Finding Me (7 page)

“Very.” His smile grew wide as we made our way to the car.

“Why do you have a car if you’re from Savannah? Did you buy it when you got here?” I rubbed at my arms to get warm.

“It belongs to one of my roommates. We all share it.” Owen wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back. “Are you cold?”

My heart thundered in my ears from being this close to him. Feeling a little bold, I slid my arms around his waist and nodded. “A little.” I gazed at his warm smile. And those lips. The ones I’d been dreaming about since the first day I laid eyes on him.

“You are
so
beautiful,” Owen whispered as he took my face in his hands and rubbed his thumbs back and forth over my cheeks. “When you're around, I don’t see anyone but you.”

My eyes rolled as I fought the twitch of a smile. “Wow, you Southern boys sure know how to sweet talk a girl.”

Owen chuckled. “I only speak the truth. You outshine everyone to me. You're bright . . . like a sky full of stars.”

I was teasing him for being a Coldplay fan when he brushed his lips against mine. I exhaled a whimper as his tongue trailed along my bottom lip. Losing myself in the wet warmth of his mouth, a groan escaped my throat as I pulled him closer.
God, he tasted so damn good.
Tingles exploded all over my body over just one kiss.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long.” I cringed as my confession slipped out. Owen nipped his way down my neck and I felt his smile against my shoulder.

“I wouldn’t have stopped you.” He dragged his thumb across my bottom lip. “I would
never
say no to those lips. Every time you explained ledgers to me, my eyes were glued to your mouth. Do you know you nibble your bottom lip when you concentrate?” Owen tugged on my lip with his teeth. “I wanted to do that,” he whispered against my mouth.

Good Lord
, I was a puddle at his feet. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to climb him like a tree right there on the sidewalk.

He gave me a soft peck and groaned. “I better get you back. If I keep kissing you, I’ll never want to stop.”

“So,” I whispered as I threaded my fingers in his hair. My breaths were quick and shallow as I pulled him closer. “Don’t.”

Owen backed me against the truck door and brought his lips back to mine. Between his very talented mouth and his rock hard body pressed so close, I would’ve happily spent the rest of my life pinned there.

I fought a whimper as he pulled away. His eyes were still shut as he chuckled. “Don’t tempt me, City.”

Owen laced our fingers together and brought my hand to his lips to kiss the inside of my wrist. “Still cold? I think you should be nice and warm by now.” His mouth twisted in a smirk, his eyes still dark. I was more than warm—I was boiling hot.
No one
had kissed me like that before. Sadly, the only one who had ever kissed me was Christian, and he didn’t have much more experience than I did. Not to say it was bad, I thought I loved him at the time and it was nice. But in all the time we were together, my body was never on fire the way it was now. After only one kiss, I ached for Owen. I wanted his lips and hands everywhere. I needed to take a step back before I lost all control and things went too fast.

Owen opened my car door and I slid onto the passenger seat. After he closed the door, my cheeks started to hurt from the big smile plastered across my face. Owen started the engine and let out a chuckle before driving off.

“If I knew I’d put that kind of a smile on your face, I would have kissed you when I first wanted to.”

I crossed my arms as I gave him a playful glare. “And when was that?”

“The first day I met you. The scowl on your gorgeous face, plus the bad attitude.” Owen let out an exaggerated sigh. “It all did things to me.” I laughed.

He picked up my hand and laced our fingers together. “Still does,” Owen whispered as the same goofy grin spread across his face.

We pulled up to the front of the dorms and Owen opened my door. The Southern gentleman thing was sweet—and seriously hot.

“It’s sweet of you, but you don’t have to walk me.” I dug my keys out of my purse as we strolled to the door.

“I know you can take care of yourself, but I wouldn’t feel right. Unless you don’t want me to kiss you again. Because if not, that’s—” I fisted the collar of Owen’s shirt with both hands and interrupted him with a heated kiss.

I pulled back and he chuckled against my lips. “Point taken.” He gave me a soft kiss before backing away. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yep.” I fumbled for the correct key and turned back to Owen. “And Thursday. I can’t wait to see the great OT in action.”

“And I can’t wait to look in the stands and see your beautiful face.” Owen leaned against the car and beamed at me.

“I’ll make sure to sit away from the rest of the fan club so I don’t get lost in the crowd.” I winked and his lips curved into a smile.

“I could never lose you in a crowd. Good night, Bella.”

“Good night, Owen.”

I got inside and ran up the stairs. Laura still wasn’t home. I peeled off my jacket and flopped on my bed. I closed my eyes as I ran my fingers over my swollen lips.

Three kisses. Four more dates. I had a brand new reason to love numbers now.

Bella

“THIS IS SO AWESOME!” LAURA
whispered as she sat next to me. She shivered as she rubbed her arms to get warm. “And cold! Is it supposed to be freezing in here?”

I shrugged, my eyes glued to the ice looking for my, my . . . Owen—whatever he was. He told me to make sure I sat behind the bench. “The rinks Christian played on always were. I guess to keep the ice cold, maybe?”

