Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
BUTTONS AND WILDFIRES
TARYN
Genevieve Bergen is going to be a problem.
I knew that the second the button on my top snapped off during my solo.
The reason why she sabotaged me is that she probably felt threatened by my skills. We were in the same dance group during the semifinal, and she looked furious when Carole called my number before hers. It meant my score was higher.
If that wasn’t bad enough, she now thinks that there is something between me and Mack.
Genevieve was determined to destroy me when she thought we were rivals to make the team. If that was bad, I’m bracing myself for what she could do if she thinks that I’m after her man too.
I’m pretty sure that telling her that Mack and I like each other only as friends isn’t going to change the situation.
Once people like her decide they don’t like you, their mind is made up forever.
Besides, Mack has no intention of getting back with her, and I don’t owe Genevieve any explanation about who I choose to be friends with.
That probably means that I’ll have to watch my back from her and her two minions.
In this instance, however, I’m not completely mad at her. I’ve been feeling Nash’s probing gaze on me since the second Jodie, Talia and I arrived here tonight.
My eyes instinctively land on Colsen. I know I have his and Tucker’s blessing to explore my attraction to Nash, but the small curl of his lips reassures me that my brand new boyfriend isn’t upset about this dare.
“Come on.” Gen claps her hands. “We don’t have all night. Kiss or face your punishment.”
When Nash rises from his seat, I begin to do the same, but Jodie stops me with a hand on my wrist.
She doesn’t need to say what’s on her mind. She’s worried about what Nash could say to the cops if he remembered seeing me at the Gamma party the night of Tim’s murder.
I love my best friend for trying to protect me, but I shrug my shoulders to signify to her that this should be ok. One kiss shouldn’t jog his memory more than seeing me here could have already done.
Jodie rolls her eyes but doesn’t say anything. She knows that running around the staff quarters in my birthday suit could get us kicked out of training camp before we even began if I got caught.
Nash and I face each other in the middle of the room. The tall defenseman towers over me by about a foot.
I’m used to it, even tall girls like Gen and Jodie make me feel shorter than I am at my less than staggering five foot three. But Nash isn’t just tall. His shoulders are so broad, and his t-shirt does nothing to hide the defined muscles of his chest and abs.
His emerald green eyes darken as he looks at me, and his throat works as he swallows.
He must have shaved this morning because there’s just the barest hint of dark stubble on his perfectly chiseled jaw.
I’m dying to know how his lips feel, to learn the taste of him.
We look at each other for what must be just a few seconds, but it feels longer than that.
I’ve done some light PDA with my high school boyfriend, but I’ve never kissed anyone with an audience like this.
“Just some ground rules.” Gen announces. “For your dare to be successfully completed, the kiss has to last for at least sixty seconds. It has to be with tongue.”
Nash rolls his eyes, turning to look at Gen. “Got it. Anything else?”
“Groping isn’t mandatory but strongly encouraged. Do your worst.”
Heat rises to my face when Nash’s piercing green eyes come back on me. “Ready?”
I nod, and he steps closer.
The movement is confident and fluid, like I’ve seen him move on the ice in the promotional videos on our college website.
Our shoes touch, and one of Nash’s big, slightly rough hands comes up to cup one side of my face.
I immediately love the warmth of his skin, but nothing, nothing could have prepared me for the feeling of his mouth on mine.
Nash isn’t tentative or shy; he crushes his lips over mine with hard, almost bruising intensity.
The contrast between the silky softness of his lips and the hard pressure of his kiss is so delicious that I feel that contact all the way between my legs.
My clit throbs suddenly, almost violently, and I gasp.
That gives Nash an opening to deepen the kiss.
His tongue slips into my mouth, brushing against mine.
My body feels hot and I begin kissing him back.
His mouth tastes sweet, like the Coke he must have been drinking, with a hint of something stronger and equally sweet. I would bet it was rum or maybe bourbon.
Nash’s kiss is deep and skilled. He doesn’t use too much tongue; he massages my lips with his, and when I respond in earnest, his teeth come out to nip at my bottom lip.
He immediately sucks it into his mouth to soothe the slight sting he just caused.
I don’t even realize that I’m grabbing the front of his t-shirt until he makes a low, sexy noise and pulls me closer.
The second our chests touch, my body melts against his and I’m grateful for his strong hands wrapped around my waist because I doubt my legs would do much to support me right now.
