Chapter 21
Tanner was already smirking when the puck dropped, the kind of cocky little curve of his mouth that always made me want to knock his teeth out… or drag him into a dark corner and climb him like a tree. I hated that he had that effect on me.
Tonight, though?
Tonight it made my blood thrum.
Goldie stood at center ice, bundled in her pink puffy coat with that sexy little cardigan on underneath it, cheeks flushed, eyes glued to us like she was watching the world’s hottest showdown. Her attention always lit something inside me, it made me want to show off.
To win.
To dominate.
Focus, Dalton.
The puck hit the ice, and Tanner lunged. I cut around him, sharp and fast, our shoulders brushing. Even through our gear, it felt like a physical caress of his skin on mine, full of electricity that shot to my core, sudden and addictive.
I stole the puck cleanly and skated backward just to taunt him. His eyes darkened with that ‘oh, you want to play’ look that meant trouble.
“You really think you can take me?” He muttered when he got close enough. Not close enough to get the puck, though.
“I already am,” I shot back, passing around him and stuffing him into the boards as we rounded the net.
We were ignoring every other player on the rec league team, which was in poor taste, sure. But tonight, the ice could have been completely empty besides the two of us. No one else mattered.
Skating as if we were the only two around, we fought nonstop, using every trick we had in our books against each other. At one point, I skated so hard I felt like my lungs were on fire, and he did a circle around me, using his long legs to overtake the possession.
I may or may not have used my stick to trip him for it. That was the perk of weeknight rec league, after all. There was no such thing as a penalty box, and if he bitched about getting done up by a chick, he’d never hear the end of it.
It was dirty, duh. But that was why I had so much fun doing it.
Tanner Brooks wasn’t the kind of guy I was going to beat head-on. I had to outsmart him.
Or, better yet, cheat.
And besides, there was something oddly gratifying about how he continued to get up off the ice, brush himself off, and skate even harder after me each time. He was the big bad dog, chasing me down like his—prey.
Like his favorite snack, his hunger was clear in his eyes each time we came nose to nose at the face-off.
And damn if that kind of game didn’t make me hotter.
He slammed into me—not hard, but with enough force to jolt my balance and send a pulse of heat spiraling low in my belly.
I recovered quickly, fighting for the puck, our sticks crashing, our bodies tangling.
He pinned me against the boards for a second, breath hot on my neck as he used his body weight and height against me.
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.”