Page 41 of On Thin Ice

When I don’t blow him a kiss back, rather flash him my middle finger and purse my lips, Sean curls his finger, gesturing for me to come to the edge of the ice. I get up reluctantly, not wanting to draw any extra attention to myself from the quickly filling stadium but Molly and Sean decide to team up and ruin my plan. Molly’s hand lands against my ass with a slap as I stand up from my seat and make my way towards the steps to go down to the edge of the ice. A loud bang from the plexiglass grabs my attention and when I look down Sean’s pointing a warning finger at Molly, eyes wide and teasing.

“Hey Crawford!” He yells and Molly playfully points her finger at herself, puppy dog eyes turned up to the max as she looks behind her like she has no idea who Molly Crawford is. “Don’t fucking touch that ass, it’s mine.” I bury my face in my hands and scurry quickly towards where Sean is leaning over the wall at the edge of the ice. The second I’m within a metre of him he reaches for me, pulling me into the wall and smashing his lips against mine passionately, barely giving me chance to come up for air. I can feel people’s eyes burning into me and I pray to god that one pair of them doesn’t belong to my dad who’s voice I can hear bellowing from the other side of the rink. I break the kiss after a minute and watch Sean’s shit eating grin split his face before his eyes dance over my lips again and he leans closer.

I press my finger to his looming pout. “Nuh-uh big boy, you can have more later.”

He bites his bottom lip and lifts his chocolate eyes to mine, stopping my heartbeat in the process. “Ok fine, I guess I better get back to,” he throws a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to his teammates who are still engrossed in their warm up, minus their captain. “that.”

He smiles again and I curse him in my head for making my heart stutter so often. He holds his icy lips to my neck for a beat, arms cocooning me in a tight hug before flying back across the ice and making my thighs automatically clench together as I watch him. I scuttle back up to my seat and sink low in it, still feeling too many pairs of eyes on the back of my head.

“Now that,” Molly gestures between Sean and I, “was hot.” She smirks, wiggling her eyebrows at me and stuffing a handful of popcorn into her mouth, a few sweets poking out between her fingers.

I watch her in disgust. “Ew, you don’t mix the two, like ever.” Molly kicks her heels up on the wall in front of us with a ‘I don’t give a shit because I'm iconic’ shrug, just as the announcer asks all the players to leave the ice in preparation for the start of the game.

We’re half way through the second period and Redwood are two nil up, Sean having scored both of those goals and pointed his stick at me obnoxiously every time. I thank god for the fact my dad has been too distracted with his other players to notice any of Sean's brazen attempts at flirting with me mid game. Molly has stuffed almost every kernel of popcorn into her mouth before the whistle blows again and we both watch wide eyed as Sean and another player take their helmets off and square up. I can see Sean's eyes darken and his hand grasps the other player’s collar, yanking him closer and murmuring threats into his ear. Both of their faces are red with aggression and I can almost see the steam coming off them. The ref places a warning palm on both of their shoulders, muttering something and then backing away. He’s allowing them to fight, which is common practice in hockey, as long as it’s quick and clean. But I already know from the look in Sean's eyes that this fight will be anything but clean if he has his way, quick, yes, but not clean. Sean’s never been one to fight clean, on or off the ice which he proved only a month ago when he smacked Joel at that party for calling me a slut. I have no idea what this fight is over, I was too busy daydreaming about Sean’s tongue all over me later that I missed what provoked either of them. Sean’s fist collides with the other guy’s jaw first, making a piercing crack echo through the arena and everyone erupts. The crowd is shouting, bellowing even, as the two of them brawl, landing on the ice and throwing repeated punches towards each other. Sean is spitting something at the guy he’s currently straddling, hissing something through gritted teeth and practically pinning the smaller guy beneath his heavy frame. Watching him evokes a ripple of heat to roll up my body, starting between my thighs of course and spreading up to my cheeks, heating them and making me blush.

This man can do anything he wants to me later and I mean anything. The ref rips them apart after a couple more echoing smacks and splatters of blood hit the ice. Sean is still seething, I can feel his energy from here, the fiery anger emitting from him as he fights to get back to the battered player who’s being carted off the ice by his coach. My dad’s face can only be described as thunderous, eyebrows furrowed, deep lines in his forehead as he grabs the back of Sean's jersey and yanks him towards the edge of the rink. He’s berating him, pointing fingers and spitting curses as he forces him down onto the bench. Sean quickly catches my eye and I pray my pink cheeks aren’t visible from here. Our gazes crash and Sean's mouth twitches with a sly smile so I hit him back with my own.

