Heat it Up: Off the Ice - Book One

by Stina Lindenblatt

  “It looks better on you than it does on me,” he murmurs in my ear. Between that and the way his hands are skimming my body, relearning all my curves, the familiar electrical hum spreads through me again.

  Kyle opens the door and I follow him to the living room where we had planned to watch a movie. Nik isn’t due home until later. But when we enter the room, it becomes obvious pretty quickly that not only did he change his plans, he heard us having a less-than-innocent shower.

  “Dude, that was hotter than porn. Both times. Just wish I had beer for the second period.”

  Kyle picks up the nearby cushion from the couch and hurls it at Nik.

  Nik catches it with one hand and chuckles. “Do you need me to leave so you can go at it on the couch?”

  A volcano couldn’t get any hotter than my face right now.

  “We’re going to watch a movie.” At Nik’s crass grin, Kyle adds, “A regular movie, not porn. So you’re more than welcome to leave if you want.” I can’t tell if he means it or not, or said it to further amuse his friend. If it’s option B, then I’d say Kyle has succeeded.

  Kyle indicates for Nik to move over and sits. He pulls me down so I’m snuggled against him. I have no idea if snuggling is normally part of the friends-with-benefits experience. It really should be. Since I don’t want it to stop, I avoid asking Kyle. Instead, I allow myself to pretend Kyle is my boyfriend. As long as I remember where things really stand between us, everything should be okay.

  I’ll be okay.

  I hope.

  • • •

  Back at Muumu’s apartment, I walk into the kitchen to check on her. She’s sitting at the kitchen table, studying her old photo album again. The album she showed me with pictures of her and my grandfather, back when she was my age. I kiss the top of her head and check if she needs anything. Then I return to my room, turn on my laptop, and download the pictures from this afternoon’s photo shoot. I flip through the images, marking down my favorites. It’s not until I’m almost finished going through them that I discover Maija was busy while I was playing hockey. Like when we were on Suomenlinna, she shot a bunch of pictures of me and Kyle together. Some of them are funny with me attempting to play the game. Others are of the intimate moments between us after I scored the goal. The pictures leave me breathless and give me an idea.

  I grab my phone and dial Joni’s number.

  “Hei,” I say after he answers. “Where can I get photos developed in Vantaa?”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Kyle

  Fully clothed, I pull open the door to the men’s sauna and the dry heat blasts against my body. Sofia is bent over, her sexy ass in the air, as she scrubs the top bench. Who knew an ugly brown uniform and rubber boots could look so hot?

  She hums a familiar song that’s a little off tune. It’s another of those things I love about her. She doesn’t care that the song isn’t quite right, as long as she’s entertained while doing her job.

  I step behind her. “Christ, you’re hot,” I say, placing my hand on her hip, the heel of it touching her ass.

  She shrieks, and in one swift move, spins around and sprays me with the hose. Cold water hits my face with its stinging touch, and drenches my t-shirt and shorts.

  I remove my glasses and attempt to find a dry piece of t-shirt to dry them with.

  “Oh, God,” she says and aims the hose in the opposite direction. “I’m so sorry.” Her gaze sweeps over me and her teeth press into her lower lip. But she’s not doing it because she’s uncertain. She’s trying not to laugh.

  “You know, you have a really bad habit of doing that.”

  The corners of her mouth twitch up and the battle to keep a straight face is lost. She turns off the water and drops the hose onto the lower bench. Once she’s no longer armed and dangerous, I pull her against my wet body, and my hand skims down her back and cups her ass. The tip of her tongue runs along her lower lip.

  “If this weren’t such a public place,” I say, voice low so no one walking pass can hear me, “I’d bend you over that bench and see if we can go for an electric potential to rival that of a lightning storm.”

  She laughs, the sweet sound doing all kinds of crazy things to me. “Oooh, I love it when you talk all sexy like that.”

  “And I love talking sexy to you.” At the sound of my husky tone, Sofia’s eyes darken. Any other girl would have given me that standard God-you’re-such-a-nerd look. Not Sofia. She has a way of making me feel like none of that matters.

