Page 24 of Hot As Ice

Her words send a thrill through me. To wear your boyfriend’s jersey, letting everyone know that you’re his and he’s yours – it’s enthralling. An image of me in Hunter’s jersey immediately pops into my brain and I suppress a shiver. Hot.

“Maybe one day we will be,” I say, throwing all thoughts of staying away from Hunter out of my mind.

“I think you mean maybe one day you will be.” She gives me a look. “I, on the other hand, am far less likely.”

“You never know.”

“I won’t hold my breath.” She pulls a baby blue sweater out of my closet. “This is cute. You should wear this. With some tight jeans.”

I smile. “Are you trying to make sure I look good?”

“Yes, duh. I need at least one of us to snag herself a hockey god. Put it on, I wanna see how it looks.”

I do as I’m told, pulling the sweater on over my t-shirt. “What are you gonna wear?”

“If it wasn’t so cold inside the hockey rink, I’d wear something ridiculous like a tube top, but I think I’ll wear this off-shoulder white sweater that I have.”

“How cold is it in the rink?”

“You’ve never been to a hockey game before? It’s freezing in there.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Arranging my hair over my sweater, I turn to look at myself in the mirror. I look cute. “Can the players see us from the ice?”

Becca smirks. “Gee, I wonder why you asked that.”

I stick my tongue out at her. “Shut up.”

“Someone wants to look good for Hunter,” she teases in a sing-song voice.

“What about you? Do you like any of the players?”

“I’ve had a thing for Jamie West since the moment I saw him.”

“Isn’t that one of Hunter’s friends?”

Becca sits down on my bed and crosses her legs. “Yup. One of the hockey gods. He’s crazy talented. I only really got into hockey after watching him once. You’ll see how well he plays tonight.”

I’m not so excited about the game. But I’m beyond excited to see Hunter again. He’s all I can think about lately. And as much as it embarrasses me to admit, I love how he makes me feel when he touches me, and the way my blood fizzes in my veins when he talks dirty to me. On Monday, when he kissed me hard and pulled my hair, demanding I submit to him, my knees went completely weak and my heart was ready to pound out of my chest.

It’s gotta be dangerous to have such a reaction. And, worse, to actually enjoy it.

“I’m gonna put on some makeup, and then I’ll be ready,” I tell Becca.

She hops off my bed. “Cool. I’ll do the same. See you in a bit.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF GREENWOOD arena is cold, and very, very crowded.

Butterflies swarm my belly as I tighten my jacket around me. The moment Hunter skates out on the ice, I’m gonna be a mess. Becca leads me to our seats in the student section. Her jacket is draped over her shoulders, and she looks so pretty with her dark brown hair in soft, face-framing layers around her face. Her brown eyes sparkle. The entire arena is buzzing with energy, and it’s contagious. I don’t know the first thing about hockey, but I’m suddenly very invested in this game.

“When will the players show up?” I ask Becca.

“Any minute now,” she says, bouncing in her seat.

A few minutes later, a roar goes up as the Ravens players shoot onto the ice. Their colors are black and purple, and they look like an army. My heart is in my throat and I’m holding my breath, my eyes immediately finding Hunter and unwilling to let go. Becca clutches my sleeve. “There’s Jamie,” she points out, squealing. “I love him in his pads.”

The Greenwood colors are orange and white. Their side roars just as loudly when they hit the ice, while our side boos. There’s a blur of motion as the game starts, and it never seems to relent. Since I have no idea what’s going on, I just cheer when everyone else cheers.

The game is tied at intermission, 1-1.