Chapter Twenty-Two
Ryder
Fuck. Every time I thought I’d finally broken through Lindsay’s walls, she ended up fleeing. My head was still spinning from the kiss, and there was also the urge to kill my roommates, and the feelings were so opposite each other all I could do for a couple of seconds was stand perfectly still and blink.
“So, high five, or do you want to high-five my face?” Dane cautiously held up his palm.
“She’s going to say my world crossed into hers and that I didn’t keep my word about crossing the streams, and”—I scrubbed a hand over my face—“Now I fucked it all up.”
I’d given her space for a few days, my plan to focus solely on hockey taking center stage, and when she’d texted, I almost told her I didn’t have time to tutor her. But I couldn’t let her fail her class. Funny enough, multitasking at the gym was supposed to keep my hands and mind busy enough to help combat the constant desire to touch her.
Hudson set his bag off to the side. “Not that I’m an expert on the subject—”
“Of fucking up?” Dane sat on the weight bench. “I think you are actually an expert on that.”
Hudson flipped him off, then turned to me. “She didn’t look upset when we came in is all I’m saying. We can pretend that we believed the math story if it helps.”
I was pretty sure nothing would help, but I thanked him anyway. They asked if I wanted to lift more, but my body was too revved and exhausted, another weird combo, which was apparently the theme with me today. I knew Lindsay and I had chemistry. I knew that kissing her would be amazing. Yet at the same time, I had no idea.
The other thing I was sure of was that there was no way in hell I could go back to not kissing her and pretending to be nothing more than friends.
…
By the time I pulled into my apartment complex, I could hardly keep my eyes propped open. I’d tried to tell myself that my shitty performance at practice was because I’d pushed too hard on my workout this morning. But I always pushed myself that hard, and it’d never made me suck at practice before.
It was because I couldn’t get a certain editor out of my brain, images from her in that fuchsia dress and our make out session in the gym playing on a loop all day.
Her lips, her soft skin and silky hair, the sexy noises she’d made. She’d felt so damn good pressed against me, and the only thing I could think about was finishing what we’d started.
Knowing her, she’d do everything in her power to avoid me and then, once I forced her out of hiding, give me another speech about not crossing the streams.
I parked my car and pinched the bridge of my nose. As soon as I slept and my brain was working again, I’d come up with a strategy.
So far it went something along the lines of saying fuck it and kissing the hell out of her before she could draw the lines again. At least I’d get to kiss her one more time that way, even if it probably wasn’t the best way to get what I wanted.
I dragged myself and my dead limbs toward my building. Just to prove to myself I could’ve given more at practice—and to try to escape the world for a while longer—I’d headed to the gym and done laps in the pool.
My feet slowed when I saw a shadowed figure. Adrenaline surged, my body preparing for a fight, just in case.
But then I noticed the shadowed figure was tiny. Lindsay’s features came into focus as I neared her, and she straightened as I approached. “I know I must look like some kind of stalker sitting here, but I need to talk to you.”
I held up a hand. “I already know what you’re going to say.”
“You do?”
“You’re going to say that we crossed the streams, and I shouldn’t have brought you into even part of that hockey world, even if it was just the gym. The guys don’t…” They said they’d lie, but evidently I couldn’t. “It’s not like they’d say anything.” I locked eyes with her. “And I know I should probably give you some speech about how I’m sorry for pushing things too far, but you know what? I’m not sorry. I—”
Lindsay wrapped her arms around my waist, tipped on to her toes, and pressed her lips to mine. I gripped her hips, pulling her closer as I took control of the kiss. She touched her tongue to mine and I groaned and backed her up until her ass hit the door.
When she broke the kiss, I blinked at her like a lovestruck idiot in headlights.
“You’re not as scary good at reading me as you thought.” She punctuated the statement with a smile.
“I am a bit tired and delirious from this hot make out session I had this morning. Maybe that’s what’s throwing me off.”
“Yeah, I had a similar experience…” She hooked her finger through my belt loop. “I thought about our kiss all day, and I don’t have the energy to fight this anymore. But—”
“Thank God,” I said before she could finish her but. I lifted her into my arms and kissed her again. Luckily the door to our apartment was unlocked, so I pushed us through it and kept my hold on her, deciding I’d use every tool at my disposal to make her forget whatever conditions she’d been about to tack on.
Someone cleared their throat, and I spun, Lindsay still in my arms, one hand planted firmly on her ass. Dane and Megan sat on the couch, cuddled up in front of a movie.
Lindsay ducked her head on my shoulder, but I didn’t let her go—I was done with that.
Megan flashed me a thumbs-up and I bit back a laugh. Good to know she was still on my team.
“Hey,” I said. “Didn’t realize you guys were here. You guys remember Lindsay?”
She lifted her head, her cheeks adorably flushed. “Hey.”
“Don’t worry, bro,” Dane said, but the statement was directed at Lindsay, “I know that you two are just friends.” He tapped the side of his nose. So much for subtlety.
Lindsay glanced from him to me. “Well, negotiations are currently underway to possibly expand into more…”
My heart lurched in my chest, making its vote known. “If you’ll excuse us, I’m going to take her back to the conference room to make a thorough argument before she changes her mind.”
“Have fun,” Megan called after us.
As soon as we were inside my bedroom, I kissed the spot where Lindsay’s jaw met her neck. “Figured I’d start my in-favor-of argument here…” I moved my lips down the column of her neck, then I tugged the sleeve of her shirt down and kissed her shoulder. She wrapped her hands around my forearms, her fingers digging into my skin. “And end about…” I recaptured her mouth, parted her lips with my tongue, and kissed her until she sagged against me.
Her voice came out on a shaky breath. “Very compelling points.”
“Figured I should make the strongest case possible before you started with the buts.”
Lindsay dragged a finger across her slightly swollen lips, and I wanted to do the same. “It was definitely a good speech, and I’ll keep it in mind.” She placed a hand on the center of my chest, and my heart thumped even harder. Hope had never been my go-to—I preferred working to ensure I got what I wanted—but right now, I let hope wash over me. “Okay, so obviously I suck when it comes to you and self-control, and kissing you is definitely something I want to keep on doing. But I just want to be as clear as possible about what this is and put a few boundaries in place. To keep us both safer.”
I gripped her hips, silently conveying I didn’t plan on letting go.
“You realize that we only have a couple months left of school,” she said. “That you’ll be busy with hockey for most of it—I have no doubt the team will make it to the Frozen Four—and that I’ll be busy with the paper?”
I nodded.
“So we have fun when we can, but we also both acknowledge the fact that we’re busy, and this has an expiration date. As long as we both know that’s how it’ll be, then maybe a little stream crossing won’t be as bad as I originally thought…”
“I can assure you it’s going to be very, very good,” I said, lowering my lips to the sensitive spot under her ear for another taste. “And since I’m awake enough now to be scary good at reading you again, I think you’re having the same thoughts.”
She wadded a fistful of my T-shirt in her hand and nodded, her hot exhale of breath hitting my neck.
My hips bumped hers as I drew her tighter to me and kissed and licked my way back up to her lips. I only had her for a little while, during one of the craziest, busiest parts of the year, and I wasn’t sure how much time I’d get with her. But I vowed to make every second count.