“Hmm.” Her arms wrapped tight around my neck and shoulders.
Forget it.
Never mind.
I’d take the risk.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jordan
I woke up the next morning, my lips raw from kissing Asher the night before. Kissing? Could you call what happened between us something so simple as kissing? What did you call kissing for hours?
Making out?
I didn’t like the sound of that, either. It had to be something more. We’d shared something more than hormonal teenagers getting their kicks. We’d connected. Kissing. Talking. Sharing.
Asher became someone more than the guy next door, or my teammate, or the idiot who stole my parking spot on the first day of school. He’d become my friend. Someone I could trust. For the first time ever, I wanted a boyfriend. Not just any boyfriend. Asher.
Asher offered to give me a ride to school, but I didn’t want to invite any more questions than I’d already gotten the night. Mom and Payton had already gone to bed, but Dad still sat in his recliner, waiting up to lock the doors. I tried to keep my face in the shadows in case my lips were swollen from all that kissing, but he wasn’t stupid.
When I arrived at school, Asher waited, leaning against the back of his car looking like a model. I knew a moment of insecurity, because how could a guy like him like a tomboy like me, but then he saw me and his face split into a grin. Even I couldn’t deny how happy he seemed.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked after getting out of my car.
His face fell for a split second before smoothing out. He dropped his hands to his side and sauntered toward me.
“I’m not scared of you, Jordan Parks. Other guys at this school might be too chicken, but I’m not.” To prove his point, Asher took me by my waist and pulled me into him.
“Too chicken to what?” I asked.
“To be your boyfriend.”
My breath caught at the look in his eyes.
“What did you just say?”
“I like you, Jordan.” He said it so simply, so honestly, I had to believe him.
“I like you, too.” And I did. More than I wanted to admit. To him or myself. However, at this point, how could I deny it?
“Well, then?”
Could I do it? Could I throw caution to the wind and be Asher’s girlfriend? Would this decision impact my dreams of playing hockey in the future, or was it possible, as Hannah kept telling me, to separate Asher potential boyfriend from Asher my teammate?
“I have rules,” I told him.
“Rules? What kind of rules?” He nuzzled my neck with his lips. All around us, people walked into school, but I didn’t notice any of them. Just Asher.
“About dating teammates.”
He paused in his sweet assault to look me in the eye, but didn’t say anything.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t do that. Put the team at risk.”
Asher shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be like that.”
“Yeah, but it could. We’re already competing for the same position.”
Asher growled. “So frustrating.” His hands came up to frame my face. “I don’t even care about hockey.”
“Then explain it to me. Why are you even playing?” It made no sense.
His face twisted as he dealt with some internal debate. Finally, he exhaled a deep breath. “Because of my dad. He wants me to play.”
“And you don’t want to let him down?” I could understand the feeling.
He shook his head. “It’s more than that. We made a deal. When I began to get really serious about my music-” He looked up as though just realizing we still stood in the student parking lot and the bell would soon be ringing. “Can we talk about this later? We’re going to be late.”
“Are you kidding? You’re just going to leave me hanging?” What did he hide?
He grinned. “No. I’m going to leave you with this.” His lips crushed mine in an all encompassing kiss that ended too soon.
Holy smokes!
“That’s not fair,” I said with my eyes still closed once he pulled away.
“Jordan,” he said my name and waited for me to open my eyes.
“What?”
“I really, really want this to work. I haven’t felt-” he stopped again and this time I thought I might punch him.