Page 99 of Desperate Pucker
Ten minutes later, we’re standing around the hotel courtyard, gently tossing snowballs at each other.
“This is kinda lame,” Del says.
“It’s fun.” Ingrid tosses a snowball at Del’s shoulder. He cracks a smile.
Theo tosses a snowball at Blomdahl, who catches it. Sam throws one at him, but Blomdahl catches that one too.
“Okay, snowball fights are a lot less fun with a goalie,” Sam says. Everyone laughs.
Snow lands on my shoulder. I twist to the side and see Maddy grinning at me.
“Got you,” she teases.
I brush the snow off my coat. “You’re gonna regret that.”
I take off after her. She squeals as she runs off. I smile at how giddy her laugh sounds.
She’s pretty fast, so it takes a second for me to catch up to her. When I do, we both lose our balance and fall into a snowbank.
She lands on top of me with a squeal.
She giggles. “Are you okay?”
“Never better.”
She turns around to look at me. She’s on top of me now, her face just inches from mine. Her cheeks are bright red from the cold, her gray-blue eyes are bright, and her breath is hot as she exhales.
My gaze falls to her plush lips. My mouth waters, aching to kiss her. I can’t, though. My teammates are around us. We agreed to no PDA while we’re around the team.
“Ryker? Is that you?”
I freeze at that familiar voice. I lean up and see my ex-fiancée standing over me.
Chapter 34
Ryker
“Alina.”
My body is frozen, and not because I’m sitting in a snow bank.
I take in the confused look on my ex-girlfriend’s face. It reminds me of how she looked when she saw the engagement ring I bought her.
Confused. Disappointed. Annoyed.
The muscles in my neck and shoulders tighten. I can feel the beginnings of a tension headache.
I look at Maddy, who’s still on top of me. I move to stand, helping her up too.
I take in her unreadable expression. She doesn’t look mad or sad or…anything really.
“It’s good to see you, Ryker.”
I turn to Alina and take in her smile. I don’t know why she looks so happy to see me.
“Is it?” I mutter.
Her smile falters, and for a second, I feel bad for sounding so pissed off. But then I remember what it was like to be with her. How I always felt beneath her and her family. How she alwaysmade comments about my clothes, my car, and how small my parents’ house was.
