Chapter 43
43
RONAN
“Y ou should go slower.”
“I am going slow,” I argue.
“Not slow enough.” Nicky’s fingers curl around the edge of her seat in a death grip. “Are you trying to get us killed?”
I glance over at her to shake my head. “Sheesh, woman!”
Her face goes white. “Eyes on the road, daredevil!”
With a smile, I do as she says. At this rate, we might not make it back home at all.
It’s damned if you do, damned if I don’t out here. It’s not safe to drive any faster because of the thin layer of ice that blankets the highway and literally everything in sight. But with the way the snow is falling now, I’m sort of anxious to get back home before the roads become impassable.
Apparently satisfied with my new slower-than-snail-shit speed, Nicky leans over and turns up the radio a few notches. All the local stations are talking about is the weather.
“We’re expecting six to ten inches when all this is said and done, folks. Don’t take this lightly. Some of you thought this would blow over and miss us to the north, but that won’t be the case this time. Combine the accumulating snow with the layer of ice already out there, and you have a dangerous mix. Stay off the roads tonight. Stay home tomorrow. The driving conditions will be horrendous…”
“No shit,” I mumble, my foot barely tapping the accelerator of my SUV.
The Saints were supposed to play back-to-back home games in Sin Valley this weekend, so Nicky and I were on our way into town for pregame activities. But when we were a little over half way there, I got the call that everything ended up getting canceled. Not only are the roads shit, our opponents’ plane wasn’t even able to take off in this winter storm.
So here we are on the road, now heading back toward my Starlight Falls house.
Obviously this is not the way we intended to spend this late afternoon, inching our way through a blizzard. The only travelers dumb enough to be on this stretch of highway.
We’d briefly entertained the idea of continuing onward and grabbing a hotel in Sin Valley. But that was before the snow really started coming down, so we opted against it. Now I’m hoping we didn’t make a bad choice there.
By the time we pull into my driveway, both our faces are nearly pressed against the front windshield, and even then, we can’t see more than a few feet in front of us. I don’t allow myself to let my guard down until I’ve safely parked the car.
“Well, that was fun.” I shut off the ignition and turn to Nicky with a sigh.
She gives me a wobbly smile, looking relieved herself. “Loads of fun. Thanks for not killing me.”
“Anytime.”
“Come on. Let me walk you over to the guesthouse.”
She unsnaps her seatbelt and grabs her purse without protest. I snatch her overnight bag from the trunk. For once, she lets me walk her down the path without complaint. That’s how terrible this blizzard is.
Making sure she gets there in one piece, I give her a hot kiss goodbye before taking the slippery journey back to my house.
I’m tempted to stay, but I wonder if I’ve been smothering her. Especially with the way I showed up uninvited to her Grammy’s house the other day.
Before I turn away from her, I search her expression for any indication of whether she cares if I stay or go. But her pretty face gives nothing away.
By this point, I’m starting to get a little worried about myself. I fear I’m reaching the point of no return. Practice relationship? Give me a break. What I feel for Nicky? It feels a whole lot like the real thing.
With each minute we spend together, it becomes clear that the only thing I’m practicing is how to get my heart broken. That’s inevitably what’s going to happen in the end. I can see my ugly fate barreling toward me like a runaway train. But I’m already tied to the tracks with no hope of getting away.
The least I can do is brace myself for impact.
So tonight, it’s a lonely, hot shower for me. Which wouldn’t be complete without a soapy, slippery palm and dirty thoughts of my naked neighbor.
I’m mid-stroke, only minutes away from an explosive finish, when I’m plunged into utter darkness.
Fuck .
The power’s out.
And if it’s the weight of the ice on the electricity lines that caused the outage, that means it’s not coming back on anytime soon.
I wipe off the steam and squint out of the bathroom window. From here, I can see that the guesthouse is in total darkness.
Shit. Nicky.
I wonder if she still has candles over there. And will she be able to find the matches in the dark? What about heat? I need to go start a fire.
I quickly jump out of the shower, barely drying off before I throw on some sweats and boots. Hustling around my house, I grab candles, blankets, and some extra sweaters that I can bring over to Nicky.
The guesthouse door is already half-open when I arrive. It’s like she knew I’d be coming over. I like that. Too fucking much.
When I step inside with snowflakes melting on my nose, she smiles at me. “Thanks for coming,” she says graciously.
I snap her a wink. “Always, Peach.”
I cross the living room to start a blaze in the fireplace. I look back over my shoulder, finding her blissfully wrapped up in one of my oversized Saints hoodies. My lips quirk up. She looks so damn good. Even better than she did in my dirty thoughts.
“We’re having roasted marshmallows for dinner?” I ask when I see an open bag of them sitting out on the counter.
“Sounds nutritious, right?” Nicky laughs. Then she explains. “I was actually making some hot chocolate when the power went out. I didn’t get very far.” She grabs the bag and joins me in the living room.
She lights all the candles I hauled over, and I pull the cushions off of the couch, arranging them on the floor near the fireplace. Then we cozy up and roast marshmallows in front of the fire.
She doesn’t hesitate to snuggle up against my side. I love having an excuse to be this close to her.
Even still, my increasingly anxious heart just wants to duck and hide. The way I feel about her is getting intense, like scary intense. And I know she’s not here with me forever. As the hockey season ticks down, we draw closer to the inevitable day when Nicky will walk out of here and have no contractually-binding reason to come back. That scares me.
But maybe I should just focus on this moment.
When I catch Nicky shivering, I pull one of my extra sweaters over top of the hoodie she’s already bundled up in.
“Here, give me your feet,” I command her.
She frowns at me, but complies, shifting so that her feet are up in my lap.
“What are you…?” She fights her tiny smile.
I yank my shirt up just enough to press her iced toes to my stomach. “Holy crap, woman. How are your feet this cold through two pairs of socks?”
“It’s a super power.” Nicky shrugs. “But seriously, though, I appreciate you sharing your warmth.”
The whole scene is straight out of one of those romantic holiday movies. Scented candles. Fire flickering. A sexy woman.
The only difference is that instead of being half-naked on the floor, we’re bundled up like we’re getting ready to go snow sledding.
Since she can no longer reach the marshmallows, I start feeding them to her one by one. Only a few bites in, and we’re a mess. “Whoops,” I say, after getting melted marshmallow on my own nose.
Nicky laughs and leans in, swiping it off with her index finger.
I snatch her sticky finger, plunge it into my mouth, and suck off the sugary marshmallow.
Her eyes widen as our stares collide.
There’s no laughing now, as I grab her wrist and pull her into my lap. The cold is long forgotten as I pull her in for a long, heated kiss.
That kiss leads to touching. Leads to moaning. Leads to wrestling out of pants and underwear on the floor. It’s awkward and it’s cold with lots of giggling and fighting against the layers of sweaters that try to get in the way.
But when I thrust my manhood inside of her, my body braced above hers in the candlelit room, I accept that I just don’t know how to resist her. I can’t resist the way this feels. Even though I know it’s going to hurt like hell in the not too distant future.
Who am I kidding? Nicky is not just for practice. She’s not my placeholder. I’m falling so hard for her.
I’m a simp. I’m whipped. I’m a goner.
I don’t fucking care.
Nicky Westbrook has got me by the balls. And by the string of my heart, too.