  I kiss her. “I’ll meet you outside.”

  “But you’re all wet.”

  “So I’ve noticed. Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.” It’s not like she’s much better, thanks to my wet clothes pressed against hers.

  When I meet up with her again, I’m wearing the dry t-shirt and basketball shorts I bought at the front desk. Since she’s leaving tomorrow to attend the wedding with Joni, I’ve planned a quiet evening, just the two of us. Nik has other plans for tonight, which fortunately don’t involve the apartment.

  After we wander around the Helsinki marketplace, to pick up groceries for dinner, we make our way back to my place. Once there, Sofia peels and slices the carrots while I sauté the thinly cut chicken strips. She tells me about her day and I tell her about mine. Even though this is the first time we’ve cooked together, not counting at the cottage when we grilled sausages over the fire pit, we work together perfectly side by side.

  I pour her a glass of white wine.

  “I’ve got something for you.” She leaves the kitchen and returns with a small book, which she hands to me. “I made this for you.”

  “For me? Why?”

  “Open it.” She worries her lip, her gaze on the book in my hand.

  I flip the cover open. It’s a photo album. The first picture is of me at the arena. The boys are standing around me, listening to me explain the physics behind hitting the puck into the net. I turn the pages. More photos of me coaching.

  Sofia points to one picture. “This is one of the things I love about you. You’re great with these boys. Even though they don’t always understand you, they worship everything you say. And I can tell you care as much about them as they do about you.”

  I don’t say anything, the words immobilized at the back of my throat. This is one of the things I love about you. She said it so casually, as if she didn’t realize what she had said. Does she love me, like I’m starting to fall for her? Or did I misunderstand what she said?

  Afraid of discovering the truth and finding out it’s not what I’d hoped, I turn the page. The next couple of pages are covered with pictures of me and of us when we were at the cottage and when we were on Suomenlinna. We look happy. We look like a couple.

  I flip the page to find another picture of her in my arms. We’re looking at each other like nothing else exists. Which is exactly how I’d felt at that moment.

  “I love it,” I whisper. And I do. No one has ever given me a gift like this before.

  I turn to the next page. Again, it’s of me and Sofia playing street hockey. We’re messing around and laughing. Sofia doesn’t know me as a NHL player or an ex-NHL player or a has-been. She only cares about the side of me that’s been missing since even before the accident. I was so driven to live up to everyone’s expectations, including my own, I’d forgotten the meaning of having a good time. After the accident, I thought I was having a great time, drinking and having sex with all those girls. But I wasn’t. That’s Nik’s idea of a great time. It isn’t mine.

  “I really do love it,” I whisper. My mouth finds Sofia’s, and everything in this world feels right again, at least for now. At least until I have to tell her my news about the coaching job I was offered. Starting in two weeks. In Seattle. I don’t want to give Joni a chance to use that against me, to use it to convince her to stay in Finland longer.

  I place the book on the counter, my lips still attached to hers and turn off the stove. My palms slide down her hips to the backs of her th
ighs, and in an easy move I hoist her up. Her legs hook around me, and I carry her into the bedroom and to the bed. Sofia releases her legs and places her feet on the floor.

  “What you said earlier…in the sauna,” she says. “Do you…do you wanna try it that way?”

  I rapidly sort through my memory of what I had said. “I don’t care how we do it, as long as it’s you I’m with.” I stroke my thumb against her lip, eager to suck it between mine. “Do you want to try it that way?”

  She nods, the movement small, her gaze focused on my mouth. “Yes,” she whispers. Her voice isn’t filled with uncertainty or nervousness. It’s laced with curiosity, desire, inner strength.

  This time I suck her lip between mine as my fingers find their way under her t-shirt and slide up her flat stomach. She squirms, my fingertips brushing against her ticklish zones. If I could do this every day for the next two weeks, I’d be a happy man.

