My heart pinches with pain.“I want lots of them, but I don’t think life wants that for me.”
“Nah, don’t say that.Don’t let a couple bad guys screw with your confidence,” Theo says, then his arms tighten around me.“I used to want a few kids, like three or even four, but then I realized that alcoholism is genetic.And I saw what I’ve put my parents through this year and… I don’t know if it’s a good idea anymore.”
“Ask your parents if they’d have changed their mind about kids, even after this year,” suggests as sleep finally starts to make my eyelids heavy.He’s so warm and even with the candle sputtering with the last of the light it can give, I don’t feel panic.I feel safe and protected.“They’d have you ten times over, faults and all.”
“Mmm…” He doesn’t sound convinced.
“Plus, you’re hockey royalty, so you basically have to continue the line,” I mutter.“What will the world do without another Richard blocking shots and winning cups?”
“I haven’t won a Cup.”
“You will.”
“I like your attitude, Casco.”
I smile into his sweatshirt.“I like your body heat.”
He laughs and pulls me closer.
When I wake up, it’s bright.The sun is pouring in through the windows we never bothered to cover.It’s blindingly bright due to the piles of stark white snow it’s reflecting off.I squint and stretch, and my butt rubs right into Theo Richard’s very well-endowed, rock-solid cock.Whoa.
A flood of desire roars through me so suddenly and so strongly that my whole body flushes.I take a deep breath and try to beat my hormones into submission as Theo starts to stir and wake up behind me.His hand, which was slung over my hip, flexes and moves to splay across my belly.He holds me in place and grinds himself against me.I don’t think he’s fully aware of who I am or where he is because he’s not really awake, but I can’t help myself—I arch into it.He growls against my ear, and his breath tickles my skin.I don’t even feel bad about it.I don’t care if he’s on a team with my stupid brothers.He’s hot, and I want him.
His lips ghost my neck, and his hand starts a lazy, slow journey up to my breasts.My nipples harden in anticipation, and I press my ass into him again.He rolls his hips, rubbing himself shamelessly against me, and then, with his hand an inch from cupping one of my breasts, he freezes.“Lola.”
“Morning, sunshine.”
He’s gone, pulling away and rolling onto his back.I let out a frustrated sigh.“Sorry.I’m… I?—”
“You’re horny because I’m just the hottest thing ever?”I look over at him, flashing a joking smile, but he just stares, his dark eyes heated.His bottom lip juts out like he’s pouting.
“Yeah.You’re so hot my dick is leaking.”
I blink, and my smile falls away.“You don’t get to say that and pull your hard-on away from me.”
“Teammate’s sister,” he says, and I think it’s more to himself than me.“D-partner’stwin.Not a woman who needs to be subjected to my bumbling attempts at sober sex.”
“Oh, for fucks sake.”I sit up and huff in frustration.“Is the power back?”
“Yes.”He reaches for a pillow, flops back on the bed, and uses the pillow to cover the tent in his sweats.
I climb over him, so I’m straddling him, but unfortunately, that pillow is a decent barrier.Despite sitting right on his crotch, I can’t feel his arousal.He grabs my hips and tries to lift me off, but I don’t let him, and I reach for his phone on the dresser next to the bed.“What in the hell are you doing?”
I turn the phone to him, and it unlocks when it registers his face.I turn it back toward me and deftly scroll until I get to the App Store, where I immediately download a hook-up app I’ve used in the past.And by “used,” I mean downloaded, registered, and window-shopped.I am yet to try for a hook-up.
“What are you doing?”he asks again, but he’s not freaking out that I have his phone, and he’s not even trying to take it back.His hands are still on my hips.It’s nice to have his strong, tight grip on me.God, maybe I should use the app too.I definitely need sex and to wipe the memory of Pete being my last lay out of my head.
The dating app loads, so I open it and start to create a profile.I use a fake name because, of course.“Do you speak French?”
“Oui.Mon père est français et ma première équipe était au Québec.”
I move the phone aside to gape at him.“Well, that’s fucking hot.”
He smirks and winks.I snap his photo.I purposely do it off-center so it’s like one eye winking and half a smirk with a whole lot of naked chest because his sweatshirt disappeared at some point in his sleep.It gives him anonymity while remaining intriguing.“Your hook-up name is T.R.Francois.You’re a French major at Colby College.”
“What?’He grabs the phone from me.His eyes widen as he stares at the screen.“I’m on an app?What the fuck, Lola?”
I lean down, my whole upper body pressing into his.“You need to try out sober sex, and since you don’t want to date and you don’t want me…”
