Page 16

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

Fable

Leave it to Jett Cook to have me plotting his murder one second and being thankful for him being by my side the next.

Just as he did when we were kids, he stood tall and strong beside me as I entered Noelle’s. His hand on my back was a welcome gesture that I hadn’t realized I missed until I felt it against my spine. Even through the fabric of my shirt, I could feel the heat of his hand. The promise that he had me. I know he was annoyed that everyone seems to be agreeing with me on all the things I want to do, but his annoyance isn’t as apparent now that it’s just him and me. Instead, he’s playful, his eyes bright and his grin quick.

He’s a confusing one, for sure.

The walk to Noelle’s was silent, but now that Noelle has agreed to buy ad space in all four rinks, I’m giddy and want to talk. “I’m going to write a letter to send to all the businesses and ask for a moment of their time.”

While Jett threw on a shirt, much to my dismay, he is still wearing his hockey socks and shorts. His hands hang at his sides as we walk, and while he looks as if he isn’t paying attention, I know he is. “Sounds good. Let me know if you want me to come with you.”

I bump into him. “I thought you said you didn’t want anything to do with ad space selling.”

He shrugs. “I don’t, but we’re partners, huh?”

I nod in agreement and find myself annoyed by that word, for some reason. It’s almost as if the way he says it means that is all we’ll ever be. While I know that’s for the best, I don’t think I like it. I’m not saying I want more—I mean, I do, but putting myself out there for rejection is terrifying. Especially when I don’t really understand how my body reacts to him. I almost think it’s a trick, making me think I can be sexual, when really, I’ll get in bed, and then I’ll be planning my week instead of enjoying his body.

But as soon as I have that thought, I feel it’s untrue.

I want him.

I want to know if what I’m feeling is real, but how? We can’t even work together—how could we ever be together? Also, I’m leaving once this is over. I can’t even have relationship sex, so I don’t see how I could ever have casual.

Why does he make me think this way?

I exhale hard as my mind drifts back to how a lot of the women in Noelle’s were watching him and lusting after him. Hell, even Noelle checked him out, not that I blame her.

He is beautiful.

I lick my lips as I sigh deeply. “So, tell me the truth. Why aren’t you with anyone?”

His brows furrow. “Why are you asking that?”

“I saw how everyone was checking you out at Noelle’s.”

He scoffs. “No, they weren’t.”

“Yes, Jett. Everyone,” I tell him truthfully. “Even Noelle was.”

He lets out a loud laugh. “She may have, but she’s in love with someone else.”

Is that why he didn’t pay her any mind? “So, you’d want her?”

“No,” he answers simply. “This is all in your head.”

It may very well be, but I don’t think it is. “For real, all the women were—even some teenagers. Then they were looking at me like the shit on their shoes, trying to figure out if we were together.”

“You’re delusional,” he laughs, shaking his head. “And if they were, who cares?”

I flash him a look. “Stop deflecting. Tell me.”

He shrugs, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Like you said, no one has caught my eye.”

“Jett, come on. You had a very healthy sex life when we were growing up. According to Bea, you know how to strap up like a pro.”

He grimaces. “Why does my great-grandma think it’s okay to talk about my sex life?”

“Probably the same reason they think it’s okay to hope a man of God can’t skate.”

He snorts at my reference to the Prophets, shaking his head. “They’re insane.”

“They are,” I agree, and I notice our pace has slowed a bit, like we don’t want to get back so quickly. “I’m just saying, I’m surprised no one locked you down.”

He cups the back of his neck, looking ahead of us. “Maybe I don’t want to be locked down.” I’m not surprised by his answer, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother me. I don’t know why; I’ll be gone in a year, but still. “There had to be someone.”

He shrugs. “One, Nancy. I almost proposed.”

Why does that make my heart ache? “Why didn’t you?”

He looks down at the ground, sighing deeply. “Just didn’t see myself with her for the long-term.”

“Well, that’s ominous.”

He chuckles. “Maybe, but it’s the truth.” He looks over at me. “I heard you just broke up with someone before you came.”

My eyes widen in shock, but then I remember who my grandmother is. “Big-mouth Kitty.”

He chuckles. “They are best friends for a reason. Both with big mouths.” I roll my eyes. “So, tell me what happened?”

