“Ah.” I ran my fingers down the sides of her ribcage, spanning the curve of her waist over her soft pink sweater. Even with her height, she was still a good measure shorter than me, not to mention way smaller. I loved how she felt beneath my hands—pliant and feminine.

I tilted my head and leaned closer, my mouth meeting hers. Bailey let out a little sigh and parted her lips, letting me taste her. I took her bottom lip, sucking on it before pushing into her sweet mouth with my tongue.

Gripping her waist, I pulled her closer, warm curves pressing up against my body. She stood on her tiptoes as I deepened the kiss, taking, tasting, claiming. Desire surged through me, my cock growing harder by the second. Then I remembered where we were. If we didn’t stop now, we would never make it onto the ice.

I slowly pulled back, breaking the kiss, even though every fiber of my body was begging me not to. Bailey looked back up at me, eyes more golden than green in the light of the room.

“For the record,” she said, booping me on the nose with her finger, “you’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“I was just curious.” I shrugged, reluctantly releasing her.

Her lips tugged. “Sure, Carter.”

Opening the digital lock, I hung up her bag and my gray canvas jacket, then quickly threw on a black lightweight training hoodie over my T-shirt. Bailey opted to keep her coat on over her sweater, claiming she was cold. Why were chicks always freezing? The high today was sixty-four degrees, which was shorts weather as far as I was concerned. But I ran at a million degrees year-round, especially when I was moving.

We slipped off our shoes and laced up our skates. Then I tossed in the rest of our stuff before securing the locker again. Probably wasn’t necessary at his time of day, but it was a force of habit.

From the home bench, I opened the gate for Bailey. She skated backward, blond hair flying loose in the breeze. “Come on, slowpoke.” She made a come-at-me gesture, arms spread wide.

“You’re not half bad.” I stepped onto the ice with a huge grin. She was so fucking cute.

“Oh, I’ve got moves you’ve never seen.”

“I bet.” I took a few easy strides in her direction, coasting. “Gonna show me?”

Bailey turned away from me, calling over her shoulder. “You’ll have to catch me first.”

I picked up speed, drawing closer to her but holding back a few feet. Then I let her get away from me a few times, intentionally missing by a narrow margin when I reached for her. Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. She made it to the corner, and I picked up speed, carefully grabbing hold of her. I came to a stop, spinning us both and pushing her into the boards.