  Sofia lifts her arms and I pull the t-shirt off her. I toss it to the floor and my t-shirt joins it soon after. I pull her to me, our skin barely touching, yet it’s enough to send every nerve in my body tingling. And judging from her reaction, she’s no more immune to this than I am.

  I tease her nipples with my fingers, drawing circles around them until they become stiff peaks. My mouth remains against hers, tasting her and enjoying the moans and whimpers escaping her lips and vibrating against mine. I squeeze her nipple between my fingers and I swear her legs almost buckle under her as she lets out a sound so erotic, so hot, I come close to pushing up her skirt and taking her now.

  I undo the snap of her denim skirt then unzip it. I slide my hands to her hips and turn Sofia around. I pull her toward me, her back against my chest, and nip her shoulder with enough pressure to cause her to buck into me and whimper again. Fueled by her sound and by the feel of her, I cup her breasts in my hands and swirl the tip of my tongue against the faint bite mark. Her head falls back onto my shoulder and she moans.

  Never in a hundred years will I ever get enough of hearing that sound.

  Once I’ve finished entertaining myself with how her nipples respond to my touch, I trace my hands across her stomach to her hips. My fingers hook the waistband of her skirt and I pull the clothing down her legs, exposing her pale pink cotton underwear that matches her bra. While I’ll be the first to agree satin underwear is hot, the same can be said about what Sofia’s wearing. She might come off as innocent, but what’s beneath her skin is screaming to be anything but that.

  I slowly stand again, trailing my hands up the outside of her legs. My fingers slip under the edge of her panties, then between her legs and her slick folds. “Christ, Sofia,” I moan in her ear, “you’re so ready for me. So ready for me to fuck you.” My fingers against her clit mirror what the one on her breast is doing. It doesn’t take long before she’s panting with need.

  Not to be outdone by me, her hand slips between us and she settles it against my dick. The warmth of her hand soaks through the fabric of my shorts and boxers, and she squeezes. The throbbing intensifies. “Shit,” I groan.

  My fingers move to the waistband of her panties and I pull them down. Once they’re around her ankles, she steps out of them and kicks them to the side while I yank my shorts and boxers off. My dick springs free, ready to join Sofia’s warmth. I toss my clothes halfway across the room.

  “Bend over,” I breathe in her ear, “and put your hands on the bed.” She does and my fingers return to her clit from behind. “You look so hot from where I’m standing.” I grin at her light moan. She’s getting more turned on than I ever thought she would when I first met her. And just knowing that is having the same effect on me. It’s as if being with Sofia has given me a new level of awareness that had escaped me for so long. A new level of awareness that makes me feel stronger than I’ve been in a while.

  I slip a finger inside of her. She’s so wet, so responsive. I add another finger and press them against her. Her breath draws in quickly. It won’t take much more for her, for me, for us to get there.

  I remove my fingers and position my tip against her entrance. I push it in just enough to torment her, to excite the nerves there. My fingers find her clit again, circle it and pinch it.

  “Oh God, Kyle,” she groans. “I want you to fuck me.”

  The grin on my face doesn’t resemble the one from earlier. That was the sun peeking from behind a cloud. This one is a full on beam. She sounds even more innocent, more desirable when she says it. I open a condom and roll it on, then thrust into her and groan my satisfaction as her body welcomes me.

  With my fingers still tormenting her clit, I slam into her again and again and again. It takes every ounce of control not to come before she does. Luckily I don’t have to wait long. Her body clenches tightly around my dick as she screams out my name. I come soon after, drowning in her—but drowning in a good way.

  Once I return back to earth, I fold myself over Sofia’s back and rain it with soft kisses, giving her something to remember while she’s with Joni this weekend.

  I rein in the anger threatening to storm its way in. There’s nothing to fear. She’s mine. Joni doesn’t have a claim on her. Sofia’s been hurt by a cheating boyfriend. She would never turn around and do that to someone else.

  It’s Joni I’m more worried about. He’s taking advantage of the situation before she’s made her decision about whether or not she’ll stay in Finland. I wouldn’t be surprised if he spends the next four days trying to convince her that staying here would be the best for everyone concerned, including me.

