Page 125 of Mistletoe Mischief

“I’m going to hike my butt across the park and settle up with the redhead,” Ryler grumbled.

“Settle up?” Delilah called after her retreating back.

Ryler turned to face her, walking backward. “I may have bet against him, and now I have to pay the piper.”

“I’ll see you when I get back,” Delilah said, and Ryler waved in response.

When she reached the sidewalk along the main street, Ryler spotted Pike jogging across the street with a wide grin on his face. “What did you think? Pretty awesome, right?”

“It certainly was.” Ryler wrapped her arms around Pike’s neck. “When do you want to collect your winnings?”

“After the hockey game. You’re coming to watch, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Chapter Forty

Istill can’t believe we lost,” Pike grumbled for the millionth time. It was Christmas Eve, and still he kept bringing up the winter games and the horrible hockey game. Luckily, they hadn’t had to honor that stupid bet and give up their snowmobiles.

However, Ryler did have to follow through with putting on the reindeer blow-up and giving Pike a private dance, all because she’d jokingly bet against his team. At least the consolation sex had been worth it.

“I thought you were going to your parents’ tonight?” Ryler said, playing with a strand of his hair. They sat on the couch, snuggling as How the Grinch Stole Christmas played on the television. Kit was in his bedroom, talking to his parents about missing Christmas Eve with them, but he’d be home tomorrow. And Ryler, well, she would be spending the holiday with Neil and Alia, far away from Mistletoe and Pike.

The thought of leaving created a hollow sensation in the pit of her stomach, and she hated that after vowing to say exactly what she was thinking, Ryler was chickening out.

“I am going to my parents’, but I kind of thought you might like to come with me.”

“Visiting parents?” Ryler’s heart raced, emotions warring inside her. “That sounds like something a girlfriend would do, not the woman you’re casually hooking up with.”

Was Pike trying to tell her that he wanted more?

“I was thinking,” he said, running his hand over her thigh, which was curved over his lap, “that maybe when you get done after your next destination you could come back here and visit. Stay with me and Jo.”

Her hopes deflated at the word visit. Pike didn’t want her to come back and build a relationship. He wanted a situationship, and while that had worked for her in the past, it couldn’t with him. “I would go with you tonight, but I have to pack. Kit and I are taking off early to make our flight in Boise,” Ryler said, noting his disappointment. Ryler leaned in and kissed him, wanting to wipe away any discomfort. This was their last night together, and if he needed to leave for his parents’, time was running short.

The kiss deepened naturally, as it always did between them, and before she knew it, Pike got up from the couch and carried her into the bedroom. Her suitcase was open in the corner with half her clothes already laundered and neatly folded inside, but she didn’t want to focus on that. Ryler wanted to be with Pike, to hold him and melt into him one more time.

He closed the door, and they both stripped off their clothes silently, watching each other from a few feet away. His blue eyes were heavy, and she opened her mouth, ready to tell him everything that had been building inside her since their first kiss, but if she told him now and he rejected her love, they wouldn’t have this. Their last time.

Pike reached for her, gloriously naked and stunningly beautiful, and they fell across the bed in a tangle of legs and arms. The usual passionate, hurried caresses and kisses had been replaced by slow, searching touches and butterfly-soft brushings of lips across skin. Tears pricked Ryler’s eyes when Pike leaned over her, his hand between her legs, and he never took his eyes from her face as he caressed her, circling her clit with strokes learned through complete trust. Despite their short amount of time together, Ryler trusted Pike with her body.

If only she could be sure of his heart.

As she crested, rocking against his fingers with a sharp, joyful cry, Pike dipped down and covered her mouth with his. His tongue circled hers in lazy waves before removing his hand and breaking their kiss with a groan.

“I didn’t expect this to be the last time. I-I’m not prepared.”

Ryler knew what he was saying, but nothing was going to stop her from having this moment with him. This memory, which was going to hold her, because who knew if she’d ever love anyone as much as Ryler loved Pike Sutton.

She reached for him, tugging him over her body, and moved her hands up and down the length of his muscular back.

“I understand, and I still want this. I want you. All of you.”

As Pike sank into her, Ryler’s eyes fluttered closed, memorizing his heat, the way her body stretched around his girth. She vowed to remember his mouth on her neck and the sweet sound of her name on his lips as he thrust into her slowly, long strokes that teased her to the point of madness. Ryler’s fingers massaged his shoulders when his motions quickened, his hips pumping against hers, and the pressure built in her core, rising with every stroke until she quaked beneath him, murmuring her love too low for him to hear, smothering her confession against the skin of his shoulder. Pike jerked against her, shouting her name, and she smiled, clenching her eyes shut against the tears escaping.

“Ryler, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“Shh,” she said, opening her eyes and smiling up into his worried gaze. “I’m crying because that was amazing, not because I regret anything.”