I wring my fingers, shrugging. “I’m too much for him.”

He gives me a look. “I call bullshit.”

“I’m serious. When I’m not too much, I’m called a robot.”

He pulls his brows together. “A robot?”

“Yeah, I don’t feel things for anyone, apparently, and guys don’t tend to want me for long.”

“That’s insane. You’re so vibrant.”

His words make my soul shine. “Too vibrant, I guess. Chad, my ex, used my mental diagnoses against me. He’d throw whatever I told him my therapist said to me in my face whenever we’d get into it.”

He blinks a few times before glancing over at me. “What the fuck, Fable?”

“I know. It was toxic, and I realized that I’d wasted a year of my life.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Yeah, but he’s the kind of guy that wanted to know all the labels I had.”

Jett looks completely and utterly confused. “Labels?”

I look away, swallowing hard. “Yeah, I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was thirty-six, and she keeps adding disorders every six months or so.” I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “She diagnosed me with impostor syndrome, and he rubbed my nose in it.”

“The fuck?” he mutters, and it’s easy to see he’s pissed. “Impostor syndrome… Or is it childhood trauma from your fucked-up parents?”

“You’re not wrong.”

He scoffs. “I mean, I get the ADHD, but even then, fuck labels.”

My lips lift. “Yeah, but he was obsessed with them, more so with the fact that my—” I pause, unable to admit my asexual status. Would it freak Jett out? Would he look at me differently? But really, am I truly asexual?

Because the things I feel for him are absolutely sexual.

When he stops, he grabs my wrist, and I look up to find his tortured gaze set on me. My wrist burns where his palm holds me, and instantly, I’m out of breath as I hold his gaze. “Those labels are unnecessary, princess. You’re you, and you are absolutely enough, just the way you are.”

I blink and hold back the tears as I gaze into his eyes. I want to tell him about the asexual thing—maybe he’ll prove it wrong—but all I can do is stare at him. A small grin curves one side of his mouth before he tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Don’t listen to that shit, okay?”

All I can do is nod, and when he starts to walk again, I follow. I try not to make a big deal about the fact that he’s still holding my wrist. I want to thread my fingers through his, but I’m unsure if he’d like that. The silence between us is comfortable, but I still want to know more about him. “You have a lot of tattoos. Did Hazel do them?”

A smile plays on his lips, his love for his grandma shining in his eyes. “Yeah, all of them.”

“That’s insane,” I say with a grin. “I want her to do one for me.”

His eyes meet mine, dancing with something I can’t define. “I can’t believe you got tattooed.”

My grin grows. “I got my first one after Vancouver, and then I couldn’t stop. I made sure not to do my arms or below my knees because you know how my parents are.” He doesn’t have to answer. We both know they are against anything that isn’t “normal.”

I’m in that category.

“But I love them. They make me happy.”

“How many do you have?”

“Twenty,” I answer, and his eyes widen.

“Where?” His eyes move along my middle, and heat spreads in my belly.

The need to show him is powerful, but I refrain. “My stomach, my hips, my bottom, and the tops of my thighs.”

I don’t miss the fact that he trips over nothing, his eyes still trained on me. “Your ass?” he gulps, and I grin.

“Yes. I have a flower garden of all my favorite flowers.”

His eyes darken before he licks his lips. The motion is so damn sexy, and my clit takes notice. She starts to tingle again, and damn it, I want to jump this dude. I want to know whether it’s because I never had him or if there is true chemistry between us.

He bumps into me, a playful smile on his face. “How many piercings?”

Before I can even think, I answer, “Six.”

My face turns bright red as he stops dead in his tracks. His eyes move to my ear, which is exposed and shows no holes. My parents wouldn’t let me get my ears pierced when I was younger, so I never did. Instead, I pierced where no one could see.

Jett’s eyes are molten chocolate as he grits out, “Six?”

I love the look in his eyes, and shit, am I stepping closer to him? “Yup,” I answer, my voice low and sultry. I’m vibrating everywhere, but I can’t let him know he is driving me mad with just the look in his eyes. Those eyes fall to my mouth, then lift back to my eyes as heat gathers deep in my gut. He reaches out, tucking my hair behind my other ear.

“Your ears are not pierced.”

My voice is rough as I breathe out, “I know.”

