Page 132 of Miami Ice

Ever.

I turn my attention back to Beckham, grateful that my dad is a computer-system salesperson and not the head coach of the Manatees. Because I can’t imagine my life if I were forbidden from dating Beckham.

Beckham is over at the bench, taking off his gloves. Then he skates over to me and comes to a stop. “Let me see your top,” he demands, grinning at me.

I comply with his order, opening up the jacket so he can see his name and number bedazzled on my tube top.

His dark eyes flicker with heat as soon as he sees it, and I grow warm knowing I caused that reaction.

“Nice,” he says. “Can you catch something if I throw it over?”

I nod, but I’m confused.

Then Beckham pulls back the sleeve of his jersey, and to my surprise, I see a friendship bracelet on his left wrist. Beckham takes it off and tosses it over the glass to me. I catch it and look down at it, stunned.

“I made it. I hear Swifties like them,” he says.

I lift my gaze to meet his.He made me a friendship bracelet.

I’m so moved, I’m at a loss for words.

“Gotta go, Cupcake. See you after the game,” he says. Then he skates off, going back to the bench to retrieve his gloves.

I turn the bracelet over to see what message Beckham has given me. And then my heart begins to beat furiously as I read it:

11.29 1ST GAME AS MY GIRL LWYMMD

“Look What You Made Me Do.”

I begin to shake as I stare at the bracelet in my hand. Somehow, he found the time to make a friendship bracelet, putting pink beads on a string, along with a date that mattered to him and a Taylor Swift song title.

And he called me HIS GIRL again.

Suddenly I’m oblivious to the fact that I’m standing next to Scarlett. Or that fans have been watching and recording my interaction with Beckham.

I slip the bracelet onto my wrist, running my fingers over it as if it were made of precious diamonds instead of beads. Becausethis bracelet means so much more to me than something purchased from a high-end jewelry store.

This bracelet has captured a moment in time I’ll never forget.

I look back onto the ice, watching Beckham stretch, and a new song plays in my mental Swiftie soundtrack.

“Fearless.”

Because it’s a song about falling in love hard and fast.

Which is exactly what I’m doing with Beckham Bailey.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Tonight couldn’t be off to a better start.

I smile as I make my way toward the escalator that goes up to the suite level of the arena, so I can meet Becca. It’s the first intermission, and the Manatees are up 1-0, thanks to a goal from the captain, David Dewitt. I enjoyed sitting with Megan and Danielle, who dates the goalie, and conversation was easy with every woman I have met so far.

I also think I could be making a new friend in Scarlett. I asked if she would be sitting with the WAGS and she said no, she sits in a different section, but she said to please reach out for a time to take some pictures.

I’m going to take her up on that.

Then there’s the bracelet Beckham made me. I can’t stop touching it or looking at it. I can’t believe he found time to do that. The words he chose, right down to the Taylor Swift song, shows me his heart. It’s going to be hard for me not to wear it every single day, it means so much to me.

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