“Fucking hell.” He scrubbed his face, laughing. “Keep those on later. Please. I beg you.”
“I plan to.”
See, this was easy. I could flirt. Tease. Yeah. I could totally do this. I lingered, bending over slowly and turning around so he saw me braless, but then I quickly got dressed. I could tease here, but we were at the rink, and we’d never jeopardize each other here.
Ten minutes later, we were bundled head to toe with scarves and fifteen layers. The wind chill was negative twenty, the wind whipping at us, and it was basically pure ice the entire walk. But we made it home safely.
Preston led the way, reaching out and steadying me a few times. But we didn’t talk. It was too cold to open our mouths.
It took fourteen minutes to get back to the house. When I saw it in the distance, I almost wept with joy because I was fucking freezing. Every part of me was cold, and I wanted to curl up beside Preston for the next twenty-four hours.
“Almost there, baby.” Preston picked up his pace, dragging me along with him. And once we got to the door, he burst through it and pulled me against him in a hug. “We made it. You did it. We made it. Holy shit.”
I didn’t get to respond before I sensed someone else in the hallway with us. I lifted my head from Preston’s chest and found his motherfucking date staring at us. Why thehellwas she here?
20
PRESTON
Jordan tensed, and I mentally prepared to talk her out of whatever stressed her out. I’d have to reassure her constantly. Her mind was her greatest enemy, and she’d probably try to convince me, and us, that we wouldn’t work, but I was more stubborn than she was. Plus, I made her knees give out from a kiss.
That’d didn’t happen every day. I honestly planned to bring that up often and use it to my advantage. When she tried pulling away—because that was inevitable—I’d remind her of the moment I caught her.
“What the fuck, Preston?” Jordan shoved me off her, her narrowed eyes shooting daggers at me. “Did you know about this?”
“Uh, what?” I barely got the words out before it all clicked together. Emery stood in the hallway, eyes wide and mouth parted. Her entire expression saidoh shit.
“Excuse me.” Jordan shoved away from me, then marched up the stairs and out of view, leaving Emery and me in the hallway.
“I literally was about to leave,” she said, eyes wide. “My sisterbegged me to come back so she wasn’t alone, and your brother… I’m sorry.”
I was gonna kill Price, but my patience from her showing up a second time thinned. She didn’t have to come back here, to my house, after she knew I wasn’t interested. Jordan was fickle and spooked easily, so I couldn’t waste time with Emery. Not now. “Get home safe, alright?”
Then I took the stairs two at a time, marching straight to Jordan’s shut door. I exhaled, half-laughing, half-annoyed at the timing of it all. Of fucking course this would happen after Jordan finally agreed to try this. “Jordan Vanderfleet. Open the goddamn door.”
“No.”
“See, I think you enjoy pissing me off. You get off on it, don’t you?”
The handle twisted, and once it cracked an inch, I barged my way in there, cutting her off before she could push me out.
“What are you—get out of here, Preston.”
“You know what I think?” I gripped her ponytail, the thin restraint I had deteriorating by the second. I was done chasing her, convincing her how good we were together. I was done being patient. Her and I? We were endgame. “I think you fucking love riling me up and seeing me snap. You love seeing how far you can push me, how much you can piss me off before I shed the polite, good guy personality. Well, congrats, baby. You did it.”
Gripping her hair, I moved her to her bed and tossed her on it. Her pulse raced at the base of her neck, her beautiful skin begging to be sucked. And I would. I’d kiss, lick, and fuck every part of her tonight because I was done.
Done convincing her how I felt, that she was the only human on the planet for me. She got what she wanted: me completely unhinged. “Grab your headboard.”
She blinked, a pretty pink blush dancing down her face and neck. My wild, carefree best friend looked nervous.Good.
She reached up, each fist wrapping around one of the pegs of her shitty wooden headboard, and I reached into her closet to find a belt hanging on a hanger. “I’m tying your annoying ass up. You’re not running from me. You’re not escaping. And if you argue with me, I’ll gag you.”
“Holy fuck, Preston. This is… hot.”
I didn’t have to fake my smile. I knew she was wild, wanted someone tomatch her freak.“Consider your freak matched, baby. I’m gonna be off the charts.”
I bent forward, clasping the belt around her wrists. “Tug. Try to escape.”
