Page 80 of Catch
“You have no idea.”
“Please, I’m still like that with Jackson.”
“But that’s different. You love each other. This is only?—”
I stop talking when I notice Silas headed toward us.
“Are you guys joining us or what?” Silas calls out.
I grab my stick and follow my teammates as we head for the ice.
Coach Banning greets us with his arms crossed and a darklook that saysmove your ass. We hit our warmup at a fast clip, and I wave to Jett as we skate by.
Banning puts us through our paces with one demanding drill after another.
I admit that I show off a bit. So what if I want to impress Jett? I like that he’s here, that he’s watching me. I’ve never had anyone except my siblings at my practices or games. My parents support me financially, but that’s it. Neither of them had the time or the inclination to watch me play. When I was younger, it hurt when I noticed I was the only kid without a parent cheering them on, but then I got used to it. It bothered me, it still does, but I learned to live with it. Me, Cate, and Harry are an afterthought to our parents, but not to each other.
As we near the end of the hour, I notice that Jett’s moved from the middle row to standing by the boards. He’s got his phone up, and wait, he’s taking pictures? Of me? Has he been doing that all this time? A surge of warmth floods my veins, and I can’t fight it. I’m riding a high and it’s awesome.
Dane skates up to me and nudges my arm.
“Invite him out here.”
I skate over to Banning and ask him first.
“Grab the ice grips,” he reminds me.
I nod, head for the bench to grab the gear, and motion for Jett to come closer.
“Come join us,” I urge him.
“I don’t have skates.”
“Put these on,” I say as I pass him the grips.
Jett slides the spiked rubber cleats over his boots.
“You’re ready,” I offer. “But I want you to hold my arm.”
Jett slips his hand around my bicep and takes one tentative step on the ice. Then another.
“These things really work,” he muses as he begins to walk with more confidence.
“They do, but I still want you to hold on to me.”
“Is that for my safety?”
I glance at him. His nose and cheeks are pink from the cold, and he looks… fuck, he’s adorable. I can’t deny it.
“I don’t want you to stop touching me.”
“So, not safe at all,” he admits with a chuckle.
“Not with you wearing my cum-stained underwear,” I whisper.
His cheeks darken, and I bite my lip. I want to kiss him so badly right now.
We make our way to the net, and all my teammates, even grumpy Maddox, smile at us. I stop short at the net and motion for Maddox to pass me my stick. When I offer it to Jett, he stares at it with a bemused expression.
