God, he smelled good.
Wrong.
He was supposed to be off-limits. And yet…
Goldie gasped down the boards, leaning over them with fascination. I swear, that sound alone nearly made my knees buckle.
I shoved off, breaking away just enough to breathe, but Tanner was on me again almost instantly. He came up behind me, pressing his entire body against my back as we fought for the puck along the boards. He was bigger, stronger, and he used every inch of it. His hip settled between my ass and?—
Oh fuck.
My breath hitched, and I instantly imagined what it would feel like to have his weight against me, pressing me into the wall, when we weren’t in full hockey gear.
His weight.
His heat.
My body sparked under the pressure. I tried to twist out; to save my last shred of dignity, but he hooked an arm around my waist for leverage. The movement bent me over the top of the board, hands braced, chest pressed to the rim, with my breath coming out in short bursts.
And then.
Then Tanner thrust.
Not full. Not obscene. Just enough to make my brain short-circuit as he made it look like he was playing for the puck the whole time.
My eyes flew wide. Did he—? No, I must have imagined it. Tanner was too good, too respectful, too?—
He did it again. Or maybe I pushed back. I couldn’t tell. My body was too hot, too alive, too aware of every inch of him pressed to me. Goldie called my name, her voice soft and needy, and that nearly undid me.
I knocked Tanner’s stick loose, using pure instinct and momentum, and broke free, skating around the net on shaking legs. I fired the puck in and scored just as the buzzer signaled the end of the first period.
Somehow, we had spent the entire first period fighting each other for the puck.
But it didn’t matter.
Period One Winner: me.
Holy hell.
I tried to steady my breathing as I skated back toward Goldie. She was practically glowing, excitement buzzing off her in waves. She reached up and brushed her fingers over my cheek, lingering just a second longer than I expected, and something in me melted.
Something in me relaxed.
Tanner skated up beside us, panting lightly, sweat clinging to his hair, his eyes darker than I’d ever seen them. Goldie bit her lip as I tore my gaze away from him to give her my attention, she was the only one who deserved it.
“So, Rhea wins.” She said with a grin, looking pointedly at Tanner. “Stakes for the second period…”
Her voice vibrated with anticipation as Tanner and I both turned toward her like two wolves waiting to be fed. She swallowed hard, then her smile curled into something sweet and wicked.
“Winner gets to pick the location for my date.”
Goldie’s voicewas still echoing in my ears when the second period started. The winner got to pick where she went on the date tomorrow night. But conveniently, she didn’t mention who she was going out with.
My guess was that the third-period winner was going to get that honor.
Which meant I needed to win both the second and the third period to make sure I got what I wanted.
A date.