Page 35 of My Rival for Christmas

“Why? Because you might like it too much? We’re not training, Paige. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Nate—”

“If you skate with me tomorrow, I will leave you alone for the rest of your trip. I won’t seek you out, and if we end up in the same vicinity, I’ll leave. I won’t ruin your vacation any more than I have. Just skate with me, Paige. Skate with me one last time.”

I should say no. It’s the easier option. The safer option. But maybe if I say yes, I’ll heal the part of me that has forgotten what it’s like to have fun. What it’s like to skate without burdens again. The part that I desperately miss.

I sigh. “Okay, fine. I’ll be at the rink the same time tomorrow if you want to meet me there…”

Nate shakes his head. “I want to take you somewhere else. Somewhere more private.”

Um… “Why? Let’s just skate at the rink.”

“Because I’ve wanted to show you this place for over twelve years, and if I’m only going to get one more day with you in this town, I’m not going to let it go to waste.”

There’s something about his words. The earnestness in them. I don’t owe Nate this, but I can give him it. Even if he doesn’t deserve my time. And I can do this for me. For our past. “Okay.”

His head perks up. “Okay?”

“Okay.” I nod. “But don’t make me regret it.”

“I won’t.” His grin is blinding. Cocky. “It’s a date, then.”

“It’s not a date,” I tell him sharply.

All he does is smirk. “We’ll see.”

Maybe he’s starting to get glaucoma like his grandma, Betty. I peer over his shoulder. “Better get going. Your fan club is waiting.”

Nate looks over at the giggling girls, then returns to me. “Want me to ask them for an application for you?”

I gag. “I’d rather die.”

“Careful with that noise, Princess. Might have a degenerate like me get the wrong idea.” Before I can ask what he means, he leans in close to whisper, “Or else I might find myself imaging if you’d make the same gagging noise when your mouth is around my cock.”

Heat brushes across my face, my chest as I shove him away. “You wish.”

“Every night, sweetheart.” Not even looking the least bit shameful, Nate takes a step back, a satisfied grin gracing his obnoxiously handsome face. “See you tomorrow. And in my dreams tonight.”

I flip him off, but as I turn around, there’s a small smile on my face.

What am I getting myself into?

Paige: Hi. Just know I love you. You’ve been the best big brother ever and it’s been a joy to watch you be a dad to Clover.

Austin: What the fuck?

Austin: Why are you saying this to me?

Austin: Is this your kidnapping message?

Austin: Paige?

Austin: ???

Paige: I’m currently with a lunatic in a truck older than our parents who likes to speed around these switchback mountain roads and is taking me to a remote, undisclosed location. I’m only halfway freaking out.

Paige: And the worst part is he insists on only playing Christmas music. I’m being tortured

---