Juicy Rebound (IceCats Book 1)

by Toni Aleo

  “Where are we?”

  He tsks at me. “Shelli would know, and she’d know the square footage. Probably the opening date and the owner’s birthday, too.”

  I laugh. “Probably. So I guess this is your arena?”

  “Yup.”

  “And we’re here…?”

  “To make you love hockey again,” he says as he parks right at the front.

  “Make me love hockey?”

  He doesn’t answer me. He just shuts the truck off and then rolls the windows up. After he gets out, I’m about to open my door, but he’s there opening it for me. He gazes up at me before holding his hand out. I take it, and he helps me down as he says, “Yes, because I want to look out in the crowd and see you enjoying the game. But you have to cheer for me.”

  I roll my eyes once my feet hit the ground. “But what if I want to cheer for the other team?”

  “Sorry, you can only cheer for me,” he says with a wink before kissing the side of my mouth. He wraps his arm around my neck, and while I’d rather not go to a hockey rink, I’m glad I am going with him.

  Once inside, he takes me downstairs to show me the locker rooms and players’ room. I grew up in places like these. We were always at the rink with my uncle Shea, which was why Ryan wanted to be a professional player. He didn’t make it, but he’s still a part of the NHL as an awesome trainer. The reason Shelli knows so much is because she cared to know all this. She thrived on it because it connected her with her dad, my uncle. In a family of five kids, she wanted to stand out. She wanted to be my uncle’s favorite, and some would say she succeeded.

  As with my uncle, Ryan, and every other hockey player I know, the excitement of being here is apparent on Chandler’s face. He is basically shaking with eagerness. He talks about everything like it’s the best thing in the world, and I love his enthusiasm. This is his second home, his first love, and I don’t have to be a fan to know that. It’s all over his face, in his demeanor as he shows me around. I didn’t think I’d enjoy being here, but I do. I enjoy seeing him so happy.

  As he reaches for two pairs of skates, two pairs of gloves, and sticks, he looks at me. “You know how to skate?”

  “Can I lie and say I don’t so you’ll hold me out there the whole time?”

  He shrugs. “I was gonna do that anyway.”

  “Awesome.” I take the smaller pair of skates from him and sit down to put them on. “I was wondering why you were looking in my shoes.”

  He gives me a sneaky grin. “Had to make sure to get the right size.”

  While I lace up my skates, a grin is sitting on my lips. The coolness from the rink is rushing into the little tunnel, and I shiver a bit.

  “You cold?”

  “Yeah, I should have grabbed a hoodie.”

  He reaches behind him and hands me an IceCats number twenty-three hoodie.

  I raise a brow. “Really?”

  He tries to hold back his grin. “For when you come to my games.”

  I roll my eyes, even though his actions please me immensely. Once we’re laced up, we hit the ice. We meet at center ice, and he drops the puck.

  “Now, I’m going to win, but it’s okay. For every goal I score, I’ll kiss you.”

  I snort. “You make it seem like a treat for me,” I accuse, and he grins. “And just to inform you, I was taught how to play by Shea Adler. So yeah, we’ll see who wins.”

  The challenge is in his eyes, and I know mine mirror his. Like Ryan and I did when we were kids, Chandler and I tap our sticks to the ice four times then tap each other’s sticks before we fight for the puck. I win it back and skate away as I hold the puck at the end of my stick. The surprised look on his face excites me.

  “Told you.”

  He just laughs as I dig in, going around him, but he’s right there. He’s gentle, but he’s way more skilled than I am, and soon he comes out with the puck. He’s also fast as hell, which is totally unfair.

  “I don’t do cardio!” I yell at him as he scores for the third time.

  He comes toward me, the puck on the edge of his stick as he balances it like it’s nothing. It turns me on watching how talented he is, which is surprising. Instead of loathing this sport like I have for the last couple years, I find myself having fun.

  But I think that’s due to Chandler.

  When he reaches me, he kisses me on the lips. “Up your cardio game, and maybe you, too, can score.”

