Page 25 of The Penalty Shot (Totally Pucked 5)

I kick to the other side, setting my pace and pushing myself harder than I have in months, and when I touch the wall on the opposite side, he’s leaning against the concrete, with his forearms holding him up.

In the pale moonlight, my eyes drift over the tattoos that cover his chest and spread to his sleeved arms, continuing down to his fingers.

“Still beat you, even though you cheated, Killer.” He grins, shaking his hair out.

“A gentleman would’ve let me win.” I retort, and cross my arms over my chest.

Asher’s eyes dip to my cleavage, and I realize how low my bikini top has ridden down. I drop my arms and swallow as his gaze intensifies, dragging from my chest upwards until he meets my eyes.

“Never said I was a gentleman.” His words are whispered low, raspier than I’ve heard them before, and laced with something different causing my thighs to clench together on their own accord. His stare is so intense that I shiver.

Feeling it wash over me.

I let go of the side and swim back toward the stairs at the shallow end where I feel him following closely behind. When I resurface, he’s standing close, water dripping down his rigid torso.

“Time to cash in on my winnings, Auden,” he says hoarsely, dragging his hand through his soaked hair. My ass hits the concrete step of the pool, and I swallow.

I feel like I’m in over my head with this man. This is completely foreign territory.

“O-okay.”

Wading through the water, he comes closer, until his shoulder meets mine on the steps. I can smell the scent of his body wash, the same one that’s been driving me crazy for days.

“Where are you from?”

The simplicity of his question shocks me. I expected something…heavier, and am surprised that he chose something so mundane. He hasn’t really broached the subject of home or my parents much, thankfully.

Home.

The place I desperately try not to think of in any capacity. The place I ran from when I was just sixteen, with a newborn. The place I have no intention of ever returning to.

“I’m from a small town in Michigan. You’ve probably never even heard of it. The population is so small that it’s slightly embarrassing.”

“I feel like the city suits you. I can’t really see you on a farm in a little town somewhere. But maybe in a pair of daisy dukes or something, that would probably change my mind.”

My hand cups the water, and I splash him in response to that comment.

For a second he seems shocked that I actually did it then a devious smirk tugs at the corners of his lips and he whistles, “Oh, we’re doing this?”

I shrug, feigning innocence. We’re flirting…and it feelsgood.I don't feel ashamed or dirty for wanting his attention, and for the first time in my life, I don’t feel guilty in doing so.

What I do feel is inexperienced next to him. He’s a hockey player for the NHL and I’m just a mom who’s never done anything like this. I haven’t been with a man or even flirted with one since moving to Chicago. It was pointless, I was too busy being a mother to worry about anyone else.

Asher’s hulking body disappears beneath the water, and in the dark, I can’t see which direction he swims. The water is calm and unmoving, so I step down from the stairs and wade back out into the shallow water. I’m a few feet from the deep end when I feel something brush against my foot, and then suddenly, I’m yanked under the water by a hard pull of his hand around my ankle.

A few seconds later, we resurface, both laughing as we tread in the deep water.

“Jerk!” I squeal.

I realize only then just how close he is. Our labored breath mingles as he holds my eyes with his deep brown ones, so dark that they match the night pouring in from the windows around us.

Is he…

Asher leans in closer, and from here, I can see how long and dark his lashes are, fanning out along his sharp cheekbones. Angled and defined, his face is carved to perfection. It feels impossible for someone to be so attractive, yet here he is.

“Auden?” he says, his voice gruff.

I think I mumble an incoherent word, but I can’t even be sure because my heart is currently pounding so erratically that I can’t breathe.

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