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“Cayden, what are you doing?” Lily’s voice was carefully measured.
“Taking what you owe me, remember? Our bet. You lost.” Lily scoffed, her creamy cheeks flushing red. “I think we kind of ended the bet when we got into more trouble than a nighttime run is worth. It’s all your fault, by the way.”
“No one made you run across the tracks. You could have just accepted your inevitable defeat gracefully.” “Never,” Lily rebutted immediately. A wicked smile crossed my lips. I pushed away from the door and advanced on her. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“After all, you like it better that way, don’t you, Ladybug?” My voice was a low caress as it left my throat. Lily was becoming far more than a distraction. She was an obsession.
I leaned in and nuzzled her neck, then took a deep breath. No one smelled like Lillian Williams. “Cayden,” Lily murmured softly, a small hand coming to rest on my chest. “Hmmm?” I licked her neck. I had to taste her skin.
“What are you going to do to me?” Her voice was eager and scared, both and neither. “Whatever I want.” I latched on to the lobe of her ear and sucked it between my teeth. The hand on my chest turned into a fist as Lily sank her nails into my damp T-shirt. Pulling me closer. Pushing me away. I didn’t think either of us was sure. This was dangerous. She was dangerous. I moved my face away from her neck, trying to clear her scent from my head. “For today, though, you owe me a kiss for our bet.”
“Disappointed?” My goading only made her flush more. I fucking loved her skin. It was like a mood ring, revealing her thoughts to me, even when she kept a perfectly angelic face and lied like a little devil. “Whatever makes you feel better about chasing someone through the streets until they literally run into trouble.” “And you don’t want any trouble, do you, Lillian Williams?”
“But didn’t you hear? Sometimes, trouble wants you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Well, kiss me and get it over with, then,” Lily huffed after a moment of that intense proximity. I tutted. “It’s not your lips I want to kiss.”
Her T-shirt pooled at her belly, and I laid my eyes on her chest for the first time. She had on one of those little lacy bralettes, dark red like wine. I was right about her freckles; they spread across her body like little constellations. I wanted to map their formations and follow each and every one, down the dip between her small tits and across the span of her ribs. I slid my finger under one of the bralette straps. I brought my eyes to hers, waiting for a reaction. Refusal. Permission. Something. Her silence gave me what I needed.
“Breathe, Lily.” It sounded like an order, but it was more of a plea. I needed air just as badly as she did, but she had stolen it all from the room. She took a halting breath, and her naked breast jiggled with the movement. It was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen. “Sit on the counter.” “Why?” she asked, clearly getting nervous again.
“Because you owe me a kiss, and I’m taking it from here.”
“The bet was for one kiss,” Lily reminded me softly, a challenging gleam in her eyes. “Just one.” I stopped in the process of taking off her bralette and found a reluctant grin coming to my lips. “You’re right. We’d better stick to the terms,” I muttered before losing the battle to go slow, swooping down and taking her pretty pink nipple in my mouth. It started as a kiss, but as Lily gasped and moved closer, it became more. My tongue rolled over the puffy point between my lips, curling around the hard bud as I grabbed her other nipple , still encased in lace, and pinched teasingly. She moaned,
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I was so hard, I could poke a damn hole in my shorts, but I wasn’t about to break my rule about coming too close to a game. I needed that pent-up energy to fuel me. I needed the restless, unfulfilled aggression to dominate on the ice.
“Touch yourself like you did after you wrote about me in your journal,” I grabbed one of her hands and put her fingers into my mouth, wetting them thoroughly. Then I pushed her hand down the front of her shorts. “Make yourself come while I suck on your beautiful tits.”
I shook my head, leaning my forehead against hers. “It wasn’t a request, Lily. Do it, or I will, then I’ll fuck your mouth and come so far down your throat that you choke on it.”
It wasn’t just her body that was designed to fit me; her filthy little mind was made to compliment mine, as well. She was a ball of striking contradictions, and I was already addicted.
