The Ice Next Door

Chapter 8

HADLEY

A bell rings through the school, warning of third period.

Science class.

And the first day of having Sebastian Tate as my lab partner.

"Okay, Maeve, I have to go. I'm going to be late!" I rush my best friend away from my locker, plucking my binder and books from the shelf at the top.

Catching on, she makes her eyebrows dance, "OoOoh, we can't have that. We don't want to keep your precious Sebastian waiting."

"No, we don't. So get out of here." I shove her playfully and laugh, then slam my locker closed. "I'll see you at lunch. Get me a sprite." I mutter out and quickly turn to scurry down the hall.

"I expect to hear all the details!" She calls out from behind. "Every. Last. Sinful. Detail."

I shake my head and laugh again as the bell rings once more. I barely make it to the classroom in time, slipping through the crack of the door before Mrs. Miller can close it on me.

"Just by the skin of your teeth, Miss Berry." She takes note and finally shuts it. I duck my head as I pass her and ignore the nosy eyes of students in the front row.

Sebastian laughs from the desk right next to mine. "Cutting it close there aren't you, stalker?"

"Its Maeve's fault." I whisper back, my heart still racing from the jog it took to make it here on time.

"I thought maybe you were standing me up." He smirks. It's not cute or genuine, it's a tease. All smug and wide. He knows I'd never do that. Even if my life depended on it.

I want to open my mouth to say something sharp back, but Mrs. Miller commands the class from the front of the room before I can, clapping her hands together. Sebastian notices this and chuckles again.

"Welcome to the first day of labs, my fellow scientists! Before we can begin, you'll need to select your partner for the remainder of the unit, so please, get with them now."

Soon, the room is flooded by the sounds of desks being scraped across the floor as students pair off into groups of two. Sebastian scoots closer too, bringing along the scents of his intoxicating cologne. My belly flutters when the sandalwood and musk hits my nostrils.

He smells good. He looks good. He probably tastes good.

A girl can't win.

From the front of the room, a few rows before me, Sam nods to me with a suggestive smile at my closeness with my crush and chooses a girl with long black pigtails to be his lab partner since I've been taken.

"Today, we will only be going through safety procedures and precautions, while learning about the instruments and tools we'll be using within the labs. But be rest assured, that we'll get into the fun stuff next class."

"Bummer. I wanted to get to the fun stuff today." Sebastian teases beside me, bumping his elbow to mine with flirty insinuation.

My whole arm ignites with sparks. But I decide to play his game. Leaning closer, I whisper back, "Who says we can't get to the fun stuff today?"

Something ripples in his eyes as Mrs Miller's voice fades away. "What do you consider fun stuff, stalker?"

"What do you consider fun stuff?" I repeat.

Shaking his head, he tuts, "I asked you first Hadley."

I swallow. Should I play it safe here and gauge his reaction or answer truthfully and send him reeling.

I choose the latter. "This morning in my bedroom was pretty fun."

His jaw flexes as he remembers. "It was."

"Devin is right though. You're a f*****g tease, Tate." I shrug and flip senselessly through the packet about the dos and don'ts of chemistry on my desk, faking boredom like I'm a star drama student.

"I'm not." He assures me sternly, tracing his finger up the vein in my arm. I shiver at his touch and an arrogant chuckle bubbles in his throat. "But unfortunately for you, eager one, it's not time to prove to you otherwise. "

Ugh. I'd stomp my foot if I knew he wouldn't hear it. I don't like being teased. It's like being edged without the small promise of pleasure. He deserves a taste of his own medicine. "Fine. Don't prove that you're not a tease. But what if I show you that I'm not one instead?" My brow lifts in defiance.

He shifts in his chair beside me, curious but guarded. "How?"

"What if my hand just happened to travel below the desk? What if it found your knee? Followed the heat from between your legs and cupped your—"

On a rushed sigh, his hand jerks forward and grabs mine like he thinks I just might do it and It makes me giggle seeing him react like that.

Is Mr. Ice afraid of what I might do here in the classroom where people could see if they looked in the right spot?

"What's the matter, Sebastian? Why so tense all of a sudden?" I smile proudly and act oblivious to really sell it.

He scoffs and removes his hand from mine as if his reputation has been contested. "I'm not."

