Page 30 of Dirty Pucking Tease

"Owen," I repeated, my brows pinching. When did that happen? "As in Jax's best friend, Owen?" She nodded. "Does Trystan know about this date?"

"No." She shrugged. "We agreed that we weren't together and that whatever we did wasn't the other person's business."

"You agreed to that, huh?" I frowned.

"It was his idea." She laughed. "But I'm good with it." She might be, but for some reason, I didn't think he would be, but that was between the two of them.

She swerved into the parking lot, and I spotted Jax's empty car. He was already inside.

"Good luck today," Cam said as we walked into the building.

"Thanks."

Cam and I got our skates on and hit the ice together. She went one way, and I went the opposite way when I spotted Petrov and... Omigod. Parker Brooks, one of the best professional ice skaters, stood towering over Petrov. Parker lost his partner, Cassidy Morrison, to a severe injury last season that left her unable to skate. The pair had been inseparable. They started skating together at the age of seven. I assumed he would retire, and then it dawned on me that he was here to skate with me. Panic rose into my throat. I wasn't good enough to skate with Parker Brooks, not even close.

Not only was Parker an amazing skater, but he was also gorgeous. He was tall with dirty blonde hair and deep browneyes. He had a smile that could melt a girl's panties off and a body constructed by the Greek gods.

"You're late, Kaia," Petrov scolded in her deep Russian accent.

I wasn't late. I was actually on time, but Petrov considered that late. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Parker, this is Kaia." Petrov smiled. "She's the one I've been telling you about." His deep brown eyes raked over me, but not in a good way. More of an assessing the product he was considering buying kind of way. "I want to see you two together. See if there is potential for chemistry."

"Chemistry isn't something that just happens, Petrov," Parker snapped, crossing his arms over his chest, his deep voice laced with annoyance. "You know this."

"Just skate," Petrov ordered. He didn't want to be here, which made the nerves twisting low in my stomach worse. "I want to see how well you pair skate together."

"What do you want us to do?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Skate in a circle around the rink," Petrov said. "Hold hands and introduce yourself to each other." My gaze flicked up to catch the end of Parker's eye roll.

"Let's just get this over with," he muttered, stepping onto the ice. He was being an ass. He reached for my hand, and I jerked it away from him.

"Actually," I snapped, "I'm good. I didn't get up early this morning to skate with someone who isn't in this. I get it. You lost your partner, and you think you'll never find that connection on the ice again, and maybe you're right, but maybe you're not. I lost my partner, too. At least you can still visit Cassidy because I can't. Regardless, you don't need to be a dick." I pushed off the ice and skated away. "Call me if you find someone who actually wants to skate with me," I shouted to Petrov over my shoulder.

I was done being pushed around by jerks. I was done dealing with Jax's shit, and I damn sure wasn't adding another asshole to the mix.

"Hey," a deep voice called behind me as I stepped off the ice. "Wait up." I twisted to see Parker glide up behind me.

"What?" I snapped, rolling my eyes.

"You were right." He smiled. "I was being a dick. I'm sorry."

"You were being a massive dick," I corrected him.

"I was." He laughed. "Do you think you could give me one more chance?"

He sounded so earnest that I believed he was sorry. Sucking in a deep breath, I exhaled slowly.I guess we all have bad days."Yes."

"Care to take a spin on the ice with me?"

He offered me his hand, and I accepted, stepping back onto the ice. We pushed off the ice hand-in-hand. My gaze flicked to the stands to see Jax sitting in the stands, his gaze following us.

"So your name is Kaia, right?" Parker asked, following Petrov's orders to introduce himself.

"Yes, but everyone calls me Kai," I said, my gaze blinking back to Parker.

"I'm Parker Brooks," he said, and I laughed.

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