It isn’t until the screen displays Blake himself in current time that I realize he’s not doing a cocky pose or cheering with the rest of the guys. Instead, he’s looking up at something with a look of serious intensity.
My skin burns even though I’m surrounded by ice and my heart falls when my eyes lock with his steely ones.
Stay,he mouths, helmet off. His hair is curly and damp against his forehead, and my thighs rub together at the sight of him, so without thinking, I nod.
Georgia, Sienna, and I make our way to the locker-room area to wait for the boys. It’s “puck bunnies” galore down here but everyone seems to be civil as we all await the group of winners.
Derek is the first to exit the locker room, he’s beaming as he talks to someone on his phone, more than likely his daughter, Delilah.
Deli’s a sweet kid, I met her last week at the festival and couldn’t get over how adorable she was.
As Derek approaches us, his eyes lock with Sienna’s. He falters in his steps, drinking her in slowly before continuing with his walk. Sienna’s neck cranes as she watches him walk by, eyes softer around the edges than normal. I raise a brow at Georgia who just shrugs. We’ll find out about that later, I guess.
The boys begin piling out of the locker room and we congratulate every single one until Blake and Jace exit together, laughing with one another.
Well, that’s fucking new. What happened to not talking to the enemy, Jace? It’s only been six hours since I last saw him, and he’d told me he wouldn’t speak to Blake.
The air around us grows thick with awkwardness as the two men sidle up to us. Our friends look around as if waiting for something to happen but Blake's focus is trained solely on me. His gaze burns a hole in the side of my head, and it takes everything in me not to squirm as he lets out a low humorless laugh.
“Give your keys to Sienna,” he says, and my eyes widen as I look at him up and down in disbelief.
Is heserious?After not talking to me for a week straight,that’sthe first thing he has to say to me?
I can sense the energy shift in our small group as Jace furrows his eyebrows at the man before clearing his throat. If this had been a few years ago and I was my old immature self, I would let Jace fight my battles and cuss Blake out for his rudeness. But I can’t have him fight all my battles anymore.
“And why should I do that?” I challenge, narrowing my eyes on the annoying male.
“We have a project to do, Princess,” is all he says in an indescribable tone before gently plucking my purse from my shoulder and slinging it over his.
In the car, Blake and I ride in complete silence. Though it’s not terrible one, it is a bit awkward how quiet we are with one another. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed him be this mute since we’ve met. I sneak a subtle glance at him through the reflection of the car window, his figure is wonky, but I can make out the outline of his face perfectly.
“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to break the ice. I receive a small sigh in return and frown at the childishness of this all.I’mthe one that’s supposed to be mad!
I can see him smirking from the side of my eye but he doesn’t respond and it isn’t until we pull up at The Sugar Hole that I understand why.
He tells me to stay in the car, which is crazy because I’ve never just “stayed in the car” when it came to donuts, but I comply nonetheless.
It takes Blake five minutes to come back to the car with a box much smaller than the one we’d had last time and a masked bored look on his face. I peak over his shoulder as he chuckles lightly, putting the now open box full of all my favorites onto my lap. I gasp as I take a bite of a Pink Truffle donut and sigh.
“Does this mean we’re good now?” Blake asks, his tone softer than before as he looks over at me with warm eyes.
“For now,” is all that I can manage to get out over the mouthful of donut, as he chuckles lightly.
He’s silent for a second, letting me devour two more donuts before turning to face me in his seat.
“You left that night,” he says, softly. Zero hint of anger or sadness.
I scarf down the last of the strawberry donut before nodding. “I got scared and ran away. I’m sorry for leaving and then acting like a child after. Are you mad at me?” I ask, looking down at my lap, suddenly feeling smaller than before.
He lifts my chin with his thumb and pointer finger, bringing our eyes level with one another.
“I could never be mad at you, Cleo. Was I upset that I probably fucked up everything between us whenI kissed you? Yes, but I wasn’t mad that you ran from the Ferris wheel, I expected it. I’ve been watching you and I can see that you got overwhelmed with it all. And then I fucked up by joking while you were trying to be serious. Are you mad at me?” he asks, eyes soft.
You know how they say eyes are the window to the soul? Blake’s eyes hold the secrets of the ocean, I want to drown in them and get to know everything there is to know about him.
“I could never be mad at you, Blake.” I chuckle, repeating his earlier words as he smiles.
“Do over?”
