Chapter 5
Danielle
The makeshift dance floor is packed and I’m surprised to find I’m actually having a great time. Who would have known these Hockey boys would know how to throw a good party?
The boys crowd me and I absolutely love it. Jaxon reaches out and attempts to pull me into him, but I squirm out of his grasp and back up. Another set of arms circle my waist and pull me in tight and I stiffen in his hold. “Relax,” Miller says. “It’s me.” My body instantly folds into his and I continue dancing with his hard body pressed to mine.
He turns me in his arms as we continue dancing and things suddenly become hot. He pushes his knee between my legs and before you know I’m grinding myself against him. He lowers his face to mine and I watch as his gaze dips to my lips. God, I desperately want to feel his lips against mine but I can’t let that happen. “Don’t even think about it, hotshot” I tell him, bringing my finger up and pressing it against his lips, gently pushing his face away.
He nips at my finger and an excited gasp slips out of my mouth, which, of course, he heard. He smirks down at me and I see the hunger in his eyes. Damn, I have to put a stop to this. I turn back around in his arms and feel him pull me even closer into his body. His excitement extremely evident as he moves his hips against my ass, but god, it feels good.
We dance for what feels like forever when he takes me by the hand and pulls me off the dance floor. “Want a drink?” he asks as he heads into the kitchen. My eyes study his firm ass through his dark jeans and the urge to grab it rocks through my body. Miller turns and smirks at me. “We’re you looking at my ass?” he questions.
Crap. Sprung. “No,” I lie.
He pulls me into him once again and catches me around the waist. “You’re a terrible liar,” he says, his eyes sparkling as he watches me.
I smirk up at him. Oh well, I may as well own it. “Yep, ok. I was looking at your ass.”
He laughs as he lets me go and continues dragging me into the kitchen. “Good, what did you think?”
“It’s a nice ass,” I smile, he looks back at me over his shoulder and smirks once again, doing things to me that I’m really not ready for.
He grabs a beer out of the fridge. “You want one?” he asks.
“Sure,” I tell him. He grabs another and twists the cap, handing me the bottle. He flips the cap onto the counter and leads us outside. I glance around at the state of the house seeing nothing but littered bottles, knocked over cups and tables and realize I would hate to be the guy responsible for cleaning this place up.
“Whose place is this?” I ask as we step out into the breeze.
He glances across at me with a guilty expression. “Mine,” he says.
“Really?” I ask taking another look around. “It’s going to suck being you in the morning,” I tell him.
He laughs and grabs my hand, leading me around the side of the pool just as some drunken idiot bumps into me, sending me flying right into the freezing cold water. I swim up to the surface in shock as shivers begin to take over my body. I resurface to find the drunken idiot knocked out on the ground and a concerned Miller looking down on me.
“Fuck, babe. You ok?” he asks.
I nod as my teeth begin to chatter and make my way over to the side. Miller bends down and easily scoops me up out of the water. He pulls his shirt off, putting his impressive torso on display for me once again, but right now I just don’t care. A violent shiver takes over me as Miller uses his shirt to mop up as much of the freezing water from my body.
“Come on,” he says, wrapping a hand around me. “Let’s get you dried up.”
He leads me back inside and takes me upstairs to his bedroom and begins rummaging through his wardrobe. He pulls out a pair of gym shorts and a shirt. “These are going to be huge on you,” he says handing them over.
“Do you mind if I have a shower. I don’t think I’ll stop shivering until I do,” I explain.
“Sure,” he says then points across the room. “Just through that door.”
“Thanks,” I murmur, taking myself across the room and into the bathroom. I close the door behind me and peel off my black dress. God, what possessed me to wear that? Oh, that’s right. Sophie did.
I reach into his shower and turn on the water and am surprised when I don’t have to wait too long for the water to go hot. I hop in straight away, letting the warm water soothe my cold body. I take a deep breath and smell him all around me. He is getting too deep inside my head.
I rinse my hair and attempt to get all the chlorine out of it when I give up and grab his shampoo, next his body wash. I lather up and am suddenly hit with a million dirty thoughts, all to do with Miller’s hands roaming all over my body as he washes me. Crap.
I climb out of the shower and wrap his towel around me while I figure out what the hell I’m going to do with the whole clothes situation. I grab my underwear and realize they are way too cold and wet to put back on. Damn, looks like I’m going commando. I slip on his gym pants and am thrilled to find it has a drawstring. I pull it as tight as it will go, which is still a little big and tie it off. Now for the shirt. I pull it over my head and find myself swimming in it. I bunch it up and knot it at my waist, then roll up the sleeves a few times. Yep. Pretty cute, but you can definitely tell I’ve got no bra on.
