Icing (Aces Hockey #1)(45)

Now his jaw slackened. “You’re shitting me.”

She huffed a laugh. “Nope. They were busy with other stuff.”

“What the fuck?” He moved closer to her. They were both sweaty, but oh well. “That’s just wrong. Are you an only child?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit.” He stared at her in dismay. “What were they busy with?”

“Eh. Stuff.” She waved a hand. “I’m hungry.”

Changing the subject. He let her have that one, since she obviously didn’t want to talk about her parents. It made him curious, though. “Yeah, me too. Let’s go. What do you feel like eating?”

They debated deep-dish pizza versus Indian versus Mexican and ended up stopping at a noodle place for pad woon sen with shrimp, fried rice, ginger chicken, crab Rangoon, and little egg rolls. When they got back to Duncan’s place, Duper and Lovey were there. Lovey sat at the island and Duper leaned on it near her, both of them looking at takeout menus.

“Oh, hi.” Lovey sat up straight and blinked at seeing Amber. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too. Thanks for emailing me the link to your blog. It’s really awesome.”

“Thanks! Wow, what have you got there? That smells fantastic.”

Duncan set the bags on the island. “Yum Yum Noodle House. You guys want some?”

“Is there enough?” Lovey looked at Marc. “We were about to order something.”

“There’s lots,” Amber said. “I think we might’ve overdone it.”

“We need to have a quick shower first,” Duncan said. “We just went for a run.”

“Cool.” Duncan could see that Lovey was burning with curiosity about them, and that made him smile.

“Come on.” Duncan grabbed Amber’s hand and dragged her down the hall to his bedroom.

“Um, we’re going to shower together?” She dropped her backpack on the bed.

“It’s more efficient.”

“True.” She pulled her shirt off over her head as she walked toward his bathroom. He admired the sleek lines of her back down to the waistband of her leggings, and her slender but toned arms, then admired the way the stretchy black fabric outlined her sweet ass. He followed her into the bathroom and cranked on the shower. Christ. His dick hardened. Just what he needed, a hard-on in the shower with her.

“I love this shower.” She pulled her sports bra off over her head.

“I love it even more with you in it.” He stripped off his own sweaty clothes while she peeled away leggings and socks. She did something with her ponytail that turned it into a messy knot on top of her head, and they stepped into the steamy enclosure. “Just wish we had more time. And that my sister and Duper weren’t out there waiting for us.”

He wanted to take his time and leisurely wash and explore her body, but this was a purposeful shower intended to clean the sweat off them, so he let her wash and rinse herself while he did the same. Before they stepped out, though, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her—a long, hot, steamy kiss, naked body pressed to wet, naked body.

When he drew back she blinked up at him and swallowed. “Whoa.”

“Yeah.” He smiled at her. “Let’s go eat.”

She sighed and he turned off the water.

They dried themselves and he watched her dress in the clothes she’d packed in her bag: skinny low-rise jeans and loose-knit, sky-blue sweater. They returned to the kitchen.

“Amber, would you like a glass of wine?” Lovey had gotten plates out of the cupboards and had the food arranged. “I picked up a bottle of Moscato on the way here.”

“I love Moscato. Sure.”

Soon the four of them sat at the island eating, the girls with wine, Duper and Duncan with beers.

Lovey started asking Amber questions about her college classes. Duncan liked hearing her talk about them—she sounded so smart. But Lovey kept shooting him looks and he knew she was dying to ask about their relationship and what was going on with them. He just grinned at her and she made a face back at him. Luckily she didn’t embarrass him in front of Amber with some jab at his crappy love life.

There was plenty of food, and when they were done, Lovey poured the girls more wine and they moved into the living room. Duncan picked up the remote for the TV and turned it on.

“Duck Dynasty?” Amber sat beside him on the couch. He pulled her closer, arm around her, while Lovey and Duper snuggled on the other couch.

“Nope. Hockey.” He clicked through channels until he found the Penguins versus Sharks game. “I heard a rumor that you’re into hockey now.”

Amber’s head whipped around and she glared at him. “How’d you hear that?”