Page 22 of Ice Cold Heart
I groaned and threw my hands up. “Yes. Okay? I want to fuck her. But I’m not going to. I’m going to spend a couple of hours fighting with the damn English lit book while she probably laughs at me, then I’m going to walk her to her car. No fucking.” Not tonight anyway, I silently added.
He didn’t need to know about the second half of our agreement, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him know he was right. Reece had a habit of acting first and thinking later—a skill which helped him tremendously on the ice when instincts were the fastest way to a goal—but his track record with women spoke for itself.
His expression softened. “Do you want me to stay? I can be your buffer.”
The offer shouldn’t have surprised me. Reece was confident and brash, but he always put his friends first. If he stayed, he’d flirt mercilessly with Avery, who’d probably rebuff him and spend the evening sharpening her claws on his face. He’d do it with a smile—probably with genuine enjoyment.
I’d hate every second. I wanted Avery to myself, even if she was only going to torture me with boundaries neither of us wanted. “No, go enjoy your party. I can handle my own urges.”
Reece laughed. “You could always wait and start the tutoring once you know her better. She’s probably keeping a horrible secret that’ll fix your boner right up.”
If only he knew. “We have four assignments to read over the semester, I can’t afford to wait.”
He clapped my shoulder. “You know I’d help, but I barely passed my English classes. I’d probably make things worse.”
I knew, and I appreciated his willingness to step up despite his hatred of studying. “Thanks, Reece. You can be my favorite roommate again, other than Henry, naturally.”
“Don’t get all emotional on me,” he warned. “I don’t have time to change my shirt if you start crying.”
I flipped him off, and he bounded down the stairs, laughing. One day, he’d meet someone who’d make him stop in his tracks, but until then, he’d work his way through the female population of TU. I didn’t judge him for his habits—Reece was Reece, unapologetically—but I wasn’t built the same way.
Or at least, I hadn’t been until Avery had offered her deal. Was it really the same thing? Reece never went back for seconds, and I wasn’t interested in one-night stands. I had high hopes the deal with Avery would include many, many nights. The friends with benefits situation hadn’t appealed to me before, but I had to admit I’d never been this motivated to do well in one of my classes.
I spent the next hour tidying the house. Gavin paid for a service to come clean regularly now that Eva wasn’t doing it anymore, but the mess built up. Since I had no intention of keeping my hands to myself, I didn’t want to give Avery a reason to change her mind and ask to meet at the library, or worse, Coach’s house. They lived surprisingly close, right next to Market Coffee as I’d thought, and Avery refused to talk about why she’d suddenly moved in with him.
From the little bit I’d gleaned through her messages and her volatile reaction the night we’d made our agreement, she didn’t have a great relationship with her dad. I wasn’t too excited by the idea of invading Coach’s space, but I’d be there if Avery preferred not to deal with the aftermath of four hockey slobs.
Turned out, she’d take the hockey slobs over spending time at home. I wanted to know why. Hell, I wanted to know everything, but I’d start with the obvious. What had happened at her previous college to send her here?
Henry hopped down the stairs right as a knock sounded at the front door as if she’d known we were about to have company. I hadn’t seen Mase since conditioning, but his absence was nothing new. If he had his way, he’d sleep all day and play games all night. We were pretty sure he was a vampire in a former life.
I wiped my hands on my sweats, suddenly nervous, as I opened the door to my first tutoring session in years. Avery wore the same thing as earlier, jeans and a cropped sweater, but she’d pulled her dark hair back into a loose braid. Her lips quirked in an amused twist, and I had to fight the urge to lean in for a taste.
The temptation hit me so strongly I reached up to grip the doorframe above my head to keep from finishing what I’d started in the shadowy parking lot. Her eyes darkened to jade and slid to my biceps as I tightened my grip. I ordered myself to move, let her inside, stop being weird, but I didn’t trust my reactions.
There were numerous reasons I shouldn’t kiss her on my doorstep. She’d come over to help me study, I might scare her off, consent was a thing. All good and valuable excuses. But it was the twitch of the curtain across the street that finally helped me cool the heat between us—this time, we’d definitely have an audience.
10
As I stared, she raised a brow. “Are you going to invite me in or are we doing this out here?”
“Mrs. Lipnicki across the street would probably call the cops. She’s retired and very suspicious of us hooligans.” I waved at the twitching curtain on the single-story bungalow opposite our big house.
Avery laughed, and I moved aside to let her in. “At least one person in this town shows the proper amount of wariness. Stranger danger and all that.”
I shut the door and leaned back against the wood, shoving my hands in the pockets of my sweats. “Yes, I definitely feel safer with her watching my every move.”
“How do you know her name?”
Warmth climbed up my cheeks at being caught out. “I mow her grass in the summer and shovel her driveway when it snows hard.”
Avery’s lips pressed together, holding in a smile. “Definitely hooligan behavior. I’d keep a close eye on you too… especially in the summer. It gets hot here, right? You probably don’t even wear a shirt when you mow. Scandalous.”
The tension abated at the easy banter we’d had from the beginning. “That’s me, always causing trouble. Should we set up here or in my bedroom?”
I didn’t miss the flare of heat in her eyes, but she covered it by studying the large main room. Our house was open concept, so the couch provided the separation between the living room and the kitchen. Gavin had shoved a small table in the sort of dining space in the corner, but only Mase really used it.
Avery’s gaze landed on the massive entertainment center against the wall, and she whistled. “You guys went all out.”