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The bit of snow still on the ground from last week’s freak snowstorm crunched under my feet as I made my way across the lawn, and all three of them spun around to look at me. Jonny grunted, Sara grinned, but the blonde didn’t make any outward sign of recognition. She looked insanely familiar to me, though. I could swear I’d seen her before.
It was the eyes. She had wide hazel eyes, seemingly too big for her face.
Then it hit me. They were a hell of a lot like Jonny’s eyes, only bigger. Softer. Filled with a sort of sweetness—a word I’d never in a million years use to describe her older brother—that was as addictive as candy.
She was the fuck-me-sideways-and-hang-me-up-wet kind of hot that always got me in trouble, too—perfectly cute as a button one minute, and the next moment it was as though she’d flipped a switch and morphed into a seductress. Fit, with exactly the right amount of curves in all the right places, all wrapped up in a tiny, perky package.
I wouldn’t ever admit the truth to Jonny, but copies of magazines she’d been in were all over my apartment. Including the one from ESPN: The Body. Yeah, the important bits had been covered in that one, but it didn’t take a whole lot of imagination to fill in the missing details. I’d fantasized about her more than a few times.
But this was no fantasy.
Cadence Johnson had apparently bleached her hair, but she was very much here, standing only a few feet in front of me. After she and her partner had won the gold, her gorgeous grin had been everywhere back home. She was all anyone could talk about for months. They’d offered her reality TV shows and dozens of endorsement deals like the one for ESPN. Canada couldn’t get enough of Cadence.
She smiled at me, and it was like she’d flipped that switch. Bedroom eyes. Holy fuck, were those ever bedroom eyes, and they were locked right on me. I froze. Couldn’t help it. There was something about her that left me staring, absolutely tongue-tied and probably shit-faced.
But what was Canada’s darling doing in Portland? Just visiting Jonny and Sara for the holidays? That didn’t sound right to me. The figure skating world operated on a similar schedule to hockey. At this time of year, I would expect her to be too busy training for competitions to travel, so it seemed more than a bit odd.
“Hey, fuck face,” Koz called out from the street, slamming the door to his Ferrari. Fuck face was Blake Kozlow’s current favorite name for me. I wouldn’t bother to guess what he’d be calling me by next week, since he changed his mind about as often as he changed his boxers. We’d been roommates last season, but over the summer he’d decided to buy a place downtown. He liked to flash and make a splash; I preferred a quieter life. At least I did most of the time.
“Fuck off,” I groused as Koz joined us.
“Watch your language around my sister,” Jonny said.
Koz snorted. “You brought your sister to the wrong place if you don’t want her hearing shit.”
“I’ve heard plenty of it before,” Cadence said. But she blushed as she ducked her head.
“Including at our house,” Sara added with a wink in Cadence’s direction. “From your son, even.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Cadence insisted. “I can handle myself tonight.”
Jonny grunted, but then Burnzie opened the door and ushered us all inside out of the cold. He had a naked baby—his eight-month-old son, Garrett—freshly bathed but not yet diapered in his arms. All three of Burnzie’s big dogs barked at us as we passed, and the baby waved his arms in their direction and giggled.
“Everyone’s spread out. Toss your coats in there,” Burnzie said, pointing toward a room that never got used for anything at these parties. The place was enormous, so there was no need to fill every room. “Food and booze in the kitchen. I’ll be a better host once this little guy is in his bed.”
Right on cue, the little guy in question peed all over Burnzie’s shirt and cackled even louder than before. Koz burst out with a snort-laugh, and even Cadence fought to hide her grin behind her hand, since Burnzie was holding the baby out like he was a ticking bomb. He didn’t spare us another thought before taking off up the stairs to finish tucking him in.
We all took off our jackets and added them to the existing pile. Jonny said something quietly to his sister, and she nodded and shooed him away. Then he and Sara made their way to the living room, where several of the older, married players had gathered. Cadence headed toward the kitchen. I couldn’t seem to stop myself from watching her go, focusing on the sway of her hips a lot longer than was good for me.
Koz caught my eye and nudged his head toward the game room downstairs, where I expected most of the younger, single guys on the team to be congregating.
I shook my head. “Later.” No doubt I’d end up down there at some point tonight, but not yet. It wasn’t like they were going anywhere.
He flipped me off on his way down, calling out, “Screw you, fuck face.”
“Not tonight,” I muttered under my breath, but he was already gone.
Before I could think better of it, I headed toward the kitchen.
Cadence was standing in front of the island, filling a red Solo cup with ice cubes from a bowl. She glanced up at me and smiled again. It went all the way up to her eyes. I couldn’t help but think about the tears shining in her eyes right after she’d won gold in the Winter Games, but my moment of reflection didn’t last long—not with the sexy curve of her lips as she stared at me.
No one else was in the kitchen, but talk and laughter filled the air all around us, making it seem as if we were surrounded. I smiled, too. There was no way to stop myself from grinning, with the sweet, sinful, and slightly embarrassed way she was looking at me. Everything about her seemed to be a contradiction, which only made me want to know more.
“Does he always call you fuck face?” she asked, moving to the fridge to add water to her cup. “Or is that something special for New Year’s Eve?”
I shrugged. “He’ll probably have something else to call me by tomorrow or the next day. Likely something more colorful. Koz likes variety.”
