Page 30 of Goalies Don't Date Ice Princesses

“You’re so beautiful,” Archer whispered into my hair, his breath warm against my skin.

“Right back at you,” I whispered. I turned my head up to grin at him and he took the chance to press his lips to mine, gentle and quick.

“Come on, let’s get you inside before you freeze,” Archer said. He grabbed our stuff from the table, then led me back across the deck to the hotel with his arm around me.

I fumbled with the key card for a minute before I managed to get it into the lock, as I yawned deeply. I guess I was more tired than I thought. It was for the best. Getting a good sleep the night before a competition made all the difference.

“Have a good night, Princess,” Archer murmured in my ear. I sighed and leaned back into him even as I pushed the door open.

“I’ll see you in the morning?” I asked.

“We’ll have breakfast together,” he promised.

“Now, we better...” He trailed off. I frowned and looked at him over my shoulder.

“Are you—” I cut myself off with a scream of surprise as he shoved me forward into the room. I stumbled forward and crashed into the bed, which was barely three feet in the room. I fell face first onto the mattress and groaned just as I heard the door slam behind me. “What the heck was that, Archer?”

“Sorry,” he whispered. I sat up on the bed, rubbing my forehead and glaring at Archer, who was leaning against the closed door, his face flushed with embarrassment. He ran a hand through his damp hair and shrugged sheepishly.

“I saw my coach in the hall,” he explained, his voice barely above a whisper. “I panicked and didn’t want him to see us together.”

I blinked at him in confusion, still trying to process what had just happened. “So you... pushed me into the room?”

Archer nodded, his expression filled with guilt. “I didn’t mean to push you that hard. I just wanted to get you out of sight quickly.”

“And you think coming into the room helped this situation?”

“Well, I’m mostly hoping he didn’t see me.” He spun around again and looked out the peephole. “I don’t think he did.”

“But is he still out there?” I asked. Archer nodded.

“Yeah. He’s just standing there…”

Archer definitely couldn’t just walk out of my room while his coach was out there. We’d narrowly missed being caught just now, but there would be no way of getting out of that one.

“Well… I guess you’ll just have to stay in here, then,” I said. Archer turned around and smiled at me.

“Oh, man,” he said. “What a shame.”

I stood up from my spot on the bed and took a step toward him. The room was so small and cramped that doing so put us face to face easily.

“Whatever will we do to pass the time?” I asked. Archer grinned and cupped his hands around my face.

And with that, we closed the distance between us, our lips meeting in another passionate kiss. Archer’s arms wrapped around me tightly, pulling me closer until I could feel the rhythm of his heartbeat against my body.

The sweetness of Archer’s breath mingled with the taste of our kiss, a faint hint of mint and something warm and inviting. It was a delicious and intoxicating taste that left me wanting more, craving to be closer to him. Archer’s fingers lightly caressed the back of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. His touch was gentle and loving, as if he was trying to convey all of his emotions through that one gesture. The world around us faded away, and it was just the two of us in our own private moment. I could taste the sweetness of Archer’s breath, feel the gentle brush of his fingers tracing delicate patterns on the back of my neck. The room, once suffocatingly small, now felt perfect and intimate.

But as we started to stumble toward the bed, Archer broke away to yawn loudly. I laughed.

“Is kissing me that boring?” I asked.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m just exhausted.”

The smile slowly fell off my face as I looked up at him. He always looked tired—with how little each of us slept, we both did—but he looked especially so tonight.

“Think you’ll be able to sleep?” I asked softly. He frowned and shook his head. I looked at him for a moment longer, trying to deduce if he was being honest or not. I wasn’t sure how comfortable he would be with the idea of sleeping in here, but unless we could be certain his coach had left the hallway, we didn’t really have a choice.

I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was already past midnight, and the darkness outside enveloped the world in a shroud of stillness.

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