Finding Me by Stephanie Rose Read Free Book Online

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