Page 36 of Ice Mechanic

“I did try,” she huffs.

“Let me call May,” I say.

When it comes to undressing April, a sibling is a much better candidate than a ‘disgraced hockey player’ who’s quickly discovering a roaring attraction for his new fake-girlfriend.

“Well?”

“She’s not answering. Let me try again.”

April’s voice rings with impatience. “Chance, it isswelteringunder this hoodie. I need to take it off.”

Is this the same woman who was trying to slap me three seconds ago?

My heart is about to beat right out of my chest. “Let me call the blonde one.”

“You mean, Rebel? If I could call her, I would, but she’s at the spa so she won’t have her phone on.”

“Is there anyone else.”

“No! What are you scared of?” she yells.

“I’m trying to be a gentleman!” I yell back.

“Chance, either take the hoodie or the jumper off, but you need to take something off.Now!”

“Oh, uh. Sorry. Bad time?”

Horror seeps into April’s eyes.

I turn slowly around.

Max is wedged in the doorway. It’s a thirty-two foot door built to let Mack trucks through and yet he makes it look like the door to a child’s playhouse.

“I’ll come back,” he says, his ears the color of April’s face. “But uh, friendly advice? Ya’ll should close the door when you two?—”

“It’s not like that!” April shrieks.

Calmly, I blink. “What are you doing here?”

“I was trying to call, but you weren’t picking up. I figured you might be here with your girlfriend and I wanted to talk to April about fixing the Zamboni too so it…” His nose crinkles. “Why am I explaining? You’re the one doing who knows what with the door wide open.”

“We weren’t doing anything!” April grunts.

I clear my throat. “Give us a minute, Max.”

“Have all the time you need. I’ll go wash my eyes out,” he says, running away.

April groans loudly. “That… that didn’t just happen, did it?”

“I’ll explain everything to Max.”

“The more you explain, the less he’ll believe the truth.”

I crouch down. “Let’s just focus on getting you out of here.”

Rolling up my hoodie so it’s out of the way, I focus on the zipper. She’s right. It is stuck and it takes brute strength to roll it free, but I finally get it done.

The moment the zipper moves, April shoves me. “I can take it from here.”

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