Caspian (Carolina Reapers 8)

He plays like he kisses.

The thought sent another shot of heat straight through me. My mind swarmed with the memories from the picnic. His hands on my hips, the way he claimed my mouth with expert flicks of his tongue. How he freaking tasted, like heat and spice and pure male. God, he’d made my head spin, made me completely forget everything outside his mouth on mine, his hard body flush against me, the way he worked me up and up until I thought I’d snap from the need.

“Caz,” London groaned, and I jolted in my seat a little. I resisted the urge to check my chin for drool. “You two have been spending a lot of time together recently,” she said, a smug smile on her face.

I arched a brow at her, silently screaming she knew just how much time we’d been spending together.

She’d walked in at the worst time yesterday, or not. I mean, if she hadn’t come looking for us and broken apart the kiss that had started off as a clear play from Caspian but then ended up being something else entirely? I’m not sure I would’ve been able to stop. He was that addictive, felt that…wonderful, electric, explosive. I didn’t know how else to describe it, I’d never been kissed like that.

Not. Ever.

I shrugged. “He’s not as bad as I remember,” I admitted. I’d like to tell London what we were actually doing, but I’d had enough gossip and mortification to last me a lifetime. The last thing I needed was my friend telling me how pathetic I was for enlisting her brother for help—I’d gotten enough horrible comments from Chuck yesterday. And there was always the chance she’d be angry with me and see me as using him. But I wasn’t. Caspian offered, and it was a mutually beneficial arrangement. He helped his mother with a favor she thought she was doing for my mom, and I…

My heart sank into my stomach, remembering Chuck’s words from the shower. How harsh he’d been. And then Caspian’s brutal yet insightful words after. And after the picnic? After Chuck had been so cold? I knew I shouldn’t be clinging to a life that no longer existed, but who would I be if I didn’t try everything possible to get that life back? If Caspian’s plan didn’t work? Then I’d be right back where I started. Maybe it would be the kick in the ass I needed to finally face the facts, because apparently even Chuck acting like a total ass didn’t do the trick.

But I wasn’t ready yet. Despite every awful thing Chuck had said to me, I had years of steady love to combat that. Or maybe I was just used to being treated a certain way.

“You mean to tell me you’ve forgotten the bucket of frogs he dumped in our tent when we had that campout in the backyard?” she asked, laughing.

I shook my head, a shiver racing down my spine. We’d screamed so loud we’d woken up the entire block. “No,” I said. “I definitely haven’t forgotten that. But…” I tilted my head from side to side, my heart in my throat when I couldn’t tear my eyes off the way he controls the puck on the ice. “He’s slowly making up for that.”

“Ohmigod,” London said, gaping at me. “Ryleigh, I never took you to fall for a hockey star.”

“I am so not falling for your brother,” I assured her, but she doesn’t seem to buy it. “I’m well aware he’s racing back to Charleston the minute you jet off to your honeymoon, and I have tons of plans for the future that don’t involve traveling to away games every week.”

London studied me for a second, then nodded in support as she returned focus to the ice. “Okay,” she said, and I blew out a breath.

“Who is that?” I asked after we’d watched for another ten minutes. “I finally recognize all the other players, but that guy doesn’t look familiar.”

London narrowed her gaze, following where I pointed, before she grinned. “That’s Kolton Andrews,” she said. “A friend of my brother from his old team. Andrews is playing for Minneapolis now.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” I said, my brows rising as I watched the puck get stolen and Axel storming away with it. “I toured there once,” I continued. “Back when I wanted to get my master’s in structural design.”

“Did you not like the campus?” she asked.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “The school is phenomenal. Honestly, it would be the best place for me to get my master’s degree.”

“Then why—”

“Everything changed after Dad died. Tommy is still in school, so I’m helping Mom run the hardware store. Plus, Chuck and I started the build on the house of our dreams.”

London frowned a little but didn’t push the subject. “Well,” she said. “The cool thing about colleges is they aren’t going anywhere. You can always pursue that dream in the future.”