Page 92 of Skate the Line

I flick my brow. “You don’t believe me?”

“Nope.” The P pops out of her mouth with sass. “And no, Idon’tfind you attractive.”

After swallowing the rest of my beer and tossing it into the trash, I round the island and head right for her. Sunny’s spine straightens. She pulls her shoulders back and shows off her slender neck.

I lean in close, because I’mclearlyunhinged this evening, and say, “Well, I don’t believeyou.”

She gasps and levels me with an extremely amusing glare.

I chuckle, and her mouth twitches.

“Night, Sunshine,” I say, winking.

What the fuck has gotten into me?

Am I flirting?

I do not flirt.

Sunny’s cute scowl deepens.

It’s the last thing I think about as I fall asleep, which isclearlya problem.

Thirty-One

SUNNY

I pressmy closed fist to my mouth and mentally cheer for the Blue Devils as they gear up for a shoot-out. Nerves fill my stomach when Rhodes takes the ice. I sit up a little taller on the bed, careful not to wake Ellie.

My heart beats as quickly as he skates.

He winds left and then right.

The cameras follow him like a hawk, and without the rest of the team on the ice, he stands out even more than before.

Come on, Oscar.

My breath hitches when the puck flies off to the top left corner of the net, and as soon as I see his dazzling smile, I silently squeal.

Yes!

The rest of the team spills out onto the ice and circles him. I smile to myself.

For as happy as I am that they won, you’d think I was on the team or something.

I peek at Ellie, who is peacefully sleeping beside me. She is going to be so angry that she missed the end of the game,especially since her dad made the winning shot. After brushing a stray hair out of her face, I place my hand on her back like before. She’s cuddled up underneath Rhodes’s comforter, which I refused to get under. I already felt like I was crossing a line by coming into his bedroom and sitting on his bed, let alone crawling beneath the covers too.

Ellie begged and pleaded for us to watch the game in his room because he has the biggest TV.

Itishuge, taking up a large part of the wall in front of his bed. It sort of made it seem like we were there. Only, we are tucked away safely inside the house.

I grab my phone, angle it for a selfie, and do a thumbs-up with Ellie sleeping beside me.

Me: Good game, Oscar! Just sending a quick photo for reassurance that Ellie is okay!

I continue to watch the post-game eview of the game, where they highlight Rhodes and his winning shot multiple times. Each time they zoom in on his face, something hot whips through me.

He makes it look so easy.

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