I look at myself in the mirror. Hmm, not bad. I fix up my makeup which has smudged under my eyes and go in search of a hair dryer. Which, of course, he does not have.
I brush my fingers through my hair and throw it up into a bun and collect my wet things from the ground.
I come out of his bathroom to find him still in his bedroom, sitting on the edge of his bed with his intense eyes on me. “You didn’t have to wait,” I say.
“I wanted to,” he tells me as he gets up and makes his way over to me. His eyes run greedily up and down my body. “You look good,” he says with hooded eyes.
I make my way to the door before this goes somewhere I don’t need it to go. “Thanks for the shower. I feel much better.”
“Anytime,” he says following right behind me.
I glance over my shoulder to give him a smile when I find his eyes locked securely on my ass. “You looking at my ass?” I joke.
“Fuck yeah,” he grunts, then looks up to find my eyes. “Are you going commando?”
I can’t help but laugh as his dark eyes dance with mirth. I ignore his question, knowing it must be driving him crazy and hold up my wet clothes. “Do you have a bag I could throw these in till I get home?”
“Yeah,” he says, stepping closer and placing his hand on my lower back as he leads me down the stairs. My skin burns from his touch and I wish that things could be different. That maybe I could be ready for someone like him. That maybe he wasn’t such a playboy and that maybe he isn’t going to break my heart.
He takes me back into the kitchen and pulls a plastic bag out from under the sink. “Here you go,” he says, opening up the bag so I can dump my wet clothes in. “Do you want another drink?” he asks with a hopeful smile.
“No, thanks,” I say, taking the bag from him. “I think I’ll find Sophie and get home, I’m not really dressed for a party,” I explain.
“Ok, but you’re not going to find Sophie anytime soon,” he tells me.
“What do you mean?”
He smirks. “I saw her sneak upstairs with Tank not long ago. She is most likely giving him the ride of his life right about now.”
“God, I can’t trust that girl to keep her legs closed,” I laugh as I make my way to the door.
“Hey, where are you going?” he asks stepping out the door with me.
“I’m calling a cab. ”
“You can stay here,” he suggests.
“Nice try, but no thanks,” I laugh as I pull out my phone and begin searching for the number.
He pinches my phone from my fingers. “Let me walk you home.”
“I don’t know,” I say watching him, looking for any clue that this is just another trick to get in my pants.
He holds up both hands in innocence. “I swear, I’ll be the perfect gentleman,” he says.
I narrow my eyes at him in suspicion. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Ok,” I tell him.
We start down the path and I notice him looking down at my phone. “What are you doing?” I ask.
“Putting my number in your phone so you can’t pretend you lost it,” he says. “And I’m sending myself a message so I’ve got your number too, you know, just in case you accidentally delete your contact list.”
I laugh as he passes my phone back to me. “I swear you’ve got to be the most confident guy I know,” I tell him.
He looks down at me. “Is that a good thing?”
I study him for a moment. “Yeah, I think it is,” I tell him and watch as the corners of his mouth raise into a small yet satisfied smile.
“Tell me about yourself,” he says, placing his fingers on my elbow and slowly sliding his hand down, sending goosebumps all over my skin. He laces his fingers through mine and continues walking as if he hasn’t just made a move on me.
“There’s really not much to know,” I say, skipping right over the hand holding thing because let’s face it, it feels too damn good.
“Bullshit, I’ve known you less than a week and you’re already the most interesting chick I’ve met.”
“No really, I’m an only child. I grew up in a super small town that I’m sure you’ve never heard of, I came here, fell in love with the wrong guy and here I am. The story of my life.”
“Tell me more about the guy, what happened to him?”
I cringe away from his question and go quiet, suddenly not sure what to say.
“Sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to pry. It’s none of my business.”
“No, it’s not that,” I explain. “It’s still just a bit fresh you know, I don’t really like talking about it.”
“Ahh… Just answer me one question,” he says. I give him a smile and a small nod, encouraging him to continue. “Is this guy the reason you’re not giving me a chance?”
I study him for a moment, a million different cheeky comments come to mind, but I settle for the truth. “Honestly. Yes and no,” I start. “I’m just not ready for anything, not so soon after what my ex put me through and no offense, but you have the biggest reputation for being a player and I’m the kind of girl who falls hard and fast. I can’t let myself do that because you’ll probably break my heart and I’m not sure my heart can take another beating like that.”
