I shouldn’t like her bratty little response, but fuck if I do.
“Oh, plenty of things make me happy, Maisie. I’m sure you’re familiar with a few of them, yeah?” Her breath stutters, her eyes bouncing between mine as I step closer and reach around her, depositing a handful of the bags in her trunk.
Being this close to her, feeling the heat rolling off her body, her scent, so fucking sweet, surrounding me, has me thinking about all of the ways I could get more of those sassy, mouthy responses from her.
Ways I could push that would bring that fire I just witnessed out of her again.
Against better judgment, my gaze drops to her full lips, and I recall every moment of that sensual mouth moving against mine, pressing against my skin tentatively like she was exploring.
The memory is burned into my brain.
But that’s just it. It’s amemory, something of the past, something that’s going to remain there.
Because in the present?
Maisie is a student, and I’m the man who is going to stay the fuck away from her.
Forbothof our sakes.
CHAPTER
TEN
WILDER
The insideof the arena is vibrating with energy, and as I stand in the players’ box with my clipboard in hand, gazing around the room, an assault of memories hits me square in the chest.
The days that I played on this same ice, in the same arena, come flooding back, and even though it feels like a lifetime ago, I can still remember the way it felt standing there in a jersey that I had just begun to fill out, wearing skates that properly fit for the first time in my life. I felt in over my head and like I would never measure up to the guys on my team. I was a rookie freshman, a poor kid who had worked his entire life to have a chance to be on the ice.
I never wanted anything more.
I would’ve given up anything to make it to the college leagues so I could make it out of here and go pro.
Funny how life fucks you like that. I had it all, and somehow, I still ended up back in this shithole town in the place I only ever wanted to leave.
Fuck your ten-year plan. If nothing else, life and all those best-laid plans will humble you, and you learn quickly just how fast everything can change. In the blink of an eye.
I was fucked from the start.
“Wilder.”
I blink, clearing the shit running through my head, and look over to find Coach Taylor walking into the box.
I nod. “Coach.”
“You ready for this?” he says as he comes to a stop beside me, his shoulder ghosting mine as we stare out onto the ice.
“Not the first game I’ve had here.”
He chuckles lowly and shrugs. “Yeah, but itisyour first as a coach. Whole different playing field.”
Yeah, he’s right about that.
“Bet you never thought you’d be back here, did you?” he adds, and I stiffen slightly.
I hate that fucking reminder. Yet I can’t stop hearing it.
“I didn’t,” I finally say as I lift my clipboard and scan the page before looking back at him. “But then again, I didn’t anticipate half the shit happening in my life that did. Learned to roll with it.”
