Coach Mikey’s glove swipes the back of his eldest son’s head.
“Manners,” he chastises.
“Sorry. What’s your name,Miss Doll?” Angelo coos.
Erin chuckles. “I’m Erin.”
He gives her a wolfish grin when she sticks out her hand to shake his. Before he can put his grubby lips on her, I intervene and pull Erin’s hand away, keeping it in mine.
“Erin’s my friend,” I say a little too forcefully.
“She’s a girl,” Parker, Mikey’s youngest son, says. He’s not old enough to play with the rest of the boys, but since his dad is the coach, Parker is often at the rink watching. On occasion, Mikey will let him on the ice to skate, but for fun only.
He was only four when he first stepped on the ice, and now, he’s seven. When I met him all those years ago, he was just a shy little kid who could barely stand on the ice for a minute before he fell.
“Thanks, Parker. Very perceptive of you.”
“Are you his girlfriend?” Parker blurts.
Immediately, the boys begin to snicker, making kissing sounds. I groan into my hand and scowl at Mikey, who coughs into his fist to hide his amusement.
“I’m told Henderson Rink trains the best,” Erin says, recovering much quicker than me. “I was wondering if I could get some shots of you in action for a project I’m working on.”
“My left side is my photogenic side,” Angelo says with a wink. Erin shuffles past me and moves to sit on a nearby bench that offers a view of the whole rink.
It’s the second time someone’s called Erin my girlfriend, and she hasn’t corrected them to say she’s not.
She looks up and waves.
I wink.
Click.
She snaps a photo. I can tell she’s pleased with what she sees by the way she bites her lip. The only thought running through my head is how much I enjoy Erin being called my girlfriend.
Yeah, I could get used to that.
My thoughts get derailed, and I can’t help but huff out a laugh. It’s official—I think I’m jealous of a seven-year-old as I watch Parker help Erin lace up her skates.
I wish it was me.
I shake the thoughts away because I know I can’t do that—despite every part of me craving to go out there. I want to skate with Erin. Hold her hand. Show her what I can do, rather than have her watch it from her screen, but I can’t. Not only because I haven’t been cleared, but because I’m not sure I can.
I’ve made it this far without seeing the memories from that day, but I don’t know what will happen if I attempt to step out there.
That’swhy I can’t have ice evaluations.
Even if I somehow manage to get on the ice for one, I’m worried the ice will trigger me and I’ll see Jack. And my lies of being injured will unravel right before me.
For the first time, the lie I thought would protect me, traps me. I’m stuck in a maze I no longer want to be in with no way out.
With her skates laced up, Erin makes her way out onto the ice. The moment she lets go of the wall, her skates slide outfrom under her and she falls. My legs jerk in reaction to go save her, but Coach Mikey is by her side instantly. I relax, remaining behind the boards as I watch.
She doesn’t seem hurt or scared, but stays close to the wall, holding on to it with one hand while snapping pictures with the other.
I’m watching her record Angelo showing off when there’s a tug on my jacket.
Parker.
