Page 31 of Playing for Keeps (Seattle Hawks Ice Hockey #4)

Jade

I don’t know what made me practically turn and jump on the guy in a crazy, wild haze. Jay probably thinks I’m unhinged. But on second thoughts, maybe I do know.

I’ve been dodging around it for months, trying to put it in the back of my mind and palming it off as a schoolgirl crush that never went away. But after tonight, I can safely say that it’s gone far beyond any of that.

I’m supposed to thank him for his hospitality over the past couple of weeks, say goodnight, and walk respectfully to Beth’s front door. Nowhere in the equation did it involve plastering hot, wet kisses all over him and pushing my body over the console.

But here we are.

“You’re perfect,” I breathe, throwing his words back at him, because in my eyes, he really is an amazing guy. His dark eyes lock on mine as I take a two-second pause, then lean back in for his lips because they taste so freaking good.

Whatever has come over me happened without me being fully aware of it. But now I’m seeing it, seeing Jay, for all that he is, I can’t leave him sitting here.

He wraps a strong arm around my waist and hoists me closer to him, so I’m half draping over the dip of the middle console and half on his body.

He feels so strong and hard under my palms. My fingers tug at the edges of his hoodie and he lets out a sexy groan when my fingers connect with his flesh, or rather, rock hard abdominal muscles.

“I want you seeing stars before you go home,” he murmurs against my ear, his hot breath tickling the edge of my face, the energy it causes surges in me like a live wire.

“You almost did that night,” I pant, my fingertips dancing dangerously low on his torso. I can feel the soft smattering of hair just below his belly button as my hand stills.

“Fuck,” he breathes headily, his fingertips trail to my hip and down my thigh, running in a gentle line back up my inner thigh as I nudge my legs a little wider.

“Touch me, Jay. I want you to.” I’m not even thinking about the consequences of our actions right now, or the fact we’re sitting in the dark street making out like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Thank god for tinted windows.

My pulse thuds in my ears while I wait for him to answer or to touch me.

His hand momentarily stills, but when I reach in to kiss him again, he continues the tantalizing stroke up my inner thigh to the apex of my thighs.

I grip his shoulder and groan out my pleasure from just the brush of his fingertips when they’re met with my black leggings.

“J-a-y—” I pant, his name sounding the longest it ever has for just three letters.

He presses against my weeping lady bits, every morsel is crying out in pleasure for him. What I’d give to have his fingers inside me. I can’t even think about his dick right now, that would be a completely delicious overload to my senses.

I push into his hand as our tongues engage in a sexy dance, his other hand sliding up my sweater, thrilling my every sense as it trails up towards my breasts.

“That’s it,” I murmur, as he finds the edges of my lace bralette.

His thumb works over my nipple in a teasing, taunting circle, and then he pulls, just a little bit.

My cry feels like it’s bouncing off every available space in the car because it just feels so, so good.

“Fuck,” he groans when his palm flattens out over my breast and he cups his handful. It fits perfectly in his palm. “Made for me, Princess.”

“Jay—” I rock against his hand, my hips jostling back and forth because it doesn’t feel like any amount of friction is going to be enough.

When I glance down and see his hand working back and forth, buried between my thighs, the pull low in my belly rises fast. He’s so damned sexy. “I’m gonna — JJ, oh god, I’m gonna?—”

His thumb and forefinger roll over my nipple and I’m sure he can feel I’m soaking through my panties and the fabric of my leggings from his expert work with his hands.

If he could get through the layers of clothes and suck on my nipple, I’d go through the roof. I think I’d shoot up to orbit and no one would ever find me again.

It’s right then when I squeeze my eyes shut and Jay’s lips find my ear, giving it a little nibble on the edge as he pulls my nipple taunt.

That succulent way to bliss rocks through my body.

My orgasm takes over as my fingers finally find their power and reach a little lower past his waistband and grab onto his rock hard cock.

Holy shit. I’ve seen the recent underwear ad campaign Jay was in for Tommy Hilfiger and it feels exactly as it looked on those posters; enormous. Intimidatingly enormous.

I cry out as my body rocks and pulses for the second time, my breath hitching as I call out his name, echoing off the back of my throat, which somehow still manages to find air.

