Destiny on Ice (Boys of Winter #1)(41)

“First off,” I state, “Aubrey is not my friend.”

Yes, she is, you *, a little voice in my head reprimands.

I’m clearly having regrets over kissing her. Not that I didn’t like it—I loved it—but what we did is just plain stupid.

“I meant, like, the ‘with benefits’ variety,” Benny clarifies.

He would know, as he keeps many friends with benefits on speed dial. I do too, but for some weird reason I haven’t had the urge to call any of them lately.

Worried what this all could mean, I hasten to add, “I told you she’s my life coach, dude. There’s nothing going on between us.”

He shoots me an are-you-sure-about-that look, but asks nothing more. I’m relieved since I have no idea what the hell is going on with me and her. What was I thinking? Kissing her was so not a good idea.

It sure was amazing, though.

Okay, yeah, it was. But I know better, I do. For her sake, and mine—hell, I don’t want to lose her—I pledge right there and then that it won’t happen again.

Benny and I talk some more by the door, then we go into my living room. Once we’re settled in, me on the sofa and him on a chair, he informs me that he plans to hang out with me a lot. “You’re the only player not partying at all,” he says. Oh, the irony. “That makes you, my friend, an integral part of my temptation-avoidance plan.”

Too bad I fail at staying on course when it comes to Aubrey. Though this transgression tonight was probably due to all the beer I consumed earlier with Nolan. I feel pretty sober now, however, so Benny doesn’t need to know I partied a little tonight. He just said he needed me, so I’ll be there to help him with his no-drinking, no-drugs thing. I was never one for illegal substances anyway, so we’re solid there. As for drinking, tonight was an anomaly. I won’t be having a drop anytime soon. Not after this debacle with Aubrey.

Benny and I are in the midst of shooting the breeze about the upcoming season when Aubrey reappears. I notice immediately that though she’s ditched the cute hockey-themed pj bottoms, she still has on the thin tank top. It looks like she’s paired it with some tight jeans, making her look hotter than ever.

Did she do this to torture me?

Maybe, ’cause I can’t help but feel a surge of possessiveness when Benny casts an appreciative once-over down her lithe form. I then practically growl at him when he mutters under his breath, “Damn, Oliver. You sure you don’t want to rethink that ‘there’s nothing going on between us’ stance?”

“Shut up, Perry,” I snap.

Aubrey sits down about a foot away from me on the sofa, and although she and I share a few meaningful glances, we act as if nothing happened in her room. Still, it’s tense at first.

Eventually, however, the atmosphere relaxes.

It’s amazing how well Aubrey gets along with Benny. It’s like they’ve known each other forever. Nolan may have had an issue with her—only because she was trying to derail our drink-fest—but my other linemate clearly thinks she’s cool. He gets into a huge discussion with her about hockey. But it’s more like a lesson, which is fine with me. I want Aubrey to understand the game I love and play. Problem with me explaining it to her—apart from her distracting me with how attracted I am to her—is that so much of the game is inherent to me. It’s hard for me to break it down to basics for someone who has virtually no knowledge of the sport.

But Benny thrives on that crap. I guess that’s why the team’s always sending him out to schools to speak.

“No, a player can’t just skate into the other team’s offensive zone and wait for one of his guys to pass him the puck,” he tells her when she wants to know why everyone waits for the guy who has the puck to cross over the blue line and into the opponent’s zone first.

I let out a laugh. “Yeah, we’d be called for being ‘offside’ in a heartbeat. Although I wish we could just skate on over to the opponent’s net and wait for the player with the puck to pass it to us from the neutral zone.”

“Imagine the resulting scorefest.” Benny laughs.

I nod wistfully. “We’d have, like, twelve-goal games all the time.”

“Probably more like twenty-goalers,” Benny replies.

I feel Aubrey’s gaze on me, so I turn to her and ask, “Do rules like those make more sense to you now?”

“Yes.” She nods. “They’re starting to.”

Those eyes, those beautiful sea-green depths, remain focused on me, like she has another question. “What else is on your mind?” I inquire.

She smiles, and for a minute it’s like we’re back upstairs. I don’t care about my new rule to leave her be. I want to kick Benny out and crawl over to her so I can take her in my arms and pick up where we left off.

But wait, no, we can’t.

I think she senses all the back-and-forth confusion going on in my head, as she quickly looks away.

Benny clears his throat. “Hey, maybe I should get going.”

“No!” Aubrey and I cry out at the exact same time.

He looks at us strangely. “Okaaay.”

Shit, this is going to be a problem. I need to steer clear of Aubrey unless someone is around.

’Cause the minute I’m left alone with her…