“Yeah.” His thumb strokes the back of my hand. “I don't want this to end yet. And I really want to do that again in an actual bed where I can take my time with you.”
Heat floods through me at his words, embarrassingly fast. “Okay,” I whisper. “Yes.”
I'm done running.
Chapter 25
The puck slaps against my stick and I send it flying across the ice to Erik, who catches it with his stick easily. My legs and lungs are burning, but I can’t stop grinning.
I feel fucking great.
Betterthan great. Fucking phenomenal, because every time my blades hit the ice, I get a flash of Laura in my lap, saying yes, begging for more.
It’s been two weeks and she’s still all I think about.
“There it is again,” Alex calls as he skates past me, tapping my stick with his own. “The smile.”
“What smile?” I ask, trying to tone it down, but then I think about what it feels like to be inside her, and everything goes out of whack.
Henry raises his stick from the blue line, pointing it in my direction. “The ‘I’m getting laid regularly’ smile. We all get it, Hendricks. Your dick’s getting wet. No need to gloat about it.”
He shakes his head, and charges down the ice with a puck, narrowly avoiding Erik’s attempt to trip him.
“Uh…” Now I feel bad since we all know the trouble Henry’s gotten into with the girls here. Namely none since no one wants a cheater.
Erik skates around me. “Don’t even act confused. You strutted into practice yesterdayhumming.Humming, Hendricks! Based on that time you tried out for Battle of the Bands in high school, I thought you couldn’t sing.”
Alex barks out a laugh. “That episode was hilarious. Do you remember the bandana he wore?”
“I don’t hum,” I shoot back, diverting the conversation from my high school days.
“No, you don’t,” Alex says. “You’re like Brooks. You brood. You sulk. You lecture me about defense. You do not hum.”
I grin widely now because I can’t argue. They’re not wrong. Ever since that night in the parking lot… and all the nights that have followed, I’ve been insanely happy. I don’t even care if people mentionHendricks Unchecked.I’m too content to care.
Coach blows the whistle, and we reset into the next drill. I sprint down the ice, pivot, stop hard, and send the puck cleanly into the net. The cold air burns in my lungs, my legs ache, but none of it wipes the stupid smile off my face. I push through another rep, then another, until the whistle shrills again for water.
I skate to the bench, grab my bottle, and take a long drink.
“How’s Laura?” Brooks asks, rolling up beside me during the water break.
“She’s good.”
I take a long swig from my water bottle, aiming for casual, but the corner of my mouth betrays me with another twitch of that damn smile.
“‘Good,’” Erik repeats flatly. “That’s it? Tell me your sex is lackluster without telling me your sex is lackluster.”
“That’s not—” I stop myself, noting Erik’s grin. He’s trying to get a rise out of me, and I stupidly fall for it every time.
Brooks shakes his head. “We know you’ve been obsessing over her since last year. You can drop the monotone act.”
“All right, let’s stop ragging on our captain,” Erik says, pushing off the boards. “Just because he's disgustingly happy doesn't mean we need to dissect every moment of it.”
“Says the guy who literally started a group chat about Scotty's love life last year,” Alex points out.
“That was different,” Erik says quickly, waving it off. “That was before I learned about boundaries and respecting people's privacy.”
“Since when do you have boundaries?” I ask. “Aren’t you still messing with that football player’s girlfriend?”
