Page 75 of Prayers for the Prickly

It always felt like we were trying to climb inside each other’s skin when we kissed, heat, light, hell, the rest of the world fading.

A hard rap on the window caused us to jump and break apart, my eyes seeking the offender, lips curling up into a snarl until I spotted Brendon watching us, Janie at his side, looking apologetic as Brendon grinned and jerked a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing toward the ice rink.

“Game’s inside, not out here,” Brendon said. “Unless you plan to spend the day indulging in a whole other kind of sport.”

Groaning, I pressed my head to the steering wheel and forced down the urge to get out and threaten to chase him all over the ice for the rest of the day.

Soft fingers danced up the back of my neck and I shivered, exhaled, and stopped thinking about the pressure that had been growing in my boxer briefs before we’d been interrupted. Cool lips brushed against my ear as August kissed me, his giggles sending another surge of desire through me.

“We can spend the night indulging in whatever naughty games you’re picturing but right now, I want to see my hot, growly mate show off what he can do on the ice. Bet watching your ass as you glide across the ice is gonna make me so hot, I’m going to demand you strip me the moment we get home so we can finish christening the rest of the rooms in the house. You still haven’t taken me in the library yet.”

“H-how can you even call it a library when there’s barely a shelf full of books in there?”

“Reading room then,” August said. “And so not the point I was trying to make.”

Shivering, I let his caresses put me the rest of the way into the mindset I needed to be in. When I finally lifted my head to look at him, I couldn’t resist one last kiss before we got out. Fortunately for him, Brendon didn’t knock again. He just waited with his gear bag over his shoulder, Janie pressed up against his side.

“No more stalling,” August said, booping my nose as he pulled away. “It’s getting hot in here.”

And with that my adorably determined mate exited the SUV without me, forcing me to hurry to catch up.

“You’d better hope we’re on the same team today,” I said by way of greeting.

Of course, Brendon just threw his head back and laughed while I grabbed my gear from the back.

“Brendon, Janie, this is my mate, August. He runs the…” I began.

“Oh my god, the candy shop!” Janie blurted, hooking his arm through August’s as he squealed. “Your blueberry lemonade licorice is my absolute favorite.”

“Pretty sure they don’t need any more interference from us,” Brendon said, slinging his arm over my shoulder.

I bristled for about a half a second, before my brain and body remembered what the comradery of teammates felt like, and I relaxed and walked in with him that way, pausing only to pass August the cooler of snacks I’d made for him.

“Is there enough to share?” he whispered, leaning in close as I inhaled his scent and kissed the top of his head.

“Of course.”

His hug was brief, as Janie was already chattering at him about wanting to stock small bags of candy on one of racks near the register. It wouldn’t surprise me any if they were not only fast friends by the end of the day but had made some kind of a business arrangement as well.

“I’m glad you came. A little shocked, too. It didn’t seem like you were too keen on agreeing when we spoke in the toy store.”

“August wanted to watch, and with the heat index today, this was the only place he wanted to be,” I admitted. “Helped knowing I wouldn’t be taking time away from him and the kids when they came, if I wanted to get back into playing again. Which, now that I’ve had time to think about it, I do. I’ve missed it a lot. Thanks for the offer and the reminder that I could play anytime I wanted to get up off my ass and lace up the skates.”

“Well, let’s see if you’ve lost anything in the years of carving wood instead of checking people into it.”

“Guess we’ll know soon enough.”

The locker room was as it had always been in the past, a collection of faces and voices, several who called out the moment we entered. One decided to come all the way across the room to cast a looming shadow over me.

“Well holy shit, look what the fuckin’ waves washed in!”

“God damn, Dash, do you ever tone it down?” I asked as I glanced up into green eyes framed by tri-colored neon hair and several piercings I hoped he intended to remove before taking to the ice.

“Naw, man, you know I walk around at an eleven even while the rest of the world burns.”

“Just be careful you don’t go up with it or get mistaken for a peacock and wind up in some gilded cage with a tether around your ankle,” I cautioned.

“As long as that tether belongs to my mate, they can cage me up anywhere.”

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