BLAZE: Enemies to Lovers College Hockey Romance by Eddie Cleveland (ebook reader macos .txt) 📕

turn down a good pussy hunt. I’ve got nowhere to be. Let’s go look for your cat.”

“Yeah?” She looks up at me.

“Yeah.” We stop at her car. “But first, do you mind if I put my bag in your trunk.” I wiggle the hockey bag slung across my shoulders. “It might be a tight fit.” I drop my voice and give her a wink.

“Oh my God. Put it in the backseat and get in the car.”

It’s so cold that the metal on the belt buckle burns my skin when I clip it in. Prissy gets her little car running, but it’s freezing air blasting from her heating vents. She drives out of the parking garage, and, by the time we’re out on the road, the air is starting to warm up.

“You know, I didn’t say I had a roommate to be cool or whatever.” She looks over at me briefly. “It’s because my mother and I are really close. I pretty much think of her as my roommate.”

There’s truth in her voice, but a tinge of something else. Embarrassment? I’m not sure why. It’s not like I care.

“Living at home is a sweet deal.” I shrug. “I still go home every summer.”

Even though it’s been four years, there’s still part of me that expects to see Logan when I go. I can still see him towering over me with his easy-going grin. He made it hard to get out of his shadow. Literally.

I have to swallow the emotions climbing up my throat and pricking behind my eyes. I stare out Prissy’s car window and struggle to keep myself restrained.

“So, all that balloon stuff was crazy. Where did you learn that anyway? Did you work birthdays and Bar Mitzvahs too?” Prissy smiles over at me, but I don’t return it.

“No, my brother, Logan, back when he was pre-med, he put in a ton of hours at this hospital. He’d drag me along on weekends when I wasn’t doing tournaments and stuff.”

“Okay, that explains how you knew your way around and all that, but what about the balloon animals?”

“That was Logan too.” The lump in my throat threatens to break my voice. “Before the beard and several tattoos ago, I was a dorky kid with a very brief interest in making stuff with balloons. Not animals, like swords and shields. Anyway, my brother found me a bunch of YouTube videos, and the rest is history.”

“Ohhh, sounds like he's the good brother.” She teases me. “Is that why you’re the bad one? Black sheep gets more attention, right?” She smirks at me.

“Well, the white sheep is dead. So, no.”

Her smirk wilts and her eyes grow wide. “Seriously? Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I feel awful.”

That was a dick move. Prissy wasn’t trying to hurt me. She had no way of knowing Logan died.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I just get pissed off about it sometimes. You know? You’re right, I’ve always been the black sheep of the family, but not for attention. It’s because Logan was nearly fucking perfect. Like, he was the best guy. All that time he spent trying to be the best student, brother, doctor, person… it was all for nothing. He’s gone.”

Prissy drops one hand from the steering wheel and grabs mine. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Blaze.”

“It’s not something I talk about. It hurts too much.” My voice cracks. I swallow hard and stare out the window.

The car is silent. Prissy turns up some roads, but other than the indicator ticking, there’s no noise.

“Maybe he was doing it for himself,” she whispers.

“What?”

“It’s just, I didn’t know Logan, but he sounds like he was really great.”

“He was.”

“Maybe he liked being that great. Maybe he didn’t do it because he was trying to live up to anything other than his own potential. Maybe it made him happy.”

I don’t want to think about Logan. I don’t want to remember what I lost.

“Maybe,” I answer.

Prissy pulls up her street and then into her driveway. From the car, I can see the cat is waiting like an expectant turd at the front door. I don’t know why I follow her out of the car. It doesn’t feel like a choice. When she stepped out, so did my stability. She’s got her key in the lock, and I turn her around. I hold her, gripping her tightly, and kiss her harder than I should.

I rest my forehead against hers. “Can I come in?”

17

Sneaking Around & Out Priscilla

“Yes.” My heart makes it to my mouth before my brain does.

I guess, since it’s about to beat out of my chest, heart gets priority. I open the door and Mr. Bojangles leaps over my feet, not the least bit grateful for my help. Blaze has been so open and honest with me about his brother. I saw something real in him. It makes me want to cry the tears he won’t spill. I wish I could help ease the burden of his grief.

I follow the cat inside, and Blaze follows me. He shuts the door with a soft click. Blaze cups my jaw, he drops his head until our foreheads touch.

I know there are reasons I shouldn't kiss him, but I can’t remember any.

His eyes are normally smirking, even when his lips aren’t. Not now. Their honesty pulls me in. Their hunger keeps me captive. The vulnerability in his eyes, that swallows me whole.

“I need you, right now.” His voice is hoarse. The emotions he struggles with, the hurt he keeps inside, it tints his voice. It taints his life.  Blaze can’t face the chaos that death brought, so he absorbed it. He became it.

His fingertips press into my face and his lips softly open mine. His kiss coaxes my doubts to surrender. He lifts my hand above my head, pinning it to the wall and steps into me. His weight pressing into me, holding me in place while our kiss deepens, it feels familiar. Comforting.

And so