  I glare, and he just grins as we fight for the puck once more. I’ve been skating since I was a toddler, so this is second nature to me. I dig in, trying to get around him, but he’s right there. I turn, pressing my ass into his groin, which distracts him for a second before I shoot hard toward the net. When it goes in, I throw my hands up. What I didn’t expect was for my stick to come up and catch Chandler right in the nose. I cry out as he holds his nose, groaning while blood spills out.

  “Ack!” I exclaim as I drop my stick, trying to help him. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!”

  We get him to the bench, and I rush to the spot where I know they keep towels for incidents like this. I replace his hands with the towel, stepping between his legs. I hold the towel there, my heart pounding as panic eats me whole. I’m shaking as I hold him. He doesn’t seem mad, but what if he is?

  “I’m fine, Amelia. Calm down.”

  My eyes widen. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Baby, it’s fine. It happens.”

  “I didn’t mean to.”

  “I know,” he says, tipping his head back as he slides his hands up the backs of my thighs to my ass. “It was an accident.”

  I swallow hard as his eyes burn into mine. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Are you having fun?”

  My eyes widen more, and I swear my heart is going to come out of my chest. “I was until this.”

  He shakes his head. “This is nothing,” he says, removing the towel so I can see his nose has already stopped bleeding. I was hoping it would be just a bloody nose, but unfortunately, he has a cut too.

  “Oh no, I cut you.”

  He waves me off. “Makes me look like a badass.”

  I can hardly breathe. All I can think about is the time I was throwing shoes behind me, trying to find the pair I was looking for. I accidentally hit Drew in the groin. I don’t like to remember what happened next, but it’s hard not to when I see blood dripping from Chandler’s face.

  “Want to know how to make it up to me?” he asks playfully, but I can’t look at him. “Come to a game. I, hopefully, won’t get hurt.”

  There is a lump in my throat, and all I can do is nod. I know my fear is irrational, but I can’t shake it. His hand comes under my chin, pulling it up, and his eyes fill with worry as he meets my gaze. I know my eyes are swimming in welling tears, but I won’t let them fall. Not for Drew. He doesn’t deserve them.

  Chandler wraps his arms around the back of my neck, pulling me in close. “Really, baby, it’s okay.”

  I bite my lip. “I didn’t mean to.”

  “I know,” he says then wraps his arms around me. I cling to him like he’s a life preserver, needing his hug more than ever. I dig my nose into his chest as he kisses the top of my head. “It’s all right. Don’t get yourself worked up over it.”

  I squeeze my eyes shut so hard they hurt, and as he holds me, I chant. It’s something I shouldn’t be chanting, but I find myself doing so anyway.

  He’s not Drew. He’s not Drew. He’s not Drew.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chandler

  “It sucks you’re gonna be gone for, like, ever.”

  “It’s only ten days.”

  “Forever.”

  I squeeze Amelia’s hand before bringing it to my lips and kissing her wrist. Against it, I say, “Yeah, but the invitation to have Thanksgiving with my family is still open.”

  She leans her head on the headrest and shrugs. “I don’t know.”

  “Think about it,” I say, kissing her wrist once more before I turn onto a back road
. We went to dinner on the north side of town at a little spot I like called Jenny Lee’s. It’s a great sushi place, and we both enjoyed it. Between the food and the beautiful company, it’s shaping up to be a great night.

  It’s crazy how our worlds have entangled. When I’m home, we’re together. When she’s at the coffee shop, I go visit. I’ve drunk more coffee in the last three weeks than I have in my whole life. She wonders why I keep her up all night making love to her. I’m not only high on caffeine but on her. I need her. She’s everything I ever could have dreamed of, and man, we’re having a blast. I really want her to come to Florida for Thanksgiving. My mom wants to meet her, but I also just want to be with Amelia. The thought of her being home alone seriously kills me. But my mom would murder me if I didn’t stay in Florida with them for Thanksgiving. I sort of hope Amelia goes home so I know she won’t be alone.

  “Have you talked to your mom lately?”

  “Yeah, we spoke yesterday. She really wants me to come home, but she understands if I don’t want to yet. She’s being very patient with me.”

  Well, crap. “That’s good.”

