Page 14 of Ice Cold Heart
“I should warn you I already have an escort to my car.”
“No worries. I can escort you to your escort.”
We came over the top of the stairs, and Cole glanced up from his phone with a smolder-y look I really hoped Marco wouldn’t notice.
Marco whistled low. “Your escort is Cole Mathis? Lucky bitch.”
I gave him my best side-eye. “I thought you had a girlfriend?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “She understands my good taste.”
“You follow hockey?” I asked under my breath.
“No, I follow hot athletes. Have you seen his forearms?” Marco hissed back. “Introduce me.”
“Only if you behave yourself—he’s not a piece of meat.” My sudden protective instinct withered a bit when Cole’s smile turned sharp as he glanced from me to Marco.
I waved my first escort over to my second escort, who was surreptitiously wiping his palms on his pants. “Cole, this is Marco. He works at the paper, and he follows your career.”
Marco snorted quietly. “Yeah, big fan.”
Cole’s aggressive vibe eased, and he shook Marco’s hand. “Nice to meet you, man.”
Standing next to each other, Marco was almost as tall as Cole, but that was where the comparison ended. Cole’s easy grace and sheer bulk made Marco look skinny and awkward. My eyes drifted down to where their hands were briefly clasped, and a lick of flame curled in my belly at the lines of muscle in Cole’s forearm.
Marco cleared his throat, and I realized he’d caught me staring. When I glanced up, he gave me a look that clearly said see? I’d never noticed a man’s forearms before, but he wasn’t wrong. Cole was sexy everywhere apparently. I blamed Marco for the discovery and told him so with a raised eyebrow.
“You ready to go?” Cole seemed oblivious to our exchange, shifting to peer out the glass doors.
As predicted, the sun had set while I’d been talking to Jonah and Marco. I’d spent most of my life navigating busy city streets after dark, but I wasn’t going to dismiss the criminal element in Addison, Texas. Luckily, I had two guys flanking me who’d offered to get me to my car safely.
Maybe small-town life wasn’t too bad… but I couldn’t let the moment pass without testing it.
“As a reminder, I’m perfectly capable of walking the well-lit paths on campus back to my car alone.”
Cole’s gaze returned to mine, and a flare of warmth spread through my system like I’d taken a shot. He didn’t even have to say anything for me to know my attempt to be self-sufficient had fallen on deaf ears. Next to me, Marco smothered a laugh.
He nodded at Cole. “Looks like you got this handled, Mathis. See you Monday, Avery.” Marco nudged my shoulder on his way back to the stairs, and then I was alone with the off-limits hockey player.
Cole crossed his arms and let his gaze trail down my body. “Not a single orgasm?”
Heat crept up my neck—arousal rather than embarrassment. “Are we walking or not?”
I should have known he wouldn’t let it go after the way I lobbed the information at him as I left. Truthfully, I hadn’t intended for him to let it go. Despite my insistence to the contrary, I wanted Cole to look at me with that dangerous promise in his eyes.
I wanted him to want me—even if we absolutely couldn’t do anything about it. Maybe a part of the attraction was knowing someone wanted me after the absolute mindfuck of Scott’s gaslighting and infidelity. Thanks to my dad, I’d avoided dating athletes, but clearly, normal, slightly controlling, nice guys weren’t safe either.
Cole held the door open for me to go through first. “We’re walking, but don’t think you won.”
I smirked at him over my shoulder. “I always win. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”
Before we could move out from under the overhang, Cole caught my wrist. “What did he promise you for the tutoring? Your dad.”
I looked away, weirdly guilty for admitting my dad thought I’d needed to be bribed to help him. “There’s a writing intensive program this summer. Highly competitive. I got in, but I can’t afford the fees. Dad agreed to cover them. At the time, I’d thought he was trying to help.”
“Maybe he was.”
My throat closed up as I shook my head. “No. He was banking a favor for when he needed me—like his prize hockey player needing an English tutor with my exact skills. Lucky you.”