Page 19 of Cold As Ice

“Is that your way of telling me I’m not welcome back at her place?”

“It would be kind of awkward.” She peeked up, her lips pressed into a cute smile.

“I’d invite you to mine, but…”

“You can’t.” Her smile dropped.

“I guess this is where we say goodbye then.” Disappointment welled inside me.

Fuck.

Why hadn’t I thought this far ahead? But there was no way I could take her back to the house and risk us getting caught by one of the guys or, worse, one of the girls.

“Maybe I can visit again over the holidays,” she said, insinuation heavy in her words.

Tension sizzled between us. Like the other night, I didn’t want to say goodbye yet, and if I was reading the glint in Madison’s eyes right, neither did she.

Scanning the street, I spotted a dark alley between two buildings and tugged her toward it.

“Austin, what are you— Oh,” she huffed out as I pushed her up against the wall.

“I wanted to kiss you goodnight.” I toyed with the ends of her hair, staring down at her with a kind of possessiveness I wasn’t used to feeling.

Shit. I was in over my head here.

“And you couldn’t do that outside Fawn’s building?”

I brushed my thumb along her jaw, reveling in the way she shuddered, and leaned in to whisper, “Not the way I plan on kissing you.”

CHAPTER4

MADISON

Austin Hart was dangerous.

I realized that now. My heart was pounding in my chest as he stared down at me, his thumb caressing my jaw.

Part of me was sorely disappointed there would be no fooling around at Fawn’s place or his. But the other part—the part I couldn’t afford to lose—was a little bit relieved.

Because I suspected another night with him would blur the lines of our arrangement.

Fun.

It was just a bit of fun.

So why did I feel all giddy at his touch?

“Why aren’t you kissing me yet?” I said, my chest rising as I inhaled a shaky breath.

He crooked a grin and lowered his head, taking his time to brush his lips over mine. A slow tease that had my toes curling in my boots.

God, the guy could kiss. I didn’t want to think about how he’d perfected his technique—the long line of puck bunnies before me. I only wanted to think about him and me and the way he made me feel.

Our tongues slicked together, Austin’s body pressed up against mine in the most delicious way. I slid my hands under his hoodie, unable to resist mapping his warm skin. The impressive slab of muscle I knew lay beneath.

His body was a work of art, one I was all too happy to discover.

“Fuck,” he breathed. “That feels good.” A smile tugged at my mouth as he touched his head to mine. “But now I have all kinds of ideas, and this is where we say goodbye, remember.” He gave me a playful smirk.

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