Page 93 of Redeeming Heart

Waking up alone on the couch when I remembered falling asleep beside Brandon. I thought by now I’d gotten used to the pain of my mother being gone. I spent each day of her birthday grieving alone and this year someone showed up and I’d never imagined being overwhelmed by such gratitude.

I pushed the blanket aside and sigh in relief that I have the use of my fingers back. I’ve always convinced myself that I was ready to die because the desire to stay alive slowly disintegrated.

I stood up from the couch and looked around for Brandon wondering where he could be when I found a note taped to the fridge.

“At rink. There are leftovers in the fridge if you are hungry and your clothes should be dry.”

I stared at the note and I couldn’t stop my mind from popping questions.

Have I not freaked him out?

I kind of assumed that he would have hit the road from having to deal with all of my family drama.

I opened the fridge at the mention of food and grab myself a sandwich before I went to grab my clothes from the dryer and got dressed. Grabbing another sandwich, I headed out and over to the rink. By now there wasn’t evidence that we had stormy weather earlier today and I wasn’t bothered by walking a few blocks to get to the rink.

Brandon and his team were still busy with practice when I arrived.

Ashley gave me a death glare when our eyes met.

I get it that she is in love with Brandon and is his friend, but why would she even have something against me or even Clarissa? Clarissa made it pretty clear that she is over Brandon and not planning on getting back together.

And, well, Brandon and I are friends. From when are people not allowed to be friends?

I ignored all the unsettling looks for Ashley and her friends when I walked past them and over to the barrier where it wasn’t my intention to get Brandon’s attention. He waved at me and being raised by two badass female friends I decided to wave back without being remorseful.

I stood at the barrier and didn’t mind watching them practice. I was fascinated with the way Brandon commenced his team’s attention and got them to pull their weight. Their passes were without a doubt smooth, accurate, and fast. They kept up and didn’t miss a single beat of concentration.

Brandon made his way over to the barrier after they had ended with practice and purposely sprayed me with ice with his skates as he came to a sudden stop.

“I’ll remember to return the favor.” I joked, wiping away the pieces of ice that hasn’t already melted.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, removing his helmet.

“I was fine until you sprayed me with ice.” I scolded.

“You’ve got to teach me your secret to how you commence a team like that especially since you are the youngest player amongst them,” I noted, complimenting him at the same time.

He shrugged. “Only, if you join me on the ice.”

“No, way in hell. The last time I took a chance I found myself struggling to get rid of a big ugly bruise for weeks.”

“Last time you didn’t have a pro to guide you.” True, but I was still not changing my mind.

“What if I promise you that you won’t land on your ass and if you do, you can try to push me over onto my ass?” That wasn’t fair because I would pay to see him land on his ass.

“I don’t have skates.” I tried.

“I’ve got you covered.” He does always have answers to everything.

I breathed out. “Fine, but if anything happens. I am plotting my revenge.” I said, getting just another chuckle out of him.

He organized me a pair of skates that had a way better fit. He met me at the door leading out to the ice and held his hand out to me.

“Don’t look at the ice,” He began when I placed my hand in his gloved hand.

“It’s like walking. You trust your legs and feet. The same on the ice, your feet will go where you want them to go.” He explained, guiding me across the ice.

“I like your tattoo by the way,” He mentioned when he started to notice that I was starting to get familiar with the ice.

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