Matteo falls in step with me as he walks me up to the front of my apartment building at the end of the night. He’s quiet and pensive, just as he was the entire ride here.
“Thank you for tonight,” I say quietly, turning to him as we stop by the door. “I had a really nice time.”
“Yeah?” Matteo turns to face me. “So did I.” I’m captured by his gaze. “I like spending time with you.”
My breath catches in my throat. The magnetic pull to him tugs on me, inching me closer. “I like spending time with you too.”
I need to stop, but it appears that I have no control over my own body. He takes a step closer and I tilt my head back to look up at him.
His eyes slowly search my face as if he’s desperate for an answer to a question he never asked. His lips open and close, throat bobbing as he swallows hard.
“Sunny…”
He leaves the rest of his thought unsaid. His fingers brush a warm path along the side of my face, pushing the hair away from my temple. His touch drifts, trailing around my ear as he tucks the loose strands.
My tongue darts out, slipping between my lips to wet them. A ragged breath escapes me and my heart pounds erratically against my ribcage.
The muscle in his jaw tightens, his nostrils widening as his gaze flickers to my mouth. His own lips part, his warm breath fanning across my face.
We’re inches apart. His fingers drift along the side of my jaw, curling beneath my chin as he lifts it higher. “You know how you said you have a tendency of overthinking things?”
I swallow the lump in my throat, my eyes slowly searching the fire burning in his. “Yeah?”
“So do I.” He rolls his lips between his teeth, wetting them with his tongue before releasing them. “I don’t want to overthink this.”
His face lowers closer to mine, close enough that I can feel his warm breath on my lips. My heart pounds harder, my eyelids fluttering shut. Waiting. Hoping. Anticipating.
My heart stops beating. Time is frozen and so are we. After a second, he releases a ragged breath, lifting his head to press his lips to my forehead.
“Goodnight, Jade.”
My heart resumes, kicking into overdrive.
The rejection stings and I pull back, my eyes flashing to him. His eyes are hooded, an ember smoldering in his irises as he stares back at me. The intensity seeps into my core and I’m so damn confused.
My feet are finally working under my command again and I turn away from him, not looking in his direction as I reach for the door. Embarrassment burns my cheeks. I thought he was going to kiss me and I can’t believe that for a moment, I wanted him to.
That’s not what this is or will ever be. I can’t help but wonder if I misread this entire situation.
“Goodnight, Matteo,” I say, letting myself into the building, leaving him outside.
I don’t look back and I don’t stop moving until I’m on the elevator, pressing the button for my floor. I lean against the wall, the doors sliding shut as I drag my hand down my face.
Matteo Ford almost kissed me.
And I almost let him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MATTEO
“She was close… yet I wanted her closer.” - Julian Hart, Painted Inferno
The cold radiates from the ice below, seeping through my socks, cooling my skin. The surface is slick beneath my blades and I suck in a breath, my lungs burning from the sheer force of my inhale. I barely notice the stinging in my nostrils.
All I really see is the puck.
I pivot hard on my right skate, the outside edge biting the ice as I drive forward, checking the other team’s winger into the boards. Both of our sticks clash together, crashing into the boards. The glass shakes and I hear the faint buzzing sound of the crowd.