Jett looks as if he is about to devour me, and I want him to do just that.

His lips curve up in a devastating grin that has me burning up from head to toe. “What happened to the prim and proper ice princess I knew?”

I match his grin, and I feel mine take up my whole face. I even feel my eyes smiling, if that’s a thing. “She grew up.”

He traces his eyes along my face, and I feel the flutter in my gut intensify. His eyes hood a bit, his tongue coming out to wet his lips, and I swear to God, if he kisses me, I’ll combust.

“Fable Winter!”

I jump at my name as Jett steps back, his hand falling to his side. I look over to see my mom, who is glaring at Jett before she sets me with a look. “Get in the car.”

I bring in my brows. “Ew, why?”

Jett lifts his hand to his mouth to hide his laughter as my mother sneers. “Fable, I will not ask again.”

She looks as if she’s about to explode with anger, and I don’t know why. I absolutely don’t want to get in the car with her. I scrunch up my nose and then point to the Thistle. “I’m heading back to work.”

“I’ll bring you back. Kitty needs you.”

My stomach drops, and the heat I was really enjoying turns ice-cold. I glance back at Jett to find that he’s watching me. He gives me a small smile and shrugs. “I’m always here.”

Does he want me to come back to finish what we started? Wait? I started something?

Oh, he messes with my head.

Before I can feel this out, check the vibe, my mom’s voice sends ice down my spine. “Fable!”

“For the love of Pete,” I mutter, and then I wave. “Thanks again for going with me.”

“Anytime.”

We share one last look before I get into the car with my mother, feeling like a teenager caught with the guy her mother hates.

Apparently, that’s exactly what this is.

She hasn’t even pulled away when she yells, “Have you lost your mind, Fable?”

“What?”

“You were basically humping him in broad daylight.”

“Wow, that’s an overreaction,” I muse, shaking my head. “We were talking.”

“You two were way too close. You have to remember who we are! You can’t be slumming it with the wrong crowd.”

I gawk at her. “Slumming it with the wrong crowd?” I repeat. “Have you lost your mind? Jett owns the damn Ice Thistle, he’s extremely respected in this community, and he’s a good guy. What the hell are you talking about?”

“He isn’t good enough for you.”

“That’s not for you to decide!” I yell back, totally caught off guard by her rant. “I am a grown adult, Mom. I could sleep with everyone in this town, and you can’t say shit.”

She gasps. “Fable, you wouldn’t!”

“Don’t put it past me!” I yell back, shaking my head. “We work together, we are friends, past partners. Jett means a lot to me.”

“I knew this was going to happen. You just can’t resist him, can you?”

Can I? Shit, I don’t know if I can.

That’s new.

“Mom, that is none of your business.”

“Don’t you know he will ruin your image? He is all tatted, uneducated, and doesn’t complement you.”

I make a face. “His tattoos are sexy, he has a college degree, and if we didn’t go well together, how did we win a gold medal?”

“Stay away from him!” she yells in frustration.

“No,” I say simply. I may not know what is happening between us, but I refuse to listen to her. “Keep your opinions about who I hang out with to yourself. I had enough when I was a kid.”

She lets out an aggravated sigh. “Why don’t you just leave? Give everything to Dad.”

This woman knows no bounds. “Nope, not happening. I rather enjoy ruining your day by just fucking existing.”

She glares over at me just as she stops the car in front of the Ice Thistle. I guess she just drove the block. “I am so disappointed in you.”

I throw open the door. “Nothing new, Mother.” Before I can shut the door, I ask, “Is Kitty okay?”

She rolls her eyes. “She’s fine.”

I slam the door and then shake my head.

What a bitch.

As my mom drives off in a huff, I feel his gaze before I turn to see him inside the pro shop, watching me. He looks embarrassed, almost stricken. His shoulders are hunched, his eyes downcast, but somehow, he is still watching me. I smile widely at him, but when I head inside, he goes out the back, away from me. I know he couldn’t have heard my mother, but I’m sure he knows what that was about. She never did like him, and while I never cared, it always bothered him.

Unlike before, when I was young and knew no better, I won’t stand for letting her bring that look to his face anymore. Maybe she’s right. I’m not able to resist Jett Cook.

And I don’t want to any longer.