"I guess the girls you talk to lie to you then. Maybe you should rethink the people you hang out with," I reply, crossing my arms over my chest hoping my fake confidence will get me through this conversation.
Nico breaks into a full-blown grin and I match it with one of my own. A feeling of accomplishment washes over me.
"Maybe I should, are you always this serious about hockey?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.
I laugh, opening my mouth but my voice doesn't come out.
"Always."
Bishop's' voice is a pitchfork to my flirty bubble. I turn my body to look at him. His arms are crossed over his chest, no emotion on his face. Stone. His voice lacked all the joking nature it held earlier.
What. The. Fuck.
His eyes are zeroed in on his teammate with a look that says, You should be six feet under. My stomach rolls in excitement, all my skin buzzes with anticipation. Is he…jealous?
No, stupid brain. Stupid. Bishop sees me as a younger sister. I need to stop letting myself believe these naive thoughts. It is only going to hurt me in the end. My irrational mind needs to pick up the Team Bishop T-shirts and burn those motherfuckers. Bishop and I? We will never happen.
Nico clears his throat causing me to turn my head back to him. This is who my brain needs to start shipping. This boy. The one who is only two years older than me. The one who looks at me like I want to be looked at.
"Anyway… Killer moves out there. That deke in the first period? Fucking dirtyyy," he compliments. I smile widely. I always love when someone strokes my hockey ego.
I shrug like it isn't a big deal, trying to hide my smile with a smirk.
"Ya know, if you need someone to show you the ropes, I'm more than happy to help you out," I offer, shoving my hands into my pockets and rocking back and forth on my heels. The response was impulsive.
I can feel Bishop's eyes on the back of my head. A heated warning burned through my skull, but I continue to face Nico. I am tired of Bishop controlling my life.
My head.
My heart.
Both of Nico's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but he quickly recovers.
"I think I'll have to take you up on that offer. Want to give me your number?" he asks and I nod softly, moving closer to him as he offers me his phone. I quickly punch in my number along with my name.
"There you go." I hand his phone back to him gently.
"Alright, Rico Suave, stop making my kid swoon."
It's official, my father is going to send me to an early death. Thank you, Dad, for efficiently ruining Nico's name for me. Now all I see in my head is Gerardo Mejia in a really shitty music video singing, "Ricooooooo…Suaveeee."
I palm my forehead loudly, drawing yet more attention to myself. Nico clears his throat, and I notice a hint of color tint his pale skin. Is he blushing?
Oh, he is totally blushing.
"Um, I just remembered I forgot something in the locker room. Nico, it was nice meeting you!" I say as I start my way back to the locker room to retrieve an object that doesn't exist.
"You too, Valor Sullivan!" he calls out, a smile in his voice. I quickly make my way down towards the locker rooms just to get a few moments of quiet to myself.
The room is empty when I enter and for that I am thankful. I walk towards the wall in front of me and lean against it with a sigh. The coolness from the wall calms my racing heart. I tilt my head back to rest there as I close my eyes.
"You want to tell me what that was?"
My eyes snap open and I jump forward. I slap my hand over my chest like that'll keep my heart from leaping out of my chest.
"Jesus fuck, Bishop! Don't scare me like that!" I yell, breathing deeply.
His footsteps thunder in my ears as they move closer and closer. My eyes look up to meet his blazing blue ones.
"What. The. Fuck. Was. That. Valor?" he grits out, his teeth are grinding together, and his jaw is clenched so tightly I can see the muscles flinch.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I spit back, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Is he really that mad because I was talking to Nico? There is no fucking way. I know he's protective over me but this is a little much.
"Letting Nico eye fuck you while you ate that shit up." I flinch from the harshness of his words, his tall frame towering over mine a few inches in front of me, our shoes are almost touching.
"Are you fucking shitting me? I'm almost eighteen. I can flirt with whoever the fuck I want to. You aren't my damn dad!" I seethe loudly. After all the times I watched him flirt with puck bunnies and I can't flirt with one guy? I am calling bullshit.
"What happens when Nico wants to cash in on that flirting, huh? Are you going to be able to back that mouth up?" he threatens taking another step forward moving into my personal bubble.
My blood sears through my body as I take a step forward pressing my hands into his chest. I push roughly. "Fuck you, Bishop. Just because I flirt with someone doesn't mean I'm promising to fuck him. That's the sluts who throw themselves at you!"
He grabs my wrists squeezing them tightly, leaning his face closer to me. Effectively shutting me up. I gasp when his nose touches mine. I can smell him… He is consuming me everywhere. My entire body is alive. A constant ache flows through my bones as the scent of pine and spice fills my senses.
"Those are random girls that I don't give two fucks about, Valor." He slows my name down, pronounces each syllable dangerously slow.
"Yeah, and what does that make me, B?"
Without hesitation, no doubt, he responds with something I never saw coming.
"You're everything, Vallie."
I gasp softly but it is quickly swallowed up when Bishop presses his lips to mine in a scorching kiss that melts my insides. Just like that. My entire world shatters into pieces.
My eyes snap shut, and the little people in my brain pause unsure if this is a dream or reality. I'm frozen for a moment until his lips start to slowly move against mine in a rhythmic pattern. I sigh in contentment as my fingers spread over his chest gripping the soft material of his shirt between my fingers.
I need him close, so close we could be one person. I want him everywhere. I want there to be no point where he ends and I begin. I'm not the first person to kiss him. I'm only retracing the marks made by others before me. Women have inhaled his scent longer than I have. I don't fool myself by thinking I am the first. But my fucking God do I hope I'm the last.
The sun. My sun has set my body ablaze. The throbbing finds its way right between my legs as our lips move together in sweet harmony. His lips are soft, pillowy, and they are killing me slowly.
I let my back fall into the wall and Bishop catches himself by placing his hand beside my head on the wall. The other hand makes its way to the back of my head where he gathers my hair at the base of my skull pulling softly.
I moan into the kiss, giving him access to my tongue, and he groans. The sound alone sends electricity straight to my core. I let him massage my tongue with his just enjoying the taste of spearmint. My hands are clinging to him so tight that my knuckles are cramping, but I don't dare let go, afraid he will move.
He pulls away from my lips resting his head on my forehead, breathing deeply. My eyes flutter open meeting his phosphorescent ones.
Bishop leans forward, tucking his face in the crook of my neck and inhaling. He's trying to suck me into him, make me completely one with him.