Kane leans closer to me, his warm breath dancing along my ear when he murmurs, “What does someone who’s secretly crafty look like?”
I examine Sutton closer. “She just has that vibe that she knows what Mod Podge is.”
“What the fuck is Mod Podge?”
“Glue?” I shrug. “I don’t know. DoIlook like someone who crafts?”
I turn to face him, my gaze trailing over his jaw before finally landing on his dark, coffee-brown eyes.
“Does Lefevre cook for himself?” Kane asks, jolting me out of the staring contest I seem to have been the only contestant in.
I shrug. “I’m not sure. I let the nutritionist handle that.”
“And here I thought you were the type of coach who didn’t know how to delegate.” His eyes widen as he turns to look at me fully, his hands going up in a defensive gesture. “I didn’t mean that.”
The timer rings, and I decide to ignore his comment. Because what does that even mean? He’s been here for over a month, and I’ve never once asked him about his nutrition. Honestly, Icouldn’t give a shit as long as he performs, which he has been. As much as it pains me to admit.
“Saved by the bell.” I drop down in front of the oven, peering in at the little mounds of white inside. Neither of us has any idea how to tell whether a cupcake is cooked the appropriate amount or not, and since we’re running short on time, we decide to pull them out.
“I think we need to do that,” Kane says, subtly nodding toward Li, who is fanning his cupcakes with a baking sheet.
“You don’t think sticking them in the fridge is the way to go?” I ask.
Kane considers it, glancing back at the large, walk-in fridge off to the side of the room. “No one has gone in there since we’ve gotten eggs.”
“I see your point,” I agree. “I’ll fan; you work the mixer to see if you can make a few more colors. Probably black and Yeti blue?”
“I’m on it,” Kane replies with a nod. “It’ll match your eyes.”
I gape at him. That was, yup. Super normal and not at all making my body turn weird temperatures.
He clears his throat before quickly grabbing the little box of food coloring. He stares at the instructions on the back like it’s his first hockey contract, and he can’t believe it’s really real. His cheeks turn red, clearly embarrassed to have admitted that he—what?—noticed I had eyes.
Finally, I turn back to our cupcakes, tentatively picking each one out of the tray and setting them on the little wire thing Li has his on before fanning them. We work in silence for the rest of the allotted time, our arms occasionally bumping as we both work side by side. It’s distracting in a way that makes me glad I have my own office. I hate sharing space with others.
“Holy buckets!” I exclaim, looking over at the cupcake Kane is working on. “Youarea crafter.”
It’s a masterpiece. He’s only done one in the time it’s taken me to make three of the cupcakes into little ice rinks, but shit. His yeti looks like the one on the timer in front of him.
No wonder the social media team has all been over here, phones focused on him. I assumed it was because he’s by far the most attractive player here, but no—he’s actually fucking good at decorating cupcakes.
Kane looks up, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “Yeah, no, yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever actually frosted a cupcake before.”
“I call bullshit,” I say, then, remembering my role, I wink at the camera now trained on me. “Don’t let the secret out of the bag too soon, Kane.”
Directly behind me, Sabrina laughs, and I almost jump. Jesus. When did she get there?
Kane keeps his eyes trained on his cupcake, slowly using a dark purple we’re calling black to create the wide-open mouth of the yeti.
“You totally know what Mod Podge is,” I whisper.
“Mod what?” His lips lift into a small grin.
Even though I know I shouldn’t, I laugh, and it’s well worth it when a proud smile creeps across his face.
Then, we fall into an easy silence as we both work, trying to get these cupcakes frosted before time runs out.
“Faster, Kane,” I hiss, watching the time tick down on the large clock in front of us. I’ve frosted a total of nine cupcakes, six that couldpossiblypass as rinks and three that are just large, black circles I’m calling pucks.
