by Toni Aleo
Max: That blew you off?
Gus: That’s her. We’re cool now.
Max: lol So you think. She’ll probably kill you by the end of the night.
Looking at Maxy’s words over and over again, I couldn’t shake that he was right. What was I doing? This girl was obviously not into me—well, she was into me enough to have a hot quickie, but once she came out of that orgasm cloud, the unfriendliness was back. Why was I even still here? She didn’t need me. She’d made that plenty clear, yet, I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to make sure she was okay. I wanted to drive her home.
I really wanted her to like me.
Shit.
I tucked my phone into my pocket and closed my eyes as I waited. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long until the curtain opened and Bo was being brought back in.
I stood. “Were you a good girl?”
Bo flicked me off as I reached for her.
Angie patted my bicep. “I could use you around here.” Her tone was very suggestive, and when I looked up, meeting her gaze, it was obvious the hot nurse wanted a piece of me.
But I just laughed her off while I helped Bo get into bed and rest her foot on a pillow. “I get that a lot.”
Angie lingered a little longer than she should have before she left, and then I sat down. “You okay?”
Bo looked over at me. “You know she was hitting on you?”
I nodded. “I do.”
With a deadpan look, she pointed to the curtain. “So shouldn’t you go try to sleep with her or something?”
I shook my head, crossing my legs as I held her gaze. “I’m good where I am.”
Her eyes darkened, and I swear I saw a little joy flicker in those eyes. “I told you, this is nothing.”
“I never said it was.”
With exasperation all over her face, she leaned back against the pillows with a huff. Silence stretched as she pouted, and I knew it was from the pain. She couldn’t have that much animosity toward me after I made her come. That would be rude, and she wasn’t rude. She was just bitter. Someone really must have done a number on her.
And I wanted to know who.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “So, who did you dirty?”
Her face twisted in confusion and annoyance before she faced me. “What?”
“What guy did you dirty? Someone did something, because you hate me for shit I haven’t even done.”
“Yet.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can read you like a book, Bocephus, and let me tell you, I wanted you because that ass of yours is juicy and your hair sets my soul on fire. I think you’re hot, but I also like that you try to hate me but can’t. It’s adorable.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she paused, which meant I was right. “I hate you just fine.”
“Nope, I know I’m right.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re delusional.”
I laughed, kicking my legs up on her bed, careful not to bump her bum ankle. “It’s okay to admit it.”
“Never.”
Her face was all squished up, but I knew the truth. “So we’re friends now, right?”
She laughed. “Not even close.”
“Sure we are. We are learning about each other.”
“No, you’re running your mouth.”
I scoffed, looking down at my hands. I liked her. I liked her fieriness, and I especially like that she wasn’t fawning over me. She might do it in her head, but she wouldn’t allow me to ever know that. That turned me on.
A lot.
“So when can I take you to dinner?”
Chapter Eleven
Bo
What in the absolute hell?
“Are you insane? Have you not heard one word I’ve said this whole time?”
“No, we’re vibing.”
I could only stare at him, dumbfounded. “Vibing?”
“Yes, when you’re not fighting it, we get along.”
Still dumbfounded, I asked, “Fighting it?”
“The passion,” he said simply, moving his hands between us. “It’s so thick, we could cut it with a knife.”
“There is no passion.”
He gave me a look, one that curled his lips while his eyes zoned in on me, dark as night. “Girl, there is so much passion we both almost caught on fire back at the rink. I don’t know why you feel you need to say no, but you don’t. You can say yes. I know you want me.”
His ego was so damn big, I was honestly shocked there was room for the rest of the world. Holding up my hand, I said, “Okay, pause. One, brief lapse of judgment was what happened at the rink. I was horny, I was upset about losing my card, and you were in the right place at the right time. Second—”
Before I could finish, though, he was out of his seat, leaning so close his nose almost touched mine. “Is that what you keep telling yourself, over and over again, with the hopes it pushes down the pure raw passion that is swirling in your gut for me?”
Breathless, I couldn’t move, my gaze held hostage by his.
“’Cause I get it. You don’t want to be tied down to someone like me—hell, you don’t even have to admit you like me. I’m not asking for forever, pumpkin. I’m asking for right now.”
What in the world was he doing to me? It was like I was in a trance as he slid his finger along my jaw.
“I just want to finish what we started back at the rink and then some. I want to lick you from the tip of that nose to the center of your pussy. I want to rake my teeth along your clit and hear you scream my name. I want to fuck you until your knees are weak and you can’t breathe.”
Pushing against his chest with my hands, I took in a deep, composing breath. “Not gonna happen. I don’t like you.”
He scoffed, but I could see the pang of my rejection swirling in his eyes. “You keep saying that, but your body is saying something completely different.”
Stupid body. “My body is saying nothing.”
He scoffed again. “Actually,” he whispered, and then he moved in close once more. “It’s saying fuck me. Fuck me hard, Gus. So hard.”
I pushed him away again and rolled my eyes. “How many times do I gotta say no until it clicks?”
He crossed his arms across his chest. “It won’t. I get what I want.”