He nods as he takes it all in and I know he is considering every last word. “There’s something about you Dani,” he says. “I don’t know what it is. But I need to figure it out.”
I glance over at him to find him studying me. Wow. Shit just got real.
“Can we put the spotlight back on you now?” I ask feeling a little shy.
“Alright,” he laughs. “What do you want to know?”
“Um… Why hockey?”
“Geez, go straight for the hard ones,” he comments.
“Sorry,” I cringe.
He squeezes my hand and tugs me closer to him. “It’s ok. I haven’t told anyone this for a long time,” he says, then takes a breath. “My Dad died when I was 7 and I went through this phase of hating the world and everyone in it. I was angry and didn’t know how to deal with it. Dad was a huge hockey fan, so Mum put me in lessons as a way of being closer to him and I guess, a way to use up all my energy. I pretty much fell in love with it, I’d stay at the rink for hours practicing, come home and do it all again the next day.”
“Wow,” I say, a little unsure of how to respond. “That’s kind of amazing and tragic at the same time. I guess hockey was your dad’s last gift to you.”
He is thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve never thought of it that way,” he says. “I like it.”
“Do you miss him?” I ask.
“Yeah, I mean, I was only seven, so I only have a handful of memories and a few photos, but I wish he was around.” I give him a sad smile, not knowing how he does it, how anybody does it. I couldn’t imagine losing a parent, I haven’t seen mum and dad since Christmas and I’m already going crazy.
“I bet,” I say as we head down the small path leading to my front door. “This is me,” I tell him, indicating to my house.
He grabs me and pushes me up against the wall and I gasp in shock. “What happened to being a gentleman?” I ask him.
“Even a gentleman hopes for a goodnight kiss,” he says, slowly dropping his face to mine, giving me the chance to pull away.
I know I shouldn’t but the invitation is quite literally staring me in the face. I reach up and press my lips to his. He moves against me instantly, kissing me back with passion and lust, enough to drive a woman wild, he slips his tongue into my mouth and I moan against him. God, this is good. My hand slides up his hard chest and over his broad shoulders to tangle in his hair as my other slips around his waist holding him tight.
His own hands begin exploring my body and somehow land on my ass. He lifts me and my legs automatically lock around his waist as he holds me against the wall. I pull back gasping for breath and his lips instantly find the soft skin of my neck. “Fuck,” I moan.
I know deep down I need to stop this before it gets too far but it feels too good. He slams his lips back against mine and we continue our assault on each other. No, no, no. I’ve got to stop.
I pull back from him and rest my forehead against his. “Stop, we can’t,” I tell him.
“Stopping would be considered criminal,” he informs me as he tries to pull me in again.
“No,” I say more firmly. “You’re going to start something that you can’t finish.”
“Oh baby, you’ve got me wrong, I can definitely finish this and in fact, I’ll probably finish it a few times,” he winks.
I smirk at him. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“I know,” he says, allowing me to untangle my legs. He gently places me back on the ground but keeps me right up against the wall.
“I’m a relationship kind of girl, I can’t do one-night stands. It’s just not me,” I tell him.
“What if I want more than just one night?” he asks.
I reach up and gently kiss the side of his mouth. “Then I’d say you better be damn sure before you come and promise me something like that.”
He studies my face searching for something in my eyes, then nods. “Ok,” he says, taking a step back and giving me room to think.
“Thanks for walking me home,” I tell him. “And for the clothes,” I add, tugging on my shirt.
“Am I ever going to get those back?” he asks smugly.
“Miller, you should know you never offer up clothes to a woman and expect her to give them back,” I smirk, innocently.
He shakes his head in exasperation then steps forward pushing me up against the wall again. “I bet you're going to sleep in it, imagining it’s me curled around you instead,” he says with hooded eyes.
I don’t respond because that is exactly what I was planning on doing and he knows it. He takes my silence as a big fat whopping ‘yes’ and smirks at me with the sexiest smile I have ever seen, a smile that I’d love to see again, maybe looking up at me from between my legs. Shit.
I put my hand on his chest and gently push him away. “Good night, Miller,” I say softly.
“Good night, Dani,” he answers in the same hushed tone. I reach up and give him one last kiss on the cheek before slipping through my door and practically running to my room to flop down on my bed. I let out a sigh, which could probably double as more of a moan.
Once reality has finally come back to me, I slip off his gym shorts and find a pair of undies. I send a quick text off to Sophie letting her know I’m ok and slide in under my covers. His shirt wraps around me and just as he had expected, I fall asleep imagining that it is him holding me.
That night, I had sweet, sweet dreams.