TEMPTING THE ICE KING

"Hailey? Are you coming to the party later?" One of my teammates hopefully questioned.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," I replied with a kind smile on my face.

"Is that... Tessa and Kyren?" Brie asked while pointing at two disappearing figures. "Why is she always following him around?" She curiously questioned.

"They're best friends, apparently," Jia tiredly answered.

I snorted. "She obviously has a crush on him. Everyone does."

"Does that include you?" Jia asked before sending a smirk in my direction.

"As if," I scoffed before making my way out of the arena.

"Does our captain have a crush on the Ice King?" Brie teasingly uttered before throwing her arm around my shoulder.

"No, I do not. Kyren is just not my type." I slowly explained, so that they would finally get the message.

"But he's so dreamy," Jia uttered before fluttering her eyelashes in my direction. "You should give him a chance. I think you two would make a great couple."

"Give him a chance? Kyren doesn't need chances from anyone." Brie argued. "You'd be lucky if he spared you a glance."

"He would totally date me if I gave him a chance. Because I can get any guy that I want." I pointedly stated.

"He has a strict 'NO DATING' rule, Hails. Kyren Wolfe doesn't date; he fucks. Which is why I don't think he would date you. Even if you did give him the opportunity." Brie confidently continued.

She wasn't wrong. Kyren was as cold as the ice he skated on. He was known for his ruthless rejections. And that glare... so arrogant.

"Lucky for him, I don't follow rules. And besides, no one can resist my charm." I uttered with a smile on my face.

"Wanna bet?" Brie asked before narrowing her eyes at me. "I bet you can't get the Ice King to break his 'NO DATING' rule before the end of the semester."

"I'm gonna prove you wrong, Brie," I chirped out as we entered the Alpha Sigma Epsilon frat house. Empty red cups were littered everywhere across the floor. Party lights flashed wildly, and loud music boomed off the walls.

"Hailey! Jia! Brielle! You guys made it." Logan greeted us at the door. He pulled each of us into a tight hug before handing me a beer.

"No thanks. I'm not drinking tonight." I announced, before curiously looking around the room while Logan complimented our performance from before.

"Are you looking for someone, Hails?" He asked, a light frown creasing his forehead.

"Kyren. Is he here?" I curiously questioned.

"He sure is." Logan absentmindedly uttered before ushering us deeper inside the house. The sound of his voice was drowned out by the loud music.

Brie and Logan wordlessly disappeared into the crowd. And Jia linked her arm with mine.

"Are you seriously gonna follow through on that bet you made with Brielle?" Jia asked me as we made our way up a flight of stairs.

"Absolutely. Brie underestimates me, and that, my dear friend, is a problem." I told her before opening and closing random doors, on my quest to find Kyren.

I opened one last door and found a room filled with hockey players and cheerleaders, huddled up in a circle. "Hailey, want to join?" Josh, one of Kyren's teammates, asked before slowly trailing his gaze down my body.

"Let's just stay here. Play whatever game they are." Jia suggested in a whisper.

I nodded at Jia before turning my gaze back on Josh. "That depends. What exactly are we joining?"

"A round of Truth or Dare," Josh answered, and I sighed before helplessly looking over at Jia.

"Sure." Jia chirped out before pulling me along with her. We sat down on the cold wooden floor.

Then the door swung open, and everything went quiet. Jia was gaping at the door, and I curiously turned to see what she was looking at.

Kyren confidently entered the room. And the smell of sandalwood and clean linen filled the room. A small smirk lifted the corner of my mouth.

"Now or never," Jia whispered into my ear.

Tessa entered the room after Kyren, looking like a lost puppy as he greeted his teammates. I smiled. She was so obvious. I could tell that she liked him just by the way she was staring at him. Cute.

"Come on, you've gotta join us. Just one round." Josh told Kyren. And he didn't stop until Kyren agreed to join us.

Once we were all seated, the game started. "Jia, truth or dare," Josh uttered with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Dare." She blankly muttered.

"I dare you to leave a lipstick stain on my neck." He told her, and something dark flashed in his eyes.

Jia got up from her spot and leaned in, teasingly slow. She placed a kiss on his neck, and his teammates erupted into a fit of cheers. Jia pulled back from him with a smile on her face. "I hope that fulfilled all your fantasies." She sarcastically uttered before taking the spot next to me again.

"He's gonna tell everyone you guys are dating." I laughed, and she shot him an angered glare.

"Hailey, your turn," Josh uttered with a proud smile on his face. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." I confidently muttered.

Josh narrowed his gaze at me. "I dare you..." he started before looking around the room. He paused when his eyes landed on Kyren. "To go sit on Kyren's lap for the rest of the game, without him pushing you off."

The room suddenly became silent as everyone looked between the two of us.

Our eyes locked for the very first time. I carefully got up from my spot.

The thought of being rejected in front of everyone was weighing on me, but I pushed my nervousness aside and confidently crossed over to his side of the room.

I lowered myself onto his lap, the scent of his shower gel intoxicating me. My skirt rode up my thighs as soon as I sat down. Kyren's body went rigid as I invaded his personal space.

I seductively turned into him, my lips teasingly brushing the shell of his ear. "Relax, Kyren. It's just a dare." My voice dropped to a whisper only he could hear over the cheers coming from his friends. "Besides, this is the most action you've seen all semester, isn't it?" I continued.

His muscles slowly relaxed, and something else took over completely. One of his hands possessively landed on my waist while the other landed on my thigh, his fingers digging into the delicate skin there.

He didn't look at me, but he shifted his legs so that my skirt could ride up dangerously high.

When he finally spoke, his voice was so low it vibrated through my chest. "You're shaking, Princess."

"No, I'm not." I argued, before squirming in his grip, in an attempt to free myself from him.

But Kyren wasn't letting up, he held fast. "Liar." He finally turned his head in my direction, his silver eyes burning into my flushed cheeks. His gaze turned predatory.

His hand firmly tangled in my ponytail as he yanked me back, exposing my throat to the entire room. Everything went quiet as the tension shifted between us.

He leaned in closer, his lips brushing the sensitive skin on my neck. "You came over here to win a dare. You wanted to show everyone that you could handle me."

I tried to pull away, but his grip on my hair tightened. "The dare is over, Hailey. I'm the one who decides when you get to get up. And I've decided you're coming with me."

He stood up, lifting me as if I weighed nothing. My legs instinctively wrapped around him as he began walking toward the door. He completely ignored the gasps and the flashes of cellphone cameras.

"Kyren, wait..." I gasped, my heart hammering against my ribs.

His eyes locked onto mine, holding a promise that I wouldn't be sleeping in my own bed tonight. "You're about to find out exactly what happens to girls who try to play with me."