Naomi
I’d never been to a game with overtime, and man, I was tired. It had been a long week, emotionally and mentally, and the thought of riding back in the bus with a bunch of rowdy hockey players sounded as appetizing as ten day old pizza. Yes, I was happy we won—I wasn’t a monster. But I wanted to put on my favorite pajamas and go to sleep.
The guys did whatever they did in the locker room where Michael shadowed my dad, so that left me waiting until they headed outside. It was fine. I could just lean against the wall and close my eyes. Even as I did that, the urge to sleep grew stronger. My skin prickled, andshit.My weight shifted as I slipped, sending a flurry of alarm bells through my limbs. My heart tried to jump out of my chest, and I took a few deep breaths to settle myself.
“Wow, Fletcher, what’s the score now? Five to one?” Michael said, making my lips curve up despite how tired my face was.
Yes, things were still a tad awkward between us, but distance since the weekend helped. I hadn’t thought about the kiss more than six times.Okay, more like a million.Despite how much I liked it and him, I knew staying friends was the right thing to do. The safe option. Keeping him in thefriendcategory would protect my heart.
Hockey would come first for him, and I refused to come second to the sport that broke our family apart. But his casual use offive to onemade my stomach swoop because thatonewas when he fell over from our kiss.
It was great for my ego for a second but then I shrugged.
“I didn’t trip, exactly,” I said, yawning.
“It seemed pretty close to it.” He raised his brows and grinned down at me with that half-smile I thought about far too often. It should’ve worried me how addicted I was to him. To his smile, his laugh, his jokes. I missed him this past week even though I shouldn’t. However, my sleepy brain didn’t have the strength to put up walls tonight.
“My eyelids feel like a million pounds.”
He frowned, and if I wasn’t mistaken, his fingers twitched at his side. “You need to sleep, Naomi. Overworking yourself isn’t going to help anything.”
“Yes, sir.”
His lips flattened into a straight line as he put a hand on my shoulder and guided me out of the visiting school rink. I told myself it was to make sure I didn’t fall because let’s face it, I was a hazard to myself when I had a full night’s sleep. But he kept his hand there the entire walk to the bus. It was warm and nice, protective. Friendly.
A friendly touch.
That was becoming my least favorite F word.
Yes, we shouldn’t be together, but that didn’t stop me from thinking about all the what-ifs. That was why distance was good. It limited the sexual fantasies I had about Michael Reiner.
He had large hands, andmm,I bet he knew how to use them. He sure knew how to kiss.Oh god, settle down.I gulped down a breath of cold air, stifling the growing fire between my legs. School always came first, then my friends. Ever since my breakup freshman year with Theo, I never had a crazy attraction to anyone. Not like this. But even then, I was sad for a week after six months together. Theo and I had even slept together, but the attraction wasn’t anything like how I felt for Michael.
Never like this.
Just one kiss and all my reasons fornotdoing this flew out the janky bus window.
We got into our usual seat on the right side of the bus, and he put our bags up top while I squished myself against the cool window. We’d done road trips together two other times, yet this felt different. More charged. More...feelings.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he thought about last weekend as much as I did. Did he regret kissing me or maybe regret not doing it again? Would he move on to another girl, and god, would I have to see it?
Just thinking about him touching someone else had my stomach twisting into pretzel knots, and I slammed my head back on the seat with a groan.
“The bus is the worst for a nap. You can use me as a pillow if it’ll help. I’ve been told I’m quite comfortable,” he said, patting his shoulder while he teased me with his dimple. He wore the same hoodie I’d fallen in love with, and I tried not to overthink my actions.
Was he this way with all hisfriends?Offering up his sexy shoulder with the seductive promise of being a pillow?
What else didI’ve been toldeven mean?.By who? Certainly not his teammates. A surge of jealousy had my stomach tightening. God, what would it feel like to be one of those women? My throat dried up, and my voice came out like sandpaper. “Uh, thanks. Yeah.”
He tilted his head to the side, the overhead bus lights only providing me a glimpse of his strong nose. My face burned, and I figured it’d be easier to deal with these thoughts while not staring at him. I put my head on his shoulder and tensed when he picked up his arm to place it around me.
His hand rested on my hips. His large and warm fingers drifted toward my thigh, and holy shit. I sweated even though it was forty degrees outside. He smelled like fresh laundry, outside, andhim.He was so toasty and comfortable, and I snuggled deeper into his neck.
The kiss from last weekend replayed in my mind, how he gripped my head and pulled my body tight against his. My tongue felt too large for my mouth, and I swallowed, hard.
I closed my eyes but could still hear every inhale he took. His chest moved up and down as his fingers tapped on my thigh to the music on the radio. There was no way I could sleep now. Not with my body pressed against his and his breath hitting the top of my head.
“Stop thinking,” he said, his grip on me firming. “I can literally hear your mind making grinding sounds like a machine.”
