My laugh cuts off, and everyone and everything around me falls away. Finley Harris stands in her skates beside Matt and Gemma in the center of the ice. She’s wearing a black Palmer City Wolves hat with ear flaps on each side and a green pom-pom on the top of her head. Her bright blond hair flows down her back over a dark puffer jacket. It’s my luck her jacket isn’t long enough to cover her ass, which looks incredible in dark-wash jeans.
Jennings claps me on the shoulder, shaking his head as he says through a laugh, “You’re so screwed, dude.”
“I don’t—” I start to object but stop because there’s no point hiding this from him. He already knows. Trying to fend off the accusation will confirm it anyway. I’ve always been shit at lying. “I know. She’s so far out of my league.”
“And Cap would kick your ass if he knew.”
I suck in a breath. “That too.”
“What are you going to do?” Jennings asks.
A smarter man would stay away from her. This situation will undoubtedly end with me alone, watching the woman of my dreams move on after having her fun with me. She wouldn’t do it on purpose, she’s too good of a person for that. But the novelty will wear off. She’ll meet someone more confident, more experienced, more capable of caring for her, and leave me behind.
There’s only one way we can end—if she walks away. Because there won’t be a day I don’t want to be around her.
I wink at Jennings, then skate toward center ice, as if I could go anywhere but Finley’s direction. She doesn’t see me until I’m halfway there, a smile spreading across her gorgeous face when her gaze lands on me. My skates slide to a stop, spraying her with a bit of ice. Finley doesn’t flinch.
“Hey, High-flyer, you didn’t tell me you’d be here today.”
Finley glances at her brother, but his attention is focused on Elodie in a stroller with a flat bottom to glide on ice. “Matt invited me last minute. Thought it would be a good time for us to bond.”
I tug one of the ear flaps. “You look good in my team colors.”
Her grin stretches beyond her normal smile while she brings the backs of her hands beneath her chin in aWho me?pose and flutters her eyelashes.
“I think you look good in anything,” I say helplessly.
Finley leans toward me, dropping her voice. “I shine when I’m wearingnothing.”
I look toward the ceiling. We’re below the scoreboard which readsWelcome Wolves Families. “Are you trying to kill me? This is a family event and your brother is standing right there and—”
She places a hand over my mouth, stopping my word vomit. “Skate with me?”
My gaze darts to Matt again, but he’s in conversation with our coach. If he wasn’t, I’d still make this choice, cross this line, because I can’t deny her. I hold out my hands to her. “Let’s go.”
Finley’s head tilts to the side. “I learned how to skate when I was six. I don’t know if you know, but my brothers all play in the NHL. They’re kind of a big deal.”
I keep my hands out to her, waiting. “Tell them you forgot. Besides, you can’t risk falling and injuring yourself.”
“You’ll be my protector?” she asks, placing her hands in mine, sending a zing of energy through me.
I lean in close and whisper, “I’ll be the lucky bastard who gets to hold your hand.”
The flush filling her cheeks suits her. “I would have never guessed the night I met you that you were such a charmer.”
“I’m not.” I glide backward while Finley propels toward me. “I’m not trying to charm you. I mean, Iam, but it’s not like I’m trying to play some game or strategize about what might work on you. I’m saying what I honestly think, what I need you to know. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll stop, I’ll—”
“Zach,” Finley says, effectively cutting off my rambling. “I like you. I thought I made that clear.” She quirks an eyebrow. “Apparently, I need to do a better job convincing you.”
I blow out a breath. “Finley.”
“I like how you say my name, like I hold some kind of power. And when you call me High-flyer, I remember how you have my back, how you believe in me. You make me laugh, and you care about what I have to say. You get why gymnastics is important to me. You’re like this ball of light that’s come into my life and made every day better for me. And fuck me, you wear that backward baseball cap so well.”
I huff out a laugh, never more thankful the way I prefer to wear my hat does something to her.
Finley’s head swivels around, and she drops her voice lower. “Every time I’m in bed, I think about what it was like having you there, how much I want to kiss you again, to have youtouchme again.”
My heart gallops, and it’s not only the reminder of our morning in her bed. Of the way she suction-cupped herself to my lips, like sheneededme to exist. Or the proof of her attraction to me on my fingers when they dipped between her legs. Finley likesme, period. Not only because of who I am, but how I make her feel.
