Page 20 of Redeeming Heart

“You are too nice, Jonah. As a defender, you gotta be tough and shove that person out of your way and away from the guy who has the puck. You should protect him but you aren’t in the position to do so.”

He didn’t look thrilled with my observation. “You only played for a few minutes and now you think you know everything?”

I didn’t react to his impoliteness with words of my own. I only tried to reach for him when he skated away from me and I forgot for a moment I was wearing skates. My one foot slipped out from under me and I went down with quite a bang.

Everything was cold and wet, and I didn’t want to start thinking about how it was going to hurt when I get up from here.

I heard skates gliding over the ice and I thought it was Jonah but to my surprise it was Brandon.

He was already dressed for practice and I was suddenly very much aware if he was here, so was his team.

“You, okay?” He asked, offering his hand to me.

I nodded and took his hand, letting him help me up.

“Sweet Jesus,” I muttered, once I stood and cupped the side of my butt I landed on. That is going to leave a mark without a doubt.

“Usually, the coach will tell us to walk it off.” He began and I didn’t miss his smile.

“But I get the feeling, you will punch me in the face if I have to tell you to walk it off.”

I suppressed a chuckle and started to see where Jonah was since he didn’t come over to help me out. I caught him talking to two of Brandon’s teammates.

“You weren’t wrong what you said to Jonah.” I gazed at Brandon, keeping my expression dull while I was amazed that he overheard my conversation with Jonah.

I know I was right but it was hard for anyone to admit to something they are passionate about.

“Do you have any advice because he shut me down when I only mentioned the possibility of changing positions?” Brandon was the person that Jonah looked up and he mentioned to me that he wants to become like him.

They have something in common and Brandon is way more experienced than me in ice hockey.

“We’ve got a few minutes to spare before practice. You and Jonah can even stay so he can learn.” He offered and I know Jonah will be more than happy to stick around.

“Yeah, sure. I am sure his mom won’t have a problem.” Brandon nodded at me.

I glanced over my shoulder when I heard Jonah’s chuckle and then he was making his way over to us with Brandon’s friends. “This is Jake and Jared.” Jonah introduced without an apology but I saw the guilt in his eyes.

“Sasha,” I introduced myself.

Both of them nodded their heads at me before heading off to show Jonah some moves.

“You want me to teach you how to control your skates?” Brandon asked, noticing my discomfort.

“On the contrary, I just want to get off the ice and out of these things,” I said, leaving the professionals to take charge of helping Jonah with training.

“Need some help?” I didn’t miss him struggling to conceal his laughter when I almost slipped again.

“Just tell me what I have to do,” I said with a frustrating huff.

“Well, first.” He kicked my foot in the right direction. “They are just like shoes, just with full blades. Always have them pointing forward and close together because they will go opposite sides, and you will end up doing some splits on the ice.”

“That sounds like fun,” I mumbled, catching his smile.

I didn’t say anything when he hesitantly snaked his arm around my waist and helped me safely over to the barriers. Making sure I didn’t fall again and let me go once he was sure I was alright before going over to his friends.

I got working on removing my skates while they were showing Jonah some moves when a girl with long straight, dark-black hair made her way over to me.

“Not a fan, huh?” She asked, sitting down next to me.

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