke our fall. Her laughter vibrated against my chest, and I rested my head back, laughing too. “Fuck, you’re fast as shit, Riley.”

“You cheated. I want a redo.”

“Sorry. You lost.” I lifted my head and found myself an inch away from her face. My laughter faded, and my pulse flew.Shit.Her pretty lips fell open, and the very second she moved her playful eyes to my mouth, it was game over.

Riley didn’t lose.

I did.

26

RILEY

Kiss me.

Don’t kiss me.

Wait, kiss me.

I couldn’t breathe, and it had nothing to do with being on the ice and everything to do with being on top of Aasher. His amused green eyes were all I could see, and when they darkened, I did what any sane girl would do.

I leaned forward and kissed him.

We’d been skirting around each other the entire night, and I could see that he was teetering between right and wrong. But how could something that feels this good be considered wrong?So what, there was some silly ban on the coach’s daughter?It was a tale as old as time. And to hell with hating hockey players and never trusting one again, because I wasn’t sure there was anyone that I trusted more than Aasher Matthews. He'd proven himself worthy on so many occasions that I couldn’t use that as a barrier any longer.

“Riley.” Aasher cupped the sides of my face, and he pushed me back. His throat bobbed. “I shouldn’t.”

I stayed quiet, trying to figure out what to say. I didn’t want to seem desperate, but I also didn’t want to accept his attempt at doing what he thought was right. I wiggled against him, hearing my skates scrape against the ice. My voice cracked through the tension. “If you don’t want me like that, fine. But if you do, and you’re only pushing me away because you think it’s the right thing to do, then you’re wrong.”

“You're tempting me again,” he whispered.

His hand trailed down my jawline, and the pad of his finger traced all around my lips before a gruff growl vibrated out of his throat. Suddenly, I was in his arms, and he was skating us over to the penalty box. The door flung open and bounced off the wall.

I trembled against him when he sat down on the bench, wrapping my legs around his back. He leaned up to kiss me, and I felt him everywhere. The knot around my waist loosened, and he pulled my hoodie off my hips, dropping it to the floor with awhoosh.

I moved against him, eager to feel what I was doing to him between my legs.

I wanted him, and he knew it.

He wanted me too.

I sucked in the air of the tiny penalty box when he dragged his hand over the curve of my hip and down to the laces of my skates. “On your back,” he said, flipping me around and laying me flat against the bench. I withered as he worked his deft fingers through the laces of my skates, pulling them off one by one and setting them on the ground.

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