Page 59 of Ice Bet

I was ruined.

We needed to have a five-foot perimeter around us at all times after last night.

I cleared my throat and pushed off the wall to the rink. I gripped my bag and slung it over my shoulder. The lights were still gleaming above the glistening ice, and after we crossed the line last night, I wasn’t tempting fate again.

The lights were staying on, and a barrier as strong as the Great Wall of China was going to be built between us.How dare she ask me to treat her like any other girl when we both knew she wasn’t, and fuck me for agreeing.

“Did you bring them?”

Riley’s baby blues popped up, so innocent looking, but after knowing what her pussy could do, I knew she wasn’t as innocent as everyone assumed. “Yeah.” She held up her bag. “That’s why I’m late. I had to run back home to grab them.” She looked at the books in my hands. “Why do I need my schoolwork?”

“Well…” I turned around and put my back to her. The door to the rink opened up, and her tiny gulp had me turning and looking at her over my shoulder. “We’re going to get you comfortable on the ice.”

“More comfortable than last night?” She giggled.

My blood sang at the same time my shoulders tensed. I was on edge, and it truly had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the upcoming game on Friday. “You’re breaking the promise you made me.”

“What promise?”

My tone sliced through the chilly air. “You promised not to speak of last night—ever.” I slipped my attention to her legs. She wore jeans.Good.“And where is your chastity belt?”

Riley snorted, and her smile was infectious.She was so damn pretty when she smiled.She hid it from me nine out of ten times. If I was lucky, I could catch a smile when she was with Sutton or whenever she was fucking with the team to get back at them, but right now, she was smiling at me.

I hated myself for liking it.

Her hand crept to the bottom of her black sweater, and she pulled it up.

I couldn’t hold back my laughter.She thinks she’s hilarious.

“Is this good enough for you, Dad?”

Dad.That’s right, her dad was my coach.

“You think you’re funny, huh?” I shook my head, trying to hide my own smile. Her tight jeans fit around her waist to perfection, showing off her long legs, but hanging from the thin black belt was a padlock.

“Iamfunny.”

I was fully amused but pretended I wasn’t. “Get on the ice.”

She stepped backward, and it took everything in me not to storm her, put her over my shoulder and onto the ice. I knew she’d follow, though, because she wasn’t a quitter.

“Get on the ice and bring your backpack.”

The rink still felt chilly to me, despite being used to the freezing temperature. It was different without my pads and practice jersey on. The long-sleeve shirt I had on didn’t quite cut it, but I pulled my beanie down a little farther over my ears and sat on the ice, waiting for my ass to grow numb through my jeans.

“I don’t have all night,” I shouted, pulling open my backpack.

I was taking easy college courses, but I would still graduate with a degree in management—something my parents thought would be good if playing pro didn’t work out or if I got a career-ending injury. At least I would still have one foot in the hockey world and use my degree to manage a team or even the NCAA.

That was what Tom Gardini did, and he was practically a legend—especially to Theo, who was stopping at nothing to get in his good graces.

“Fi–fine.”

I smirked. Riley’s shoe popped into my peripheral vision, and her tiny steps into the rink were that of a toddler beginning to walk for the first time.

“My eleven-month-old cousin takes bigger steps than that, Riley. Get on the ice.”

“You’re such a dick,” she muttered, picking up the pace and heading to where I was sitting.

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