“Sure. I’ll send them tonight.”
“You’re the best! Love you!”
“Love you too.”
I end the call and just sit there in the empty rink with my skates in my lap and my ankle throbbing with each pulse of my heartbeat and the knowledge that I’m going to have to smile through my sister’s wedding in February while Garrett’s there as best man.
Garrett will be there. At the rehearsal dinner. At the ceremony. At the reception. There’s no way to avoid it without explaining why.
And I’m not explaining why. I’m not going to be the sad older sister who got dumped and made Olivia’s wedding about my drama.I’m not going to cry at the rehearsal dinner or make things awkward or be anything except exactly what I’m supposed to be: the perfect maid of honor who has her life together.
My phone buzzes. Another unknown number.
I block it without reading the text.
2
RODRIGUEZ
December
“Rodriguez, stop chirping my players,”Barrett yells from ice level when I lean over the boards to heckle Almardon.
“I’m providing valuable feedback!”
“You’re being annoying. Go bother someone who cares.”
I give him a salute and keep moving, every step making the knee brace straps dig tighter into my leg. The Velcro catches and creaks with every step as I hobble through the facility. Three weeks in this thing and I’m honestly not sure how I’m going to do three more. Three weeks of sitting on my ass watching my teammates practice while I’m stuck doing the world’s most boring recovery routine.
I make it past the weight room where a couple of the guys are doing off-ice training, past the video room where our assistant coach is reviewing game footage, around the hallway to the other practice rink.
That’s when I spot her through the glass.
Juliette’s on the ice with a group of kids, demonstrating something that involves a lot of leg movements I definitelycouldn’t do even before I wrecked my knee. She’s in all black like always, her hair scraped back in a bun that looks like it could cause a headache. Maybe that’s why she’s always so cranky.
I should keep walking. I know I should keep walking. But I hobble over to the bench area and lean against the boards to take some weight off my knee. One of the little kids sees me and waves.
Juliette notices the distraction and turns, her eyes landing on me, and she purses her lips, clearly annoyed that I’m disrupting her class.
“Hey,” I say, gesturing at the group. “Nice turnout. The brace is really working for me, right? Very attractive. I’m thinking of keeping it after the knee heals.”
She stares at me for a beat. “Is there something you need?”
“You ever think about giving private lessons? Because I could really use some help with my?—”
“I’m teaching right now.”
“Right, yeah, I can see that. I’m just saying, when you’re not working?—”
“No.” Her voice is flat and colder than usual. “I’ve told you that before.”
“Okay, wow. Rough crowd today.” I hold up my hands. “Message received.”
I turn to limp away and I swear I hear one of the kids ask her if she knows me. I can’t hear her response but I’m betting it’s not flattering.
Jake’s waiting by the PT room when I make my way back, arms crossed. “You’re supposed to be resting that knee, not hitting on the figure skaters.”
“I was resting it. I was leaning.”
