All Chapters of Steamy Ice Cold Hockey Romance (Compilation): Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

Isla Bennett Mercer I couldn't breathe. The nightmare still had its claws in me when the lock clicked. I was on the floor, back against the couch, shaking. Then Kai was there, dropping to his knees and dragging me into his lap like he couldn't get me close enough. His arms locked around me. One big hand fisted in my hair, forcing my face against his chest so I could hear his heartbeat hammering. "Breathe, Isla... I've got you." I clutched his hoodie, but it wasn't enough. I needed skin. I needed something real. So I shoved the fabric up and pressed my palms to his hot stomach. His muscles jumped under my touch. Something inside him snapped. "Isla!" "Kai... please..." I begged. He had already helped me through nightmares like this since I was twelve, when the car accident happened. I never thought anyone could make me feel so warm and safe since my father was killed. One year later, my mom married Kai's father, and we became a family. Suddenly, I had an older bro

For a second, my heart actually stopped.The way Kai was looking at me... the way his thumb brushed my cheek like he didn't even realize he was doing it. It felt like he was about to say something real. Like ... maybe he felt it too. I swallowed hard, and this stupid, dangerous little hope started flickering in my chest.But then he pulled his hand back like I burned him."You're not unwanted, Kid. You're just young. You've got time. You don't need to settle for guys like him."Kid.The word hit me so hard I almost flinched. I felt my face go hot. Of course. That's all I am to him. Just the kid he has to look out for. The same little stepsister he used to mess with when we were younger. Nothing more.I let out this weak little laugh and looked away fast."Right," I muttered. "Yeah... you're right."Kai didn't say anything else. He just sighed and ran a hand through his hair like he was tired of this whole thing."Come on. Let's go inside."I followed him without arguing. My chest fe

Kai's voice cracked, raw and frayed with panic laced by a deeper, more dangerous edge. The next blow landed like thunder. The doorframe splintered with a grotesque crack, wood shrieking in protest as it yielded. He shoved the door open, rushing inside like a storm.He froze on the threshold. "Fuck... Isla," he rasped, the words splintering. His gaze devoured me, tracing the tear-streaked ruin of my face, then lingering on the jagged, fiercely sexy pixie cut that had transformed me into someone sharper, bolder, untouchable. His hand lifted, trembling with the urge to brush those uneven strands, before he clenched it into a white-knuckled fist at his side, restraining himself."W–what did you do?" I shrugged, the movement shaky but defiant. "Cut it. Needed something to change. Needed to stop being the girl everyone walks away from."Kai stepped closer, the broken door hanging crooked behind him. The room felt suddenly too small."You're drunk. We need to talk about what happened—""Y