“Hugo.”
Hugo jerks, his eyes widening slightly as he turns to the voice. Atty’s on his way to the car with Toby.
“You joining us?”
Hugo nods, flashing him a smile. “Just saying goodnight to Torin.”
“Later, Torin,” Atty calls, smiling and waving. Toby waves too.
I flush and raise my hand.
“I’ll message you later,” Hugo repeats. “Okay?”
I nod again.
It is definitely my imagination when he’s slow to step away, then even slower to turn around. The girl he’s with gives me a curious look. And I try not to be upset. Especially when Hugo opens the passenger side door for her.
Chapter Nine
HUGO
When I followmy team off the ice at the end of practice, I notice Torin isn’t standing by the chute today. A glance around and I don’t see him. Frowning, I continue out. On my way past, I stop at his office. The light is on, so I think he’s here. He’s just notherewhere I can see him.
“You okay?” Winny asks.
I nod. “Just looking for Torin.”
“He usually picks up the pucks at the end of practice,” Coach tells me as he walks by. He claps my shoulder and nudges me back toward the ice.
With a smile for him, I turn back to the rink. Sure enough, I see Torin on the ice. He’s not on skates, but shimmying around with his sneakers, picking up pucks and dropping them into a bucket he’s dragging with him.
I wonder if this is one of the jobs he was given that allows him not to deal with people. He’s wearing black jeans, a black hoodie, and a bright pink beanie. I smile as I watch him for a minute before stepping back onto the ice.
Torin looks up and watches me as I approach.
We’ve been hanging out most days that I don’t have games. Usually after practice. But he doesn’t like to come out after games when we celebrate or commiserate, depending on how the game went.
I get it, so I’ve stopped asking. But I feel bad not asking him to come with us. I don’t want him to think we don’t want him to hang out with us. We do. Well, I do. I guess I don’t know about the others.
“Hey,” I say as I close the distance and skate straight into him.
Torin nearly falls backwards as his feet come out from under him, and his arms wrap around me, gripping onto my jersey. I laugh as I pick him up off his feet entirely.
“I’m not going to let you fall, silly.”
He laughs, breathless as he hangs on and I skate him around a bit while hugging him. I think I’m hug deprived. There’s almost nothing else I’d rather be doing than hugging this man. I love the way he hugs me. How he smiles into my neck and his fingers dig into my back. I love that I can feel the way his heart beats against his chest.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
Torin nods. “Just waiting for some big strapping man to sweep me off my feet. So thanks for that.”
I laugh. As long as we’re alone, I get to see more and more of his personality. He’s still soft-spoken. Always. That hasn’t changed. But he talks more now.
Not as much as I do. I’m not sure I’ve met anyone who talks as much as I do. But he definitely talks more.
“You know how to skate?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I can move around pretty well on my sneakers, so I feel like it can’t be that different.”
