Page 178 of Skate the Line

Not to mention, I owe her one more orgasm.

Fifty-One

SUNNY

“What happened to your wrists?”

Rhodes and I both glance at my wrists with Ellie standing in between us. Her eyes are wide with concern.

I hastily pull on my sleeves. “Uh, I…um…”

Rhodes places his hand on my frantically moving ones. “It’s just a rash.”

A rash?

A rash from him tying me up in his locker room and completely messing with my head? In that case, yes, it’s a rash.

“Should we take Sunny to the doctor?”

“No!” I exclaim. “I’m fine. It’llgo away.”

Rhodes snickers but hides his amusement with his coffee mug.

I could hardly look him in the eye this morning.

After we drove home, both of us masterminding a good excuse as to why we were showing up late with my jersey damp from Rhodes’s wet chest pressing against mine, we went ourseparate ways. I’m not quite sure if Scottie and Emory bought the explanation, but either way, I fell into a blissful slumber.

This morning, I was hopeful he was already on his way to the away game, but to my surprise, he was downstairs, making blueberry pancakes with Ellie before school.

“Yeah, Printsessa,” Rhodes muses. “The rash will go away.”

My cheeks are hot. I shove pancakes into my mouth to keep my jaw from unhinging, but as soon as Rhodes’s smile deepens, I know something else is coming.

“Who knows when it’ll show back up again, though. Rashes have a tendency to reappear.”

I almost choke.

I slap my hand on the counter, and naturally, he comes over and pats me on the back.

“You good, Sunshine?” he asks, lowering his voice slightly. “Do you need mouth to mouth?”

He chuckles as he rounds the island again.

Rhodes thinks he’s funny, and I really hate to admit that I like this version of him. Aside from me and Ellie, and maybe a few of his teammates, he keeps his teasing, carefree attitude on lockdown.

His airy mood is too enjoyable not to play along.

“Ellie, why don’t you go upstairs and get dressed, and then I’ll braid your hair before school? I have an early flight so we can get to the rink and get in a practice before the game.”

Ellie hops down from her stool and gives him a thumbs-up before dashing away and up the stairs on her own.

I spin and glance at him with shock. “Wait, did that just really happen?”

His eyes widen. “She didn’t even say anything about me leaving.”

Some parents may be upset by that, but with Ellie’s anxiety over being away from Rhodes, this ishuge.

My hand moves to cover my smile. “I’m so proud of her.”

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