Spiral (Off the Ice, #2) (47)

My skin itches to get this over with because the questions they throw my way are still too personal. It was better for a while, and I’m assuming not scoring a goal has got to do with the shift.

I’m overthinking when Sage turns to me and whispers, “Go any lower and you might be able to reach under my dress. That’ll give them something to talk about.”

I snap my hand back to her waist, careful not to let it drop again after groping her in public. She lets out a short chuckle when she sees my panicked expression.

“Never said I minded, rookie,” she says, this time into my neck. It’s the smooth lull of her voice that flows through me like a gentle stream. One that makes me stop worrying and focus on the girl on my arm. Sage is perfection draped in silk. My tongue feels heavy in my mouth when I look at her, and there’s an ardent flame that brushes all the way up my spine.

It feels impossible to ignore it.

We pose for a few cameras, and I’m hoping we’re done, but Mason gives me a look that tells me we have to stop at each marker along the carpet.

My grip on Sage must tighten because her hand covers mine on her waist, and she meets my eyes and grounds me. It makes me more restless, not because she doesn’t calm me but because having her near me, smiling like that, only makes the rattle in my chest more excessive. My eyes must betray my thoughts because Sage’s gaze turns longing, and her eyes search for something. The cameras love it. I know they expect a kiss, but I won’t—I can’t. Not for them. Suddenly, Sage blinks away that look like she had momentarily gotten distracted. If it wasn’t for the shouting men, I might have forgotten too. Reaching the end eases some of the tightness in my chest, but when Sage turns to me, it all comes crawling back.

“Sorry about that,” she whispers softly. “I got caught up in the moment.”

In a reckless move, fueled by the heat of her gaze and her fucking dress, I take her hand and pull her off the carpet. Event workers move past us, and I can see our team in the foyer of the hotel. But I don’t take us there. I pull Sage through the first door I see. Luckily, it’s a storage room with a single countertop, stools, and signage.

It must be the click of the door when I close it that snaps something in my brain because I turn to Sage, and the haze in my mind implodes my every logical thought.

“What are you—”

I cut her off when I pull her toward me, and grip the backs of her thighs to lift her on the counter so she’s nearly eye level. Her squeak of surprise coincides with my anguished groan. I rest my palms on her knees to pull her legs apart so I can step right into the heat of her. She welcomes me instantly, and now that I’m this close, I wonder how I ever kept my distance. Something is taking over my body and burning my self-control to ashes. It’s either the nerves of being here messing with my motor function, or it’s because she smells so damn good. Her nervous swallow is audible, and the Sage from a few seconds ago has evaporated, just like my patience.

“I don’t want to kiss you,” I rasp, running my nose along the column of her throat, feeling her warm skin.

“I know the rules,” she mutters.

The drop in her expression makes me groan. “I can’t kiss you.”

Her breath is more of a gasp when she speaks this time. “It’s just a kiss, Elias.”

The way my name drips off her tongue makes me grip her chin and have her lips brush against mine. It would be so easy like this, so perfect. In one move, I’d be kissing her, letting her consume every part of me that’s been aching for her.

“It’s never going to be just a kiss for me. Once I do this, Sage, I won’t be able to stop.”

Her gaze flickers between my eyes and lips. “Then let me go,” she whispers.

“I can’t do that either.”

She’s so close, watching me like she has no idea what I’ll do or say next. She’s caught off guard, and I love the way her body heats me up and cools me down all at once. It’s a dichotomy I can’t quite wrap my head around.

A question swims in her eyes, but it’s not the same one she voices. “What can you do?”

She’s giving me an out, but the question only tackles me off the high. She’s vulnerable, and she’s wrapped around me like all the times I’ve dreamed about this. I’ve got this beautiful girl who brightens every room she walks into, and I can’t kiss her. It’s fucking embarrassing.

“Nothing, this is too much already, I shouldn’t have touched you like that. I don’t know what I was thinking.” I step away entirely, dispelling the haze.

Sage is vulnerable. We’re both vulnerable. But she has no place to stay, works herself to exhaustion to have a shot at NBT, and trusts me to let her fulfill those dreams without any obstacles. The shit I went through in high school made me strict on my rules. But if I let go now, I’d never forgive myself for letting us both fall deeper into something that isn’t real. Something that has a clear expiration date. Because at the end of all this she’s going to leave, and I’ll still be here, stuck in the allure of her.

Sage pulls me from my thoughts. “Why can’t you touch me?”

The question is an ice pick to the chest, and there’s a fire in her words that won’t be snuffed out until I give her an answer.

“Because I’m celibate.”