“You were walking the other day. From that apartment building by my place. You carried that big box of stuff all the way home?”
I nod, eyeing him as he closes the small distance between us with a few long strides.
His attention drops to my favorite red boots. I suppress a shiver as his gaze sweeps up, traveling over my patterned tights dotted with hearts and my sweater dress to the bow tying my braided crown back before settling on my mouth for a beat.
A strong gust of wind kicks up a swirl of leaves around us. He moves into it without hesitation, blocking me from the brisk air with his tall frame. Even without his skates on, he towers over me in these chunky heeled boots by a head. He regards me with his dark brows raised.
When he looks at me, it’s impossible not to feel caught up in that magnetic pull. Being around him is this inescapable force sucking me in.
“It’s too cold out today. You don’t have a coat on. It’s supposed to snow, you know. Come on, I’ll give you a ride.” He holds out a hand toward the lot behind the training facility. “I’ll give you one whenever you need it.”
“Oh, no it’s fine. You don’t have to go out of your way to?—”
He cocks his head with a slight smirk. “We can stand here and argue about it if you want, but this still ends the same way. Not accepting no for an answer, Evie. Let me take you.”
A buzzing rush of warmth moves through me at the firm yet considerate tone he uses while teasing me.
“If you’re sure you’re not busy.”
“I’m never too busy for you.”
I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear as we head for the lot. He only means that I’m his best friend’s sister. He’s being as kind as he is to everyone. I shouldn’t read any further into those words.
This side of campus is quiet other than the trickle of athletes coming and going. I bump into Cole’s side a couple of times, then murmur an apology and put some distance between us until we drift closer again.
I stop when we reach his car, mouth curling at the corners. “You still drive a Bronco? Is this the same one you had in high school? This takes me back.”
Countless memories from tagging along with Benny and Cole flit through my mind from endless summer days chasing sunsets to winters cramming as many people in as we could to hit the closest ski slopes. There were a few times when it was just us, too. When he’d give me a ride to my friends’ houses when Benny didn’t feel like it, and I would shyly peek across the center console to admire his profile while he sang along to whatever played on the radio with the wind in his hair.
He pats the blue frame of the SUV and opens the door for me. “Close to the same year. I sold mine when I moved away. Couldn’t pass it up when I saw it for sale.”
Climbing in, I’m sent right back to those memories. They blend with the present, this version of him just as out of reach as he was as the heartbreaker with a carefree grin that inspired so many idealistic fantasies when I was younger.
I’ll blame it on my nostalgia, but I sneak glances at him the entire ride, admiring his shadowed jawline and the defined arm he drapes over the wheel.
FIVE
COLE
Somehow the Broncostill smells like Eve’s sweet perfume. Hints of vanilla and strawberry have driven me crazy for days. I finally left the windows down to air it out. I hope the snowstorm they’re calling for doesn’t start until later.
Tantalizing thoughts of her tights haunted my dreams again last night. I shouldn’t have snuck glances at her legs when I gave her a ride home last week. But I also wasn’t about to leave her to walk all the way home by herself.
I need to figure out how to shut off my reaction to her if we’re going to be spending even more time together. How the hell did I keep myself in line in high school?
Whatever. Now’s not the time to be thinking about ripping tights off the coach’s daughter.
I dart my attention to the opposite side of the ice. David’s bracing his hands on the boards. Licking my lips, I make a conscious effort to clear my head.
The jitters of my first day as a college-level coach dwindled after the initial practice. They’re still there, but I’m getting a handle on them after a week.
Faking it with a smile until I skate by is how I’ve always operated since my wild teenage days doing dumb shit for laughslike tying rope from the back of an ATV to a trash lid to sled the trails.
Except this time I’m taking this seriously. Far more than I did with my past jobs. I want to make it work instead of goofing my way through. Even if this is only temporary.
I love this game. I love the strategy and skill involved. The payoff when those hours of practice become an insane goal or the game-saving defense against all odds is the best damn thing in the world.
“Good, Reeves,” I call from the boards when he kills the beautiful shot Alex Keller takes on the net during their scrimmage. “Watch out for your footwork, Brody. Get on the inside of that approach and you’ll have the leverage to push him out of it before Keller shoots. Protect your zone. Keep that in mind for tomorrow’s game.”
