I brake to keep from falling and end up with the front of his body pressed against my back. He leans in, his voice rumbling in my ear while I hold my breath. "You forgot your helmet."
"Elias…let go of me."
"Why? I think you like it." He pulls a little harder.
"No, I don't."
"Fine."
He lets go, and I turn, taking the helmet from his hands. Before I put it on, he removes his own and stops me.
"Saige, you're wrong about me," he says.
"What do you mean?"
"You said I don't care about anything, but I do. You said I have everything I wanted, but I havenothingI wanted. I wanted to help my mom, I wanted hockey, and I really, really want you."
I shake my head. "You don't want me, Elias. You're just not used to being told no."
"That's not true. I want you more than anything. You're all I've thought about for two years…" He leans in and I move away, but I don't get far before my back presses up against the wall. "I know you want me, too." He closes the space between us again, boxing me in with his hands on either side of the glass behind me, his mouth so close to mine, I can feel his words against my lips. "I see the way you look at me; I know how it feels when a woman wants me."
Elias is handsome—that's just an objective fact. He's tall, muscular, with a chiseled, stubble-covered jaw, pretty green eyes framed with thick, dark eyebrows and lashes. He's like a statue, but I know he's also just about as dead inside as one.
And I know what I am to him. Prey.
He licks his lips before they graze mine, and I turn away at the last second. "Elias…I can't."
"Dax doesn't love you, Saige."
I swallow hard and blink back tears. "That's not why. I just…I can never forgive you. I mean…you realize that, right? You've done too much to me; I'll never get over it. Not even for a night."
Elias sighs. "It wouldn't be for a night, Saige."
"That doesn't change anything."
I watch his demeanor shift completely and brace myself for him to lose his shit like he has so many times before.
"Elias…please."
"Please what?" He takes his hands away and puts some space between us—not a lot, but enough that I exhale in relief. "You know what I wish?"
"Yeah…that you'd let me fall off the cliff."
"No. That I'd made you suck my dick instead that night and kept you in my room all this time after. Maybe I still will."
He won't do that. Even if he means it, Dax and Nolan won't let him.
"I guess you could make me do whatever you want…but I don't hate myself enough towillinglybe with you. And I would have to hate myself a lot to do something like that."
"It's in the fucking past, Saige. Jesus."
"Well…not for me. Itchangedme."
"What the fuck is this?"
My heart drops. We both look over just as Dax skates onto the ice.
"This is a lot to deal with. I really don't think there's anything else you two could be doing on your secret dates that would hurt me more than this," he continues. "Hockey, really? Without me?"
