University Park Series Box Set: Books 1-3 (29 page)

“This is so pretty.” I peered out the
front windshield.

“I heard there’s an outdoor ice rink
near the city Christmas tree. Do you want to go check it out?”

“Sure.”

Raven parked nearby and we got out of
the car. He slipped on his jacket, and then laced his fingers through mine.
Knowing that he wasn’t afraid to show his affection toward me made me smile. We
walked along the sidewalk in perfect sync with each other as Christmas music
played in the distance. People shuffled in and out of the trendy shops carrying
shopping bags and the smell of fresh gingerbread filled the air. I loved
Christmas time and spending it with Raven made it even more special.

“Have you ever been here before?”

“No, never. My family tends to hang out
in the downtown Dallas and Northpark area. But I think I like it here better.”
A couple sat on a nearby bench, drinking coffee and laughing. “It feels quaint
and friendly. Dallas has a pretentious crowd that can make you feel out of
place, if you know what I mean.”

“I know exactly what you mean. I’ve
never hung out in Dallas, but we definitely had places like that back in
Louisiana.”

We crossed the street to the main area
where a thirty-foot Christmas tree stood. Thousands of white lights, along with
big, red balls and snowflakes, decorated the tree. Large, fake gingerbread
houses and boxes wrapped like presents surrounded the stately Douglas fir.
“It’s so beautiful.”

“Just like you.” Raven squeezed me
tighter.

I couldn’t help but giggle. “Thank you.”
He totally knew how to push all of the right buttons. “Now, it feels like
Christmas. Thank you for bringing me here.”

 He glanced at me. “Were you not in the
Christmas spirit?”

Shaking my head, I responded, “Not
really. Since I missed Thanksgiving dinner, it didn’t seem like the holidays.”

“And now it does?”

“Most definitely.”

“Good.” Raven smiled and placed a soft
peck on my forehead. “So, is there anything on that list of yours that you’d
like to do?”

“Um, well, I haven’t thought much about
that list to be honest with you.” I didn’t want to lie to him, so I told him
the truth. Even though I had thought about him a lot, I hadn’t given much
attention to the list after he had told me that he couldn’t be with me.
“Besides, I thought you said we’d make it up as we went along.” I elbowed him
in the ribs.

“I did say that, didn’t I?” An impish
grin formed on his face and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through
his head. “Hey, I have an idea. Have you ever been ice skating?” Raven turned
to the large outdoor ice rink behind us.

The suggestion sounded fun but knowing
my lack of coordination, I saw disaster spelled in big letters. Families and
couples circled around the large rink while the less coordinated ones hovered
in the center or along the walls. I knew I’d be the one stuck in the middle. “A
long time ago.”

“Then, let’s do it.” Raven urged me
forward and I took a step back.

“Oh, I don’t know.” I tucked my hair
behind my ear to keep it from whirling around my face. “I know I won’t be able
to balance myself.”

“I promise I won’t let you fall.” He
grabbed my hands and started taking slow strides backwards. “Come on, Lexi. You
know you want to go skating with me.” He winked, teasing me. “I won’t take no
for an answer.”

“But I thought you said you wouldn’t do
anything unless I asked you to.”

Raven stopped and took a step toward me.
“I was referring to other things.” He leaned closer and nuzzled me along my
neck, making my body tense and then relax.

“Oh, okay. I’ll have to remember that,”
I said, in between laughs, though I doubted that I would forget. If he gave me
the chance, I’d be telling him all the things I wanted him to do to me.

“If you really don’t want to, we don’t
have to.” Raven stopped his contagious flirting, but it didn’t help. I was
already sucked in by his charm. Part of me wanted to let go and not worry about
making a fool of myself, but the other part reminded me that it would be
dangerous. That I could fall and hurt myself. The more I listened to that other
part, the more I realized it was Collin’s voice I heard.

Blinking a few times, I managed to turn
off that nagging voice. “No. I want to. Let’s have some fun.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, let do it.”

“Cool. This is going to be fun.” Raven
led me toward the rink and my mind shifted between excitement and fear. I
prayed that I wouldn’t bust my butt and make an idiot of myself.

“I’m warning you now, I’m going to be
like a newborn deer on the ice. Please don’t let me get hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Lexi. I’ve been ice
skating for years.” His voice was full and resonant. It gave me a sense of
comfort that established a new level of trust with him.  Regardless, I was
still weary as to how good he really was on the ice.

“Seriously? I mean, you don’t look like
the Disney on Ice type.”

“Thanks,” he snorted. “Actually, one my
coaches in middle school said it taught great coordination, so I decided to
give it a try and he was right. I’ve been skating ever since.”

“I wish I would have gotten that advice
when I was younger. You saw how horrible I was at playing football and that was
on dry ground.”

“You weren’t that bad. Give yourself
some credit.”

We entered the park area and Raven
stopped at a vendor outside the rental desk. “Do you have any gloves?”

Pulling the lining out of my coat
pocket, I showed him they were empty. “No, why?”

“Because it would be a good idea to
protect your hands.” Raven picked out a cute pink and brown knitted cap with braids
made out of yarn on each side and matching gloves. “Do you like these?”

I held them against my chocolate brown
pea coat. “Yes, they’re perfect.” I reached in to my purse for my wallet, but
Raven had already handed the lady some money before I could give her my card.
“I can pay for them.”

“Just consider them a gift from me.”

“Thanks.”

With ease and precision, he helped me
slip on my gloves one at a time. He smiled and slightly adjusted the hat before
tugging on the braids that hung down. “Damn, you look so sexy.” Reaching in his
back pocket, he pulled out his phone. “I think I need a picture.”

“What?” I froze, shocked that he would
want a picture of me. Regaining my senses, I ducked my head away from his
phone. “No, I’m sure I look silly.”