  “Yeah, and surprising.”

  “Hey, she’s trying.”

  “Yeah,” she says sweetly, and I feel her staring at me.

  “When’s Shelli coming back?”

  “First week of December. Even though she’s still not speaking to me.”

  I squish my brows together. “Still?”

  “Yeah, that girl can hold a grudge like no other. She’s still pissed I left her at the party with only a text.”

  I roll my eyes. “From what I heard, she was just fine.”

  I feel her looking at me. “What does that mean?”

  Shit. She doesn’t know? “Um. Don’t know.”

  “Chandler!”

  I bite my lip. “I think you need to ask her.”

  “What?”

  “What she did.”

  “What!” She reaches for her phone from my center console and then violently texts someone I assume is Shelli. “She said nothing happened.”

  “Then maybe Merry is lying.”

  She gasps loudly before typing once more. “Oh my God! She said, ‘Oh yeah, I may have slept with him.’ Seriously?”

  I snort. “She’s funny.”

  “She’s an asshole! She just said, maybe if I had found her and told her I was leaving, she would have told me. Jesus!”

  “She’s an adult,” I remind her.

  “Well, duh, but she shouldn’t be sleeping with random guys.”

  I shrug. “She’s a big girl and Merry said he’s in love with her, so that’s probably a good thing. She has a male suitor.”

  She gives me a dry look. “She doesn’t need one, not when she is completely obsessed with Aiden.”

  “Brooks?”

  “Yeah, she used to have this journal, and it said ‘Shelli and Aiden. Shelli Brooks.’ It was so cute. My aunt used to have to hide it from my uncle ’cause he thinks she’s an innocent little princess. Little does he know she’s sleeping with random guys dressed as creepy gym teachers.”

  I laugh loudly. “You’re silly.”

  “She is impossible! Now she’s saying there is nothing to talk about and that I need to focus on my own sex life rather than hers.”

  I smile. “I happen to enjoy your sex life.”

  She rolls her eyes before throwing her phone back into the console.

  With a grin, I ask, “So you guys will still come to my game?”

  When I glance over at her, she flashes me a grin. “I said I would. I might leave Shelli, though.”

  I don’t care what Amelia does as long as she’s there. “Great. You’ll have a blast.”

  “I have been watching games.”

  “That’s my girl,” I say, kissing her wrist once more. A sweet little grin sits on her lips as her eyes sparkle such a spectacular blue. The insanely needy part of me wants to believe she is happy because of me, but I know a lot of it has to do with the life choices she is making. She is trying so hard to be happy. Fixing things with her mom. She talks with Ryan and Sofia daily. She’s being herself and enjoying life. Plus, we have lots of sex. That can do wonders for a person—I know it does for me. But it’s killing me that she still won’t go to that gym and get a job. I feel like she’s almost there, and I just have to be patient.

  When the acoustic version of James Arthur’s “Say You Won’t Let Go” starts, she squeals, turning it up. “I love this song.”

  “It’s a good song.”

  “It’s the best. Reminds me of my parents. My mom would cry when she heard it because it reminded her of my dad. She said she wished she had been able to dance with him to it.”

  I glance over at her, and she has this unbelievable look on her face that knocks the air out of me. It sucks knowing that Mrs. Justice didn’t get to dance with her husband to this song. That cancer took him before she was given that joy. This need bubbles inside me, and I want only one thing. Without really thinking about it, I pull the truck over.

  Amelia looks at me, confused, before I throw open the door and come around the truck. I open her door as she asks, “What are you doing?”

  I reach over her, turning the music all the way up before I help her out of the truck. “I want to dance with you.”

  I lace our fingers together and pull her in front of the truck. The headlights shine on us as I take her in my arms, and she comes willingly. I wrap my arms around her, pressing my lips into her hair as we sway to the music. The music envelops us as we rock back and forth, almost in a circle. Her hands slide up my back, clasping behind me as she holds me. I kiss the top of her head and then thread my fingers through the back of her hair as she tips her head back, looking up at me. Her eyes are so soft, so wanton, and I don’t think I’ve ever had this intense an ache in my chest.