Laura narrowed her eyes at me. “You went to every game?”

Recalling my unwavering support for the boy who dropped me like a hot potato irritated the shit out of me. “When I could. My dad never let me go to the ones too far away.”

Laura shook her head at me. “He didn’t deserve you, Bella. This déjà vu has to irk you a little.”

I shut my eyes and nodded. “But looking back, at least toward the end, Christian didn’t care much if I went to his games or not. Owen’s been excited that I was coming today. At least he seemed to be.”

“We agreed to not bring up the asshole who shall not be mentioned because it puts his bad energy out there. Owen is very much into you and makes no effort to hide it. Don’t make ‘you know who’ cast shadows of doubt on the new hotness in your life.” Laura patted my hand as her eyes darted around the rink.

“True.” I turned to Laura and bumped her arm. “Thanks for coming with me. I didn’t want to sit in the stands alone, with . . . them.” I motioned to Christine, her friend Amber, and a couple of other nameless bimbos hanging on the railing hoping for the same glimpse I was. When they started pointing and giggling, I knew the players were coming out.

“Don’t mention it. Plus, OT isn’t the only thing nice to look at down there. I can ogle without seeming pathetic because I’m morally supporting Owen Thompson’s girlfriend.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” I chuckled while Laura pursed her lips at me.

“Oh please. I’ve seen you holding hands and making out enough times. What would you call you guys, then?”

That was a damn good question. I put my face in my hands and pinched the bridge of my nose. Owen occupied my head for most of the day—and a good amount of the night—but it was hard to not keep pushing him away to arm’s length.

“Hey, City! I need a kiss for luck!” Owen called from inside the tunnel between the benches, his mouth ticked up in a smirk. All eyes traveled to me, and I wanted to crawl into the nearest hole.

Leaning forward in my seat, I shook my head. “Surely, the great OT doesn’t need any luck.” I crossed my arms and glared at him from my seat.

He let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “Maybe I don’t need one but I really,
really
want one. Why don’t you stop with the sass and bring those gorgeous lips down here so I can start my game.” Owen’s heated gaze made me almost forget we were at a rink full of people.

Laura gasped and kicked my ankle. “Get over there,” Laura growled at me. “This is like a scene from a John Hughes movie.” She pushed me out of my seat so hard I almost slipped onto the floor in front of me.

I strode over to the tunnel, feeling a hundred pairs of eyes on my back. “I’m going to kill you,” I whispered in Owen’s ear and he chuckled. He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me in for a quick but passionate kiss. He nibbled on my bottom lip as he pulled away.

My eyes were still closed when we broke apart. “Can I take my sass back to my seat now?” I gave him a quick peck as his emerald eyes twinkled.

He put his helmet over his head and nodded. “You go ahead. Now
that’s
how I’d like to start every game.” Owen skated back to the bench with a self-satisfied grin. He was a cocky, but sexy, jerk on skates.

It was a shame Owen had no NHL aspirations. From the little I knew about hockey, Owen was pretty amazing. I tracked the white twenty-three on the back of his maroon jersey all over the ice, and the passion he played with gave me chills. Laura headed back to the dorms as I waited for Owen outside after the game.

“There she is!” Owen beamed at me as he strolled out of the rink with a couple of guys from his team. He made his way over to me and slid his arm around my waist. “Good game?” Owen whispered before touching his lips to my forehead.

“Definitely. You were so amazing, you gave me goose bumps.” I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. His torso was still damp from the shower as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Well, I had someone to impress in the stands tonight.” He pulled me closer and gave me a wet, lingering kiss on my cheek. “I think I see the goose bumps,” he whispered in my ear. He was right, I had them again, plus tingles across most of my body. Pushing him away was pointless—the charming bastard had me wrapped around his finger.

“See you at home, dude.” I turned to the voice behind us. I assumed this was one of Owen’s roommates. He was the skinniest hockey player I’d ever seen, and had a long face for someone who just won.

“Bella, this is Andy. One of our forwards and my roommate.” Owen tipped his chin in Andy’s direction.

“Hey Bella. Nice to put a face with the name.” Andy greeted me with a small smile and waved at us before strolling away.

“Nice game, OT!” Richie’s voice boomed from behind as he jogged toward us. “I thought I saw you in the stands, Bella. Nice to see you again.” There went the familiar skin crawl from the first time I was in his presence.

Owen pulled me forward by the hand and nodded. “You too. That was a nice save.”

“Maybe Bella should come more often. She seemed to be our good luck charm tonight.” Richie winked at me and I didn’t know how to react. This was more than good-natured flirting. His leering gaze made me want to take a hot shower and scrub most of my skin off. The obvious way he ogled me right in front of Owen spoke volumes about the kind of slimy jerk he was.

“You mean
my
good luck charm because she’s
my
girl. Cut the shit, Richie,” Owen huffed as he yanked me away.

“I don’t know him very well, but he’s kind of a . . .” My voice trailed off trying to think of the right word.