SWNOVELS Splintered Ice: Chapter 14
I’m waiting for Olivia in the parking lot at the time she said she would be done with her last class. I should have given her some time to go back to her room if she wanted to, but I don’t know if I can wait any longer to see her. I don’t know what my issue is—why the hell I feel so goddamn obsessed with this girl right now.
There hasn’t been another girl that has occupied my mind the way Olivia does. Maybe it’s because I’ve known her for so long, I know her better than I’ve ever known anyone else.
Either way, I don’t like the way she clouds my thoughts.
So, here I am, waiting to take her back to my place and hopefully fuck her out of my system. That’s an exaggeration. As badly as I want her in my bed, I have no intention of fucking her today. But I will be fucking her one of these days, as long as she’s on board with the idea.
And judging from our texts this morning, I’d be willing to bet my left nut that she wants it just as much as I do.
Olivia breaks through a crowd of people that are near the doorway as she pauses outside the door. Her head turns, her eyes scanning the parking lot, when she sees me parked alongside the curb. Her footsteps are light and she moves quickly through the frigid winter air as she heads over to me. Leaning over the center console, I pull the handle and push open the door for her.
I see that asshole friend of hers lingering in the background, watching the two of us from a distance with a frown on his face. I can’t fight the smile that pulls on my lips as I see the disappointment in his expression.
That’s right, motherfucker.
Olivia Davis is mine, not yours.
“Hey,” I say softly as she climbs into the car and straps on her seat belt. “How was the rest of your day?”
“Good,” Olivia smiles at me, sitting deeper in her seat. “How was yours?”
I smile at her. “It’s much better now.”
I watch the pink tint creep across her cheeks and she shifts her weight in her seat. I love the effect I have on her, the way I can make her squirm just from being around her. My gaze is heated on hers and I want her to climb across the center console and sit herself on my lap.
Jesus Christ, what is wrong with me?
My cock is half hard in my pants and now I’m the one adjusting my weight in an attempt to hide it. Olivia fucking ruined me and I haven’t even felt her skin under my fingertips yet.
“Are you okay?” Olivia asks me quietly as my knuckles turn white from how tightly I’m gripping the steering wheel. I glance over at her, putting one hand on the stick as I offer her a small smile.
“Just great,” I lie, not wanting to fully conceal my feelings right now. Feelings are one thing that I’ve always been against, yet I can’t help the way that my heart pounds harder when Olivia is near me.
Putting the car in drive, I pull away from the curb and head out of the parking lot. Olivia begins to talk—or ramble—about her day. I notice the way she’s about to say his name but she quickly diverts the conversation elsewhere. I know she didn’t tell him to back off with the way he was watching us from campus today.
It would be nicer of Olivia if she would be the one to tell him to get lost. I have a feeling it’s not going to be that simple, though. She’s too nice to let anyone down. And if she doesn’t do it soon, I’m going to be left with no choice but to take matters into my own hands, because I refuse to share her with anyone else.
We finally pull up to my house and I silently thank the guys for not being here. I don’t want Olivia around them—not yet. Not until I figure out what her feelings really are and what her true thoughts are on all of this. I have a proposition for her, but I want to make sure she agrees before I bring her into my world.
Olivia follows me into the house and it feels strange. She’s the first girl I’ve ever brought home. Anyone else I’ve fucked around with, I always went to their place or in their car or anywhere other than my own house or vehicle.
But I want Olivia in my space. I want her consuming every goddamn inch.
Her gaze is gentle as she looks around the living room area, following me into the modern style kitchen as I pause by the fridge. I pull it open, grabbing two waters while Olivia patiently waits. She’s a goddamn saint. I don’t know that there’s a single flaw in this girl, besides the way she approaches everything with caution. But then again, that might not be a flaw at all.
“Do you want to go up to my room to study?”
Olivia looks at me for a moment, an unreadable look in her eyes as she slowly nods her head. “Sure. You have other roommates, right?”
Reaching for the strap of her backpack, I remove it from her shoulder and sling it over my own. “I do, but neither of them should be home until later tonight. If you want to study down here instead, we can do that.”
Olivia shakes her head, her throat bobbing as she swallows roughly. “No, your room is fine.”
My throat feels like it’s coated with peanut butter and I clear it before turning to walk back through the house. Olivia follows after me and we make our way upstairs and into the hall. My room is down at the other end and Olivia’s footsteps are light as she walks behind me.
We step into my bedroom and she stands in the center for a moment, looking around at my space. There isn’t much to it. A bed, a dresser with a TV, and I have a small desk in the corner. The only things that decorate my room are hockey memorabilia.
Olivia turns to look at me, a smile on her face as I set her bag down on the floor. “Your room looks exactly like your childhood bedroom did.”
Tilting my head to the side, I narrow my eyes slightly. “What does that mean?”
The lilt of her laughter hits my eardrums and it sounds like a melody I could get lost in. “It’s the exact same. The only thing you have is hockey-related stuff.”
I stare at her for a moment, missing the joke. “Would you expect anything else? Hockey is the only thing that matters.”
