He loosens his grip. “Come on, Lily. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. You know I didn’t mean that. I miss you. I’m worried about you.”

My phone rings. I slip it out of my pocket. It’s five-thirty. It takes a good ten minutes to get changed, and I still need to warm up before the kids arrive for their lesson at six.

“Don’t answer that, Lily.”

I’ve about had it with being told what I should and shouldn’t do. The screen lights up, the name flashing its alert. Of all the people to be calling at this moment. I wrench my arm out of Benji’s grip, open the door, and get jerked back by the seatbelt. I slam my finger on the button and tumble out of the car, landing on my ass in a puddle. It hasn’t even been raining, so I’m not sure where the damn wet spot came from. “Thanks again for the ride.”

“Come on, Li—”

I hit the green button and bring the phone to my ear, meeting Benji’s annoyed gaze. “Hi, Randy.” I slam the door, pop up from the ground, and start hoofing it toward the building.

That was probably a really bad idea. Nothing like poking a hornet’s nest when you’re sitting right beside the hornet. Benji lays on the horn and rolls down the window. I start jogging, not interested in hearing his vitriol spew. My heart crashes around in my chest as I push through the arena doors, leaving Benji to fume.

“Hey, luscious. How’s it goin’?”

“Hey. Good. Great. How ’bout you?” I’m breathless, so each word comes out on a pant.

“Excellent. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Huh. What? No. Nope. Not a bad time.” The unpleasant altercation with Benji is immediately forgotten—okay, not forgotten, but made much less worse by the low, deep timbre of Randy’s voice. It makes my girl parts tingle like they’ve been dipped in mouthwash.

“You sure? You sound out of breath.”

“I’m on my way into the rink.”

“That’s unfortunate. Here I thought maybe I’d caught you with your hand down your pants.”

I laugh. “I’d probably get arrested if I did that right now.”

“Too bad. It’s a nice image.” He makes a sound, like a sigh with a hum attached to it. “So I’m guessing you’re lying about it not being a bad time.”

I shoulder open the door to the locker room. It’s empty apart from me. I put my phone on speaker. “I’ve got a few minutes before I have to teach.”

“Awesome. How’ve you been?”

“Good. You?”

“Yeah. All right. My dad overstayed his welcome; I only got rid of him a few days ago.”

“I’m sorry about that. Didn’t sound like a good situation.”

“It wasn’t. It isn’t. But whatever. I don’t see him much, so I should be good for another six months before he fucks with my shit again.”

“I guess that’s a good thing?”

“Yeah.”

When he doesn’t elaborate, I change the subject. “How’s the season going?”

“I’m getting used to my new team. It’s good even though it’s different. You know how it goes—or maybe you don’t.”

“I can understand that. It’s like a learning curve, right? Figuring out how everyone works together and stuff. It’s probably like getting used to a new partner for pairs, but with way more people involved.” I pull my shirt over my head and kick off my shoes.

“Yeah. That’s a reasonable comparison. What’re you doing? What’s all that noise?”

“I’m getting changed.”

“No shit. Are you naked?” I swear his voice lowers two octaves.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Every part of me warms at the memory of the things he did to me the last time we were naked.

“I sure as hell would.”

I laugh.

“You’re not gonna tell me?”

“You can’t see me, so I’m not sure it matters.”

“It’s the idea, the possibility.”

“Fine. I’m naked.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Too bad. Look, speaking of getting naked, I’ve got a game in Toronto at the end of the week. We’re gonna be there overnight. I can get you tickets, and then you can spend the night with me.”

“Wow. Talk about cutting to the chase.” I’m not sure what to expect, not having heard from him in weeks. His dad being there may have had something to do with that, though. I’m a little shocked at his boldness, although maybe I shouldn’t be. Could be this is just how it works.

“It’s at the end of a series, so I can stay an extra night, if you’re interested. We can get extra naked. I’ll even take you out for dinner like I was supposed to last time.”

Oh, God. Hours of uninterrupted time with Randy. A night in a bed with no constraints and no one to walk in on us. Still, I don’t want to say yes right away and make it seem like I’m willing to drop everything for him. “I’ll have to check my schedule.”

“You do that.”

“’Kay. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.”

“Sounds good. I’ll make sure my special false-advertising boxers are clean for you.”

I cringe, still embarrassed. “You can get rid of those any time now.”