Page 40 of Can't Take Moore
The captain’s brows drew together as he echoed, “Pair up?”
“Yup.” Her grin was wickedly confident, giving me a semi at the worst possible time. Luckily, my jeans did a decent job of hiding my condition. “This is a two-person race, and we’re going to skate it together.”
“But you called it a relay,” the other half of the pair facing off against us complained.
Vienna shrugged. “And I expected you to pair me with someone already on the ice, but you opted for Dean. I didn’t complain, and he’s being a good sport about it even though the ice is the last place he wants to be.”
“Fine, it’s not as though she’s gonna beat us anyway,” the captain insisted. “You saw how slow they were.”
“Okay,” his partner agreed before the captain skated to the other side of the rink.
“Will you do the honors?” Vienna held the whistle out to one of the younger players. Taking it, he waited for us to get in position. It was a good thing I was holding Vienna’s hips tightly because when he blew the whistle, she took off like a rocket. I hadn’t been prepared for her to go that much faster than we’d been moving earlier, but I somehow managed to stay on my skates as she dragged me down the ice and back again. Vienna cheered when we crossed the red line a full foot ahead of the team’s captain. “Woohoo! We did it! Way to go, Dean.”
“I want to be partnered with her if we ever do races during practice,” one of the younger players announced, making everyone laugh while a few other players nodded in agreement.
I reached out to steady myself against the wall. “Sorry, buddy. She already has a partner.”
“That I do,” she agreed with a smile.
17
Vienna
When we got back to my house a few hours after we left, I felt like a whole new person. And I had Dean to thank for the drastic improvement in my mood. “That was great. Thanks for dragging me to the rink today.”
“Getting to watch you practice was amazing, even though you returned the favor by dragging me out onto the ice with you.”
His disgruntled expression made me giggle. “C’mon, it wasn’t that bad. You only fell once, and we won that race.”
“We sure did. Even though you did most of the work, all that skating made me hungry. Want to go out and get some lunch?”
I wrinkled my nose and reached up to rub the back of my neck. “I don’t know…I was out there a lot longer than you. I’m all sweaty and gross. If we’re going to go out and get lunch somewhere, I’m definitely going to need to grab a shower first.”
Dean shot me one of those gorgeous, wicked, bone-melting grins of his and wiggled his eyebrows at me. On anyone else, it would have looked silly, but on him it was strangely sexy. Then again, pretty much anything he did seemed to turn me on. “Sounds like a good time to me. Mind if I join you?”
My stomach fluttered, and warmth bloomed in my core at his suggestion. The image of Dean, soaking wet with his dress shirt plastered to his hard body flashed through my mind. I couldn’t help giggling. “What is it with us and showers?”
“I don’t know, but I really enjoyed the way it worked out last time.” He stepped closer, tipping his head so his forehead almost brushed mine, and his hands gravitated to my hips, resting there as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Our bodies fit each other so perfectly, that I almost felt as though I was missing a part of myself when he wasn’t touching me.
“Good point.” I leaned forward, gently brushing my lips against his. I had never been with anyone who made me feel the way Dean did. Tingling head to toe, I twined my fingers with his and led him to my bathroom.
Eager to be out of the sweaty clothes I’d worn while skating with the hockey team, I released Dean’s hand and gripped the hem of my shirt, moving to peel it off. Dean gently gripped my wrists and kissed me.
“Let me help you with that, princess.”
Nodding, I raised my arms to make it easy for him to peel my shirt off. A swell of satisfaction bubbled up in my chest at the intense appreciation in his gaze as he took in my exposed skin, warming me from the inside out. A pleasant flush heated my cheeks as he stepped closer and reached behind my back to unhook my sports bra. It dropped to the floor on top of my discarded shirt, and my nipples puckered at the rush of cool air that washed over them, contrasting the heat that radiated out from my core.
Ignoring the slight sheen of sweat clinging to my skin, Dean dipped his head to kiss, nibble, and suck each nipple in turn. I let my eyes flutter closed, savoring the heat of his mouth on the hard, tingling bud of each nipple in turn. Gasping, I forced my eyes back open as he kissed a trail down my exposed abdomen and hooked his fingers in the waistband of my joggers and hipster-style panties all at once. He kneeled in front of me and peeled them off, discarding them on the pile of my other clothes. Never breaking eye contact with me, he pressed a kiss against my mound, and I forgot to breathe for a moment.
“Even sweaty, even when you feel gross from working so hard on the ice, you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and I can’t get enough of you.”
Dean stood and reached for the buttons on his shirt.
“Let me. I enjoyed it when you undressed me, and I’d like to return the favor.” I reached out, unable to resist the urge to run my hands over his hard chest through the fabric of his shirt for a moment before I started unbuttoning it. With every button I undid, I planted a kiss on the skin that was exposed in its wake, mirroring the trail he’d kissed down my torso. As I worked on undressing him, Dean reached around behind me and tugged the shower door open, turning on the water and adjusting its temperature. He shuddered and moaned when I kissed the skin just above his waistband and unbuckled his belt.
“Do you have any idea how sexy you are?”
“Not really.” I chuckled and popped the button on his fly, then tugged his zipper down, making sure my knuckles grazed against his growing erection in the process. “But I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you say it.”
