Juicy Rebound (IceCats Book 1) Read online

  “I do. But I feel a little overdressed.”

  “Nope, you’re perfect,” he says, kissing my cheek. He then tucks my llama head under his arm and laces our fingers together. “Come here.”

  I walk with him to the scantily dressed girls who are sizing me up. “Amelia, this is Gwen, Melissa, and Ashley. They’re all girlfriends of my teammates. Gwen is my partner, Kurri’s, girl, and Melissa is with Vic, our winger. Ashley is with Joss, one of the other defensemen.”

  Oh.

  They smile sweetly as Chandler brings my hand up, kissing the back of it. “Guys, this is Amelia.”

  Gwen gushes as she holds out her hands. “The Amelia? Wow, she’s prettier than you described.”

  My cheeks fill with color as Ashley says, “He was legit just raving about you before you came in.”

  “Like, the whole time, you were the only thing he would talk about,” Melissa adds, and I find myself grinning from ear to ear.

  I glance up at him, and our eyes meet in a heated exchange. “He’s pretty great.”

  “He is! We adore Chandler,” one of them says, but I’m too lost in his topaz gaze.

  When he winks, I giggle as he turns to look at the ladies. “Excuse me, ladies. I gotta get my lady some wine. You want some, right?” he asks me, but I’m still caught on the “my lady” part.

  Gruffly, I say, “I do.”

  “I got you a red since I know you love red,” he says as he walks around the girls, snagging a bottle of red off the counter. He grabs a red plastic cup and pours some as he nods toward the cabinet. “Open that.”

  “Here?” I ask, grabbing the handle, and he nods. When I open it, I find little baggies of candy. All red.

  I raise my brows, and when I look back at him, he’s grinning. “You said you only like the red candy. I made Nico help me pick out enough to fill ten bags.”

  “For real?” I ask, grabbing a bag of strawberry Runts. “For me?”

  “Only you,” he says, kissing my cheek. “Happy Halloween.”

  It’s honestly the sweetest thing a guy has ever done for me. Before he gets too far, I press my lips to his. And when his hand comes up, cupping my face, I lean into it. His other arm snakes around my waist, pulling me in close as my arms wrap around his neck and our kiss deepens. Even through my fluffy jumpsuit, I can feel the heat of his body, and it turns me on like no other. I press myself into him, but then he pulls away. We’re breathing hard as our eyes meet.

  A grin tugs at his lips as he whispers, “I shouldn’t have worn this loincloth around you.”

  I snicker as I shake my head. “Quit.”

  “Everyone is about to get a show if you don’t stop looking at me like that.”

  My face hurts from trying not to smile, so I stop. His eyes light up at the sight of my grin, and then he’s kissing me again. He nibbles on my bottom lip before pulling away once more. “For real. Stop,” he says, kissing my nose.

  “I’m not doing anything.”

  “You exist,” he says then, giving me a side-eye, and my heart feels as if it’s gonna burst out of my chest. “Constant hard-on, and it hurts when you’re wearing a cup.”

  I cock my head to the side. “You’re wearing a cup?”

  “Yes! I can’t run around with my dick hanging out around here. I play on a team of idiots who like smacking each other’s junk. They’re insane.”

  Laughter bubbles inside my throat as he hands me my cup of wine. “They smack your junk?”

  “Yes. Weirdos. Nico is the main one,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone.”

  He’s so excited, I can’t bear to tell him I don’t want to. I’d rather hang with just him, but when he laces his fingers through mine, I go with him. For the next hour, we move through the party as he introduces me to his teammates and friends. Everyone is so nice and friendly. He’s animated and funny, but the best part is how special I feel. First thing everyone says is “The Amelia?” I love the color that fills Chandler’s face as he nods, gazing down at me. He isn’t the least bit embarrassed—if anything, he’s proud.

  I’m three glasses in when we’re finally done meeting everyone. I have a great buzz going on as I lean into the railing beside Chandler. “This is nice.”

  “It is,” he answers, taking a long pull of his beer. “I’m glad you’re having a good time. I was nervous.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I thought you’d be weirded out that I talk about you.”

  I shrug as I bite into my lip. “I’m not. I mean, I talk about you.”

  “To who?”

  “Shelli,” I answer with a bold tip of my chin. He laughs in response, and I sort of feel bad. “I’m not hiding you. I really don’t talk to anyone.”

  “I know,” he says, his eyes lively. “I’m not upset.”

  “Okay.” I take a sip of my wine and watch as the party goes on around us. People are laughing, dancing, and making out. “This reminds me of the college parties we’d go to.”

  Chandler nods as he looks around. “Yeah, I guess so.” He glances back to me. “Though, back then, you called me Moon.”

  I laugh softly. “I was a different girl then.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah,” I laugh, shaking my head. “I was carefree, having a great time. I was frisky and didn’t hide what I wanted.”

  His lips quirk at the side of his mouth. “You were a bit wild.”

  “Right? Man, I wanted to sleep with you so bad. Still do—”

  He holds up his hand. “Wait, what?”

  “What?”

  “Can we go back to what you just said? The whole ‘still do’ part?”

  I give him a dry look. “Focus.”

  “Oh, I’m focused,” he says, turning his body toward mine. “And there is no way we can move past the part where you just said you still do.”

  I feel my face burning, and I can’t believe I said that. Now I have to distract him with something else. “We can and we will ’cause I gotta tell you this—”

  He doesn’t seem convinced. “You can try to change the subject and act like you didn’t say that all day, Justice, but you did. I heard it.”

  I glare. “Can I talk?”

  “Please.”

  The smug look on his face drives me wild, but I won’t let it sidetrack me. I’m supposed to be distracting him from my impulsive choice of words. “You remember that party at the Bullies house, the night Sofia and Ryan hooked up for the first time?”

  “Yup.”

  I give him an incredulous look. “For real? You do?”

  He nods. “You wore a skintight red dress that showed your whole back and these insanely high heels. Your hair was straight and down over your shoulders. You were stunning, and I remember wondering how I could get you to be mine.”

  I’m breathless. “Stop.”

  He shrugs. “What?”

  “How do you remember that?”

  His eyes are soft as they burn into mine. “It’s hard to forget the one who got away.”

  Oh, my dear heart, we’re in so much trouble.

  I swallow hard as I look away, my face burning while my heart pounds in my chest. “Okay, thank you for dropping that bomb on me.”

  “No problem. Continue, please.”

  I don’t even remember what I was talking about… Oh! “So, we’re making out, right?”

  He nods. “Yup. Remember, keep everything G-rated. Cup really hurts my dick.”

  I snort and, of course, look down at his loincloth. When he chuckles, I roll my eyes. “Anyway… We got interrupted, remember?”

  “Yeah, someone was drunk or something.”

  “Exactly, but I told Sofia we slept together.”

  He arches his brows and purses his lips. “Well, since I’m not dead, I doubt she told Ryan.”

  “She didn’t.”

  “Why’d you tell her that?”

  I shrug, not sure. “I was jealous of her. She was gorgeous an