I shiver. “You scent-matched me first.”
“Only match that ever mattered to me,” he growls. “But you can never have too many people who love you.”
Then he lifts me enough for our skates to shift and my body to slide against his. I gasp, fingers tangling in his hair. He backs me harder into the wall, hips pressing close, and the contact—God, the contact—sends a bolt of heat straight through me.
“I used to dream about kissing you here at the rink,” he says, lips brushing mine, “and then skating around the track while your scent clung to me like a damn brand. So everyone knew who I belonged to.”
I grin against his mouth. “You’re such a nerd.”
He bites my lower lip in retaliation, making me gasp again, and then soothes it with his tongue. “I’m your nerd.”
“That better not be your claiming line.”
“Would it work?”
“Yes.”
He laughs, breath hot against my cheek. “Good to know.”
Then his hand curves around my thigh, lifting it, hitching it against his hip. My body arches into him, ribs be damned.
We don’t move for a minute. We just breathe.
And it’s not the kiss that undoes me—it’s the way he looks at me.
Like I’m it. Still. Always.
“Landon…”
“I’m right here,” he says, resting his forehead against mine again. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
The moment stretches—intimate, charged, and quiet in a way that doesn’t need filling.
Then from somewhere near the entrance, a loud, unapologetic voice echoes:
“Okay, lovebirds. Time’s up before both of you end up naked on the rink.”
Carson.
I laugh and bury my face in Landon’s neck.
He sighs dramatically and shouts back, “You’re just jealous!”
“You’re not wrong!” Carson calls. “But Graham says ribs still need rest, so wrap it up.”
Landon kisses my temple before setting me back on the floor. “We’ll pick this up later.”
“Promise?”
“Swear it.”
He winks and offers me his hand, pretending we’re about to perform a flawless couples skate at prom. I take it, grinning, flushed, a little breathless.
My world is absolute chaos—but for once, it feels as if it’s finally falling into place.
CHAPTER 82
Willow