Molly blows out a jagged breath next to me. “Jesus that was hot. I’m actually jealous that you get to go home with him tonight and let him fuck you until you can’t walk.” She groans and I let my laughter rip through me. She’s not wrong, I am going to let him fucking break me later.

Chapter 33

Sean

“Sorry guys, but there was no way I was going to let Ryan fucking Pritchard talk about my girl like that and not smack him in the mouth.” I breathe, rubbing a rough hand down my face, scratching at my dark stubbled jaw.

Kyle pats my back. “Don’t worry man, we get it.”

They don’t get it though, none of them are in love, not like I am. Fucking obsessed would be a more accurate way of describing the way I feel towards Callie.

There are a few grumbles from my teammates as they fight with their jerseys and shorts, trying to strip off and head for the showers. I feel bad for fighting and getting myself shoved into the penalty box for five minutes, leaving my guys a man down but there was no way I could just do nothing. Ryan Pritchard has always been a fucking nuisance, a bit like Mac who hangs around us now, thinking he’s some hot shot hockey player that all the girls want, when in reality he’s a scrawny little runt who is just desperate to lose his virginity at the ripe age of 22. But I was willing to let bygones be bygones tonight.

Preston was my university before I came to Redwood so I'm very familiar with Pritch in more than one way. I’ll admit I stole a girl from him one night at a party, she was eyeing me up whilst she sat on his lap and I knew he’d liked her for a while, but I was an asshole back then. Ok, more of an asshole. So I winked at her and that’s all it took for her to trail behind me up the stairs and let me fuck her. I don’t think Pritch has ever really forgiven me for that and that’s why he started on Callie the second he saw me point my stick at her after my second goal.

“Wow, she’s hot as fuck.” He murmured as he skated behind me. My head flew around, recognising his voice immediately. “Shut the fuck up Pritch.”

He huffed a dirty laugh. “I heard Sean Taylor had finally got a girlfriend, but I guess you’re still fucking some puck bunny on the side right?” He’s trying desperately to get a rise out of me, I have to try and contain the erupting volcano.

“Can I have a go with her whilst you’re away fucking some other bitch?” He continued taunting me and I could feel the possessive, protective fire burning hotter inside the pit of my stomach.

I of course ended up throwing him to the ice, hissing in his ear, “Don’t even let her face enter your brain again or you’ll be watching it spill out all over this fucking ice.”

He got to me, I’ll admit that but when it comes to my girl there are no lengths I won’t go to.

Callie

I watch Molly hop into her taxi, arms still cradling her half empty, extra large popcorn as she throws me a lazy wave with the other arm. I head back into the arena, making my way around the rink towards the hallway that leads to the locker rooms. Sean is usually pretty quick at hitting the showers and I don’t tend to wait more than twenty minutes after a game for him to emerge, smelling like a fresh autumn breeze. There are still a few stragglers hanging around when I get to the hallway, pushing open the double doors and passing a middle aged couple who are quietly chatting as they lean against one wall. I flash them a coy smile and keep walking towards the entrance of the men’s locker rooms when I hear a surprised and unsure voice call after me.

“Callie?” She says, her voice cautionary and oddly familiar. I turn my head fast at the sound of my name. “Yeah?”

The woman’s face splits into a bright grin, her dimples sending a wave of warmth directly to my chest. Do I know her from somewhere? I really feel like I know her from somewhere.

She smiles and clasps her hand to her mouth for a moment, shaking her head. “Wow,” she starts, deep, brown eyes warm and inviting as she looks at me. “You’re even more beautiful in person.”

Ok, now I'm really confused.

I cock an eyebrow at her, keeping my face neutral, not wanting to offend this seemingly friendly woman who apparently knows me from somewhere. “Sorry, do I know y—?”

“Baby!” Sean’s voice cuts through mine and I twist back to the men’s locker room door, watching him bound towards me like the usual puppy dog he is before he skids to a stop, eyes locked on the couple who’s gazes are flickering rapidly between the two of us.

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