I nodded. “I still go to Pilates and yoga during the week.”
“Good. Make sure you consume enough calories.” She gave me a pointed look. Eating disorders were a big thing with figure skaters. They thought they needed to be extremely thin to be beautiful and win. If it wasn’t for Marcy being by my side when I was younger I probably would have been one of those girls. I now know muscles can be sexy.
She was persistent in making sure I ate over three thousand calories a day since I burned an insane amount at every practice and competition. I also had Erin, who never said no to getting food with me.
“Will do,” I promised.
“I’ll see you Thursday.” She tapped the top of the boards. “Great job today, Emmie.”
I preened under her praise, a smile forming on my face. “Thank you.”
With that, Marcy left. The smile stayed as I pushed away from the boards and glided backward. For the first time in a while, confidence filled me in regards to regionals.
I skated around the rink a few times before people started trickling through the doors, the calm silence of the rink fading. The sight of kids in hockey uniforms made my heart patter. Before I could stop myself, I glanced around to see if I’d spot Mateo amongst them.
It’s been two days since we went out to eat. Forty-eight hours since Mateo gave me his number to text him, yet I haven’t. I’ve stared at his number multiple times and even went to type something to him. Instead of sending it, I tossed my phone to the side, double-guessing myself.
Things were already a bit complicated with my profession. Not to mention, my father was Mateo’s coach. From the way Mateo talked about my dad the other day, he respected him and thought highly of his opinion. Finding out I was his daughter would end what we had before it even started.
I should’ve been okay with that, yet my heart sank at the idea of that. What if Mateo would actually be okay with me being the coach's daughter? Maybe it wasn’t a deal breaker.
I knew my father wouldn’t care, or at least, he had no room to. He was trying to repair our relationship, but I was a grown woman. I could date whoever I wanted. Even if it was one of his players.
The mental gymnastics of it all was exhausting, especially since seeing the kids on the ice in their hockey gear reminded me of Mateo.
With a low growl, I tugged my ice skates off. See, complicated.
Shoving my skates into my bag, my phone started buzzing. Like clockwork, Erin’s name flashed on the screen.No matter what, Erin always called right after practice. It had been our thing for years now.
Erin immediately greeted me the second I answered. “What’s up, bitch?”
“Wow, you really have a way with words.”
“I know, I’m a master of them,”she boasted, making me snort.“How was practice?”
I could hear her shuffling on the other side of the phone, probably switching positions on the couch as she wrote.
“It went well. Stuck the front triple, and Marcy moved practice to three times a week instead of four.”
“Told you you’d nail it.”Erin said it like she had no worries at all about my abilities.
“And what are you doing?”
“Just wrote my favoritewho did this to you scene, and now he’s about to fuck her against the door.”
“Very productive,” I mused while sliding my regular shoes on.
“Are you on your way home?”Erin asked. I started to answer, but then my phone buzzed in my hand. Confused, I pulled it from my ear and glanced at the screen. My dad’s name popped up, followed by a text.
Dad: Would you want to drop by the practice facility and then go get a late lunch?
“Emmie?”Erin’s voice came through the phone at my lack of response.
“Sorry.” I brought my phone back to my ear. “I just got a text from my dad.”
“Oh? What did he want?”
“Wanted to see if I’d come to the practice facility before grabbing lunch.”