"You are." I say, "Admit it. Admit the fact that you're anxious to feel my fingers wrap around that big—"

Cock of yours.

"Miss Berry, Mr. Tate, I trust you're talking amongst yourselves because you know the dos and don't of the lab?" Mrs. Miller cuts her speech short to put Sebastian and me on the spot. The air fills with awkward and defeaning silence as she waits for one of us to speak. A few students gasp. Some laugh.

Neither of us have been reading the packet she gave us, so we don't know anything. I don't even know what page the rest of the class is on. A quick glance on the desk next to me reveals its a different one than the one that lays open on mine.

Luckily, Sebastian speaks up before I have to. "No, Mrs. Miller, just excited about creating some chemical reactions."

She gives him a pointed look of disbelief, but decides not to push it further, raising her bushy brows in disappointment instead, "Perhaps you should get a new lab partner, Mr. Tate. One who won't make the labs compete for your attention. "

My mouth drops open.

Did she just say that outloud?

"All good, Mrs. Miller. I don't need a new lab partner." He answers back a little too strongly, a hint of anger in his voice.

He waits for her to turn her back as she writes on the whiteboard to lean close with a chuckle and a deep mocking whisper. "Yeah, Hadley, stop making things compete for my attention, you greedy girl. I need to focus."

He's joking, I know that. But something about it doesn't feel funny anymore. It feels serious. I know he needs to focus. He needs to pass.

It's the only reason he's sitting next to me right now. Why he even talks to me. Why he promised to sleep with me.

I'm highly aware of the specifications of the deal between us, and I agreed to them, moreso, I wanted them, but for the first time since he brought the crazy idea to me, I feel...cheapened. Unworthy, somehow. He wouldn't give me the time of day if he didn't need anything from me, and that's not a thought I'd like to be reminded of when we're getting along so freely.

Pondering this, I move away from him and set my eyes on the paper on my desk. The sugary sweetness is gone from me the next time I open my mouth. Its straight to business. I plan to be strictly platonic partners from now on. "She's right, Sebastian. We should be paying attention. You need to pass this class to stay on the team. It's the only reason we're here in the first place."

He senses the shift in my mood and tries to counter, his charming smile fading fast when he realizes he's pushed too far, "That's not—"

I don't let him talk. I don't want to hear whatever bullshit he's concocted to help ease my mind. I won't let him lie to me and make me think otherwise, or hope for something different.

"It's okay. Let's just focus now."

He doesn't give up. He's known not to. Probably why he's the top scorer on the hockey team. "Hadley, I—"

The concern in his tone makes my heart flutter. Against my will, my thoughts spiral and I start to think of all the possibilities that could follow his words.

Hadley, what? I'm sorry? I feel bad? It's more than that?

He's not, he doesn't, and it's not. And I refuse to believe it ever could be. There is nothing but a contract between us. I know that. I won't forget it. I won't allow him to make me, either.

Turning to him, I force a brave smile and pretend like it doesn't hurt. It does. In ways I've never felt before. "Its fine, really. I understand."

I do understand.

I do.

I just wish it was different.

He looks at me like there's more he wants to say and possibly wishes he could be strong enough to, but ultimately decides to let his thoughts die. Assuring me with a smile as fake as mine, he nods and falls silent, slumping in his chair as he lifts his attention to the whiteboard.

And the rest of class passes without another word between us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEBASTIAN

I'd planned to invite Hadley to have lunch with me and the guys today, but after that sour moment poisoned things between us, she shut down, shut me out and shot that idea—and all conversation—dead in the water.

I know why she said what she said. I know of the arrangement I made with her. She didn't have to bring it up. She didn't have to remind me.

Moreso, I didn't like that she did. That she felt the need to.

It caught me off guard. That moment went from lighthearted and fun to heavy and serious so fast that it made my f*****g head spin.

She wouldn't let me talk. Wouldn't let me try to give her the assurance she so desperately sought out—even though she'd never come out and ask for it. But what could I reassure her of?

I couldn't tell her I was sorry. Because I'm not. I need her, just as much as she wants me.

I couldn't tell her I wish it was different because I like where we are right now. I like how it easy it is to talk to her. To tease her. To get to know the girl inside.

I couldn't tell her that it's more than just a contract that binds us because we both agreed we were doing this for two reasons; She helps me and I f**k her. That's it. There's no in between. No room for lines to get blurred, or feelings to manifest and tear everything to hell.

