“This will be great for Colt’s PR. I know everything’s been so stressful with the . . . situation.”
“Yeah. He needs a personal win.”
My hands started to shake as we walked, making small talk as we went. I greeted the head of the ice crew and got some pointers on pushing the shovel. “You’re going to do great,” she assured me. “This is such a cute idea. Now I’ll have to read the book!”
“It’s a good one,” I said, shaking out my hands and blowing a breath through tight lips.
A woman with a short blonde bob wearing a Rusties polo appeared at my side. “Are you Violet?” She stuck her hand out. “I’m Emma, Mara’s friend in athlete nutrition.”
“Oh, gosh. Thank you so much for helping me sort all this out! It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
She waved a hand. “What can I say? I’m a romance skeptic. I had to come see it to believe it. Are you nervous?”
“Terribly,” I said. The ice crew captain beckoned me to wait for the next time out. “Anyway. This is it.”
I checked in with myself as we waited in the tunnel. The liquid stomach feeling I had mirrored the one I got every time I had to give a presentation. Why was I putting myself through this?
Because Colton was the one. He was the one I’d choose over and over, the sunshine of my life. He, his mind, his body, every part of his being, was
His face at the back of a dark auditorium at Alden while I gave a presentation, smile wide, eyes bright. So proud.
His hands reaching for me while he knelt on the dance floor at Kitty’s wedding. Laughing, singing, bringing the party.
His intensity when he said we weren’t over in that hotel room.
His words laid bare in a text message. I love(d) you.
His arms so tight around me when I called for him, shoulders and back wet from the pouring rain.
His kiss in a dark storage closet at work.
The way he got so deeply touched if I did even the tiniest nice thing for him.
His heart thumping under my hand in the locker room when he told me it wasn’t fake.
His eyes over my shoulder in the mirror while we worked through my deepest fears.
I could never ask or even wish for more than what Colton Jones had to offer.
And it was time to show him that.
The TV timeout got called and the door to the ice opened. “Showtime!” the crew captain said.
I tripped at the first push on my shovel’s handle. Being on the ice crew seemed like a good idea when I cooked this up a few days before. Now when push came to literal shove, itwasn’t so easy to shovel loose, shaved ice and skate at the same time. But after a couple of pushes, I got the hang of it.
On my first pass, I spotted Colton standing on the ice with his back to me.
“Go get him, girlie,” the captain said. “They’re starting the kiss cam.”
I skated along the wall, pushing the shaved ice ahead of me. When I reached Colton’s side, a red light went on behind the bench. I tapped him on the shoulder, or rather, the shoulder pad, but he felt it and turned.
“Violet!” Colt’s eyes widened as he looked me up and down. “You’re an ice girl?”
A loud cheer came from the crowd.
I pretended to curtsy with a skirt that I didn’t have. “Looks like it.”
He had the brightest smile, sparkling eyes, upper lip lifted slightly like he did when he was so deeply happy. He wrapped an arm around my waist and I rested mine on his upper arm, clutching behind his neck. He dipped to kiss the top of my head, and the crowd booed.