“Are you ready to come?” She nodded. “Use your words,” I murmured against her skin. “I’m – I’m going to come, I think,” she admitted sweetly. “If you’re going to come, you’ll know it.” A flash of something like fear crossed her face. “Don’t be scared, I’m here.” I didn’t know why I was compelled to say that, only that when I did, her eyes opened, and she stared right at me.
“Come on, Freckles, come for me,” I urged and couldn’t resist slipping my thumb between her puffy, parted lips. She sucked on the digit as I gripped her chin with the rest of my hand, holding her face hostage so she had no choice but to look right at me while she came. “Come for me and show me everything you’ve got…every single inch. I want it all.”
She was coming. My perfect girl was coming right there and letting me see it.
Your girl??
“Yep, that’s right, you just got yourself off and let me watch,” I murmured. She swallowed, a new flush working over her cheeks. This one was shame. I didn’t care. Soon enough she’d get used to this, and us.
“Can I go now?” Her question was shaky, uncertain. She didn’t wait for an answer before sliding around my side. I grabbed her hand before she could make it two steps. She glared at me as I took the hand that she’d come on and separated the wettest fingers. Sliding them into my mouth, I breathed through my nose, trying to calm my racing heart as I licked them clean, tasting her, finally. After I’d licked my fill, I let her hand drop. “Now, you can go.” My voice was rough. I was surprised I was still capable of speech, given the raging want roaring through me, demanding I take this girl now,
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I turned over in bed, grabbing my phone before the alarm went off again. The date smacked me in the face. It was my birthday. I was officially eighteen. Yay me. Like all the birthdays before it, it felt anticlimactic.
“What now?” She turned a megawatt smile on me and then tilted her screen. “Looks like you don’t have a choice.” It was an online invitation, fancy as hell and definitely not created by anyone at school. An invitation to Beckett’s party. It seemed Eve had finally managed to get herself a real-life invite. What caught my notice, however, was my name scrolling right beside Cayden’s. Join us to celebrate our first victory, and Cayden and Lily’s birthdays – Friday night.
“So, you’re definitely going now, right?” Eve’s grin stretched across her face like the Cheshire cat’s. “Absolutely not. Like I’m going to let Cayden West order me around. I’m getting movie tickets. Come or don’t. I understand if you want to go to the party.” “It’s your birthday! Of course I’m not going to leave you on your own,” Eve pouted. She sighed. “I guess we’ll just go to the movies.”
“When is this movie night?” Cayden’s deep voice brushed against my nerves, and I jumped.
“For Lily’s birthday. It’s today, just so you know. Hi, Selena,” Eve tacked on, probably so I’d understand that Cayden wasn’t alone behind me. “I know.” A paper bag was placed on the table beside me, the kind that stationery stores used. A rectangular shape was visible through the paper. A present? A bubble of hysterical laughter threatened to burst out. This guy really was insane. “Happy birthday,” Cayden continued. “Oh my God, you got her a gift? That’s so nice, Cade. My birthday is in a month, just so you know,” Selena purred.
“Aren’t you going to open it, Bug? Haven’t you ever gotten a present before? That’s the polite thing to do,” Selena snapped, clearly getting tired of standing around behind us. “She can open it when she wants to. Are you girls coming to the game?” Cayden interjected, sounding annoyed by Selena’s brittle tone. Eve nodded. “Of course. My brother’s playing, and Coach likes Lily and her mom to be there for all the home games, at least.” “And the party after? I see Beckett actually invited you this time, Eve. How kind of him.” I closed my hand around my plastic knife at Selena’s subtle dig. “Yeah,
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“Let’s go,” I murmured to my best friend. Before I could move, however, Cayden’s huge body pressed against mine, trapping me between him and the table. He moved my hair from my ear slowly, tucking it back. “If you think you can avoid me, forget it. You’re coming to the party.” “No, I’m not, and you can’t make me.” He chuckled. “You really don’t want to go head-to-head with me on this. You’ll lose.” “Why do you care if I’m there? What are you going to do to me?”
