Shut Out (Bayard Hockey #1)(32)

I wave a hand. “Bathroom’s over there.”

He walks naked across the room and disappears briefly, completely unself-conscious. While he’s gone, I reach for my panties and pull them on, and I have my bra in my hands when he returns. He bends to scoop up his jeans, muscles in his thighs flexing, steps into boxers and then the jeans, then sits beside me on the couch, bare-chested. “You are so sexy.”

I feel a blush heat my cheeks and he grins and touches his fingers to my face.

“And sweet,” he adds. “You’re blushing.”

He helps me put my bra on. I sit forward and he sweeps my hair forward over my shoulder so he can fasten it. Then he brushes a kiss over my bare shoulder.

My heart is doing weird things, skipping beats and fluttering.

With impressive strength he lifts me onto his lap. I set one hand on his shoulder as he continues to play with my hair, which I love. “I guess I should go so we can both get some sleep,” he says with a lack of enthusiasm that pleases me and strangely reassures me. “You have to get up early.”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“I really need to get some reading done.” I assume he’s going to another party.

“Me too. Spending every evening in your training kicked my homework ass. So…we can do that together.”

“Really?”

His hand slides down through my hair, making my skin tingle everywhere. “Yeah, why not?”

“I assume you go out and party all the time. Tomorrow’s Saturday night.”

He doesn’t respond right away, just plays with my hair. “I don’t actually go out that much. The guys were bugging me because I don’t hang out with them and I felt I needed to.”

My gaze skims over his face. “Why?”

“They think I’m a stuck-up douche or something.” He shrugs. “They kinda hate me.”

His words shock me. “They do not.”

One corner of his mouth lifts. “Okay. We just don’t know each other that well yet.”

“You didn’t know any of them before you came here?”

“Nope. The team arranged the housing situation for me so I had somewhere to live. Anyway, like I said, I’ve been trying to stay out of trouble, so I haven’t been going out much. I’ve been studying lots to keep my marks up. I have to have a C average to stay on the team. And I have to stay on the team.”

I know hockey’s important to him, but the fierceness in his voice strikes me. “I understand.”

“We can talk tomorrow. Figure out where we should go.”

“Okay, yeah.”

He gives me a soft kiss. We both pause and our eyes meet again, and then we’re kissing, deeper, mouths open, tongues sliding. My blood heats all over again and then Jacob stands, lifting me to my feet. His grin is crooked as I open my eyes.

“We better not get carried away.”

I sigh my reluctant agreement and we find our clothes and dress. I see him to the door and he gives me a chaste kiss on the cheek. “See you tomorrow, gorgeous.”

When he’s gone, I look around, blinking, kind of lost and dazed, then float across the room to turn off the lamp before climbing the stairs to my room.

I get ready for bed and then, between the cool sheets, I curl up on my side.

My body is still humming from the orgasm and my mind is spinning. I’m amazed by what just happened. It was both innocent and sexy. Risky but safe. It felt amazing and I’m not sure whether I’m relieved or still turned on or…I don’t even know what I feel.

Other than I feel good.

Jacob. He confuses me and makes me curious. He’s big and strong and yet gentle and considerate of me, not pushy and macho. He’s confident and cocky, and yet I keep getting glimpses of a vulnerability that looks like fear. Why’s he so afraid of failing? Despite his bravado, I think he’s a decent guy. He told me I was in charge, and that almost brings tears to my eyes as I think about it.

I want to get to know Jacob Flass so much better.





Chapter 12


Jacob


I call Skylar the next day, later in the afternoon when I know she’s off work. “Guess what I did today.”

“What?”

“I told the guys about your goal of getting affirmative consent pledges signed and mentioned the pizza fundraiser.”

“Really?”

She sounds like she doubted I would really do that. I frown. “Really. Did you think I wouldn’t?”

After a short pause, she says, “I wasn’t sure. But are they really going to come?”

“Honestly? I’m not sure about all of them.” My jaw clenches thinking about Black Jack’s reaction to the suggestion. But he’s an asshat. “We’ll see. I’ll do my best. We have a deal and I never back out of a deal.” I pause. “Unless you want out?”

She doesn’t answer right away. My gut clenches at the thought that she’s regretting what we did last night and she doesn’t want to go through with this anymore. “No,” she says, her voice neutral. “We made a deal.”

I speak in a low voice. “Are you sorry about what we did?” I hesitate. “Did I read things wrong? Did you not consent to that?”