Skater (Seattle Sharks 6)

Hell, I was just thankful she could, that she felt safe enough not to lay awake worrying, wondering what would happen to her tomorrow.

She would never have to worry again. Ever. Not if I had anything to say about it.

I left the pink and purple confection she and Ivy called a bedroom, shutting the door behind me softly.

Voices carried into the hallway, and I walked into the living room to find Lukas and Porter holding down one side of my couch, and Eric comfortable in the armchair, Pepper curled in his lap.

Ivy sat at the end of the sectional, her feet tucked under her. Damn, she looked...right. Comfortable. Like she belonged here, at the end of an amazing day, her hair coming undone from her braid, her skin flush with happiness.

“There he is!” Lukas lifted his beer in salute. “The hero of the hour!”

“Shhh,” I waved my hand at him. “You wake up Hannah, and I’m dropping her off at your house at 7 a.m.”

“The hero of the hour,” he repeated in a stage whisper. “The slayer of dragons, and the fiercest of noise code enforcers.”

“Haha,” I mocked, but smiled. “What are you guys doing here anyway? Not that I’m not happy to have you.”

“You said you weren’t going out tonight, so we came to you,” Eric answered.

“Plus the beer is cheaper,” Lukas added with a tilt of his head. “Not that Porter here is partaking.”

Porter grunted in response.

With that Swedish accent, Lukas sounded so damn proper that I almost believed he was, but I knew him way too well for that shit.

“Want one?” I asked Porter as I passed to the kitchen.

“No thank you,” he hefted his water. “I don’t drink.”

Huh. I tucked that tidbit away for later examination and opened my frig. “Ivy, you still have a hard cider in here, want it?” I offered, taking out a beer for myself. I’d allow myself one, but not more.

Lord knew I couldn’t afford the PR nightmare of showing up drunk at an ER in an Uber with Hannah if she had some kind of freak accident in the middle of the night.

“Yes, please. Oh, and my—”

“Ice cream?” I finished, knowing she loved her late night sweets.

“Exactly!” She shot me a grin over her shoulder, and it punched me in the gut, only to travel lower and...stay.

Shit. I was used to lusting after Ivy. Hell, it was impossible not to. She was pretty much a walking, talking ad for temptation with those lips and the smooth skin of her neck that practically begged for my tongue.

Are you fucking kidding me? Her neck? Get a damn grip.

I quickly looked away, grabbing her pint of salted caramel from the freezer, a spoon, and somehow balancing our drinks as I headed back to the living room.

“My hero!” She exclaimed as she took her ice cream and cider, repeating Lukas’s earlier accolade, but it sounded different coming from her.

“You keep ice cream for her?” Pepper asked, her eyes taking on a knowing glint. “You know that’s the way to her heart, right?”

My fingers flexed on the chilled bottle in my hand.

“Oh, he’s not interested in my heart. Don’t worry. Just my babysitting skills, and sometimes my interior decorating. The ice cream is here because I was sick of his stupid yogurt and kale routine.” Ivy waved her spoon at me before digging into her pint.

“Hey, kale is good for you,” I fired back, settling into the only empty seat—the one beside her. “And I’m not sure if I’d classify Glitter Explosion from Hell as interior decorating.”

She quirked an eyebrow at me and dragged the spoon from her mouth slowly.

Really. Fucking. Slowly.

Shit, what would those lips feel like wrapped around my cock? I cleared my throat, hoping it would do the same for my thoughts.

“Every girl needs a little sparkle, Connor,” she told me in all seriousness.

“On every surface?” I countered. “Pretty sure she could signal space with her bedroom if she flashed her mini-blinds fast enough.”

Pepper laughed, and Ivy just rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be dramatic,” she accused.

“Seriously. NASA called me before the game. They’re worried about the safety of their astronauts. Said something about it blinding them on reentry.” I took a long swig of my beer.

“I’m not even sure how they could see it with the ego you keep here. I mean, it’s so big it blocks out the sun. They should be more worried that you’re blocking the signal beacons all the way in Florida.” She batted her eyelashes at me.

I laughed.

I’d never before had so much fun giving her shit. Then again, I’d always done it out of anger, not fun.

Lukas took over the conversation, and I looked at Pepper and Eric, willing myself to remember why I had to keep Ivy at a distance. Why she was dangerous to me.

But every time I thought about it—her outing Eric and Pepper—I was less and less angry. She had to have a good reason right?

Or was it blatant jealousy over their happiness?

By the time the impromptu gathering was at an end a couple of hours later, I was still rolling the question over and over in my head.

“You ready to go, Ivy?” Pepper asked as the group filed toward the door.

“Wait one second,” I blurted. “I actually have a present for you.”

Her eyes widened. “You what?”

“Present,” I muttered. “You know, for being so awesome with Hannah since you won’t let me pay you.”

“Of course you’re not paying me,” she said, her back going ramrod straight as she stood from the couch. “Hannah isn’t a job.”

Well, shit.

“Not what I meant,” I said defensively. “I just wanted...you know what? Just come with me.”

I led her to what was now Hannah’s study, aka, the previous beer pong room.

“I love this room,” she said with an appreciative sigh at the white bookcases filled with children’s books and the wide, matching desk.

“Me, too. I hope I can find another one she likes just as well.” I opened the closet door and reached for the box at the top of the highest shelf.

“You’re moving?” she asked with a higher pitch to her voice.

“Don’t worry,” I teased, retrieving the box. “I’m not getting traded and leaving you high and dry without someone to torture. Just thinking about what the social worker said about there not being a yard here, or kids her age. Think it’s time for me to grow up and buy a house. I’m actually meeting with the realtor tomorrow.”

“Damn, and here I was thinking you were perpetually Peter Pan.”

I turned to find her only a few feet away, looking up at me with those amnesia-inducing eyes.

“I have a kid now, remember? No Peter Pan, here.”

She shrugged, crossing her arms under her breasts, which brought her cleavage to the neckline of her Jackson jersey. “She’s the perfect Tinkerbell.”

“And that would make you who? Wendy?” Not going to lie, the thought was becoming more appealing with every moment I spent with her.

“Nah,” she answered. “I’m done with lost boys.”

Right. Because she’d been with Crosby. He knew what it was like to kiss her, to hold her, to slip between those long legs and—

“So what’s in the box?” she asked softly.

I shook my head. “The present. Right. I just wanted to say thank you for what you did for Hannah today. Every day, really, but especially today.” I motioned to where the shadow box on the wall was noticeably missing a jersey.

“You’re not mad?” she asked, scrunching her nose in a way that made her way too fucking adorable for my peace of mind.

“Not in the least.”

She swept her tongue over her lips, a nervous gesture, I was sure, but still sexy as hell.

“It was important, though, right? Because it was framed.”

“It was the jersey I wore in my first Shark game.”

/> She gasped and bit her lip. “Oh, shit.”

“She’s my first niece, so it’s actually really fitting if you think about it. And the first girl to wear my jersey to a game.” My lips quirked at the memory.

“So not true, you liar,” Ivy fired back with a teasing huff and a roll of her eyes. “I’ve seen hundreds—literally hundreds—of women at any moment wearing your jersey in that rink. It’s not like I don’t go to games.”

“Fine, then she’s the first girl I’ve ever loved to wear my jersey. Better?”

Her gaze slammed into mine, and the air between us crackled. “Really?”

“Really. I’ve only ever loved my sister and Hannah. That’s it. The first time I saw her wearing my jersey I just about melted in a puddle.”