Page 17 of Dirty Pucking Tease

"Not today." He smirked. "Owen told me about Olga."

My smile faded. Olga Petrov was a skating coach. One of the best skating coaches I'd ever met, and two days ago, she'd approached me about getting back into the sport. Owen was there talking with Cam.

She wanted to train me and get me back into the sport, hoping to make it to the Olympics, but I told her I wasn't interested because I really wasn't. I wanted to skate for fun now, not for sport. Even if I wanted to, I hadn't skated like that in so long that I wasn't even sure I still had it in me.

"I knew he couldn't keep his mouth shut.” I pushed off and skating away. I already knew where this conversation was going. He was going to tell me I should do it, but I didn't want to skate without Matthias. He was the only person I'd ever skated with, and even if I wanted to find a partner, it was hard because it wasn't just a matter of finding someone who could skate. You had to have chemistry with the person.

"Stop, Kai." Jax groaned, sliding in beside me. He shifted to skate backward in front of me. "Please stop and just talk to me."

I slowly slid to a stop. "What do you want to talk about, Jax?"

"Were you in love with Matt?" he asked, and my gaze snapped up, meeting his.

No one had ever asked me that. Matt was one of my best friends, but he was in love with Camryn, and Camryn was in love with Trystan.

"I loved Matt, but I wasn't in love with him." I sighed. "He was my best friend, and I trusted him, and that's hard to find."

"Matt wouldn't have wanted you to give up the sport you love."

"Figure skating is hard," I said. "And working with a new partner is even harder. I have to trust that person to lift me, and that's not something that happens overnight."

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Yes, but you play hockey." I smiled. "You don't figure skate."

"I skate," he teased. "How hard could it be?"

"It's harder than you think."

"Teach me."

"Is this some kind of trick?" I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

He shook his head.

"Okay," I said apprehensively. "Skating with a partner is a feeling. You have to be in sync. It's not easy to do, and if there's no chemistry, it will show in your performance."

"Do we have chemistry?" he asked, skating circles around me as his hand slid around my lower stomach. He slid to a stop behind me. One hand was on my thigh, and the other arm wrapped tightly around my waist. My eyes squeezed shut as I let the feel of his touch and the heat of his body consume me. "Do we, Kai? Do we have chemistry?"

We did have chemistry, but it wasn't the same chemistry I had with Matt. This was so much more intense. The kind that made me squeeze my thighs together to settle the throbbing his touch caused.

Clearing my throat, I nodded as his lips trailed down my throat. "Yes." I pulled out of his touch so I could think straight. "But I don't know if that's the same thing you need on the ice to make a good performance."

His lips curled into a smirk as I glided backward, and he followed me.

We skated side by side for what felt like forever, and our chemistry spilled over into our skating. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed this.

I hadn't skated like that with someone since the morning of Matt's death, and my legs felt like jello.

Jax skated backward, and I skated forward, hand in hand, as we slid to a stop, spinning around. My legs slid out from under me as I fell to my knees.

"My legs are done for the day." I chuckled, dropping Jax's hands and placing my palms flat on my thighs. "They haven't had a workout like this in a long time."

Jax laughed. "Maybe I can work with you in the mornings until you decide if you want to get a new partner and skate again."

"Yeah." I sighed. "That would be fun." He smiled.

"You need a minute?" He nodded to my legs.

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