So today, I get to sit in the stands just like old times and watch. I’m so excited to be able to spend a girls’ day with Len afterward.
They feel few and far between lately, and I want to soak up every minute. I’m going to drag her along to go to the farmer’s market to get some fruit and veggies, maybe some fresh flowers if they have any. My favorite is the buttercups. They’re the most gorgeous shades of yellow, and I love putting them on my kitchen table. It just brightens my apartment up so much, and they make me smile when I see them sitting there.
I’ve got the entire day planned out, and I’m honestly just so looking forward to having a Sunday all to myself that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want.
I’msoearly getting to the rink because I was already on campus for my yoga class this morning. I didn’t want to go all the way back to my apartment just to turn around and come rightback to the arena to meet Lennon, so I stopped and grabbed a protein smoothie from the bakery on campus, and now I’m… still here nearly an hour before I should be.
Good thing I brought the new book I just started with me.
I always carry a book with me, you know, just in case I can sneak in a few pages.
I pull on the handle of the entrance door, even if it’s a long shot that it’s unlocked yet, and magically… it is.
Hmmm. Maybe Saint had maintenance unlock it early for Lennon? Dunno.
I shrug and walk inside as I take a sip of my pineapple smoothie, using my other hand to quietly let the door fall shut. As much as I hate being cold, I’d take that over sweating to death any day.
I’m pretty sure that I’m probably not supposed to be in here this early, but I guess the worst that could happen is they ask me to leave. This could also be a good time to scope out the arena a bit to see the best place to have the event while I’m here.
Uninterrupted.
I should’ve done that the last time I was here, but I was too frustrated after dealing with Wilder.
He’s infuriating.
And stupid.
And hot.
As much as Ihateto admit that.
He’s so hot it makes my stomach flutter and my heart race against my pulse.
Precisely why I’ve been staying far, far away from the arena during business hours so I didn’t have another run-in with him. So, I didn’t have to see him at all.
Because after I accidentally dumped his coffee all over him, and he took his shirt off, dumb muscles rippling as he did… Irealized that the best thing I can do is just stop thinking about him.
To stop hoping that what happened will ever happen between us again.
He made it clear. Abundantly so.
Not just by what he said, but by being a complete jerk to me any chance he’s gotten.
Whatever happened between us is over and done.
It was one night. One I’m going to stop thinking about.
Soon.
I finish my smoothie and drop it into the trash can near the stands, but I come to an abrupt, stuttering halt when I hear the sound of blades scraping the ice.
I move further inside the arena and find the object of my insanity over the last three weeks, the man who was just infiltrating my thoughts when he shouldn’t be, on the ice.
Because of course, that’s the way the universe works.
It continually seems to push us together, despite how hard we’re both fighting it.
Or maybe it’s just bad luck that continues to stack up against me.
