Silence wraps around us, and then it’s too late. My balls tighten, and I jerk inside her as I come.
It’s relief and bliss.
She follows me, her sharp, staccato cry, muffled by my hand, still fills the space around us. Her back arches as she comes, her face screwed up.
We stay like that for a second. But like any quick, dirty fuck—we’re not meant to linger. I slide out of her and tuck myself back in my boxers, doing up my jeans. I squat and take her panties and jeans and pull them up her legs. Trapping my cum against her pussy.
For a second, I wonder about her birth control. I finally figured it out—she’s on the shot. She’s still in the safe zone, with a month left before she needs another. I’ve been tempted to cancel her appointment just to fuck with her…
“Steele.” Aspen has turned around and faces me now, her brows drawing down. “What are we doing?”
I scowl. “In what sense?”
“Like…” She motions between us. “I get that you want to tell people we’re together. But we’re going to go home for Christmas and we’ll besiblings. There’s no way our parents would let anything like this slide under their roof—”
“First,” I interrupt. “It’s nottheirroof. It’s my father’s roof. And second, if you think I’m going to stop fucking you just because our parents think it’s a bad idea, you’ve got another think coming. They don’t own us, remember?” I cross my arms and raise my eyebrow.
“We can’t—”
“So help me god, Aspen, if you finish that sentence…” I shake my head. “You’re mine. Okay? Here, there, on fucking Mars. There’s nothing you can say or do that’s going to derail me from you.”
This obsession has gotten out of hand.
I know that.
She knows that.
But I can’t stop—and I won’t.
31
ASPEN
Watching Steele play when we’re on the same page iswaydifferent than when I hated his guts. Or when he hated mine. I wear his white away jersey while he slams opponents into the glass, and gets hit a few times, himself. He pushes off one of the players and charges after the puck, and our crowd goes nuts.
It’s a home game, and Crown Point never slacks in attendance.
Thalia, Willow, and the rest of the dance team aren’t here, though. They have a competition across town. Violet is absent, too. I think she went to cheer on her best friend, since Willow’s boyfriend is currently on a warpath on the ice.
Someone drops into the seat beside me.
I jerk, then look over at the beaming face of Chase King.
He’s wearing a CPU football sweatshirt and a Hawks beanie, and he’s got a beer in his hand. “Mind if I join you?
I shake my head and turn my attention back to the game. He’s in Violet’s empty seat—the one that Greyson buys whether or not she can come.
“How are you?” he asks.
“I’m surprised you’re talking to me.” I watch him out of the corner of my eye.
Really, I’m more curious about what Steele is going to do when he sees who I’m sitting beside. It’s only a matter of time before he notices. They’re on the other side of the rink for now, fending off the opposing team.
“Eh.” He leans back. “You seemed lonely. Wouldn’t O’Brien rather have someone you know sit with you than risk anything else happen? I heard what happened with that asshole a few games ago.”
I wince.
“So. How are you?”