  I nip on her ear. “That was incredible.” Her panting is her only reply.

  I kiss her neck and pull out of her. She watches me through hooded eyes as I dispose of the condom. The bedroom door clicks open behind me. Sofia shrieks and scrambles under the sheet, her gaze ever watchful on the door. I whip around. Nik leers at her from the doorway, ignoring me.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I stalk over to him and shove his arm. That’s enough to pull his attention from Sofia.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” he says without a hint of remorse. “Just wanted to let you know about the change of plans.”

  “What change of plans?” I ask as a brunette Sofia’s age appears next to him. Her gaze wanders down my body, reminding me that I’m naked, then it darts to where Sofia is sitting. The girl licks her lower lip, her attention still on Sofia, and talks to Nik in Finnish.

  Nik laughs. “My friend wants to know if you’re interested in a foursome.”

  I don’t even have to look to know Sofia’s blushing. She might be learning to be adventurous, but even she has limits, and a foursome is definitely beyond both of our limits.

  “We’ll pass. And FYI, dumbass, that’s my food in the kitchen. We’re about to make dinner.”

  Still chuckling, Nik raises his hands. “Got it. We’re going to be busy anyway. She brought her camcorder with her.” Great, we’ll get to listen to them make porn.

  Nik turns to leave and I begin to close the door. His friend waves bye to Sofia as I shut it.

  “Is it just me or was she totally checking me out?” Sofia asks, eyes wide.

  I join her on the bed and crawl under the covers with her. “What she was hoping for would’ve proven to be interesting. No way would anything have happened between me and Nik, and with the way she was eating you with her eyes, I have a feeling it would’ve been three-on-one action if we had agreed to it.” And hell if that would have happened. Joni is enough competition for me.

  “I-is that what you want to do?” If I thought her eyes were wide before, that’s nothing compared to now. And her face is several shades lighter.

  “No. God no! That’s definitely not my kind of thing.”

  She lets out a long slow breath, blowing out the tension like it’s a candle flame.

  The question is, what are we going to do now? Listening to Nik and the girl go at it for the benefit of her camera doesn’t make it to my list of fun-filled activities.

  �
��Do you want to go out for pizza?” I ask.

  Sofia looks at the door and nods. “Can we shower first?”

  By shower, I’m guessing she doesn’t mean a repeat of the one we had last week, where the sex was hotter than the water. At least with the water running, we can’t hear the other two in Nik’s bedroom.

  Silently cursing him for changing his plans and screwing up mine, I climb out of bed and grab my favorite physics t-shirt for her to wear to the bathroom. And yes, the sight of her in it, and the sight of her only in the t-shirt, will fuel my sexual fantasies for while she’s away.

  After a quick shower, we escape the apartment, but not before we hear the girl scream out in ecstasy as I shut the door.

  • • •

  “I’m thinking of applying to the speech pathology graduate program for next fall,” Gabby says.

  I take my eyes off the road and look at her for a brief second. “Are you sure?”

  “This is the perfect time to do it. You’re away a lot for games. If I’m studying all the time, I won’t have time to miss you so much.”

  We’ve had this discussion before. It was because of my traveling schedule that she hadn’t been excited to apply just yet.

  The traffic light is green and I continue through the intersection. Gabby screams and before I can react, an SUV plows into her side of the car. We’re sent flying sideways, flying, flying, flying, until we smash into a lamppost. Glass showers my body and metal tears into my left leg.

  And I momentarily black out.

  When I regain consciousness, every part of me is screaming in pain. I hear yells from what sounds like miles away but can’t understand what they’re saying. My eyelids have been turned to lead, but somehow I manage to open my eyes a crack.

  It takes me a few seconds to piece everything together. The darkness. The glow from streetlights. The caved in driver’s door. The people running toward the car. The sirens in the distance.

  Gabby. I turn my head to see if she’s okay. But it’s not Gabby. It’s Sofia.