Page 23 of Pucking Forbidden

As my surprise starts to fade, all that really matters is that she’s here, staring up at me.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” she asks, her voice softening with a layer of uncertainty.

I clear my throat, realizing I’ve just been gawking at her silently for way too long.

“Shit…yeah,” I nod. “Of course I am! I’m just shocked.”

She giggles. The sound shoots through me, straight to my cock, catching me totally off guard. The space between us starts to feel thicker.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Texting her and thinking about her is one thing, but having her right in front of me…it’s damn impossible to ignore just how gorgeous she is.

“Wilder.”

The voice cuts through the air, and it’s like a bucket of ice water gets dumped on my head. I glance over to see Coach stepping onto the ice, arms crossed, frowning as he looks between Hadley and me. Oh, fuck! Thank God the sheer fear of being caught by him talking to Hadley with an erection has totally gotten rid of that problem.

He glances between us, then smirks. “You look surprised.”

“Didn’t know she was back,” I admit. My throat feels dry, and my voice comes out as a croak.

“Well,” he declares, putting his hands on his hips and nodding, “her father finally came around. Let our girl come home.”

Our girl.

My girl.

Fuuuuck.

Hadley rolls her eyes at her grandpa’s words, but she’s still smiling.

Coach skates closer, clapping a hand against my shoulder. “What are you doing here this early?”

I shrug. “Couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d get a jump on things.”

“Overachiever,” he mutters. “Don’t burn yourself out before the season even starts.”

I nod. “Yes, sir.”

He huffs, then looks back at Hadley. “Good to have you home, kid. Good to see you on the ice already. We’ve got practice in an hour. We can grab lunch after if you want to.”

“That’d be great, Grandpa,” she replies.

Coach gives my shoulder one more pat before pushing off the ice again, leaving us alone.

“So,” I murmur, clearing my throat as I turn back to her. “You gonna kick me out, or…?”

She laughs. “I think we can share. There’s a lot of ice here.”

I grin. “Generous of you.”

She teasingly flips her hair over her shoulder. “I try. Do you mind the music?”

I pause and listen. When I realize she’s got Fall Out Boy playing over the speakers, I grin.

“Nice. You can’t beat their 2005 album. It’s got the real classics.”

She grins. “That album came out the year I was born.”

I nearly choke. “Jesus Christ, let’s just skate before you make me feel any more ancient.”