Page 60 of Ice Cold Heart

Case in point, after Henry woke us all up at four a.m. by quacking incessantly in the hallway until Eva let her into the backyard, I was dragging ass this morning. Until I walked over to Market Coffee and spotted a long-legged beauty with dark red lips sprawled across two patio chairs in the sun.

Warmish weather had returned after a couple of blustery, cold days, and I’d wanted to get some sun before I spent the rest of the afternoon at the rink for a game. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find her there. The café was closer to her house than mine.

I turned my ballcap backwards to get the full view of Avery tipped back in her chair, smiling, with her eyes closed. She was beautiful. Always—but especially right now with her guard lowered. It didn’t matter what she wore, I’d do anything to keep that look of contentment on her face.

A book lay open on her lap with two more stacked on the table, and earbuds peeked out from her dark hair. I wanted to grip the back of her neck and hold her still while I kissed her senseless, but we had to be careful. Our relationship—whatever it was—wasn’t public knowledge. She wasn’t ready to admit her feelings were serious, and I wasn’t ready to explain to her father how well I was taking care of his daughter.

I also didn’t want to startle her.

Instead, I pulled out the chair next to her and stretched out my legs to bump her knee. Avery gasped and sat up, then relaxed again when she spotted me. Her lips curved into a secret smile as she removed her earbuds.

I studied the faint flush on her cheeks and wondered if it was from the sun or if I’d interrupted something more interesting than I’d expected. “Fancy seeing you here, city girl.”

Her eyes narrowed at my innocent tone. “Yes, what a coincidence that I’ve been coming here for months and haven’t seen you once until today.”

I shrugged. “Weird.”

She picked up the book from her lap, and I read half the title on the cover before she set it on the table with the others. “The billionaire’s what?”

“Accidental bride.”

I chuckled as I turned the stack to read the other titles. “The True Story of Alex Little?”

“The alias of a lesser-known crime boss based in Dallas in the 1970s. There’s speculation he may have been a porn star as well as a hitman.”

My brows rose. “Wow. He needs to work on his porn star name. I thought you listened to romance.”

“I like true crime and smut.”

“I’m not surprised one bit. You’ve been solving non-existent crimes since I met you.” I nodded at the earbuds in her hand. “Which is that one?”

She grinned. “Smut.”

“Naughty girl,” I murmured. “In public and everything.”

“I’m a proponent of normalizing female sexuality in the world at large. One romance novel at a time.”

I grabbed the billionaire book and flipped through the pages absently until I landed on a sex scene that had my imagination going into overdrive. “Tonight, when you come over to study, bring your book.”

Her eyes flicked to the couple of lines I’d just read, then back to my face. “Why?”

I held her gaze, full of promise, and smiled slowly. “I want to practice with something more interesting.”

Wildcat hockey was on fire for the last few weeks, no thanks to me and my incessant need to search the stands for dark hair and darker lips curled into a smirk. Avery never sat in the same section twice, but I knew she was there, somewhere.

Coach didn’t mention my distraction in any overt way, but he raised a brow at me as I skated off the ice after the game, covered in sweat and already anticipating Avery coming over. I’d gotten used to the squirmy feeling in the pit of my stomach from talking to Coach while thinking about his daughter naked.

Reece bumped into me from behind, coming around one side to flank me with Gavin. My roommates didn’t say anything either, but they were at least aware of the reason for my suddenly inconsistent play. I should probably thank them for covering—both during the games and every time Avery came over.

Later.

With Eva coming to the games now, we’d had to start taking two cars, and today, I’d volunteered to drive on my own. Mostly because I didn’t want to wait for Reece’s slow ass to primp.

Avery stayed over most game nights, and to my surprise, Coach never asked about her. I could only assume she’d come up with an excuse, but I doubted she’d told him she was staying at our place.

Her car was already parked on the street when I got there. I parked behind her and got out with a smile I couldn’t contain, but it faded when I noticed her sitting on the stoop staring at her phone with a frown.

I left my gear in the trunk and hurried over to her. “Everything okay?”