Chapter 23 Mia
Liam Carter
Something's different today.
I feel it the second I step onto the ice. My body moves smoother, the weight in my limbs a little lighter, my focus was sharper. It’s not just the fact that I only went down twice during practice, it’s that listened. I actually let myself slow the fuck down when coach told me to. I let Ava push my legs further during our stretches without snapping at her.
And fuck, I don’t know what’s going on, but the way she’s smiling at me? It’s doing something to me.
Ava’s been glowing all morning, looking way too pleased with herself, and even though no one else knows the reason behind it, I do. I know what those soft little moans of hers sounds like now. I know how her body moves when she’s lost in the pleasure of my name on her lips. I know she liked watching me come undone just as much as I liked watching her.
That knowledge is dangerous. And very much addictive.
She’s been smiling all morning, looking smug as hell, like she knows something no one else does. And she does.
She knows what I sound like when I cum to the sight of her fingers inside her.
She knows what I look like when I lose control just thinking of her.
She knows I was jerking off to her last night before she walked in.
And she liked it.
Every time I glance at her on the bench, legs crossed, her little fingers wrapped around her drink, I remember her fingers in her mouth, giving me that smug little smirk before walking away.
I don’t lose control. Ever. I like to be the one running the show, the one setting the pace, calling all the fucking shots. But Ava?
She’s pulling me into her orbit and making me want to crash. And fuck, with was a crash I was willing to do happily.
Coach eyes me suspiciously when I skate past him, not yelling for once. “The hell’s got you in a good mood, Carter?”
I just smirk and grab my water bottle. “Maybe I’m finally getting my shit together.”
Maybe. Or maybe I just woke up wanting to rip his daughter’s clothes off her perfect body.
She’s sitting on the benches, watching me like she’s analyzing every one of my movements, ready to pounce if I so much as wince the wrong way. Her fingers are wrapped around a protein shake, and when she brings the straw to her lips, something dark and wicked curls in my stomach.
Fuck. I need to focus
Coach yells at me to focus, and for once, I do. I skate harder, push myself further, and when practice winds down, I feel something I haven’t felt in months.
Hope.
The team wraps up a few last drills before Coach calls practice. I skate toward Ava, wiping the sweat off my forehead and planning to say something, ready to give her shit for grinning at me like she deserves the ‘credit’ for my progress or probably something cocky, because I like watching her roll her eyes, but before I get within five feet of her, a voice cuts through the rink.
I hear it. My name. From voice I haven’t heard in over a year.
“Liam!”
I freeze. It’s instant. Like my body recognizes it before my brain can process what’s happening.
And then I see her.
Mia.
My stomach tightens.
She looks the same—long, blonde hair cascading down her back, blue eyes locked onto mine like she never fucking ripped my heart out.
I don’t have time to react.
Because she runs.
Straight at me.
And before I can take a step back, before I can process , she throws herself into my arms.
Then her lips are on mine.
My mind goes blank and arms stays to my sides. My body couldn’t move.
I don’t kiss her back. Obviously
But I don’t push her away fast enough either. My first mistake.
It’s like I’ve been thrown into a memory I don’t want to relive.
And the only thing I can focus on is the one person I don’t want to see this.
Fuck.
Ava.
She’s standing exactly where I was headed to meet her, her body tenses, and her hand wrapped around her drink like she might crush it.
Our eyes meet and she doesn’t say anything.
She doesn’t even let her face betray whatever she’s feeling.
She just shakes her head. Once.
And then she turns and walks away.
A sick feeling twists in my gut. I grab Mia’s arms and push her back. “What the fuck, Mia?”
She just smiles, like she didn’t just throw a fucking grenade at my life. “I’ve missed you.”
I stare at her. At the girl who once had me so goddamn wrapped up in her that I didn’t see her leaving me coming.
And now?
Now all I want is to go after Ava.