“And your Skip is Perry Hasting.”
“That’s right.”
He nodded and smiled, showing teeth and long, perfect dimples. “Good to know. I’m eager to size up my competition.”
“Bet.” It made sense. We would be competing next week, and it wasn’t like he could study us on TV like we could him. We weren’t famous about-to-be Olympians.
“Come on, Ev,” Perry said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me back. “It’d suck to lose because we defaulted. Break’s over.”
“Right. Yeah.” I let him drag me back to the sheets.
CHAPTER 5
PERRY
How I was goingto focus on the game now, with Channing watching from the bar, Evan completely distracted by him, and my anger at Andre’s attitude still rankling, I had no idea.
Thankfully, Shaw Kerry, our Lead, didn’t much need my advice about where to lay his guards. He’d figured out his weight by now, given the too-soft ice, and placed his first stone perfectly.
The other team’s stone stopped just short of ours, so Shaw’s next throw was an easy placement that would allow Evan to sneak a count in, or takeout an offending rock on his turn, whichever was necessary. Of course he did, leaving his own first rock scoring a point, safe behind Shaw’s right guard stone.
Luckily, our opponent’s next stone didn’t have the weight it needed to reach Evan’s, so the point stayed on the board for now, and Evan curled his second stone neatly around our guards and into another scoring position.
“So?” Robbie asked, sliding up next to me. “What do you think, Skip?”
I stared down at the ice, the stones there a complete muddle in my brain.
“Perry?” Robbie knit his brows. “You good?”
No, I was not remotely good. Where were the lines and trajectories I normally saw glowing like beacons down the ice and between the stones? “Fuck,” I whispered.
“Hey.” A light touch on my elbow brought my attention around to where Evan stood on my other side.
“Hey.”
“Our deal’s still on, just so you know.” He smirked at me.
“Not helping,” I muttered.
It only made him smirk harder, which popped his dimple. I was a sucker for dimples. Channing had a couple of doozies I’d noticed him aiming at my boyfriend earlier.
Evan slipped a finger into my hand, caressing my palm, which had me immediately closing it into my fist as he canted his stand so his shoulder bumped mine and a wisp of his hair drifted across my cheek. The smell of his shampoo quieted the distracting thoughts of Channing bouncing around in my head.
I closed my eyes and breathed that scent in while Even proceeded to describe the stones at our feet to me. Not that I needed him to, because I had each placement etched in my brain, but his voice was low and nice to listen to. I could picture him pointing as he spoke, and the slight shifts of his shoulder against me told me I was right.
“Okay,” he said, right in my ear. “Take a look now.”
I nodded. I had the field in mind solidly, and could see, faintly, a hovering glow where my brain thought the next rock should land. Now all I had to do was figure out how to get it there. I opened my eyes, a sigh of reliefwhooshing out of me when the familiar imaginary lines appeared, connecting stones and guiding my decisions.
“Thanks,” I whispered, squeezing Evan’s finger.
He grinned and nodded, sliding away to take up a position and await instruction. Stood there, leaning on his broom, gazingdown the sheet, he looked perfect. No way could I stop the little shiver of want that raced through me.
“Are we drooling over our boyfriend, or are we making a play here?” Robbie teased.
“Ha. Ha. The play is put a freeze on the red near Evan’s four-footer. Can you do that?”
Robbie’s grin was feral. “Can I do that,” he muttered.