Her face falls for a moment and I don’t miss the pained look that washes through her irises before she recovers. She smiles at me and nods. “I know, Sterling. I just thought it was amusing that it’s really no different than your old room.”
I instantly feel regret for being a bit of an asshole about it. She wasn’t trying to make a joke, just making an observation. One that she found amusing, and I kind of took the amusement right out of it by being an asshole. I don’t know what made her recoil the way it did, but I still feel guilty for it.
“What do you have to study for?” I ask her as I drop down onto my bed and pull her backpack up with me. “Maybe it’s a class I’ve already taken that I could help you with?”
Olivia sits down beside me, a smile on her face as she kicks off her shoes and tucks her legs underneath her like this is exactly where she belongs. She confused me with the way she acts like she doesn’t know how to talk or walk right around me but then at the same time will act like she’s more comfortable with me than she’s ever been with anyone else.
I don’t know what to make of Olivia Davis anymore. She’s more complex than I had ever realized.
She laughs lightly, shrugging off her coat. “I highly doubt that,” she responds as I take her coat from her and go hang it over the back of the chair by my desk. “It’s for one of my biology classes and I would be willing to bet that you only took the required classes you had to.”
“Okay, okay.” I throw my hands up in defeat as I walk over to her and drop back down onto the bed. “You got me there. You know that I’m definitely not here for a biology degree so I only took whatever science classes I had to take. And with marketing, there aren’t many science classes needed for that degree.”
“That’s what you decided to major in?” she questions me, tilting her head to the side with a thoughtful look in her eye. “That’s an unexpected one.”
I shrug. “I mean, you know that hockey is the endgame for where I’m planning on my career going, but it seemed like a decent one for a backup career. That way if anything happens, I can always get involved in some type of sports marketing or something like that.”
“Would you really accept anything other than playing professionally? That’s been your lifelong dream, Sterling. You never struck me as the type of person to let anything get in your way of achieving your dreams.”
I smile at her, feeling like someone can actually fucking see me. That’s one thing I love about Olivia. All of the other girls liked me for my status on the hockey team. They wanted to be involved with an athlete that was semi-popular. And then if I make it pro, they could use me as clout. But not Olivia. She doesn’t give a shit about any of that.
The only thing she’s worried about is me actually achieving the dreams and goals that I have. Not what she can benefit from.
“So, did you want to study or just watch a movie or something instead?”
Olivia grabs her books, pulling one onto her lap as she flips it open. “I do have one assignment I have to finish that is due tomorrow. You can busy yourself while I finish it and then we can watch a movie?”
“Yes, ma’am.” I wink at her, lying back on my bed. “I’m just going to study the insides of my eyelids until you’re ready.”
Olivia rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to worry about any of your classes, do you?”
“I’m graduating this year, babe,” I tell her, a smirk tugging on the corners of my lips. Yet again, the word slipped, but I’m just going to keep moving like I don’t even notice. Olivia noticed and I can tell by the way her eyes widen. “All of my grades are exactly where I need them to be, so I’m not worrying about that shit if I don’t have to.”
She nods, something unreadable in her expression before she drops her attention back to her book. Bending my elbows, I slide my hands under the back of my head and close my eyes to give her some time to do whatever it is she needs to do. I can’t help myself as I find my eyes opening every few minutes to look at her.
I might not have anything to do for any of my classes, but I want to study too…
Study her.
She’s quite literally the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. I love the way her perfectly straight nose crinkles when she reads something she doesn’t quite understand. Her eyebrows draw together, before her face relaxes. She’s the fucking sun that hangs in the sky above, shining through the darkest clouds on the darkest of days.
After about an hour of us sitting in silence, Olivia finally closes her book and tucks it back into her backpack before sliding it onto the ground. She turns to look at me as I sit back up in my bed, my eyes searching hers.
“Are you all done?” I ask her, my voice soft and thick with emotion after just studying her for the past hour.
She nods, a small smile on her eyes. “You said you wanted to watch a movie. What did you have in mind?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, I don’t know what is new or good. Did you have any ideas?”
Olivia laughs lightly and that goddamn sound hits me directly in the center of my chest. My heart constricts and I find myself inching closer to her on the bed. “Are you okay with emotional movies? I know you probably don’t like sappy shit, but I kind of do.”
“I like whatever you like.”
Leaning across the bed, she grabs the remote from me, a smirk on her face. My skin tingles from where her fingers brush across mine. I want to burn in her fucking fire. I watch Olivia as she pulls away and flicks on the TV, scrolling until she stops on a movie.
“Five Feet Apart?” I ask her, my eyebrows tugging together.
“Shh,” she lifts her finger to her lips, “don’t knock it until you actually watch it.”
A smile tugs on my lips and Olivia scoots up to the headboard beside me. We’re side by side in my bed, both of our eyes glued to the TV as the movie begins. It’s killing me being this close to her right now, but in a sense, I’m completely comfortable.
Although, I don’t know if I can keep my hands to myself if we lay here after the movie is over.