Page 12 of Frozen Play

Beyond that surface stuff, she was good people. She had been as a kid, considerate of even spiders, honest and trustworthy. She had a temper, and her tongue could be sharp but not mean.

Even with the reasons she’d had to hate me and my family, she’d helped me when she’d found me at the side of the road. Okay, that was a low bar, but she hadn’t yelled or sworn at me. She hadn’t told me what Lina had done and hit me up for payback.

I was going to do that, somehow, since money was one thing I had, but I’d wait to work that out. Right now, I’d just ignore the money issue and how attractive I found her and get through this night. Hopefully without further harming my shoulder or my reputation in Newfell. “For me, the dating pool is big, but then it’s hard to find who you’re looking for when there’s so many people.” There I went, spilling my thoughts to her.

Her lips pulled up in a grin. “Are you saying you’re holding out for Ms. Right?” She paused. “Or Mr. Right.”

I shook my head. Not everyone in the NHL was straight, but I was. “Ms. for me. And I’m not holding out, it’s just…” Her gaze was intent on mine, and my stupid mouth kept going. “I hook up. And I’ve tried dating. It just hasn’t worked out.”

“Are you assuming it’s athemproblem, not ayouproblem?”

My jaw dropped. “Is there something wrong with me? What?”Shit. I hadn’t considered that, but if Skye noticed something no one had told me about…

A smile twitched at her lips again.

“Are you making fun of me?”

She grinned. “Kind of? People do tend to think that the problem is always someone else, not themselves.”

Truth bomb there. “You’re right.” Maybe Iwasthe problem?

“But I haven’t seen any red flags in these…what, two, three hours?”

I flopped back on my couch cushions. “Thanks, I think?”

Skye stretched out on the cushions beside me. “Actually, your response to what I said is a point in your favor. You were willing to consider it was you.”

“Have you tested yourself like that?”

She rolled onto her back. “Yeah, I’m a problem.”

“What?”

She sighed. “I don’t know what I want, so how do I find a person who wants to wait while I figure things out?”

She stared into the darkness above us. I watched the flames flickering over her face as her thoughts turned inward.

Was that my problem? Did I know what I wanted?

“You’re a lot different than the women I’ve dated.”

She snorted. “Thanks.”

“No, it’s a good thing.”

She rolled over to face me again, eyes narrowed. “Are you going to feed me some bullshit about how I’m beautiful on the inside and don’t focus on superficial external stuff?”

“No. Why would you think that?”

“One of the summer people said that to me. He was trying to politely say I didn’t meet his usual standards but he’d do me since he didn’t have a lot of options up here.”

My hand formed a fist involuntarily. “What an asshole. I hope you told him what to do with his superficial standards.”

“I did. But aren’t you saying the same thing?”

She was watching me closely, and I had the unsettling feeling that she’d see if I tried to bullshit her. “I’ve gone out with some attractive women—don’t roll your eyes! I’ve got a point here. But there are a lot of ways to be beautiful. You’re beautiful too, on the outside, even if that asshole said you weren’t. But he’s right that you’re not like most of the women I meet.”

“I know. I’m operating a tow truck. I live over a garage with my brother. I have to keep my nails short. I don’t wear dresses and heels.”

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