Rush: The Season (Austin Arrows Book 1)(21)
I hear Kingston’s sharp inhale, but I doubt Spencer did. I hope he didn’t, anyway, because this … whatever stupid idea I had to f*ck with Kingston Rush is a monumental mistake.
The gleam in his eyes promises retribution, and I suddenly wish I could take back the last forty seconds or so.
7
Kingston
I’ve been waiting for this day since the first time I laid eyes on Spencer’s sister and realized Ellie Kaufman is, by far, the hottest woman on the planet. I can still remember that day—all those year ago. She had come with her parents to visit Spencer shortly after he was approached about being drafted. Eighteen and stunningly gorgeous, the girl took my f*cking breath away. My first reaction to her was unlike any woman I’d met before her or since. A truly visceral response that consumed me.
At the time, she blew me off completely—treating me as though I was just another one of her brother’s friends—but my dick didn’t give two f*cks about that, then or now. My brain registered her on the hotness Richter scale as a dime, and ever since, I’ve fantasized about banging her.
Since that day, I’ve hidden my unbridled lust—concealing it as harmless flirting—because I respect her brother too damn much. And because Spencer has, in no uncertain terms, told me to stay the f*ck away from Ellie at all costs, I don’t have much of a choice.
“Bros before hos, man,” Spencer told me once, back when we first started out in the NHL and I inadvertently mentioned how hot his sister was. “The last thing I need is for you to mess around with my sister and f*ck up our friendship. To play it safe, just stay the hell away from her.”
Bros before hos. Now that I think about it, that is quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Who in their right mind prefers his friends over a chick as hot as Ellie?
No one I know.
Which brings me back to the fact that Ellie’s knuckles just did a slow glide down the semi-hard ridge of my dick, causing me to roar to life.
Maybe her hand lightly grazing me, making me harder than diamonds, is only fair. I’ve teased and tormented her for years, secretly wishing she would take the hint, give me a chance, tell me that she doesn’t need her brother telling her whom she can and cannot date. Only she never has, and based on the way she is shooting daggers from her eyes, I suspect she isn’t going to start today.
Still doesn’t mean I don’t have the urge to bend her over the bar, pull those sexy-as-sin jeans down to her ankles, and f*ck her until neither of us can breathe. Fuck. I can practically feel her perfect little ass in my hands.
After another quick glance at Spencer, I realize my friend is otherwise occupied looking at his phone. Thank Christ. The last damn thing I need is for Spencer to be paying attention to this.
Leaning down, keeping an eye on Spencer as I do, I put my mouth against Ellie’s ear. “Little girl, I highly suggest you don’t tempt the beast. It’s not safe.”
I feel Ellie shudder, but I manage to stand up straight when she steps back. I see the exact moment she realizes I’m not making idle threats. She nibbles on her plump bottom lip seconds before she rolls her eyes and—“Oomph. Fuck.”—punches me in the stomach.
I draw in a breath as she spins back around to face her brother, her denim-clad ass brushing against my now throbbing erection.
Okay, so maybe I deserve that, too.
If I was smart, I would stick to bribing her with food, because one thing I’ve learned about Ellie, she can’t resist when I cook. If it weren’t for hockey, I would’ve easily gone the chef route. I got the love of cooking from my grandmother, no doubt. No one knows that, though. It’s a secret I’ll take to the grave.
“Why can’t you get one of his old girlfriends to help?” Ellie asks, her full attention back on Spencer.
It doesn’t go unnoticed that she hasn’t succumbed to my bribe for her favorite dessert.
Then again, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that for the past few months, Ellie has been pretty much ignoring me completely. Ever since I broke up with Cheryl, I’ve become aware that Ellie hasn’t been at all receptive to my harmless flirting.
Okay, and maybe my flirting with Ellie isn’t entirely harmless, but still. It might’ve started out that way, but as time went by, I started craving her for real. Only she doesn’t seem to feel the same, and I’m beginning to think she isn’t going to give me the time of day, even if I put real effort behind my advances.
Doesn’t mean I’m going to stop.
“If you can find a willing woman from his past, I’ll approach her,” Spencer says, chuckling as I make my way back around to my barstool. “I think it’ll be a hell of a lot harder than you might think.”
What Spencer isn’t saying is that there aren’t any women in my life. Mainly because I’m not boyfriend material. The women from my past will attest to that, if—as Spencer so kindly pointed out—they’d even be willing to talk to me at all.
“What about a friend?” Ellie asks, her eyes sliding to mine briefly. “Surely you’ve got a girl friend you haven’t slept with.”
I shake my head.
“Really?” Her lip curls in disgust.
“Only you,” I say with a grin.
She frowns.
Great. And now she thinks I’m a horndog. Not exactly the impression I want to leave her with.