managed to stay out of trouble. Pretty sure I was on Principal Mann’s speed dial while you were in high school.”
This time my laughter caught Savannah’s attention, and Mom promptly changed the subject.
It was late afternoon before we headed back to Raleigh, and dusk as we approached the city limits. Every mile we’d driven felt like a countdown, bringing us closer to our demise.
“Is London still pissed?” I asked, seeing Savannah check a text message.
“She is. She and Caz got everything moved out while we were in Richmond, so at least I know she didn’t kill him.”
“I still can’t believe that Caz Foster is her brother.” The guy was one of the fastest skaters in the NHL, with an even faster temper to match it. Pretty sure he’d racked up half his team’s penalty minutes last season from dropping gloves. “I thought Bangor was trying to snap him up. His rookie contract was up at the end of last season, right?”
She nodded. “I guess the Reapers made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
“They offered his little sister a job.” If I’d had a move to secure Shell’s future, I would have, too.
“Exactly. He’s always been overprotective of London, especially since—" She shook her head. “And you can’t blame her for keeping her family private. Hell, I’ve known you for years, been sleeping with you for weeks, and I didn’t know you even had a sister.” She poked me in the arm. “She’s pretty great. Greg and your mom, too. Hunter is scrumptious.”
I grinned. “They’re the best. And let’s be honest, when I have you alone, I’m not exactly focused on filling you in on the family tree,” I teased. “I keep my family life private, just like London. They deserve that.”
“I get that.” She started to speak, then stopped herself.
“What?” I glanced at her.
“I’m just really glad you took me. You know practically everything there is to know about mine, so it was nice to get to meet yours.” She looked away. “We’re almost back.”
“Yeah. We are.” My stomach sank. We were at the end of the two weeks we’d extended our agreement to. Suddenly, this very simple proposition wasn’t so simple…or maybe it never had been, and I’d been too desperate to touch her to realize it.
She sighed, long and hard.
Could I do it? Let her go? Pretend the last two weeks had never happened? Could I see her at the team events, pass by her at the club and not pull her into my arms? Could I see her with someone else?
My hands tightened on the wheel. God help the next man who tried to touch her. I’d break every bone in his goddamned body.
But every day we spent together was another day closer to Coach finding out what we’d done—what I’d done.
I flipped my turn signal on and switched lanes, pulling into a rest stop.
“What are we doing?” Savannah asked as I parked far from the other cars.
I turned in my seat, took her face in my hands, and sealed my mouth over hers. Heat licked through my veins with just that touch, but the ache in my heart eased as she melted into the kiss.
My tongue took her mouth with deep, rhythmic strokes that had her whimpering in seconds, and then I slowed it down. If I wasn’t careful, I’d pull her into my lap—spectators be damned.
“Hendrix?” she asked against my mouth between kisses.
“I can’t get enough of you.” The truth was freeing, even as it damned us both. “Every kiss is better, every time I slide inside you, it’s hotter. The idea of leaving you at your apartment and never having this again—never having you, is…” I shook my head.
“I know,” she whispered. “It’s the same for me. I wake up and wonder when I’ll see you—or on the good days, you’re already there. I always want you. I’m always ready for you. You cock an eyebrow at me and I’m wet.”
“You walk in the room, and I’m fucking hard,” I admitted, my cock straining against the seam of my shorts in agreement. It was way more than that, but I concentrated on what I could put into words.
“What are we going to do?” She rested her forehead against mine.
“Are you ready to end it?” The words nearly caught in my throat.
She shook her head.
“Me either.” We weren’t a long-term couple. Logically, we shouldn’t even have been a short-term one. We weren’t compatible anywhere but the bedroom. We bickered. We fought. She wasn’t the kind