Page 105 of The Naughty List

I grind my teeth together. “Don’t talk like that. You’re not even fifteen yet.”

“So, how old were you when you had sex for the first time?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“So, you won’t tell me one thing, but I’m expected to tell you everything? Kind of a double standard, isn’t it?”

I roll my neck, looking up at the sky as I let out a long breath. “Just be careful. And let me know if he gets out of line. I’d love a reason to kick his ass.” I push past her and get off the ice. It’s not long before Christina finds me and I have to pretend to be in a decent mood again.

“You remember that fight we got into here?”

Her eyes grow wide. “Of course. We didn’t talk for like two weeks after that.”

I laugh. “Yeah, I was pretty pissed off.”

“You were jealous,” she points out.

“Of course I was. I couldn’t have you; I didn’t want anyone else to either.”

“What’s your excuse now?”

“It’s pretty much the same, but it’s easier to ignore when there is a country between us.”

She shakes her head slightly. “That works for you? It doesn’t me. I thought going to South Carolina for college would stop it, but it didn’t. I ended up just driving myself crazy wondering what you were doing all the time.”

“It did at first. But then I found myself wondering what you were doing. Who you were with. Who was touching you. That’s why I started calling more. I had to know that you were safe.”

She stops moving and I glide to a stop next to her. “You know, there’s one surefire way to know the answers to all those questions, right?”

“I know.”

“If you want me to stop, just tell me, Carson. We’re adults. If you want me to stop, I will.” Her sparkling green eyes meet mine as I think it over.

“Don’t stop, Felicity. Just give me some time.”

The corners of her mouth turn up into a smile as we stand there looking at one another, lost in our own world. I want to lean in and kiss her, to drive the point home. I don’t want her to stop. I never want her to stop. But then some kid skates into my back and knocks my feet out from under me. I fall, pulling her down with me. We hit the ice hard. It knocks the air out of my lungs, but she can’t do anything but laugh.

“Fuck, this hurts a lot more than it used to,” I say, just lying down on the ice, not attempting to get up yet. That only makes her giggle more.

She climbs to her feet and holds out her hands. “Come on, old man. Let’s go get some hot chocolate and warm up.”

I take her hands and she helps me to my feet. Slowly, we skate to the exit and have a seat on the bench to remove our ice skates. We put our shoes back on and turn our skates in before heading to the hot chocolate stand.

“You know that day we got into that fight here,” I say, leaning in.

“Mm-hmm,” she says, nodding.

“Well, I couldn’t keep my eyes off you that day. Just…the way you were dressed, your hair and makeup made you look so much older. You were happy and smiling; your eyes were practically glowing. In fact, my girlfriend at the time caught me checking you out several times that day.”

She giggles. “Is that why you broke up?”

“Yep, pretty much. I tried to convince her that I wasn’t checking you out. I was just keeping an eye on you, but she didn’t buy it. She said I was always skipping out on her to do nothing with you.”

“Well, she was a bitch anyway.”

I laugh and nod. “Yeah, but she was right. I think that’s why all of my relationships fail. None of them even compare to you.”

She opens her mouth to say something but gets cut off by the guy who runs the hot chocolate stand. “Next!” he yells and I pull my eyes from hers. I step up to the window and order two spiked cups. She hangs out around one of the fire barrels that are set up to get warm by.

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