I don’t know how long we kiss, to be honest, I had even forgotten how this all started. That we aren’t alone.
All I’m focusing on is how much I want to continue to feel his mouth on mine. How I wish that the hands he’s been sliding lower down my back would explore more of me.
The sound of our friends’ laughter eventually breaks the spell, and Nash breaks the kiss after one last, delicious nip of his teeth on my lips.
It takes a few seconds for the room to come back into focus.
“Well done, guys.” Gen giggles. “Color me impressed. You kissed for over two minutes. Great job, Nash. It’s more than obvious that Taryn enjoyed it.”
Her eyes go to my chest, and I realize why.
My nipples are hard, straining against the thin fabric of my dress.
The hockey players begin hollering and laughing, and the girls—my future teammates—are giggling and whispering to each other.
I search for Jodie’s gaze, but my eyes snag on Colsen first.
He’s looking at me, his eyes blazing, his jaw tight, his fists clenched with white-knuckle force.
Suddenly, this is all too much. I want to kiss Nash again. I want Colsen not to be mad at me when he said I could figure out my crush on his teammate.
I want people to stop staring at me, and I want Gen to leave me the fuck alone.
The room begins closing in on me and I need to get out of here. I could go back to my room, but my legs still feel wobbly, my panties sopping wet, and my heart won’t slow down its thunderous pace to the point that I’m afraid I’m going to pass out.
I run out of the living room and into the only bedroom with an open door.
“Hey, wait up. We aren’t done playing.” I’m vaguely aware of Gen’s voice, but I ignore her.
The en-suite bathroom is unlocked and I lock myself in, looking for one second to calm down and catch my breath.
NASH
I don’t know why I followed Taryn into one of the apartment’s bathrooms. My legs carry me out of the living room before my head catches up with the fact that I’m going after her.
The door of the en-suite bathroom slams shut.
“Taryn,” I knock. “I’m coming in.”
She’s at the sink, the water is running, and she has her hands under the stream. “I don’t want to see anyone. Please go.” She bites out.
“I’ll leave you alone in a second.” I lock the door behind me without taking my eyes off her. “Are you ok?”
Our eyes meet in the wide mirror above the sink as I take a few steps into the small en-suite, stopping behind her.
She shakes her head. “No. I’m not ok.”
Fuck. I don’t know why I even care, but I do. I don’t know this woman. My crush on her was based on the fact that she’s gorgeous. And she didn’t throw herself at me like a lot of the women on campus did.
I don’t think most of them were even that interested in me as a person. They were probably after the popularity that came from being seen on the arm of Hemlock Beach’s star hockey player. Until I got benched.
Taryn always looked at me with kind eyes and kept her distance. She always looked lost in her own world. That made me hesitate to approach her at first. Then our class ended and my life became a shit show thanks to a stupid choice.
The thought of Taryn not being ok, however, doesn’t sit well with me. Seeing her again so unexpectedly rekindled my crush on her, and I don’t think the kiss we just shared helped me get her out of my system. If anything, it made things worse.
I close my hands into fists to avoid reaching for her as I stop a couple of steps behind her.
Star Cove is my fresh start. I’m not here to chase cheerleaders. I’m here to play hockey and to make sure my future team doesn’t decide that I’m not a safe bet and passes on me.
So I’m going to go to my classes once the semester starts, play hockey, sleep, rinse and repeat. No crazy parties, no distractions, no drama, no sex. Not even with the puck bunnies.
But the school year hasn’t started yet, and neither has the hockey season. And that kiss is still burning on my lips, my skin is still tingling and my cock is still semi-hard from it.
“Taryn…” I don’t even know what the fuck I’m doing here.
She closes the tap, grabbing the edge of the sink with so much force that her knuckles turn white.
“There’s a target on my back. Gen isn’t going to stop until I’m kicked out of camp.
She’s been glaring at me since I got a higher score than she did during the audition semifinal. And now she thinks I’m after her man.”
“Are you? After her man?”
That was the wrong thing to say.
“No, I’m not!” Taryn snaps, turning around to face me. “Not that it would be any of your business if I were. But Macklin and I are just friends.”
She’s right that it’s none of my business. Even if there were something between her and Mack, it wouldn’t change my situation. I’m not here to get involved with her or with anyone.
“So you aren’t upset because Mack is hooking up with those two girls?”