“I don’t see you getting up before sunrise to train with any other players. You mustreallylike her.”
“I’m not doing it for her.” I was doing it for the team.
“I didn’t say you were doing it for her. You’re doing it for a hook up.”
“I could think of nothing worse.”
“Reed and Grayson agree with me.”
“What?” I turned to her, and she wiggled her phone in the air. “Tell me you’re not messaging them.”
“Of course I am,” she said with a wicked smirk. “We’ve been talking about you for days. Grayson even changed the name of our group chat, see?”
She held the phone in front of my face, and I took my eyes off the road just long enough to check the screen. The group chat was namedParker’s dating coaches,and the profile picturewas a cute little monkey.
“I wonder how long it took Grayson to come up with that,” I scoffed.
“It’s changed a few times,” Cammie said. “This is my favorite though. Especially the picture. We all know how much you love Mom’s nickname for you,monkey.”
I let out a long sigh. It was too early for this shit.
“So, the boys think going after the coach’s daughter is a really bad idea,” Cammie continued. “But I say, a few red flags never stopped you chasing a girl before.”
“I don’t go after girls with red flags.”
“You’re like a bull, Parker. You see a red flag and charge.”
“Not with Mackenzie,” I replied. “Her dad pretty much told me he’d kill me if I even looked at her that way.”
“Oh, so she’s forbidden? That must be even more enticing for you.” Cammie’s eyes were sparkling with glee. She only got this much joy out of two things: skating and teasing her brothers.
Thankfully, we’d finally arrived at the rink, and I didn’t have to spend long looking for a parking spot because there was barely anyone else here.
“You guys all need to mind your own business,” I said.
“Wow, touchy,” she gasped, but then she nodded. “You must really be a goner for this girl.” Before I could respond, she jumped out of the truck and slammed the door shut.
“I don’t like her!” I yelled from the driver’s seat, but Cammie was already opening the doors to the arena and disappearing inside.
With a sigh, I gathered my stuff. Cammie was trainingwith her pairs skating partner this morning. They had the rink booked so the place was otherwise empty. I’d managed to talk her into letting Mackenzie and I practice down the far end of the ice.
I began to reconsider the whole thing though when I found Mackenzie waiting for me.
“You’re late.”
“Good morning to you too.” I set my bag down and started to take out my gear.
“I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes.”
We were definitely off to a bad start. “Well, you must be nice and warmed up then.”
I got the feeling she wanted to throw her stick at my head.
“You said to meet when the rink opened. My parents think I’m working out with Jaz this morning. I don’t have long.”
“I had to drive my sister, and she was taking forever to get ready.” I shrugged. “We’ll just have to make do with the time we have.”
“You’re blaming your sister?”
