Off-Ice Collision: Chapter 17

London lays on her stomach on the front of the boat as we drive across the lake. Her long blonde hair whips around from the wind. The color is a stark contrast to her tanned skin and my eyes travel over every inch of her that is exposed right now.

She’s wearing her bikini again after I fucked her twice on my boat. We could have easily been caught, but that added to the thrill of it. Taking her bare with no barriers between us was fucking everything. It didn’t come up, so I didn’t tell her, but she’s the first girl that I’ve been with since I got injured.

There’s something about London. I tried to resist her at first but I could feel my resolve quickly diminishing. I wasn’t about to let her into every aspect of my life, but this is something I can share with her. I enjoy her company and there’s just an ease around her.

Not to mention the fact that I can’t keep my hands off her. The sexual energy and tension between us is palpable, like I could reach out and grab it with my hand. It’s a connection I can’t explain, but it’s one which I’ve never felt this strongly with someone else before.

I can’t let myself read into it too much. If this becomes anything, it won’t be more than a summer fling. She’s only here until it’s time for her to head back to school. I’m here until I can get my shit together and figure out what comes next in life for me.

But I’m not so sure I’ll ever have that figured out…

I could never give London what she deserves. She deserves to build a future with someone who actually has one. Someone who knows what they’re going to do with their life. I can’t give her anything more than what I’ve already given her. But if she wants to hang around for the next month and a half, I’m not going anywhere.

London slowly sits up and turns around to face me as I decrease the speed on the boat and begin to pull it up to my dock. Her eyes find mine across the space between us and she pins me with her gaze. I force myself to look away from her, looking past her as I dock the boat with ease.

She doesn’t say a word as I kill the engine and watch her grab her bag that she brought along. I half expect her to say something to me, but she doesn’t. Instead, she climbs off the boat and begins to walk up the dock toward her house.

My left leg doesn’t cooperate and I can’t get my feet to move fast enough as I attempt to chase after her. It’s more like an uncoordinated hobble and the boat shifts under my weight. I stumble onto the dock, lifting my leg as I hop three times on the other in an attempt to catch up to her.

“London, wait up,” I call out after her, my voice breathless. At least when I swim, it’s low resistance exercise for my leg. I might be extremely fatigued after the physical activity, but it’s completely different than trying to move quickly on my feet.

She stops and slowly turns around. Her black-framed sunglasses shield her eyes from me and I can’t read the emotion that would be reflected in her eyes. She smiles at me, although it isn’t a genuine smile. It doesn’t lift her cheeks. It’s forced, like a formality.

Maybe she’s regretting what happened between us.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her, my words coming out in a rush as I stop in front of her. My leg feels like it’s on fire but I ignore the pain. Reaching out to her face, I tuck a tangled wave behind her ear. “Why are you running?”

London tilts her head to the side before she pushes her sunglasses over the top of her head. “What do you mean? You just fucked me on your boat and gave me the silent treatment. I was just following your lead.”

My jaw clenches. “I wasn’t giving you the silent treatment,” I argue, shifting as much of my weight onto my good leg as I can. “I can’t read your mind, London. I was afraid that maybe you regretted that happening with me.”

“What?” Her eyebrows tug together. “Why would I regret what happened? You didn’t force me into doing anything that I didn’t want to do.”

“You weren’t talking to me either,” I retort, challenging her with her own accusation of the silent treatment.

I was lost in my thoughts of her and what had happened. I wasn’t trying to give her silence, but she wasn’t giving me her words either. She might put on a smiling face most of the time, but that doesn’t make her any easier to read.

London drops her bag onto the ground and closes the distance between us. She links her arms around the back of my neck and instinctively, my hands find her waist.

“So, you don’t regret anything that happened?” she questions me, tilting her head to the side as her eyes desperately search mine.

I shake my head. “I don’t regret it one bit. If anything, I’m curious to know when I get to be inside you again.”

She twirls her fingers in the ends of my hair that brush against the top of my neck. “That depends…” Her voice trails off for a moment as the corners of her lips lift upward into a sly grin.

Sliding my palms across her bare skin, I move my hands until they’re pressed against her lower back. My fingers play with the waistband of her bikini bottom. “On what?” I question her, my voice low as my face dips down to hers. I don’t miss the sharp intake of her breath.

A fire burns in her eyes and I want to step into the flames. “On how well you play your cards.”

“Are you challenging me, London Hayes?” I murmur as I nip at her bottom lip. “You want me to prove that I’m worthy of fucking that pretty pussy?”

“Yes,” she breathes, her fingers sliding through my tousled hair. Her body is pressed flush against mine and my cock is already hard again.

I press my lips to hers, showing no mercy as I slide my tongue into her mouth. London doesn’t fight against me. Instead, she’s lost in the moment with me, her tongue tangling with mine. It’s slow and torturous, the way our mouths melt together, and I kiss her sweeter than I started.

Pulling away, I leave her breathless as I press my forehead against hers. “Challenge accepted, baby.”

Releasing my hands from around her back, I take a step away from her. London’s eyes are on mine and I don’t miss the way her chest is rising and falling in rapid succession. Her lips part slightly, but words seem to fail her in this moment.

“I want to take you out to dinner.”

London’s eyes widen slightly. “What?”

“I want to take you out… on a proper date. To get food.” The words sound stupid as soon as they leave my lips but I don’t know how else to make it any clearer to her. She has my mind in a jumbled mess right now.

“Okay,” she breathes, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. I watch as the pink tint creeps across her cheeks. I like when she gets shy like this. The innocence of it makes my dick hard. “When?”

I fall silent for a moment, pretending like I need to check my mental schedule. “I’m working at the shop all week. What about Wednesday? Miss Nancy usually comes in a little earlier on Wednesdays.”

“Wednesday,” she smiles at me. Her hazel eyes are almost completely green under the sunlight. “That sounds perfect to me.”

“It’s a date,” I stare back at her, the foreign feeling of a smile creeping onto my lips. She’s like an intravenous drip of dopamine to my body. Being around her is intoxicating and addicting as hell.

I watch her as she turns around and heads over to her house. She takes the stairs one at a time and as she reaches the last step, she looks back over at me, a smile playing on her lips. She looks a little unsteady on her feet and it brings me satisfaction, knowing that I’m the one who’s making it hard for her to walk right.

I’m completely captivated by her.

And I’m afraid of the crash after the high.