A third pulse goes on for what seems like a blissful eternity, every cell in my body alive with the sensation.

Every muscle needing his touch. Every part of me wants him inside me.

It’s only when I hear a sharp, “Fuck,” out of Jay’s mouth, and the abrupt retreat of his hand from between my legs and under my sweater that I fling my eyes open.

I’m about to open my mouth and ask him what’s wrong when he nods over to the front of Beth’s place, where Jake is walking her up to the front door. Sure enough, Beth and Jake both have an ice cream sundae in their hands. At least they’re consistent.

“Oh, god,” I fling my body back to my seat with a brief fall from grace as I straighten myself out and glance back to the door. “You don’t think they saw us?”

Jay is chuckling in the moonlight. Goddamned chuckling! “Babe, I think they’ve got more on their mind than worrying about what we’re doing.”

When I glance up, he’s not even looking their way. His dark eyes are watching me carefully, locked on and taking hold. Unbelievably, he brings his fingers up to his face, the ones that just stroked me to orbit, and inhales.

My cheeks redden even further, if he flicked the light on now I’d look like a beetroot. Is he… smelling me on him? Yep. I know I was very wet and that amount of fluid from his sexy dealings has definitely dampened my leggings. “Fuck, Baby.”

If his words weren’t enough, he closes his eyes as he inhales further, like he’s smelling a bunch of beautiful roses or smelling a sweet perfume. My eyes dip to his lips as he feeds them to himself, and in one fell swoop, they disappear into his mouth.

“JJ—” I pant. “Wh—what?—”

For a second I think my eyes might be deceiving me, but no, he’s actually tasting his fingers, not that there is much to taste since he didn’t touch me directly under my clothes.

“One day I want to taste you for real,” he says. “Nothing would give me more pleasure.”

His words buzz in my ears, my whole body is alight like a flickering candle flame. I don’t know how I’m supposed to walk away from this.

“Oh, god, Jay.”

He leans over, his body taking up even more of the space between us, and pecks me this time on the lips. It’s soft and sweet. “That’s exactly what I want you to be calling out when we do this again,” he says in a voice so low and husky, it’s like he’s touching me in my most sensitive areas.

“Until next time,” I murmur, feeling shaky at best. As I glance toward the door, I see that Beth is going inside alone and Jake has just left.

“I’ll wait until you get inside,” he says. “Goodnight, Princess.”

“Goodnight, Jay,” I breathe. I lean over and we give each other a big, warm hug. He squeezes me with all the vigor in the world with those big strong arms, and I squeeze him back, although my short arms don’t stretch as far.

I never want this moment to end. But it has to.

True to his word, he watches me as I exit the car, closing the door behind me with a clink.

I pull my purse up onto my shoulder, trying to find my feet and not fall over from my wobbly legs and shaky heart.

There’s also that throb between my legs of wanting more from him since he primed my core nice and ready.

I raise my hand to a little wave in Jay’s direction, I can’t see him through the tinted windows but I know he sees me.

I scuttle my way up to the front door and let myself in with the spare key, casting a glance back over my shoulder and another little wave.

It’s only then that Jay pulls out from the curb and gives a little toot of the horn as he drives away.

I hit the ground running when I get back to San Diego. Jay is a constant on my mind and what happened on that last drop off in his car is on non-stop replay.

So are our texts back and forth, and I don’t know how I’m going to go without seeing him until the wedding.

Beth totally psyched me out when I got in that night, I know I must’ve looked a little on the disheveled side. She said that although her and Jake got along like bread and butter on the ride home with ice cream sundaes, she just wasn’t ready to jump in the sack with him.

“I don’t want to be the next puck punny on his bedpost,” she explained to me after I’d given her a little rundown on how hard Jay and I had made out in the car. I left a few things out, but not much.

I’d given her one of my famous what are you talking about looks while I petted Winston. “Beth, you’re never gonna be a puck bunny, for heaven’s sake!”

“If I slept with Jake, knowing it was the one time I would be.”

“It’s not exactly the same thing, you don’t go around looking for hockey guys to sleep with.” Which in turn brought my mind back to that annoying Janey girl and the way she seemed to always throw her arms around Jay whenever she saw him.

