We wave bye as they file away from us, and I lean into Cody. “It’s driving you crazy, isn’t it?”
“She’s adorable, but it’s so sticky,” he complains.
“Here.” I reach across Cody to the concession stand and grab one of the wet nap packages, opening and unfolding it. Takinghis chin between my fingers, I maneuver his face so I can gently wipe away all traces of drying ice cream. “There.”
With my heart beating in my stomach, I press my lips to his freshly cleaned cheek. My lungs heave, filling with the simple joy of touching him.
I pull away; he melts into a smile. “You’re in so much trouble,” he says.
“Why?”
“Bringing your siblings to work?”
“I brought them to family skate night. I just also happened to be working,” I say.
His smile grows. I can’t be in that much trouble.
He grips the lapels of my shirt, pulling me to him, returning my cheek kiss with a kiss of his own, planting his lips against my jaw. My body rushes with currents. My cock wakes up, ready for action, and my hips jerk involuntarily. My skin fuckingburnsunder those lips. Stunned doesn’t begin to describe how my face must look.
And there are people around now, filing off the ice. One of the pretty women who’s offered me her number before is nearby. Was he marking his territory? Fuck that’s cute. He can mark me anytime he wants.
I definitely want to mark him.
“We have one shift left before Thanksgiving weekend,” he says. “I’ll tell you my answer then.”
“I think my chances are good,” I say. Tonight erased any worries I had.
He smacks me. “Don’t get cocky. My answer’s still up in the air, anything could sway it one way or the other.”
“I’m a Meyer. We come by cockiness naturally.” He’s totally gonna say yes. I lean in, pushing my luck, letting my lips brush over his forehead. He closes his eyes and sinks into the kiss. Helets me pull him into my arms. I want to kiss his lips again so badly, but I’ll wait until he’s officially mine.
Yeah, come this time Friday, Cody’s totally gonna be mine.
Chapter
Five
Cody
Ishould have skated onto the ice because I was worried about his siblings, but Ari was right. They were capable skaters, definitely more capable than me. And Ari had them set up in view of his skate booth, so it was easy to keep an eye on them. A family skate is structured so that families with various aged children, can skate all over the place or set up in one spot on the ice. Much different than the teen skate in which they barrel around the ice for sixty minutes at the speed of light, playing their own game of Frogger.
But I didn’t brave the sheet of slippery death for the kids.
I’ve never been drawn to ice skating, but I was that night. Never have I wanted to skate more. I wanted to be part of them. I wanted to be in Ari’s sphere. He’s not just a guy who plays hockey with the local beer league. It’s a family tradition. Threads of his DNA.
It’s Thursday, which means beer league hockey night. Ari’s here. He stopped by before he went to the dressing room, trying to get my answer a day early.
“C’mon, Codes. You’re killing me. What’s one more day?” he’d said.
“Hmm, impatient,” I’d said. “Another strike against you.”
“Strikes? You makin’ a list?”
“Yes,” I said, though the real answer was sort of. I can’t deny having been through all the pros and cons, but my only real cons have nothing to do with him, and everything to do with my own inadequacies. But I have to—at the very least—try to move past them. Ari’s showed me the road to sunshine, shouldn’t I take a small detour with him?
He frowns. “I didn’t make a list about you.”
“I—” My words caught in my throat. I wasn’t actively trying to hurt his feelings, but I think I might have. I didn’t know what to say after that, and I guess he didn’t either because he grunted a “see you later” and left with his giant hockey bag for the changerooms.
