Even if it comes with pain.
“You should’ve seen me in my prime,” I say.
Her damp hair sticks to her gloves as she drags them over her head, smiling. “I would’ve liked that.” A pause. “Hey, whatcha doing later?” she calls, tapping her stick playfully against the ice.
“I have plans,” I say.
Surprisingly, it’s true. And thank god, because if I didn’t, there’d be nothing stopping me from jumping Peyton’s bones all over again. Well, nothing but my swollen joints. I said it in the beginning. She’s magnetic. I just didn’t realize I was made of iron.
Peyton looks just as surprised, her dark brows raising as I shift on the cushion.
“Oh?” she teases. “Miss trust-issues made friends?”
Despite myself, a half-annoyed laugh slips out. “Fuck you,” I say, but the chuckle in my tone drowns out the sting.
Peyton just shrugs, grinning like an idiot. “When and where?”
“No, not—” I rub my eyes with a frustrated groan. Heat flushes up my neck as I stumble over my words, using every ounce of restraint not to strangle her. As much as I’d like to, getting involved with Peyton would only hold her back. She has goals. Plans.Achievableplans. She’s headed somewhere, andI’m not. Andthis,whatever it is, isn’t worth slowing her down. “You better watch it. You’re skating on thin ice,Cap.”
Her grin only widens, those infuriatingly pretty amber eyes flicking upward in mock thought.
“Really?” she muses, tapping the blade of her skate against the ice. Her head tips. “Feels about right to me.”
God, how can someone be so endearing and so fucking annoying at the same time?
“Don’t forget your cool down stretches,” I order, pushing off the bench.
And I walk away before she can see the smile breaking across my face.
Thirty Two
Peyton
FINAL CHAT FR THIS TIME
ME
First day backkkkk!
LNHL Countdown: 8 weeks
Reminder that we’re meeting in the training room today.
BRADY
DON’T COME
ROSE
Why?
Z
shit.
KIM POSSIBLE
What’s going on?
