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Reese sighs, and leans against the brown paneled wall. “Are you sure that’s all?”

“Dude, yes. You should have seen her when they came in. She was scared.” I feel that anger rising again. “So until we find out who spiked that drink, we need to keep her safe–and that’s exactly what I was doing. That wasallI was doing.”

“Okay,” he nods, “I believe you.”

Thank god he does, I think, as he holds out his hand and I take it, because the way that kiss left me reeling, I wouldn’t trust a word coming out of my mouth.

9

Nadia

The cold nightair feels good on my overheated skin and I take a deep, unsteady breath and try to get my bearings.

Mental bearings, not physical.

After Reese dragged Axel down the back hall, I took off, slipping out the door that leads to a small outdoor seating area and then ducked into the alley between the bar and the pizza place next door. The scent of burnt, greasy crust fills the air. There’s a small table with a couple of chairs behind the pizza place, the table littered with empty beer bottles and a full ashtray. A place for workers to hang out during their shift. I drop into one of the seats and take a deep breath, trying to get the scent and taste of Axel Rakestraw out of my head.

Easier said than done.

My lips still burn from the way he claimed my mouth. It was spontaneous but controlled. Hard and soft, skilled in a way that made me cling to him, desperate for more. Axel has all the qualities that I find sexy. The athleticism. The commanding presence. The confidence and swagger that comes from beingthe best. No matter how hard I try to forget it, I know what it feels like to have him inside of me. To have his tongue bring me to orgasm, and that kiss brought it all rushing back.

I tug at the front of my sweater, fanning myself.

When he’d been abruptly pulled away, my first thought had been the absolute need to get his mouth back on mine. But then I thought maybe it was Brent, and that brought another flood of confusing emotions. Hope? Anger? Fear? When I saw it was actually Reese, eyes murderously set on Axel, the feelings were instantly replaced by something else: guilt.

Axel’s nickname for me is scarily on target. I just can’t stay out of trouble.

I’m supposed to stay away from epic fuck-ups and men on the hockey team, but everytime I get near that sexy, tattooed, goalie, I fall right back into bad habits.

My phone buzzes.

Twyler: You okay?

Nadia: Just outside getting some air.

A shadow blocks the neon pizza light.

“There you are.”

Axel.

Just seeing him sets my skin aflame and my nipples tighten when he grabs one of the plastic chairs and drags it across the asphalt with a loud scrape. He sets it across from me, and I shiver when our knees touch.

“You’re cold,” he says, oblivious that my reaction is due to his proximity, not the heat. He shrugs out of his hockey jacket and leans over, wrapping it around my shoulders. I’m instantly engulfed back in the scent I’d been trying to escape from inside.

“Thanks,” I say, reluctantly snuggling into the warmth.

“I explained everything,” he says, leaning back. “I told him I was just giving Brent the signal to back off.”

“Good.” I nod and stare at my knees.

“Did I cross a line?” he asks. “Because if I did, I apologize–”

“No.” I look at him. At his handsome, dangerous, face. “Brent needs to understand that I’m not getting back with him. In any way.”

“Is that what he wants? To be with you?”

“Brent Reynolds wants his cake and to eat it too. I’m not stupid enough to think that he actually wants to be with me. He just wants to use me, that’s all, and if he can’t he’ll be content to make me miserable.”