“If you hadanyidea how hard I’m trying to be serious andnotmake a pass at you right now, you’d be appalled.”
“Doubtful.”
“Fucking hell, Connor. Pick a lane.” I stop walking, so the board stops moving.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he says quickly, shaking his head. We’re almost eye to eye…which means we’re also almost mouth to mouth, and the proximity is messing with me. It gets way fucking worse when he takes his glove off, brings his hand up to the side of my neck, and rubs his thumb across my bottom lip. “It would appear that being back on a snowboard utilized all my good-thinking skills, leaving only bad decisions in their wake,” he says with way too much gravel in his voice for me to remain calm.
“Don’t think for a single second that I won’t fuck you right here in the snow if given the opportunity,” I tell him before sucking his thumb into my mouth.
The groan that leaves his lips has my cock harder than granite.
“What’s it gonna be, Coach? If you don’t decide in the next five seconds, my cock’s gonna do it for you.”
“Goddammit.Wecan’t. If anyone were to find out, we’d both be in trouble, and it would be unrecoverable. Whether it’s a written rule or not, sleeping with your coach isn’t a good look. Patterson would never drop you, but I’d be fired so fast I wouldn’t even have the chance to say goodbye.”
Connor’s right.
And it sucks.Hard.
I swirl my tongue around his thumb one more time before letting it fall from my mouth.
“Maybe one day,” I whisper, staring at his lips. We need a distraction, and fast. “You want to try getting in the other boot? I’ll stay with you.”
When he nods, my heart swells with pride.
Once his other boot is strapped in, I guide him back and forth a few more times as he clings to me. Then we do small swerves at the base of the hill. After twenty minutes of him not freaking out, I push a little harder.
“Think you can handle the magic carpet and the hill? I’d love to strap in and take that ride with you.” His eyes dart nervously to the small, almost-hill in front of us. “You don’t have to. You’ve done amazingly well today. But if you want to, I’ll be right here with you.”
I watch as he wages war with himself, and I see the moment the fighter, the competitor, thechampionin him,wins.
“Let’s do it.”
“Hell yes!” I whoop.
“But I have your boots,” he points out as a smug smile plays on my lips, and I unzip my bag, pulling out a second pair.
“I came prepared.”
Realization dawns on him. “You fucking brat. You set me up.” His smile gives away the fact that he’s not really mad.
“I think you mean I set you up forsuccessby planning ahead.”
I shoot him a wink and strap in, preparing to ride the smallest slope with my biggest idol.
Chapter 18
Connor
There are equal amounts of joy and terror coursing through my veins right now; a desire to celebrate and a desire to throw up. The visceral reaction to being on this board is hard to overcome, but just when I’m about to say ‘fuck it’ and unclip, Vox brings his board to a stop right in front of mine. My body responds instantly as his features come into view. I calm myself by counting the faint freckles on his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose.
Using both gloved hands, he cups my face.
“Everything is going to be fine. I’ll be right behind you the whol?—”
“No!” I yell. The volume is unnecessary since he’s so close. Lowering my voice, I practically beg, “Stay in front of me. Youhaveto stay in front of me. I need to be able to see where you are the entire time.”
“Okay,” he says, holding his hands up. “Okay, relax. I’m not going to ruin this for you. I’ll make sure I stay in your line of sight, okay?”