Then a cruel, faintly devious grin drifted over his full mouth. He leaned in and spoke in my ear. “Nothing that you don’t secretly want. Stop running away. It only makes me want to chase you.”
“Let’s go,” I repeated my earlier words to Eve and grabbed her hand, shouldering my bag and hurrying away. Eve mumbled some apology to Cayden and snatched the gift he’d given me off the table as we went. I didn’t stop or let go of her hand until we were several halls away from the cafeteria. “What the hell was going on in there? If something happened with him, you’d tell me, right?” “Of course.” I felt guilty as soon as I said it. How could I tell Eve what’d happened between us without confessing the depraved little dreams I’d journaled about?
“Here, you left this on the table,” she said and passed me the gift. “I wonder what it is.” “I know what it is,” I muttered as I ripped open the paper. The new journal was beautifully illustrated and had a smooth, embossed cover. Botanical sketches covered it, greens and golds, and on a few of the leaves, little red ladybugs sat. I cracked it open and noticed a scrawl of dark ink on the front page.
My eyes searched the crowd for Lily. She was sitting with her mom, just behind where Coach was standing. Perfect seating. When her eyes collided with mine, she jerked as if I’d physically touched her. Good. I wanted her to feel my presence. I wanted to crawl inside her head, like she’d crawled inside mine. I watched her as I skated, stretching my legs and warming the muscles. If her eyes left mine, they quickly returned. I held her gaze. I wanted her eyes on me this entire game. I’d play even better if I knew she was watching.
Tonight, I was going to get everything I wanted, and if I didn’t get it, I was going to take it. The buzzer sounded, and I smiled.
“If you guys keep this up, Nationals are ours. I’m damn proud of you, and hell, I’m damn proud of myself!” The players clapped as Coach laughed. “Now, I know you’re all going to party. I don’t care. Just don’t get so messed up that practice on Monday is a bust. Happy birthday to Cayden—what a great way to celebrate turning eighteen!”
Marcus caught my eye and headed toward Coach. I‘d asked him for a favor, and he seemed certain he could deliver. Initially,
Tangling with Lily was the highlight of my life, and I was already addicted. It was too late for me. “Coach, you know that Selena and Beckett are throwing a little party for Cayden and Lily tonight, right?” Coach frowned, clearly surprised to hear his daughter’s name in the same sentence as the others. “No, I wasn’t aware. She hasn’t said anything.” “Well, you know how she is. She probably doesn’t want to upset you by coming, seeing as you don’t trust any of us with her,” Marcus teased.
“But we all know the rules for Lily. You don’t have to worry. You should let her celebrate her birthday with her friends. Eve will be there looking out for her, anyway. The whole school is coming,” Marcus lied. Only a select few from the school were coming, those that Beckett could tolerate, which wasn’t many. Coach considered his words, rubbing at his neck. He turned to pin me with a look. “Will you be going, Cayden?” “Of course. I can watch out for her, if you want. I won’t be drinking, sir, and I’ll bring her home by midnight, if that’s good with you.”
“Let’s say 11:30,” Coach said finally on a pained exhale. Satisfaction curled through me. Marcus grinned. “Great, she’ll be so excited. Asher will take her and Eve over there, so I guess you can just go on home and celebrate tonight with the missus.” “Watch it, Marcus,” Coach Williams warned but smiled, nonetheless.
