When Lyla arrives at her new school, Crestwood High, her hopes of a new beginning are quickly challenged by the schools walking one-night stand. Lean, killer jawline, captain of the ice hockey team, and rude as all hell, Jack Hughes is everything Ly...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I turned to the sound of a person entering the rental skate store, thinking that everyone had gone home for the night and that I was the last here since the ice had already been groomed. Jack walked in casually, jumped up on the bench and sat slouched watching me work. I felt beyond awkward as his eyes followed my every move, and I was almost afraid to even breathe, incase he pointed it out.
"Did you want something?" I asked, sass coating my tone.
Jack smiled, ignoring my attitude and jumped back down from the bench. "You done? Let's go."
Go? Go where? Was he planning on dropping me home again? The confusion must have been obvious on my face, because he sighed playfully, and reached out to ruffle my hair for the second time in one night. I pulled away, pushing at his hand as a way of dodging him.
He frowned slightly. "Come on, Lyla, I wanna go skating."
Oh. That.
I had almost forgotten about Jack's offer to keep an eye on me while I got some practice in. But, I wasn't sure why he was planning on joining me on the ice? Weren't his legs sore after the afternoon of practice and the shift he worked? I knew mine were, and I hadn't even skated for long.
I pursed my lips, deep in thought. Jack and I weren't exactly on good terms. Sure, he'd been nice to me this afternoon, but we'd hardly spoken all week since our argument, and I wasn't sure how I felt. What if we got into an argument on the ice? What if he changed his tone and was back to being horrible Jack?
I couldn't come up with a response fast enough, and when I did nothing but stare at the boy dumbfounded, he did the last thing I expected him to.
Stomping towards me with a purpose I'd never seen out of the hockey player, even during games, he paused his movements right in front of my eyes, so close to me I could feel his warm breath on my lips, and the heat from his skin radiated onto me like an electricity so powerful I thought I might be shocked. He wrapped his much larger hand around my wrist, and yanked, hard, causing my body to stumble, and for me to crash right into his chest.
"Skates on, pretty girl," he whispered, tilting my chin up to face him with his fingertips. "I don't have all night."
And then, he was gone.
I gasped for air, finally feeling like I could breathe again. What the hell has just happened? And why did this keep happening to me? I wasn't supposed to feel this way for Jack, or for anyone, really, except for Reid, only, in these little moments Jack kept cornering me into, I seemed to forget all about my so-called relationship with the Willowvale Captain.
I grabbed my skates, lacing them back up as my mind spiralled down a deep slope filled with thoughts of only Jack Hughes.
Was it even smart to be doing this? It seemed like the more time we spent alone, the more tension we built between us. Whether it was good tension or bad, I couldn't tell. One this for sure, though, was that Jack made me feel far too many things. Worst of all, I didn't want him to stop. I liked the way Jack treated me, when we were alone. I liked the way he touched me and teased me and made me feel like the only person that existed, and it was terrifying, because I wanted more.
