“Well, how about you give me a chance to prove you wrong?” he asked, a full smoldering smile locked and loaded, aimed right at me.
I hesitated. After finally being free of Jerrod, it was good to be single again. But Eli Lewis could make one heck of a rebound.
“You know,” he continued, rubbing the back of his neck, “I owe Hattie a thank-you.”
I arch a brow. “For destroying your glove?”
He grins. “On my first night as captain, I ended up with a hat trick. I scored three goals.”
I blink. “So?”
“If I’d kept that stinky glove, I’d have smelled it all night and played like shit. Hattie saved me by ruining it. Coach got me a new glove, and I scored big. I couldn’t miss, all night long. Go figure. The dog’s name is Hattie, and I got a hat trick. Get it?” He chortled, but I gave him a blank stare.
“Anyway. Knowing you were there watching the game also made me want to play my ass off to show off for you,” he continued with a wink.
“Oh, I didn’t stay and watch the game,” I said with a straight face.
His smile fell. “No?”
“Just kidding. A few of my friends and I absolutely stayed and watched the game, even though people recognized me as the ‘girl with the dog and the glove.’”
He snorted. “Did you cheer for me?”
“Maybe?”
“What’s your name?”
“Stella.”
“You know, I kind of like you, Stella. I mean, we survived a battle on the ice with a vicious dog together.”
“She’s hardly vicious.”
He laughed. “Well, I think after last night, we could be friendly, don’t you?”
“Are you just saying that to get into my pants?” I fluttered my eyelashes at him.
“Is it working?”
I shrugged. “Ask me again tomorrow… Yes, you can take me out for a coffee and prove to me you aren’t a weirdo.”
A giggle erupts from my chest unexpectedly about the way we met—even to this day. But that was then; this is now. Many years and a divorce later, I’m not that naïve college girl who thought a man was all she needed.
With a heavy sigh, I already know in my heart that if Eli offers more free hockey lessons, I’m going to let Aiden do this. He’s a good kid and doesn’t get a lot of the things his friends do. He deserves it, even if it means I try to avoid Eli at all costs.
Aiden’s happiness is what I live for as a mother.
“Eli is nothing more than a random hockey player running a nonprofit clinic,” I mutter under my breath. He’s a guy from my past, and that’s where he’ll stay, even if my son thinks he’s a bona fide hero.
CHAPTER 5
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
ELI
We’re runningtwo-on-ones in practice. It’s an odd-man rush, where I strip the puck from an attacker and head to the net. A basic drill I’ve done so often with my teammates it’s impaled into my muscle memory. But today, even that doesn’t save me from mistakes when my mind is somewhere else—like in Boulder, wherever Stella is. And Aiden, too, because we’re adults now, and chasing Stella means she comes with baggage.
Not that I’m comparing Aiden to some piece of luggage too heavy to drag around.