“Well, how was that?” “A master class in bullshit. Well done.” He smirked. “Well, I didn’t do it for free. Put in a good word with Selena for me tonight, remember?” “I doubt you need it. As far as I’ve heard, she has a weakness for Ice Gods.” Marcus nodded and shrugged at my judgmental look. “Hey, don’t hate the player, hate the game. Why work hard for it if you don’t have to? Not all of us like to live on the wild side, like trying to get the coach’s off-limits daughter alone. Are you sure you know what you’re doing playing with Bug?” “No,” I answered truthfully, taking a long swig of water
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“I’ve gotta respect that dedication to a goal. If we ever make it to Nationals, you’re the guy to take us, I have no doubt. I’m gonna hit the shower. You coming?” I smirked at him. “Stop trying to see me naked. You’ll only feel bad about yourself.” I was used to deflecting any and all conversation about why I didn’t like to shower with the others. Tossing his jersey and padding to the side carelessly, revealing his unblemished torso, Marcus smirked at me. I’d long ago stopped feeling jealous of guys who could walk around without their shirts and not worry about people staring. My body and my
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Only one person had ever seen them besides Uncle Jack, and that was my little Ladybug. I hadn’t been kidding when I’d written in her new journal. I’d shown her mine, unwittingly, and then I’d seen hers. We were connected, me and her, by our dark secrets. The ones we never wanted the world to see. Fight it as she tried, the truth was undeniable. I’d seen inside her pretty, twisted head, and now, she was mine.
A loud whistle reached us from the end of the hall. I glanced up. Marcus headed toward us. “You girls ready for the party?” “We’re not going. I’m looking for my dad.” Marcus stopped before us, rocking back on his heels. “I'm sorry to tell you, Bug, but I think he went home for some post-game celebration time with your mom. He thinks you're going to the party with Cayden.”
“Shut up. Are you serious?” Eve turned to me, excitement leaping in her eyes. “Does that mean we’re going after all?” “No – I mean, I don’t know.” My father never liked me going to parties. It wasn’t like he forbade me, more like he didn’t encourage it. I usually wasn’t invited, anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Eve turned to me, her tone wheedling. “Please, please, please can we go. Even your dad gave the green light! That never happens!” “To be fair, I never ask.” And I haven’t asked this time either. “How did this even happen?” Eve’s pretty dark eyes narrowed. “You think Cayden did it?” My mouth went dry. “Why would he?” “He seemed pretty into the idea of you going to the party.” “I don’t know why. It’s not like we hang out or talk to each other if we can avoid it.”
“Do you think he likes you?” Eve ventured after a moment. “What? No. Of course, he doesn’t. He doesn’t even know me, and I’m not the kind of girl guys get crushes on, am I?” “Why not? You’re beautiful and smart—” “And you have your best-friend glasses on. I love you, but I’m under no illusions about how I look. I’m nerdy and that’s fine. I’m not trying to be anything else.”
“What’s up?” I pointed, and she slowly turned and followed my gaze. Two motorcycles sat at the curb, each with a rider. Beckett was well known for his toys, and the custom Harley was just another example of the fancy rides his parents lavished on him. Cayden sat astride the same bike that had shown up at the house the other day. He already had his helmet on, but I would have known it was him even without the visor up. I already recognized the shape of his long legs and broad shoulders. “Finally. I know it’s cool to be fashionably late, but seeing as I’m the host, I really should get going,”
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“I know what you’re thinking, Freckles, but it’s too far to walk and I won’t let you. Get on, or I’ll put you on.” I scoffed. “Right, you’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Cayden grinned. “Yeah, actually, I would. Let’s do that anyway.” He made to get off the bike, and I rushed forward. The thought of being manhandled by him right now was more than I could deal with. “Fine, whatever. Has anyone ever told you you’re a bully?”
“Never in such a sweet way,” Cayden murmured, twisting around to hand me the helmet. “Safety first, Lily.” I took it and pulled it over my head. Ugh, it was horribly tight and claustrophobic. “Where did the bike come from?” I wondered. “Midnight Falls. I’ve had it a while. Now, sit closer,” Cayden commanded as I loosely put my hands on his waist. He grabbed my arms and yanked them around his middle, sending me flush against his back, my legs spread wide to grip his hips. “Hey, too close,” I hissed. “No such thing. Hold on,” he told me over his shoulder before starting the bike.
Gradually, the annoyance of the helmet dropped away, and I was able to concentrate on the journey. Cayden drove well. He was confident, handling turns like a pro. I felt safe with him. It was an odd thing to realize. Just like when he’d showed up when I’d run right into trouble on our jog, I felt instinctively at ease.