“No, you don’t. Come on, baby, smile for
me.”

Baby? Oh my God!

A flush of heat consumed my cheeks and I
couldn’t help but smile for him. I was never one for pictures, aside from when
Delaney took them, but Raven taking them of me, had me on a new edge of
excitement. He totally had me eating out of his hands.

Damn, I wanted him so bad.

“Your turn,” I said, reaching for his
phone.

He pulled the phone from my reach. “You
really don’t want a picture of me.”

“Oh, yes I do.” I yanked my phone from
my purse and held it up. “Give me a sexy smile.”

“Sexy?” He grinned and I captured a
picture of him with his thumbs shoved in his pockets. His weight was shifted to
the left and he held a sexy stance. I knew I’d be drooling all over my phone as
I slept with it every night.

“Man, how did I get so lucky?” he said,
appraising my picture on his phone.

“What?” I looked down at his phone,
trying to determine what he saw in me.

“How did I get so lucky to be with a
beautiful girl like you?”

“Oh, um, thanks.” I bit on my lower lip,
trying to build the courage to tell him how freaking hot I thought he was.
Instead, my throat tightened and I struggled to speak. “I…”

He looked at me, staring deep into my
eyes. “I never thought it would be you.”

“What do you mean?” A sudden fear crept
over me. Had he meant that in a good or bad way? Because no matter how hard I
tried to convince myself that I was better than the girls he had been with, my
mind had a hard time believing it.

“Being with you makes me feel like a
completely different man.”

“Umm, is that good or bad?”

“Definitely good.” He winked. “Are you
ready to have some more fun?” He took a knitted cap out of the pocket of his
coat and placed it over his head.

“As long as it’s with you.” I pulled the
cap over his eyes and laughed.

Lifting it, he said, “Just what I wanted
to hear.” He held out his phone. “But first, let’s take a selfie.” Raven
wrapped his arm around me and pressed his cheek to mine. “Smile, beautiful.” He
held out his phone and snapped a picture of us making a silly face.

“Let me see.” Raven brought our picture
to the screen. We looked so happy together. I never imagined that he’d be the
one I wanted. “Aw, we look so cute.”

“I think I need to post that on
Facebook.” Butterflies swirled inside of me. If Raven was posting things about us,
it was probably a good indication that he wanted everyone to know he was with
me. I was pretty sure that was a sign that we were going to the next level.

He led us to the rental desk where we
got our skates. After we changed our shoes and got a locker for my purse, he
took me by the hand and led me to the ice. “Just practice balancing first, then
we will work on taking strides along the ice.”

“Okay.” My legs wobbled and shook as we
walked along the foam floor. If staying balanced on a thin piece of metal was
this hard, I knew I was going to struggle once I got on the slippery surface.
Raven stepped onto the ice without trouble. Holding on to the edge of the wall,
I made my way into the rink.

“You alright?”

I nodded. My heart thumped and fear
consumed me, but I knew Raven wouldn’t let me get hurt. With him, I had nothing
to worry about. “I just don’t want to fall.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you get hurt.”
He stood close to me, protecting me from the people that zipped past us. I
gripped onto his hand like he was my lifeline.

I tightened my legs and straightened my
back, demanding my body to balance itself on the slick block of ice underneath
me. “I think I got it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Raven let go of my hand, but remained
next to me. “Try to glide by moving your feet forward, but don’t pick them up.”

“Okay.” I did as he said, concentrating
on my movement. Before I knew it, I was floating along the ice. We circled
around the rink a few times, building my confidence. With each turn, my feet
seemed to learn how to move along the ice and my legs stopped shaking, enabling
me to balance myself.

He grinned and I saw the delight in his
expression. “Lexi, you’re ice skating.”

I pressed my lips together, trying not
to get overly excited. “Yeah, but if you take away the wall, I’ll fall.”

“Oh, I think you’ll be fine.” Raven
eased my hand from the railing. I hesitated at first and then wrapped my
fingers around his big, strong hand.

I looked around, taking note of all the
people who skated around the rink like they were running on dry ground. “I
don’t think I’m ready.”

“Sure you are.” He took my other hand.
“I promise I won’t let you fall.”

“Oh, Raven!” A high-pitched screech
escaped from my throat as he guided me away from the edge. With one arm wrapped
around me, we skated around the huge oval rink. The brisk air hit my face and
filtered through my hair. I felt so free and being next to Raven made it more
incredible. “This is so much fun!”

“Told ya!” He picked up the pace and we
held hands, forming memories that I’d never forget. With each passing minute, I
gained more trust along the slick surface, allowing him to drag me around and
around. We formed a figure eight over and over again, until we wore a permanent
number in the ice. Raven knew how to make me feel like I was the only girl in
his world. I just hoped that I would be.

Maneuvering backwards, Raven glided us
effortlessly along the ice to the center of the rink where we formed our own
intimate circle. The lights from the trees flickered and the cold air surrounded
us, but our warm breaths created a level of comfort that made my body forget
all about the fear I had been experiencing. I was totally in The Raven’s
control.

“See, this isn’t so bad, is it?” He
cocked a brow.

“No, but only because I’m with you.” I
had envisioned what it would feel like to be surrounded by thick, strong arms
for longer than ten seconds and it was absolutely divine. My body didn’t know
how to react and a war zone quickly erupted inside of me. One side told me to
take things slow while the other encouraged me to go in for the kill.
Everything was happening so fast and I absolutely had no idea what I was doing.

“I know we agreed to make your list as
we go along, but I was actually thinking of all the places I’d like to take
you.” He pulled me closer and my head tilted back naturally as I gazed into his
eyes. “All of the things we can do together.” His hands dropped to my waist and
my body tensed, soaking in every stare and touch.