“Oh God,” I whisper, pulling back a fraction. “I—Scotty, I can’t—this is—”
He frowns, brow creasing. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“What the hell are we doing?” The words blurt out before I can stop them, and I instantly want to sink into the ice and disappear. “I know I shouldn’t be asking that right after…that.I don’t do these kinds of things normally. I should be focused on my audition and not—”
“Princess.” Scotty cups my jaw, stopping the spiral cold. He tilts my chin up so I’m forced to look straight into his eyes. “Like I said before, we’re whatever you want us to be.”
My stomach flips. “You can’t say that. Not when I have an audition tomorrow. Not when everything is already—”
He cuts me off with a kiss.
It’s slower than before, grounding me.
“Don’t think about us tonight,” he murmurs against my mouth. “Focus on the audition.”
That’s easy for him to say. My mind is spinning.
Scotty. The audition. Him touching me. Him kissing me. Him saying things like that.
It’s all too much, too fast, too intense, and I don’t know how to hold any of it.
“I-I should go,” I whisper, though my body doesn’t move an inch.
I’m running. I know, but I can’t stand here, freezing in a rink, dissecting the intricacies of what getting glove finger fucked by Scotty Hendricks means right now.
He exhales gently, his breath fogging the cold space between us. “As you wish. You have a big day tomorrow.”
I finally slip out of his hold. “Thanks… for helping me.”
Scotty’s eyes lift to mine, and his blue eyes look lighter than usual. “Always, Princess.”
I turn away before I can second-guess everything. My legs feel unsteady, but not from the skating. As I make my way toward the exit, I glance back just once. He’s still standing there by the boards, watching me like I’m the only thing left holding his attention together, and somehow, that terrifies me more than tomorrow’s audition ever could.
Chapter 22
“Leaving early again, Hendricks?” Brooks asks as I skate past him toward the locker room.
“Yeah, I’ve got something I need to do.”
Namely, watching Laura’s audition. It’s in less than two hours, and I’ve got a forty-five-minute drive ahead of me, so if I don’t leave in the next twenty minutes, I’m screwed.
I pull off my helmet as I head toward the exit, only to see Brooks and Alex exchange looks with each other.
Shaking my head, I roll my eyes. “Don’t worry, boys. It’s drugs, I promise.”
“Oh, we know.” Alex elbows Brooks as they follow behind me. “Ten bucks says it’s one of the single moms at the rink. Would explain why he’s always on the ice.”
Should’ve known they wouldn’t let me off the hook so easily. After their little ‘intervention’ yesterday, they’ve been trying to figure out who Erik was alluding to when he said I had a girl. Not that he knows. I’ve kept it a big secretthis time.
“It can’t be. Coach said he was on the ice close to midnight yesterday. There’s no way a single mom with a kid will make time for that, no matter how famous his dimples are.”
I don’t respond. I just make my way to the exit.
“I think it’s one of the new ice girls. He has a girl here… one who can clearly skate. Has to be one of them.”
As I push the door open, I hear Erik say, “Scotty’s not fucking an ice girl. Believe me. Lydia has tries to murder me when I so much as look in their direction. Scotty’s not getting anywhere near them.”
“Are you sure that’s not just because it’s you?” Alex asks, but I don’t hang around for the answer. Instead, I head straight for the showers, taking the quickest one of my life. I don’t have time to waste.