But I won't deny that seeing her falter like that doesn't sit well with me. I want her smile back. I want that flirty banter back. That glint in her eyes when she knows she's got one over on me. That gasp on her lips just before I—

Riiiiiiiiing.

Finally, after what feels like f*****g forever of hearing her breathe next to me, feeling her arm brush against mine as she reads in silence, the bell rings at the end of class.

I try once more to extend my offer out, but she's up and out of the chair and bolting towards the door before I can stop her.

So I'm irritated when I walk to our table in the back of the cafeteria to find Roxie already standing there, leaning over the damned thing like it's hers.

Frustration leaks out of me in the form of a groan. I don't want to deal with her s**t right now.

Maybe she'll leave me alone today.

Nope. I'm not that lucky. Roxie side-steps me and presses her petite body to mine, and I bite down my tempter as her little t**s press against my chest."Hi Sebastian." She chirps, all flirty and sweet, doing her best to flutter those fake lashes all the way into my pants.

It won't work. I'm not interested in her. I never have been and I've yet to be desperate enough to go knocking on her door for s*x. It doesn't stop her from trying though.

But unlike Hadley's pursuit of me, hers is obnoxious, borderline pathetic. And she's as generic as you can get. Blonde hair, pale, boring blue eyes, average body, and a face so full of makeup that it's nearly impossible to know where product ends and where nature begins. Plus, her voice is annoying. Like a toddler trapped in her throat, and she does it on purpose, thinks that talking like a baby is cute.

It's not. It's cringe. So f*****g cringe. My skin crawls when I try to imagine what she'd sound like while cumming.

If my c**k was soft before, it's a f*****g marshmallow now.

"Hi." I give her a bored greeting, pushing past her to sit down.

"Hey, man, how's it going?" Devin asks from across the way, removing his bag of chips so that I can place my lunch on the table.

Roxie scoffs offense. "Sebby."

"Roxie, lay off already. " Parker shakes his head down and rolls his eyes down the line. "Take a hint. Sebby, isn't interested."

I don't know why he's being cold. I know for a fact that he's let her ride him a few times. The last party, if I remember right.

"We have our bunnies for the year. We're not looking for any others." Tyler laughs, injecting himself in the mix as Roxie finally huffs and storms off.

He's the star forward and our Right Wing; the second fastest on the ice—below me of course—built to take slams just as much as he deals them out. And even though his build is leaner than the rest of the team, it doesn't make him any less powerful or any less of an asset.

"Well, maybe Tate has someone he'd like to make a bunny." Devin winks, smugly harping on me about the time I'm spending with Hadley.

Hadley would never agree to be a puck bunny. She has too much self confidence and worth to allow men to show her off and use her like some sort of accessory. She's far too special for a label as demoralizing as a puck bunny, anyway. Plus, s*x with her isn't going to be an occurring thing. Once she helps me pass science, she gets me for one night. Not numerous nights. Not quickies in the locker room. No uncomfortable riding sessions in my jeep. No slippery fumbles around in the shower. I shrug and open my sandwich. "I told you already, Dev, I'm only going to f**k Hadley one night. After that, it's back to normal and life before she entered it. Contract complete."

"Is the girl that bad?" Devin asks sincerely. "You two looked pretty cozy last night at the rink."

Hadley isn't bad. Not at all. Nothing about her turns me off. Everything she does, from the way she moves her hair from her ear, to the way her ass sways when she walks, and all her little quirks and smiles in between only work to hook me deeper.

"You're only gonna f**k her once. That's it? You'll pull out and what, ghost her?" Parker chimes in, sliding down to hear the conversation better, his ears pearked like a f*****g dog ready to pounce. He showed interest in her last night and that's hard to put out of my mind.

But he does raise a valid point. I hadn't thought of what comes after we do after the night is over, once we both get what we want from the other. But I can't imagine just ghosting her and going about as if she never existed either. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

But. I don't know. Maybe we can stay friends at least when its all said and done?

"You heard me." I confirm with a firm nod, ignoring the waves of regret that overtake the flying insects inside my stomach to drown them.

Devin chuckles and takes a swig of his cola. "Whatever you say, man."

...TO BE CONTINUED...

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