Thankfully, I’d seen Jay with my own eyes shrug her off, and though she might be beautiful with long limbs and gorgeous long blonde hair, large breasts and a pretty face, he didn’t seem to be interested in her.

“I know. I just wish my moral compass didn’t always get in the way,” Beth complained.

I couldn’t help but laugh under my breath. “That’s not always a bad thing, I mean, it’s good to let loose sometimes, but if you’re going to feel bad about it later, then it’s not worth it.”

“We exchanged numbers,” she told me. “And he seems really sweet. He may just want to hook up at a later date, so I won’t hold my breath.”

“Well, you can only see. They seem like a great bunch of guys.”

She waggled her eyebrows at me. “Especially someone we won’t mention.”

There was no denying any of it. And even if I wanted to, Beth has that knack of getting information out of me with very little effort. Maybe I’m just that transparent.

But being away from Seattle feels stranger than I ever thought possible.

I thought it would feel like coming home and being back in San Diego again, but I feel a little unsettled.

Maybe that has to do with talking to my parents tonight over dinner about what’s been going on over the last few months.

I’ve had a lot going on and dealing with the breakup and moving from Los Angeles has been an upheaval, even though I’m trying to navigate it all as best I can.

Before the big confessional, I need to catch up with my two besties because I’ve missed them so much and haven’t seen them in months.

They both follow me on my yoga page and they know how it went a little nuts once I was spotted with Aaron.

Not that he’s famous, but he’s making a name for him in basketball circles.

That really made me feel weird and I haven’t always had the best kind of responses from people.

Good old block and delete has been my constant companion, but it unfortunately comes with the territory of anything online these days.

I just have to take things as they come and not let the few negative people override all the good, supportive ones.

After a round of texting to my girls, we decide to meet up for coffee and a catch up at Lofty Coffee Solana Beach. I always love grabbing a bite here and they have the best coffee and chocolate croissants to die for.

“OHMYGODDDD!!!!” Leila squeals when she sees me. She jumps up and down on the spot, her tight curls bouncing with the movement. She’s tall, leggy and has the most gorgeous milky chocolate tone to her skin. “YOU!!!!” She hugs me tight and stands back to assess me like it’s been years.

“Hello to you too.” I can’t help but laugh. You wouldn’t think she’s a marketing executive by day, not with her dungarees and two chopsticks holding up her messy bun.

Eve comes racing in the door just after me and we all end up in a group hug.

Eve is on the smaller, petite side like me and has a short, edgy blonde bob, squared off her jaw like it could cut glass. Her hazel eyes match the color of the soft ambient lighting around us in the cafe. “I’ve missed you so much!” she coos.

My heart feels so damned full at how happy they are to see me, and I’m happy to see them both, too.

I’ve had friends come and go over the years, but they’ve both remained my constant, and we’ve shared many moments together.

“I’ve missed you, too,” I say, tears welling in small pools at the rims of my eyes.

It’s not going to take much for the floodgates to open.

I glance around at the industrial feel of the coffee shop, bustling with people, the decadent smell of baked goods, toast, and roasting coffee in the air.

A soft smile forms at the warm setting around me, the little pendant lights hanging from the wood-clad ceiling are like tiny beacons of warmth and ambience. I love the vibe here.

“We need to get right down to it,” Leila exclaims, waving a menu at me as we all take a seat at a corner table.

“Hey, I think I already know what I’m having.

” I’ve eaten here many times in the past, and I love their menu, from avocado toast to the toasted sandwiches, wraps and superfood bowls.

They even have an impressive bakery menu, from those scrumptious croissants to breakfast scones, nut loaf and muffins.

Leila waggles her eyes at me as she shrugs out of her light-weight jacket and places it around the back of her hair. “Not the menu,” she says pointedly.

A giggle trickles quietly from Eve’s mouth as I look from one to the other of my best friends. “There’s a bit to get through,” I admit, twinges of a smile tugging at my lips.

It’s impossible not to think about Jay and smile, he’s like the sunshine breaking through on a cloudy day, warming you to your very core.

“Why don’t we order first?” Eve suggests, giving me a little wink.

I already know it’s the organic French toast for me, a chocolate croissant and a Turkish latte with almond milk. I rub my hands together in anticipation of not only the sweet treats on offer today, but that sweet treat waiting back in Seattle, too.