“I don’t know,” a masculine drunken voice said from out in the hallway, an unwelcome interruption. “They think as captain, he should crown the winner, but he’s not into it. Where is he, man?”
Calista and Ronan froze.
“Check the toilets,” a Canadian male voice answered.
With the disturbance, Calista’s need and urgency fell away. She calmed, and both she and Ronan remained still. They were simply two bar-goers hanging in the storage room.
The players moved on.
Ronan dropped his hand down to her shoulder. “Hockey. Puck. Rink.” He said as if the words had the power to clear his head, and he lifted off of her. “I have to go.”
* * *
The players finished their session with Coach and headed to the locker room. Ronan couldn’t focus with Calista down at the half wall as if waiting for him like a siren. She’d been killing him in every feasible way. He couldn’t sleep for the erotic dreams featuring Calista in a mermaid costume. He pushed himself at practice to impress her. He should be doing anything but moving in front of her right now, but here he was. He skated up to her. “Hey, Calista.”
Calista chewed on her bottom lip. “You know the purity pledge has layers, depending on your goals.”
What was she talking about? He straightened his shoulders. “Does it?”
She nodded. “Yes, like Dahlia wanted a wedding ring, so she was abstaining from sex until after the ceremony.”
“I didn’t know that.” Nor should he know it now. Where was she going with this? Did Calista want a ring? Ronan’s body tensed as if his skates had slid out from under him. Would she like a traditional icy diamond? No, a Snowers blue rock would be her choice.
She twined a strand of her glossy hair around her finger, and her clever green eyes seemed conflicted. “Did you take the purity pledge?” Her voice was low, though it was only the two of them there.
Heat touched his cheeks, and he didn’t know what to say. Of course he hadn’t, and obviously, neither had she judging by the hours they’d spent in bed…and in his shower. Vanilla-scented memories rushed through him. He touched the tip of his tongue to his lower lip as if to catch a memory of maple syrup.
Calista propped her arms on the edge of the wall, bending forward, making her closer to his height. “What level were you thinking of following? Because it doesn’t have to be all out abstinence.”
His body shot hard, as if they were talking about sexual topics rather than the opposite. “I did not take a purity pledge.”
“Then why?” Calista pressed her lips together. Then she tapped her cheek in front of her ear and pointed at him. She wanted to speak privately.
Heaven help him, he wanted to know more. If she were close enough, her lips could touch his skin. Ronan flattened himself right against the wall as if a three-hundred-pound enforcer had shoved into him.
Calista leaned over. Ronan stripped off his glove, and he braced her with his hand on her arm. He breathed in her delicate scent. He wanted to gather her to him, a ridiculous thought to have at the arena. He stilled his nerves. Nothing wrong with having a private conversation with the front office while in clear view of anyone who cared to look. He was the captain. He circled his fingertips against the petal soft skin of her inner arm.
Calista’s cheeks flushed a pretty pink, and her eyes shined a pale green. Not glossy, like when he really made her lose her head, but with an inquisitive interest. She put her lips to his ear, and he held back a shudder. “Back when we were at the bar,” she whispered, “in the booth. I wanted more, and in the back room, I needed more of you.”
Damn, his body heated from simply that small touch. She was sweetly calling him out for turning her on and leaving her hanging, fair point. He swallowed and could not have moved if the whole Geels starting lineup came at him. He had no answer, so he delayed offering his reasoning like a weak rookie. “Let’s talk about this back at my place.” Was that leadership? Taking the front office home with him? He still didn’t take back the words.
“Hmm,” Calista murmured without agreeing.
She was hesitating? That made him want to tug her to him, flush against his body above the ice, and speak right here. Why was she resisting his offer? “Do you have class?”
“I have a flight. I’m going to see Mikah’s brothers play in Ft. Worth.”
He hadn’t known that. “Alone? Tonight?”
She nodded. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Ronan tossed his own schedule over in his mind, and he couldn’t resist the urge to go with her. “Text me your flight info, I’ll join you.”