“He’ll be fine. You focus on the game, exactly like you have been. I know it’s daunting, but you’re going to be amazing. Just remember that everyone is already talking about how well you’re playing.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing, though. I’m worried I’m going to get out there and mess up. I just want to prove I can play off home ice.”

“You will.”

He nods but doesn’t say anything else. He needs to see for himself that he can do it. He makes a left onto a back road that takes us out of town.

“Where’re we going?”

He gives me a secretive smile. “You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”

Ethan has been big on surprises lately. Particularly since the night I finally stopped fighting my feelings.

Simplicity has always been the best way to get my attention, such as the bouquet of wild daisies that appeared in my locker at work, exactly like the ones he picked for me when we were kids, a bag of Hot Lips tucked into my purse, one of his old high school shirts that still fits me but was hilariously small on him folded neatly in my pajama drawer. Every gift is a reminder of what we’ve been through together and how well he still knows me.

Earlier this week, he picked me up after work and took me to Cosmo’s for sandwiches. We sat at our table in the corner, my foot hooked behind his calf as we ate, and for once he actually made an attempt to help me study. Mostly it was me explaining things, but the effort was sweet on his part. Ethan loathed statistics in high school, and the only ones he enjoys now pertain to hockey.

I’m curious as to where exactly he’s decided to take me tonight. On our way out of town, we pass a few familiar farms. We used to come this way to go to the drive-in or the theater in Minneapolis. It took a little longer, but then there was a reason behind the scenic route.

“Remember the first time I gave you road head?”

Ethan glances at me, then shifts his attention back to the road, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “That’s quite the conversation starter.”

“You were so excited. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Get you off before we got home so we could have more sex.” I ponder that for a moment. “Or maybe that was some excuse you fed me because you really wanted road head. It wasn’t like you couldn’t go forever back then.”

“I can still go forever,” Ethan says defensively.

“You’ve got stamina, maybe not eighteen-year-old jackrabbit stamina, but the professional-hockey-playing kind, and that’s almost the same.”

“I have way more finesse than I did back then—that has to count for something.”

“Oh? You think you have finesse now?” I’m playing with him, obviously.

Ethan arches a brow. “You can’t tell me if I’d come inside your place tonight that we wouldn’t have been naked on the closest available surface within five minutes.”

I give him the same brow back. “Wow, you either overestimate your irresistibility factor, or you underestimate my self-control.”

“You’re the one who mentioned road head, not me.”

“Any hints on where we’re going?” I inspect my nails.

“Subtle, Lilah.”

“I hope it’s nowhere windy.” I bite the inside of my cheek to stop from smiling as I wait for him to take the bait.

His brow furrows. “Why would you be worried about wind?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” I lift a shoulder and let it fall. “Maybe because I’m not wearing underwear.”

“Bullshit.” He glances at my lap, and his eyes stay there long enough that he starts to veer over the yellow line.

“Steady there.” I nod at the windshield.

Ethan pulls back into his lane. “I want to see.”

“It’s not a good idea for you to take your eyes off the road. It’s dangerous, don’t you think? Besides”—I poke at the lump still jacking up the front of his pants—“you already seem to have an embarrassing problem that doesn’t want to go away. If I confirm my pantilessness, I’m potentially setting you up for an indecent-exposure charge.”

Ethan hits the brakes and makes a hard right. At first I think we’re taking a detour through a field, but then I realize he’s taken one of the dirt tracks we sometimes made use of pre-or postmovie date. How the hell he managed to see it, I’ll never know. He pulls in about twenty feet and shifts into park.

Before I can react, Ethan punches the button to release my seat belt. “Show me.” He’s right in my face, almost on top of me.

I push on his chest. “Sit back.”

It’s only seven, and while the sun is starting to tuck itself below the horizon earlier these days, it’s still light out, which means there are no shadows to obscure his view yet. Shifting so my back is to the door, I set my left foot on the seat. Opening my legs wide, I lift my skirt so Ethan can see I’m very much telling him the truth.

“Fucking Christ, Lilah.”

I shriek when he grabs behind my knees and drags me across the seat, my head bumping the window and the armrest on the way.

His focus shifts from between my legs. “You okay?”

I nod. “Fine.”

He smiles. “You’re about to be a whole lot better than fine.”