“Then put your money where your mouth is, Nick,” Bex whispers in my ear.
“You’re on.”
“How long are we going to play for?” I ask her.
“One period.” Her voice is firm. “One period to determine which of us is the better of the hockey players.”
I skate over to her, tugging one of the long, braided pigtails that hang out from under her hat. Pink coats her cheeks from the cold air. I give her a quick kiss. “May the best person win.”
“Don’t worry, I will.”
Bex skates off, grabbing the puck and circling me. It’s hard not to stand here and just watch her. Why is it that everything this woman does wraps me up into her world, completely clouding any rational thought from breaking through?
“Getting cocky already?” I shake off the Bex-induced fog and match her skate for skate. It’s different not being in all the garb I usually wear for the game. But when Bex shoots her first shot, I deflect it easily.
“Just saving it for later.” She winks, not even fazed that she missed her shot.
Taking the puck, I head toward the center of the pond and make a show of my puck-handling skills. Not something that I get to do very often.
“Show-off,” Bex laughs. “Shoot the puck, Nick.”
“You can’t rush a master,” I tell her, easing her back slowly toward the lone goal at the edge of the pond.
I deke her out and put the biscuit in the basket.
“Would it be rude to celebrate?”
Bex rolls her eyes at me before fishing the puck out of the back of the net. “By all means, go right ahead. Because that’s the only one you’ll be celebrating.”
“We’ll see about that.”
The game continues, Bex putting two in before I get another. Bex wasn’t kidding about saving it for later. Her stick-handling skills are superb. I shouldn’t be surprised because she’s good with her hands. But watching the way she fakes me out and then shoots the puck into the back of the goal has me muttering under my breath.
“If I didn’t know your skills, Nick, I’d be questioning your starting position with the team.” Bex circles around the goal, celebrating her goal to put her in the lead.
“Ouch!” My breath comes out in a puff around me as I shoot the puck toward the center of our rink. “I can’t help it if I am distracted by the cute winger.”
Bex smiles at me, skating backward toward the center of the ice. “I’m not distracted by the sexy man in the goal. You need to get your head in the game. Or are you trying to lose?”
I skate toward her, making a move and grabbing the puck from her. “Do you really think I’d lose to you on purpose? Because from where I stand, this bet benefits both of us.”
A sly grin tugs at the corner of her mouth. “Yeah, but it will be infinitely more fun for one of us than the other.”
“That would be me.”
I shoot the puck at the goal but Bex gets the tip of her stick on it and sends it wide.
“Damn. I’d say if managing the team doesn’t work out, you have a future as a player,” I tell her.
“Have you seen the badass women that play for the women’s league? That Lydia Bishop is incredible. There’s no way I could ever match her level of skill.”
“Yeah, Troy is pretty proud of her.”
“I’d say I’m surprised how much talent is in that family, but it’s not all that much of a surprise.”
Bex once again shows off her skills and trips me up to get another one on me.
“Damn it!” I shout in jest.
