Hands Off The Ice King novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Hope’s POV

55 vouchers

“Of course not,” I said right away. “Why would I even ignore you? There’s no reason for me to ignore you.”

“Right,” he muttered, his minty breath fanning my cheek. “There is no reason for you to ignore me, and yet you can’t even look me in the eyes, Hope. You haven’t been able to look at me properly since yesterday.”

I pursed my lips and faced him fully, not wanting to be struck down by his words. I looked him deep in the eyes despite my racing heart.

Damn those people who teased me with him.

Damn that freaking kiss.

Now, Levi looked infinitely more handsome in my eyes than before.

Still, I raised my chin slightly higher and forced my expression to stay neutral.

“There. I’m not ignoring you.”

“Other things are happening in my life, too,” I said and finally looked away. “It’s not because of you.”

I could still feel his gaze on me, so I went behind him so he wouldn’t see my reaction anymore-and also so we could start the therapy session. Fortunately, he didn’t say anything else.

When I focused on his shoulder, I couldn’t help but gasp when I saw the state it was in.

“What?” he asked. “Is it bad?”

I quickly shook my head, already relieved.

“No, it has gotten much better. It’s honestly a miracle. How could you recuperate so fast like this?”

The chronic bruising seemed to have lightened, and the muscles weren’t as stiff under my fingers.

“The initial swelling has gone down,” I said. “Have you not been playing even in your free time?”

“You told me not to do anything, right?”

I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Yeah. But you’re quite stubborn, so it wouldn’t surprise me if you didn’t follow my advice. Anyway, the result is great. Of course, it wouldn’t take two weeks for your injury to fully heal, but I do think you can play in the first game.”

“We have a mock game just for the team two days before the actual game. Do you think I can play in that?”

I looked at his shoulder, grabbed it gently, and tried moving it.

“I think you can,” I said with a small smile. “Probably for a few minutes.”

“Good,” he said.

With that, I silently and carefully massaged his shoulders, helping him move the joint and muscles into optimum positions. He didn’t complain, fortunately. And he also didn’t speak, most fortunately.

“Let’s move to your legs,” I said, dreading how I was going to face him again.

14

16

G

O

10:44 Thu, Jul 16 d ) 3

Chapter 57

However, I pushed my feelings to the back of my mind and focused on being professional.

55 vouchers

I grabbed the small stool from under his bed and sat on it, placing his ankle over my thigh. I began rotating the stiff joint, nodding to myself and noting his progress.

This rest was proving to be really good for his body. It must be because his body was so used to being overworked that the rest had shocked it in the best way possible.

After his ankles, I went up to his knees and began massaging them, too.

I didn’t dare look up at him despite feeling his gaze on me. Instead, I focused on his knees.

“Your joints feel better,” I muttered while pressing lightly around the area. “There’s less stiffness.”

“Mmmh.”

That was all he said.

Why was he being so quiet today anyway?

Normally, Levi always had something to complain about. However, he was being completely cooperative today.

I shouldn’t be complaining, but maybe hearing his complaints would make me feel more normal about the situation.

I adjusted my position slightly on the stool, moving his leg a little higher so I could reach better.

“Tell me if this hurts.”

I continued massaging carefully, focusing on the muscles around his knee. I moved down toward his ankle again, rotating it carefully.

“Your flexibility improved, too,” I added quietly.

Then, without thinking, I finally allowed myself to glance upward to gauge his reaction.

I was right. Levi was still looking at me.

My stomach flipped, and I quickly looked away again.

Why was he staring so much today?

I didn’t dare look up again and just focused my gaze on his knee.

However, something caught my attention at that very moment.

At the same level as his knee was his crotch, and something was staring back at me.

For a moment, it felt like I had been mistaken.

There was no way, right?

But as my gaze settled on that part again, it became unmistakable.

This time, I looked up at him instinctively.

He was still looking at me, breathing heavily.

“Levi,” I muttered his name. “Why are you hard right now?”

24

16

O

G

|||

O

Thu, Jul 16

Chapter 57

I waited for his answer, but he just stayed silent.

56 vouchers

Meanwhile, my heartbeat became impossibly fast. The calmness that I tried to force a few moments ago had been thrown out the window in an instant.

I remembered the night we kissed again and how hard he felt during that time, too.

Perhaps, did his body remember that night?

Still, even if he didn’t remember, why would he get hard when I was just massaging his joints?

This wasn’t good for my heart or my mind. I already had way too many questions and doubts inside my head.

He opened his mouth to answer, and I anticipated his response.

What could have prompted this reaction?

Was it natural?

Or was he like this… because of me?

That dangerous thought crossed my mind as I waited for him to speak.

However, before he could get a word out, the door opened, snapping our attention toward it.

Levi quickly covered his crotch with the blanket while I stood from the stool, the wooden seat toppling to the ground with a thud.

My eyes widened as an unfamiliar woman who looked very pretty and had great style stared at the two of us, appearing just as confused as I was.

However, the confusion passed quickly, her expression changing to that of betrayal.

She pointed at the two of us before her index finger ultimately settled on Levi.

“How could you do this to me?”

34

THU