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“Shit, he’s seen you. He’s definitely seen you,” Selena muttered suddenly.
I barely glanced at her before I felt a looming presence at my side. I looked up. Silence fell around us. It felt like the entire rink was waiting to see what was going to happen between Asher and his new girlfriend. Asher loomed over me.
“Nice jersey, Ice Queen.” Asher’s tone was hard, tightly controlled. He was pissed off.
Well, I’d expected as much.
I raised my chin. “Thanks, it’s my boyfriend’s.”
Selena snorted with laughter beside me. Asher’s eyes held mine as he lowered himself to a crouch next to my seat. I was sitting at the end of the aisle. There was no one to act as a buffer between us.
“Do you really think I’m going to let you win that easily, baby?” His voice was low, just for our ears. He didn’t want a scene before the game any more than I wanted him to rip his jersey off me and throw me out of the rink.
“You’re being unreasonable. We can help each other,” I murmured, keeping my smile in place.
“I’m not going to help you,” he replied and leaned in, brushing his lips against my cheek.
His whisper sent shivers over my entire body.
“I’m going to ruin you, and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself, DeLaurie.”
Applause detonated around us, fans cheering for a new and exciting romance for one of the campus Ice Gods.
Asher turned and gave a small salute to the crowd, heading back to the coach’s bench.
“Well, that didn’t go as badly as it could have. Maybe he’s secretly into you,” Selena mused.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and watched the players getting ready to start. The buzzer sounded, and the game exploded.
“I’m going to ruin you.” I shuddered. What the hell had I just started? I had no idea, but one thing I did know. It was too late to go back.
The Hellions won, a stunning seven to three. At the end of the game, the girls around us swarmed me with questions about Asher. I’d had the whole game to rethink my strategy, and I had to talk to him. Maybe I’d gone about this all wrong. I should just explain to him why I needed this. That I was scared of Trent and the life my father imagined for me, already barreling toward me at top speed.
But being vulnerable like that had never come easy. When I thought about lying my heart bare, I was once again that seven-year-old, my hand in a box of cereal, hidden in the pantry, listening to the person I loved tell the world how stupid I was. Trusting. Naïve. Delusional.
After the game, I got a message from an unknown number.
Wait for me after the game. We need to talk. A
Maybe he’d decided to help me after all? I waited around, even sending Selena away. The rink emptied slowly. Asher appeared just as the door slammed shut behind the last of the crowd. Coach had gone, and all the players were changing, presumably. It was quiet. His footsteps rang out as he walked toward me. I tried to make out his mood. It was impossible.
I wet my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. “You wanted to talk?” I managed to get out.
He strode up to me and didn’t stop when he reached my seat. He bowled right into me, his arms going under my legs and hoisting me over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“Hey! What are you doing?” I demanded with as much dignity as I could, considering my head was dangling down his back.
A harsh slap to my ass took my next protest from my mouth.
“Shh, brat. Don’t make this worse on yourself,” he instructed firmly. He carried me onto the ice, walking sure-footedly toward one of the goals.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hissed, my face feeling like an overripe tomato and full of blood.
“I could ask you the same, but I don’t have to. You’re asking to be put in your place, like we talked about…you want someone to spank the brat out of you. You could have just asked, Winter. No need to be so coy.”
“Asher,” I started and bit off a yelp when he suddenly put me down. I fought for balance when my shoes hit the ice. Loafers weren’t exactly the best footwear for walking on an ice rink.
My hands were yanked above my head, and Asher held them tightly in one hand while his other went to his pocket.
