“Ow. Fuck. Dammit.” He groans, head dropping back. He lost his hat somewhere, and there are pieces of ice in his hair. “That didn’t go according to plan.”
“What the hell even happened? How did you get under me?”
“You were falling. My reflexes are still quick. No one gets hurt on my ice.” He winces. “I haven’t been hit like that in years. You could have a future in hockey, Tiny Everett.”
“Thank you.” My arm is across his collarbone. My hand holds the waistband of his sweatpants. Our legs and skates are tangled together, and I don’t know how to get out of this position. “You didn’t have to sacrifice yourself. I’ve fallen thousands of times.”
“No one gets hurt.” Brody repeats the words as he lifts his head, sitting up slightly. His eyes sweep over my face. “You’re okay?”
“I’m okay. Areyouokay?”
“Yeah. My ass took most of the fall, and my daughter is in serious trouble.”
“If you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me. It was my fault. I lost my footing, and I didn’t mean to take you down with me.”
“It’s pretty clear I would’ve won if you hadn’t interfered.”
“Oh,please.” I swat at his shoulder, and it earns me a chuckle. “I was kicking your bruised ass.”
“Bruised is right.” He moves, and when he does, I feel his hand on the small of my back. It moves higher, up the line of my spine, and I blow out a breath. “You sure you’re not hurt?”
“I promise I’m fine. You didn’t hit your head, did you?”
“Nope. I’m?—”
“Are you two okay?” Liv skates up to us, a guilty gleam in her smile. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“We’re fine,” Brody grumbles.
He’s the one to initiate the untangling of our limbs. His leg unwraps from around my calf. His hands fall away next, and I’m instantly cold without his touch. When I sneak a peek at him, his jaw is tight. His eyes are narrowed, and it’s very obvious he’s uncomfortable with the position we’re in.
White-hot mortification grips me. I scramble out of his hold, rolling to the side. I swear he breathes a sigh of relief when I’m no longer manhandling him, and the flicker of awareness about how much he didn’t enjoy a single minute of that is like getting doused with a bucket of cold water.
“It was stupid to suggest a game where you could’ve gotten hurt.” Liv wrings her hands together with a sigh when Brody and I stand. “I’m so sorry, Hannah.”
“It’s okay, Liv. You couldn’t have known we were going to fall.” I smile. “That was fun. I needed an adrenaline boost, and beating your dad in a race was the perfect solution.”
“Watch it, Tiny Everett. Beating is a very generous word.” Brody points to the bench. “Let’s go, Livvy.”
“Hey.” I put my hand on his arm. “You’re not mad at her, are you?”
“I could never be mad at her.” He sighs. “I’m mad I was so blatantly put in my place.”
“You know what they say. Anything that boys can do, girls can do better.”
“You’re right. You’ll let me know if something starts to hurt later? An ankle or elbow?”
“Do you think I’m going to sue the team because I got injured on their property?” I laugh. “I promise I won’t, and I’ll sign a waiver before my next lesson with Liv.”
“Fuck a waiver.” The firmness in his tone makes me shiver. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“Oh.” I play with the ends of my ponytail. “Right. Okay. Yeah.”
“Thank you.” He gives me a nod and dusts off his sleeve. “Have a good night, Hannah.”
“You too,” I say, and when he checks over his shoulder, eyes locking with mine one more time, I think maybe he wasn’t uncomfortable at all.
SIXTEEN
