Chapter 13 #3
“And I get to be closer to the ice because I’ll be assisting with the on-ice sponsored events. I can practically smell the arena now.”
She wets her lips, leaning in even closer, her hand inching up my thigh. Too far.
“What are you doing?” I ask her.
“Talking to you,” she says innocently.
“No, what are you doing touching me? I have a girlfriend.”
“Oh, I was just being friendly,” she says, pulling her hand away just as Ollie walks up to us. And from the look in her eyes, I can tell she’s not happy . . . again.
“Sarah, how nice to see you,” Ollie says as she bends down to give Sarah a hug. Awkwardly, Sarah returns it.
“Uh . . . Olivia, great to see you.”
“It’s Ollie,” I correct with a venomous tone.
“It’s okay,” Ollie says while slipping onto my lap.
She grips my chin and says, “Sorry for keeping you waiting, baby.” She brings her lips a whisper away from mine, and I feel my breath catch right before she closes the distance, melting her mouth to mine.
My arm slides around her waist, and I allow myself to get lost in her touch for a second before she pulls away.
She turns her attention back to Sarah. “Your dress is beautiful. Where did you get it?”
“Nordstrom,” Sarah says, looking pissed.
“I love shopping there. They always carry classic lines.”
“They do.” Sarah glances around. “Well, I should get back to the event, make sure everyone has everything they need.” She stands and places her hand on my shoulder.
“Can’t wait to see you out there, Silas.
Have a good night.” And then she takes off.
I bring my glass of Sprite to my lips to wash the delicious taste of Ollie from them. If I don’t, I’m going to want more.
“Once again, flirting with the ex,” she whispers into my ear.
“I was not fucking flirting,” I say through clenched teeth as she runs her fingers over the back of my neck, fucking with my head because it feels so damn good.
“Her hand was on your thigh.”
“And I told her to take it off because I had a girlfriend.” I squeeze her waist tighter.
“You might not think it, but I can see it in your eyes that you still think about her.”
Getting really irritated with this line of questioning, I ask, “Why do I matter to you? Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? Over you?” She laughs. “You and I both know I could do better.”
Now that just fucking pisses me off.
I dig my fingers into her side and say, “I’m more man than you could fucking handle.”
Her breath becomes erratic as her eyes connect with mine. She’s about to open her mouth when I hear Posey say, “There you are. Hey, Ollie, good to see you.”
Ollie plasters a smile on her face and waves politely at Posey. “Hey. I’m so sorry, but you’re going to have to remind me of your name. For the life of me, I can’t keep you all straight.”
My most easygoing friend laughs it off. “I’m Levi Posey. The most attractive out of the group. That’ll help you remember.”
“Oh, I could not agree more. Easily the most attractive.”
Posey laughs. “You’re dating a smart one, Tates.”
Yeah, I am, and she’s putting up one hell of a match.
* * *
For the tenth time in five minutes, I grind my teeth together and hold my breath as Ollie’s leg rubs against my crotch. I know she’s doing it on purpose. There’s no other explanation, and at this point, I simply deal with it because if I try to get up, I’ll give everyone a goddamn show.
I’ve also just sat here while Posey and Ollie have hit it off completely, making me even more irritated.
Apparently, they both had some magical time in a place called Canoodle in Southern California.
They vacationed there separately when they were younger, but when they found out they both had been, they haven’t stopped talking about it.
“Did you see the renovated pictures of the Canoodle Cove Cabins?” Ollie asks as her hand sifts through the hair at the base of my neck, making me that much harder. Her nails are just long enough to drive me fucking crazy.
“I haven’t. They redid them?”
“Yes, I read a whole article about it. I was writing a piece about must-see small towns, and Canoodle was on there, with the cabins being the number one place to stay. They’re beautiful.”
“I need to check it out,” Posey says just as her leg rubs against my erection once again.
Unable to take it, I lean into her ear and whisper, “Knock it the fuck off.”
She just smiles.
“What was your top place to visit?” Posey asks.
“Port Snow, Maine. Followed up by Bright Harbor. They’re neighboring towns. Especially during the holidays, it feels like you’re walking through a Lovemark movie. I love it there. You need to put it on your bucket list and stop by The Lobster Landing for some fudge.”
“Fuck, I love fudge,” Posey says. He then slaps me on the leg. “Dude, we should go there this summer before we head up to Banff.”
“You realize they’re on completely opposite ends of North America.”
“Can’t afford the plane ticket? Jesus, man.”
Ollie chuckles and then presses her lips to my cheek and down my jaw. “He can be such a grouch, can’t he?”
“Should have seen him last summer. He was insufferable.”
“Fuck off,” I say just as Ryot Bisley, a co-founder of The Jock Report, comes up to us.
“Hey, boys, it’s been a while.” He shakes our hands and turns to Ollie. “I’m Ryot.”
“Hello, Ryot. I’m Ollie, Silas’s girlfriend.”
Ryot smirks. “Maybe I can convince you to convince your boyfriend to join The Jock Report.”
“JP was just reminding me,” I say. “I promise, I’ll join.”
“Good, because we have fans asking about you. And you don’t have to do much. Interact as much or as little as you want.”
“It’s pretty simple,” Posey says. “I actually like reading the different posts from athletes, and those are the only posts you see, which is fucking awesome. You don’t see random commentary from others. It’s just straight from the athlete’s mouth.”
Ollie pauses her seduction and says, “That’s such a cool concept. Do you feel like the athletes can connect with their fans on a different level than, let’s say . . . Instagram?”
Ryot nods. “The great thing about The Jock Report is that we’re not using it as an advertising platform. The Jock Report is for the voices of our athletes.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how do you turn a profit?”
“Every athlete and team who have a profile have a shop on the platform. We earn a percentage of those shops as well as from sponsors who sponsor our top ten plays of the week and things like that. And since the feed isn’t drowned out by every interest out there, we can charge a higher price because their product will be shown. ”
“Fascinating,” Ollie says. “You could really take that business model and apply it to the top markets.”
“You could. It’s something the Cane brothers are actually looking into.”
“What don’t they do?” Posey asks.
“I don’t know how they’re not exhausted, but hey, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just need to talk to Posey real quick about his shop on The Jock Report. Mind if I steal him away?”
“Not at all,” I say, my body cooling down from the brief pause from Ollie’s interest in The Jock Report. It’s the perfect time to stand up.
“I need another drink,” Posey says. “Come with me.”
They take off, and I lift Ollie off my leg and stand.
“Aw, are we leaving so soon? I didn’t get to get you off.”
“Not fucking funny,” I say, extremely irritated.
“I’m surprised you can stand from how hard you were. And I wasn’t even stroking you. Has it really been that long for you?”
I grip her by the waist and pull her into my chest. Talking into her ear, I say, “Just you fucking wait.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Yes,” I say as I slip my hand into hers and pull her toward the exit.
We make our way through the crowd, trying to get away with an Irish goodbye, but unfortunately, several people stop me.
And every time we stop, Ollie ends up pressing her breasts into my arm, or rubbing me in a way that she knows will turn me on, or even standing on her toes to kiss me.
It’s become so obnoxious that by the time we get into my car and I start pulling away, I can feel my pulse in my ears.
“Fun night,” she says in a smarmy voice that makes me want to give her a taste of her own medicine.
She won’t want to mess with me again.