“Well, not today, buddy, or tomorrow. Or the next day,” I added for good measure. “I don’t have time for your shenanigans.”
He chuckled at that. “And what shenanigans would that entail?”
Why did I say that? Rolling my eyes, I leaned back in the bed and shrugged. “Who knows? You’d probably fall in love with me. I mean, I am amazing.”
His lips curved. “Now who’s the cocky one?”
I couldn’t help it. I grinned. He wasn’t as bad as I thought, or maybe I was being wooed by the fact that he hadn’t left my side since I got hurt. No one had ever done that for me. It was nice. Plus, he was funny, but none of that mattered. I couldn’t do it. “Gus, really, I’m just not down for that. I have too much going on.”
He didn’t miss a beat. “I said one night. Dinner, movie, sex, sex, and more sex.”
It sounded nice. And man, I hadn’t been out with a guy in forever. But I couldn’t risk it. Not with him. Gus was dangerous. And the problem was, he knew it. “No. I’m good.”
He shook his head. “You’ll give in.”
“No, I won’t.”
“Yeah, you will,” he answered so damn confidently I couldn’t help but admire it. He was sure of himself. Proud too. If only he wasn’t so obnoxiously cocky about it, I may have considered it.
Rolling my eyes, I looked toward the ground, refusing to give him an answer. We had been waiting forever, and I was getting antsy. I was pissed I was missing classes, though Lizzy said she’d bring me the notes.
I really hated how attracted I was to him. He was just so handsome and rugged, and I swore I would never forget the feel of that mouth between my legs. Or the tips of his fingers between my thighs. It was over before it started, and ma
n, I wanted round two and maybe three, but in just those three minutes with him, I was already starting to get lost.
Just like I did with Jesse, and that was a clusterfuck I did not want to relive. Yet, I still found it really sweet that Gus was waiting with me. That he had carried me there. That he cared. It showed another side that wasn’t the cocky asshole I pegged him to be. Gus looked over at me and smiled. Sweet and oh so sexy.
“You can leave,” I told him. “I can have a friend come get me.”
He shook his head. “I’m good,” he answered with ease, and he was about to say more, but the curtain opened and in came a doctor.
“Bo St. James?”
I held up my hand but before either of us could say anything, Gus was laughing. “Bocephus Jane St. James?” He laughed some more. “Are you sure your parents loved you?”
I glared, looking at him through my lashes. “Shut up.” The nice doctor was confused as she looked back to me. “Yes, that’s me.”
“Okay, Ms. St. James, it looks like you have one hell of a sprain. I want you to stay completely off it for a week. No weight. Only use the crutches.”
Oh, fuck me.
Panic filled my chest as she went on. “After a week, I want you to go to your PCP and go from there. Here are some pain meds, and here is the order for your crutches. I’m sure your boyfriend can get them for you before you leave.”
Annoyed, I sneered, “He isn’t my boyfriend.”
The doctor looked back, her eyes full of appreciation. “Well, my advice is, change that,” she said with a wink. Gus was grinning ear to ear. “The nurse will come in here to wrap you up and get you going. It was nice meeting you. Sorry for the wait.”
“Thank you,” I said.
She was gone then, leaving me in the room with Gus, who was still grinning so damn big, I was blinded by his teeth.
“Stop smiling. It’s intolerable.”
“’Cause you want me?”
I shook my head, looking down as I covered my face so I wouldn’t be distracted by him. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
“I am so screwed.”
“What do you mean?”
I hadn’t realized I had said that out loud.
I couldn’t work without both feet. School would be fine, but I had to work. Well, I might be able to exchange the ice barrels at the games, but my private lessons and my ice skating classes? Fuck, I was screwed. They’d replace me without even a second thought! “Shit.”
“What?”
Shaking my head, I blew out a breath. “I can’t work. I’m going to lose my classes and clients at the rink.”
“Ice skating, you say?”
I looked over at him. “Yeah.”
When that sly grin came back and his eyes burned into mine, I was pretty sure I was in trouble. “Well, Ms. Bocephus Jane St. James, or as I like to call you, BJSJ, I am a great ice skater. I did it my whole childhood, I can teach your classes with you.”
I laughed at the absurdity of it. “You don’t want to waste your time on me and my kids. I can’t pay you. I really do need the money.”
“That’s fine. I don’t need your money. I just want to help,” he said simply.
“Why?”
“Because it’s kinda my fault you got that busted ankle.” When he waggled his brows at me, I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t know. Do you even know anything about figure skating?”
He flashed me a grin. “Actually, my mom is a coach back home. That’s how I got into hockey. I started in figure skating, but then I didn’t like how tight the pants were, so she put me in hockey.”
This was all very surprising. I thought maybe he came from a long line of hockey players. “Oh,” I said, and then I made a face. “Your mom worked?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, we work for what we want. She wanted more purses and shoes, so she worked.”
That made me smile. “Oh.” Well that was interesting.
He gave me an exaggerated wink. “Told ya you don’t know me.”
And if I was honest with myself, I wanted to know more. Did I have him all wrong? No, I didn’t. He was too flashy and too obnoxious to not come from loads of money.
