“You’re hot when you go into athlete mode.” She giggles and switches out my oversize shirt with her white one. “You’re going down, Saunders.”
I’m going to let her think she has the upper hand. I’m going to let her pretend she’s in control, because being naked and letting her have her way with me doesn’t sound like losing at all.
I keepthe arena lights dim when we get to the practice facility. It’s colder in the building without sweaty bodies in it, and I wish I had worn pants instead of athletic shorts and a hoodie.
“I need to grab my skates from my office,” I say. “Glad you had yours at my place. We don’t have anything that would fit you here.”
She flashes me a smile and takes a seat on the players’ bench. “I’ll wait for you here.”
“Be back in five,” I say, jogging down the tunnel to my office.
I snag my skates from where they’re sitting in the spare chair and head back to the ice. Hannah is in the same spot, and I sit next to her, my thigh pressing against hers.
“This place is creepy when there aren’t other people around.” She glances at the rafters and across to the rows of seats. “Do you think it’s haunted? Do you think the Grim Reaper has visited here to take someone’s soul?”
“Unless she also visited the trees and overgrown grass that used to be here, I wouldn’t expect any ghosts to surprise us.”
“I think the Grim Reaper is a womantoo!” Hannah nudges my arm with her elbow. “I knew you were a smart man.”
“Women are far superior.” I slip my left foot into my skate, tying it tight. “Tell me about the rules of this game. You know I can’t do a triple quadruple backward Axel or whatever the hell it is you do.”
“You’re kind of close.” She kisses my cheek, and my right foot misses the skate entirely. “The rules are simple: you can do hockey shots, and I’ll do figure skating moves, with the exception of no jumps or flips.”
“Flips? You can flip while you’re on your skates?”
“There’s a reason why it’s hockey players who hang out with figure skaters in the offseason and not the other way around: because we’re really fucking talented. Flipping on skates is difficult. Almost impossible. The ISU—that’s the International Skating Union—banned somersaults in competitions decades ago. You were probably alive then.”
“Brat.” I reach down and squeeze her knee. “Are they still banned?”
“Not anymore. I could give you a whole history lesson, but we have more important things to focus on. No flips from me, which means you’re not allowed to do any fancy goals.”
“So, we each perform the move. If we’re successful, and the other person isn’t, they lose an article of clothing.”
“Exactly,” Hannah says.
“How many layers are we ditching?” I ask.
“Well, that depends.” She pops to her feet. The spin she does on the ice is effortless, beautiful. I’m mesmerized every time I watch her. “How bad do you want me, Brody?”
I lace my other skate and move toward her, towering over her. I wrap her hair around my wrist and give it a hard tug, humming when she blinks up at me.
“I want you more than I want any other thing in my life, Hannah,” I murmur. “And when I win, I’m going to spread you out on the logo. I’m going to make you wait until you’re begging for my cock. Then I’m going to fuck you in the same spot my players will be tomorrow, and they’ll have no idea I made you come right there, just a few hours before.”
She whines and squeezes her legs together, and I can see her nipples turning hard through the thin fabric of her shirt. “And if I win?” she asks, a hand resting on my hip. “Would you get on your knees for me, Brody?”
“I have before. I would again. But that’s not going to happen,” I say into her ear. “Get your ass on the blue line, angel, so we can start. I’ll let you go first.”
I grab two sticks and a puck and lean them against the boards. Hannah stretches her hamstrings and calves. With her eyes on me, she does a turn with her arms above her head, pirouetting in three full rotations before coming to a stop.
“I’m starting easy,” she says.
“No making fun of me,” I grumble.
“What happens at the practice rink stays at the practice rink.” Hannah taps her heart. “I promise. But I believe in you, Brody.”
It’s stupid how her faith in me makes me want to puff out my chest. It’s stupid how I check to see if she’s watching before I stand up straight. It’s stupid how I don’t care about winning, but I do care about showing off.
I’m flustered as I try to mimic her position. I push off with my left skate, unsteady as I make the first rotation. I pick a spot on the ice and put all my focus on it, my arms swaying dangerously until Hannah lets out a whoop and claps.