  Only Amelia does it to me.

  “This is incredibly romantic,” she says. Her presence leaves me breathless.

  “I don’t ever want to regret not doing something with you,” I admit, my eyes burning into hers. “I don’t want to look back on that moment when I was riding with you and realize I had the perfect opportunity to dance with you but didn’t take it.”

  She leans her head into my chin, and I kiss her forehead. I squeeze her in my arms and realize that I don’t want to be anywhere else. She lifts her head to look at me, and I’m not sure of her expression. There is happiness, yet a little sadness too. It confuses me, but then she whispers, “I love when you hold me like this.”

  I nuzzle her nose with mine. “Well, that’s really good since I love holding you.”

  Our mouths meet at that exact second. As we kiss, the song ending and another one starting, I know I don’t want to be just some memory for her. No, I want to be her everything. Someone she can’t leave or get over. Someone she wants all the time because I want her. She fills an empty space I have been ignoring for so long.

  I just hope I’m doing the same for her.

  When her hands slide up under my shirt, I grip the back of hers as our kisses get more demanding. She moves her tongue along mine, licking my bottom lip and nipping with her teeth, driving me absolutely crazy. I arch into her, lifting her off the ground, and immediately, she wraps her legs around my waist. I stay hard around her—it’s a given—but right now, I can’t see straight, my cock is throbbing so hard for her. She moves against me, awakening me even more than I thought she could. I know if I don’t take her in my truck, I’ll strip her down and do her right here on the side of the road.

  Still kissing her, I carry her to my truck and kick the front door shut. I open the back and, unfortunately, have to break the kiss so I don’t bang our heads on the door. Her eyes are hooded as I set her beside me before undoing my pants. “Take off those pants.”

  She does it without question. My cock springs up as I reach for her, pulling off her shirt. She isn’t wearing a bra, and I swear she’s trying to kill me.

  “Do you not like bras?
”

  She gives me a sneaky grin. “They get in the way.”

  “Fuck me dumb.”

  She snickers as she climbs onto my lap. “Okay.”

  I pull off my shirt as she lowers that sweet, wet pussy onto my cock. We both groan in appreciation of the connection. I fit inside her in a way I’ve never fit in a girl before. Often, it can be awkward, and I have to figure out how to please someone. With Amelia, it’s not that way. She fits me like a glove, and the simplest of touches gets her going. Hell, she looks at me, and I’m ready to go.

  I grip her thick ass in my hands as she rakes her teeth along my neck and shoulder. She trails kisses up my neck, to the back of my ear, as she slowly rides my cock. My head falls back as she licks up my neck, her pussy squeezing me in the most fantastic fucking way. I capture her lips, searching the inside of her mouth with my tongue as I arch up into her, my cock sliding in to the hilt. She holds on to my shoulders as she bounces on my cock, her breasts so damn jiggly and sexy, they make it real hard not to nip at them.

  Unable to handle it, I press my hand into her back so that her chest presses against my mouth. I lick the curve of her breast, nipping at the spot between her perfect breasts before sucking her nipple into my mouth. She cries out, my name falling from her lips in the most satisfying way. Her nails dig into my shoulders as I suck on her nipples one at a time, running my tongue around her taut buds. She trembles against my mouth as she squeezes me. When a guttural yell leaves her sweet lips, her body jerks, making me go deeper inside her. I bite into her breast as I groan loudly, exploding inside her.

  I pull deep breaths of air into my lungs as I hold her tight. She wraps her arms around my head, kissing the top of it as I throb inside her. Her heart is pounding, and her body vibrates with each beat. I lick my lips, her sternum, and then her neck before our mouths meet. She draws the kisses out of me, her fingers raking through my hair as I gather her even closer into my arms. Our hearts pound together, almost in unison, and I have no idea how I got this lucky.

  Lucky enough to find the girl of my dreams.

  Soon our breathing slows, and she trails kisses from my mouth, down my jaw, over to my ear. Her cheek is hot against mine, but I welcome it. Hell, I crave it. I turn my face, kissing her cheek, and I feel her smile.