With a flash of a grin, he said, “I’ll do a great job.”
I didn’t doubt that. He was obviously a great skater, but how could I take help from the one guy I was supposed to stay away from? I didn’t know anyone else who could fill in. The girls I worked with all had their own clients, and I couldn’t risk my students getting taken from me. I needed the income, and I loved the little buggers. Plus, this could work to my advantage. There would be no goofing off if some hot guy was there to teach them. I knew the girls would eat him up. Shit. Was I saying yes?
Shit.
Ugh.
“There is a catch, though.”
I furrowed my brow. “I should have known.”
He chuckled. “It won’t be that awful.”
“Whatever, Bus. What’s the catch?”
His grin grew, his pearly whites flashing as he went on. “Well, Bocephus, I do this, and you go on a date with me.”
I glared. Not because he used my real name but because he was insane if he thought that would work. “What? Seriously?”
“Yes. At the end of the week, we go out.”
“I don’t want to go out with you.”
“Then you don’t want my help, and let’s be honest, no one else can help you the way I can. You know that’s true.”
I stared at him as I racked my brain for anyone else who could do it. Blinking, I went through everyone I could trust. That list was very short. Actually, there was only Lizzy, and she didn’t figure skate; she only ice skated. I realized in that moment I had no one, and it was a very scary feeling. Especially since I was about to depend on the one person I swore to hate.
I was about to say something I never thought I would say. Something I promised myself I wouldn’t say.
Yes.
Chapter Twelve
Gus
I was pretty sure by the look on Bo’s face that she’d rather take a puck to the mouth than see me walking toward her. I didn’t care though. She looked good—great, even, with her leggings and large sweatshirt that reached almost to the bottom of her thighs. Her hair was in a long braid down her shoulder, and she was makeup free, looking as if she had just rolled out of bed. But those eyes were in slits, and she did not look happy.
“I sort of thought you wouldn’t show up,” she called to me, and then her face twisted in confusion. “What’s that? I thought you said you knew how to skate!”
I placed the balance checker in front of her. “It’s for you. I figured you can come out on the ice with us and just follow carefully.”
Her face relaxed, but she held back the smile. “Oh. I didn’t think of that.”
“Yeah, my mom tore her ACL when I was like nine, and she had to do it this way.”
“Oh,” she said. I was starting to love the way she said that word. Her lips formed a perfect circle for my cock to fit right into. Was I wrong for thinking that?
I didn’t think so either.
Tearing my gaze from her mouth, I looked down at her ankle. “How you feeling?”
I had taken her home the night before. She lived about six blocks from me, in a sublet that she and a friend were sharing. It was a nice location, but she wouldn’t let me take her upstairs. Her friend had come down to help, which upset me. I wanted to help her. I wanted to be there for her, and it was annoying that she wouldn’t let me. I wasn’t sure what her deal was, but I was going to find out.
When I looked up, she shrugged, grimacing a bit. “It’s achy, but I’ll be fine.”
“Did you keep it elevated?”
She shot me a deadpan look. “I know how to take care of myself.”
“Not saying you don’t. I just want to make sure.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “I did.”
“Good.” I wished I’d been there helping her. I’d spent all ni
ght worrying and wishing I had gotten her number so I could check on her. “Hey, you should give me your number.”
Her brows pulled together as her lips pursed. “For what?”
This time it was me with the deadpan look. “In case I’m stuck in traffic or something and I’ll be late.”
“So you won’t text me dick pics?”
I laughed, surprised. “Not today, but maybe next week,” I said with a wink, and she rolled her eyes before handing me her phone.
“Do as you please.”
“Oh man, wrong thing to say to someone like me,” I teased, but she wasn’t listening. She was leaning on the balance checker.
“Cute kid,” I said, holding the phone up. “Your brother, right?”
Something moved in her eyes, but it was gone quickly, and her eyes narrowed as she reached for her phone.
I held it up out of her reach. “I’m not done. What’s his name?”
She seemed uncomfortable as she said it. “Davis.”
“Oh? They didn’t name him Hank? Or Bocephus Jr.?”
She laughed, and it was a real laugh. From her stomach as her eyes closed a bit, but then she stopped abruptly. “I must be high to think that was funny,” she muttered, and now I was laughing as I typed in my number. “No, actually, I wouldn’t let them.”
I nodded. “Well, he’s gonna love you extra hard when he’s older.”
“Probably not,” she muttered, but before I could ask what she meant, she looked up at me, her bright-blue eyes burning into mine. “How are your jumps?”
I shrugged. “Good. I mean, I haven’t practiced them in a while, but I’m sure I still got it.”
She nodded, biting her lip. “We’re working on her Salchow jump. She’s almost got it.”
I scoffed, waving her off. “Oh, I have that easy. Let me get my skates on. When’s she gonna be here, and what’s her name?”
“Tenisha, and she’ll be here in about ten. I asked for you to be early so we can go over a few things.”
My brows rose. “What things? Need my credentials? Wanna call my mom?”
She waved me off. “No, I need you to know that I take my job seriously. There will be no playing around.”
